Addicted Users Season 74 AL Preview
AL North
Chicago Boomers (70-92)
The boys on the northside didn’t bring big time bats to the
battle last season. Their league low
.237 batting average coupled with a sub .300 OBP, kept them from striking fear
in their opponents. Their pitching staff
was more middle of the road with a 4.39 ERA allowed them to win 71 games.
Ownership appears to have felt the need to make wholesale
changes as several veterans were allowed to move on, a few players were brought
in, but more changes will be needed to get this team into the playoff
picture. There are players in the minors
that may be of help, yet they need more time to develop, and it is yet to be
seen if they will arrive in time to help the vets now on the roster make a move
into playoff contender.
Cincinnati Adena (82-80)
The offense was a little above league average while the
pitching was a bit below. For the last
four seasons the Adena have hovered around .500 in a baseball equivalent of
purgatory that makes it difficult to make the jump into a World Series hopeful.
However, this was also identified by the team and several
FA’s were brought in to help rectify the team’s shortcomings, none bigger than
the addition of Frank Ishii.
Salt Lake City Occidentals (84-78)
The defending division champs need to find a way to put more
distance between them and their division mates.
A team batting average of .259 was disappointing, yet the 800 runs
scored were a pleasant surprise. The
pitching staff posted a 4.03 team ERA, making it the backbone of the team.
There have been few additions made in the off season so it
appears management will be going to battle with the same group. With only a handful of players under 30, this
is a more mature team and while there is a chance they can improve on last season’s
numbers, it is also possible that some of the older players experience a
regression.
Toronto FC Dinamo (57-105)
The last seven seasons have been a struggle with sub .500
finishes each year and two ending with 100 losses. A .259 batting average and a 5.02 ERA are not
a recipe for a playoff team.
Alfredo Almodova (P) & Tike Marshall (2B) are solid
additions, fans will just wish they had been added earlier in their careers. The other players picked up may be helpful,
but the jury will be out on them for a while.
However, the good news is that there is help coming in the minors. Most likely it will take two seasons for them
all to be ready to contribute at the ML level, so have patience and faith
Dinamo fans.
AL East
Boston Beacon Hillers (88-74)
The defending division champs had a solid offense, yet just
a little short of the top run producing teams.
Finding a way to get more productive AB’s to push more runs across the
plate.
A lead leading defense helped the pitching staff, yet the
team struggled to a middle of the road ERA.
This may have been addressed with a handful of FA additions,
unfortunately, Jackson Forster won’t be of any help to start the season as he
recovers from an injury and if he doesn’t fully recover, even then he may not
be the player they intended to acquire.
New York Torrones (86-76)
This team fell just short of the division title and the
playoffs. It simply needs more. The offense and the defense was near the
middle of the pack and both will need infusions of better performances from
each of these groups.
Little was done in the FA or trade markets, so management is
betting they have the internal solutions to push this team over the hill in the
division and playoffs. It’s a bold move,
however, will the gamble payoff.
San Juan Swingers (76-86)
The combination of power and some speed enabled this team to
score nearly 850 runs and smack 227 HRs.
So, then it must have been the pitching staff that caused this team to
finish under .500. Yes, that was the
case, but more specifically it was the struggles of the rotation that doomed
this team to its place in the standings.
The starting 5 all finished with ERA’s over 4.00 putting additional
strain and workload on the bullpen.
There will be 9 new faces on the ML roster to start the
season. Such a large turnover of
personnel is not commonplace, and it will need to be seen if this transition will
take time to jell and if it will show a marked improvement.
Rochester Renegades (66-96)
This team can hit as their team’s batting average
shows. Getting runners across the plate
wasn’t as prevalent as one might expect with that type of production. The rotation sports 5 workhorse inning
eaters. The problem is that a couple of
additions to the starting staff would be wise to push the bottom 2 into new
roles that they may be more productive in.
In an unusual move, FA’s have been brought in, but they are
all 30 or over making it appear the team is a win now mode. For a team finishing in the basement and
narrowly avoiding a 100-loss season, this is not a typical direction to
take. Following how this plays out will
be an interesting case study.
