NL EAST
LAST SEASON RECORD 60-102 ROSTER 23/25 PAYROLL 34.3/53M
Needs: SS, SP
Stars: 1B Scot Bowman, Sp Rudy Henry, SP Trenidad O'Donnell,
Slugs: 2B Bernie Reyes, RF D'Angelo Cervantes
Minor Hope: 2B Bobby McClain( AAA) 2B Harvey Simmons(HiA) SS Al Encarnacion(AA), LF Gustavo Figureoa (AA), P Manny Nelson (LoA), Rp Jamie Mathews
Summary: at over 11M a season you would expect Bowman to be the clubhouse leader and while he has been solid he has been far from elite to build around. His speed is neutralized by his poor base running. Last season the Train wrecks saw 5 men strike out 100+ times, this season they watch as two sit as FA that no one has picked up and their replacements hoping to provide more consistences at the plate without hurting the team in the field. Norfolk has a lot of potential on the farm that can swing the bat. They have the future coming up. With the log-jam at 2B on the Farm they might be able to afford to trade for a good young pitcher to compliment the 2 horses they already feature.
Prediction: 72-90 teams is still 2 seasons away from .500 but they will make good progress this season
LAST SEASON RECORD 119-43 Roster: 24/25 Payroll: 92.4/113M
Needs:
Stars: RF Matt Shave 1B Kenneth Springer, RF Shayne Owen, Sp Shayne Nagy, P Sam Terry, Sp Eugene Buckley, SP Dick Lewis
Slugs: SS
Luis Matos (AAA) LF Enrique Chantres
Minor Hope: 2B James Pribanic (AA) CF Ron Burns(AAA)) RF Logan Berroa( AA) SP Juan Belliard(AA) P Vic Cruz(AA) P Sergei Hunter(AAA) P Peter Richard (AA), SP Tony Azocar(AAA),RP Lloyd Duran(AA), RP Felipe Martinez(AA)
Summary: Anytime a team wins almost 120 games you know they have a good foundation to work from. Here is a team that does it all hits, runs, and pitches with the best in the league. In addition they can afford to lose an ace Kiki Arroyo and not bat an eye. The minors are still stacked, but prospects are starting to get older. It might be time to start eliminating the big payroll guys in AAA and the Ml and bring up some of these talented farm hands.
Prediction: 109-53- no one should win 119 games they will not do that again.
LAST SEASON RECORD 70-92 Roster 25/25 PAYROLL: 68.1/86M
Needs: Pitching, SS
Stars: SS/3B Carlos Feliz RF Robert Schultz, Sp Magglio Salinas
Slugs: RF Bill Sheehan, P Benjamin Upshaw, SP Juan Montanez, P Luis Perez
Minor Hope: SP Max Picasso(AAA) SP Bobby Joe Jenkins(AA) P Dizzy Wynn (AAA), Sp Alberto Rodriguez, SP Eduardo Pena, P Hugh DeWitt (AAA). A lot of pitching talent that is 1-3 season away from being consistent contributors in the Big leagues.
Summary: Feliz is on the decline and is not the star, he once was. Still he's a guy teams need to prepare for. Shultz is a great compliment to him and should make the middle of the lineup strong. LF Larry Perry had a great debut last season and should be able to build on this. They need to find a way to bring Sheehan's bat back into the mix to give the Pirates another option. At 6M he has to be used more than 200 ab's or the fans will revolt. His injury history makes him almost untradeable. Pitching will again be a concern this season last year the team sported a team 5.35 ERA with a 1.59 WHIP. They numbers need to improve if they are to compete in the pitching friendly NL. They have too many sticks of dynamite in the rotation and bullpen to survive. The Calvary is coming the next year or two, but it would be nice to see some old arms let 1 or 2 season contracts to get them over the bridge.
Prediction: 69-93- I don't feel the pitching at all this season.
LAST SEASON RECORDS 75-87 ROSTER: 23/25 PAYROLL: 72.3/81M
Needs Backup Catcher , SS, Starting Pitcher.
Stars SP Everett Ritz, SP Tony Hujimoto , CF Dickie Tartabull
Slugs P D'Angelo Guevara- the 40 year wonder is about done.
