Wednesday, February 3, 2010

AL WEST Season 15 Preview

ML AL West (Season 15 Projected Standing)
Wichita Sizzlers
zsiegri 112-50 Hands down favorite to win the World Series each year this will be no exception
Kansas City McCoys raucous * 88-74 Big bats are paid a ton to hit, but unless they prove they can pitch it's all for null
Salt Lake City Assault cocobudda 75-87 Improving but next year well be the year they break .500 not this one without adding a solid starting pitcher.

Las Vegas Gamble cjmaxlax 72-90 Prieto might have a new home by the end of the season.
Las Vegas Gamble
70.9M Estimated Opening Day Payroll
Offense:
Del Prieto is still the man in Las Vegas, but he not surrounded by a lot of talent. Like the rest of the keys to a winning team Las Vegas is lacking Defense: solid defenders but aging quickly in CF and 2B. A few runs will slip by some of the fielders on occasion, with lower tier pitching this could be an issue. The catching prospects won't help the pitching at all.
Rotation: 2 solid pitchers in Walk Inge and Preston Walker but not a lot of help behind them in the rotation. The Gamble will struggle will the current pitching setup.Bullpen: below average bullpen that lacks a dependable closer Brian Clarke is the closest thing the Gamble have to a consistent reliever. He's not the guy anyone will want to hand the rock to in a critical game.

Kansas City McCoys
110.0M Estimated Opening Day Payroll
Offense: hitting should not be an issue, Freddie Reynolds, David Seanez, and Adrian Cassidy are killers at the plate, KC have the talent in the lineup to hit with anyone, but as they have shown the last 3 seasons this offense alone will not produce a division title Defense: below average in the field, Seanez finally moves out of short but he might find CF just as challenging. Reynolds could be a gold glover in RF.Rotation: SP D'Angelo Guevara, Pedro Barcelo and Jeremy Linden have been consistent for KC every season, but they have also been unable to deliver the wins. Rule 5 guy Pedro Barcelo is a wild card he's too inexperienced to offer much this season but could be solid in the future is KC can bear with him. Bullpen: Jose squared is added to an already strong bullpen. Jose should give O'Connor a run for the closer position, but both should get a lot of innings

Wichita Sizzlers
102.1M Estimated Opening Day Payroll



Offense: All stars up on down the lineup by far the most potent lineup in the league. Most teams have 2 maybe 3 potential all-stars this team could have 9. Defense: should have no issues in the field and might be able to save many a run with this fielded defense. Rotation: 5 very strong starters, 3 of which could be aces on any other AL team. This is one of the reasons the Sizzlers were so dominant in S14. Bullpen: Stan Mason takes over for Sizzlers career save artist Matthews, Mason should love his return to the AL being on the Best AL team. The bullpen is very exceptional, they have the setup guys to make the late evenings tough for the opposing teams.

Salt Lake City Assault
68.1M Estimated Opening Day Payroll

Offense: Added some offensive punch with Roosevelt Hansen and Scott Clarke at 1B and Minnie Coleman at 2B. Add those bats to Crummack and Santiago and the team should be able to produce a few runs. Defense: Quite pedestrian in the field, No one seems to be a superstar or a game changer in the field yet, but they seem to have great young talent at SS and 3B and CF that could change that in the near future. Rotation: good rotation core with 3 solid contributors in Carter, Spencer and Martin, but the starts seem to go down a steep incline after that. The rotation should still not lose the team a lot in the way of runs. Bullpen: Neil Young could be the next superstar closer to enter this league. Setting him up is an assortment of middle of the road relievers who should be able to hold their own in the late innings. Not a bad bullpen by any means.


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