AL South
Charleston Lumpies (65-97)
The Lumpies need an influx of talent to help the offense
rebound from a .248 average and less than 700 runs scored. The pitching staff also struggled with an ERA
way too close to 5.00.
A rebuild is needed and while some additions were acquired
via the FA market, they appear to be stopgap measures instead of big-name
pickups. It appears the fans in
Charleston will need to wait as talent is brought in from the draft to fill
holes and upgrade this team so it can return to the playoff hunt.
Houston Oilers (90-72)
The Oilers are an interesting team. Stuck in a division with a steamroller
franchise like Texas, with a staff carrying a 4.98 ERA, and a middle of the road
team batting average, this team finished 2nd in their division and a
game out of the wild card race to miss the playoffs after nine consecutive
appearances.
Power helped this team overcome other shortcomings. With nearly 300 HRs, scoring runs was not a
problem. So, the team added a few arms
and bats in FA and hope that will allow them to again reach the century mark in
wins to get them back into the division race and playoff frenzy.
Kansas City Athletics (71-91)
A top 5 pitching staff matched with a top 3 fielding club
should yield more than 71 runs. Obviously,
the offense must have had something to do with it. A bottom 3 team batting average produced
bottom three runs scored. Playoff teams
typically score 800 or more runs in a season, non-playoff teams score 641 runs
like the Athletics.
The return of Glenn Holloway from the DL should dramatically
improve the offense if he can shake off the cobwebs and regain the range to
once again patrol CF. Little else was
done to improve the offense however, Cunningham & Victorino should upgrade the
lineup when they’re penciled in. The pitching
staff was upgraded from within, to save some cost and provide an opportunity
for some young blood.
Texas Tornados (111-51)
Two championships in three seasons, the top offensive team, pitching
staff, and a top 4 defense are all that needs to be said about this juggernaut
from Texas. The most difficult task
ownership will have is keeping this group together as the payroll undoubtedly
will rise with continued success.
As previously mentioned, this team has been firing on all cylinders
for the past few seasons and little was done to change last year’s team, of
course that is because little needed to be done. However, as long time owners know, standing
pat is a slippery slope and doesn’t always yield the results anticipated and
hoped for.
AL West
Anaheim Fighting Trouts (93-69)
The pitching takes center stage in Orange County as they boast
the 2nd best ERA and were strong enough to compensate for a
pedestrian offense that surpassed reasonable expectations by scoring over 800
runs while allowing less than 700. In a
strong division that includes both Iowa City & Arizona the need to improve
is a constant thing to keep up with the competition.
Only one new player will grace this season’s roster. This means the hope is that more can be
extracted from the players than they produced last season. If not, there is little ready in the minor
leagues to bolster the team if it struggles so this will be a boom or bust
year.
Arizona Hikers (91-61)
A solid defense supported a stellar pitching staff, allowing
a potent offense to score more than enough for a victory. The problem of course is that they spend the
season battling in what could be the toughest division in AU.
Six new players were brought in to fortify the roster
including two pitchers. Only time will
tell if these were the right moves and will help lift them to the top of the
division.
Iowa City Gold Socks (97-65)
The 2nd highest batting average in the AL with
the 2nd highest total of runs scored, allowed this team to take the
number two seed in the playoffs.
However, the pitching staff allowed opponents to score 819 runs making
them little more than a speed bump in the ALDS vs Texas.
Not a lot of changes have been made to the roster as
management hopes relocating to Iowa will help level the playing field for the
hurlers. Yet the additions of Ramirez,
Suzuki & Torres are seen as marked improvements that will boost this season’s
team with championship aspirations.
Salem Bearcats (69-93)
The offense had a good season. .270 average, 191 dingers, 814 runs
scored. Unfortunately, this game also
requires pitching and the Bearcats fell short in that regard. A league worse 5.04 ERA and 888 runs allowed
paint a dismal picture and were more than the offense could overcome.
This season’s pitching staff will have some reinforcement
help from the farm system which should put last season’s struggles in the rearview
mirror making them seem like a bad dream.
The good news gets better with fact that more upgrades are on the way
from the minors so the future should be bright in Salem.
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