Minor Hope: SP Buck Smith, SP Marty Waters, P John Carter, RP Ricardo Martinez- These guys will make a damn good pitching staff in a few seasons. Look for Martinez seeing time as soon as this season. The rest are more an a season away.
Summary: The bullpen is strong and should be a good asset for the Braves. They need to spend some money of a starting SS and a solid pitcher to round out the rotation. The pitching staff is starting to come together. They need a short-term guy to hold the ranks until the young guns arrive. The hitting is still subpar, but the defense might be worse. They need a huge bat for the center of the batting order to compliment Tartabull. They also need a Shortstop show can field at least at a marginal level. They get a defensive shortstop their pitching looks that much better.
Projection 78-84 they move slowly to the right direction.
NL NORTH
LAST SEASON RECORD 74-88 Roster 25/25 Payroll: 90.3/101M
Needs: CF, Power bat
Stars:
SP Hal Orie 2B Don Orosco, RF Oscar Baker SP Johnny Powell, CL Preston Guerrero, P Andres Brogna
Slugs:
SP David Dominguez, CF George Frazier, 2b Jung Miyakazi, SP Rollie Vernon, RF Branch Saunders, 1b Alex Galvez, SP Adam Miller, P Felix Nelson(R5)
Minor Hope:
P Vicente Velazquez(r ), P Jimmie Brown (HiA), SP Pascual Otanez (HiA),P Donaldo Cordero, RP Charles Bang
Summary: The team has a solid core of pitching and hitting, but they have a very inadequate supporting cast. A few contract missteps a few seasons back have placed a ton of dollars in AAA. They are sucking up resources, some have value if they have had better contracts, trading them or playing them if the best coarse. Wasting them in AAA isn't doing anyone any favors. The Stars should also look to shuffle their minor league talent around and promote a number of guys who have toiled in low minors for too long and might even be updates or great trade value.
Projections: 72-90 to much junk lying round.
LAST SEASON RECORD 84-78 Roster 26/25 88.7/99M
Needs: Pitching, 3B
Stars: RF Valerio Guillen (DL) SP Adam Parrish, CL J.P. Ordonez
Slugs: SP Ronnie Gonzales
Minor Hope: 2B Heinie Rauch (AAA) SS Javier Ortiz (AAA), RF Quentin Lawrence
Summary: Going to be without all-star Rf Guillen for the 1st half of the season, that's going to be tough. They did had the much needed pitching punch they lacked after Adam Parrish's injury in S16. Kiki Arroyo will be a fine addition to the top of the order. They still could use 1 or 2 more arms and a little more help at the hot corner and at SS, but this is a borderline playoff team They don't have a lot of star power to lean on, but have a number of solid team guys. They could catch lightning in a bottle and spin off a bunch of wins in a row, or lose a bunch just as easy..
Projections: 84-78- it will be close really depends on how Guillen comes back.
LAST SEASON RECORD 92-70 25/25 Roster Payroll 96/96M
Needs: Big Bat 1B, SS
Stars: LF Alex Leon 2B Aaron Holt, SP Clarence Patrick, P Angel Duran, 3B Hector Fernandez
Slugs: C Eddie Duncan
Minor Hope: 2B Lorenzo Samuel (AA) SP Roland Bryant (AA) CL Guy Bibby (AA)
Summary: They have a few guys on the farm who are 2 seasons away. They seem to have a solid pitching staff and a good amount of speed, but no one established bat to drive in runs. Bringing back old favorite Brent Sheets will not provide that offense and Damien Miller's glory days are gone. They get 1 great bat and they will be the top in the NL North without concern
Projections: 88-74
LAST SEASON RECORD 78-84 Roster 25/25 Payroll 61.6/86M
Needs: Youth, power bat
Stars: CF Sergio Koplove, SP Roy Robinson
Slugs: 2B Alvin Henry P Derrek Howard
Minor Hope: P Fred Boucher (AAA)
Summary: The Twains are an old team with little depth in the minors, they have brought up their young guns to sink or swim in the majors. Ss Damien Harden isn't ready and will struggle Donaldo Alverez showed very little in his preview last season, but should be a solid lead off guy. Without a big bat to drive in the runs this team will tire quickly and be a non-factor in October.
Projections: 75-87- They need to blow it up and rebuild around the few young guys they have.
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