Season 4 Awards and Playoffs Preview

First, I hope everyone here had a happy holiday, regardless of which one you celebrate. Mine was okay. I got a couple of Wii games, some LL Bean clothes and some really yummy scotch (Johnny Walker Blue Label...if you have never experienced this, you've led a wasted life). Got boxed at Christmas dinner on some expensive British beer. All in all, a good day.

With that in mind, let's take a look at the post-season awards and offer up some predictions...

AL MVP: Call me crazy. but I think that designated hitters should be considered for the MVP as long as their offensive numbers are gaudy. While Eli Reynoso hit well, his run production was meh. There is one player that put it together at the plate and on the field. That's Sammy Carr. While he should win, I think Orber Nieto will win.

NL MVP: It comes down to the always reliable Al Mendoza against heavy hitting Greg Ramirez. The latter has big stats, but a sub-1.000 OPS. You expect a little more from a .300+, 40+ home run hitter. Mendoza is playing for a hot playoff team and has been the veteran lynchpin of the club. He takes home the hardware.

AL CY YOUNG: I am, however, not one to award a closer the Cy. I mean, unless we're talking 70 saves or a crop of mediocre starters, the closer just doesn't get the love from me. Take them out of the conversation and we have a winner -- Alvin O'Brien.

NL CY YOUNG: The best pitcher this year was Dustin Keagle. Great OAV, K/9 and WHIP numbers and 18 wins. But, the Cy Young has nothing to do with the best pitcher and everything to do with the voters. Octavio Martin goes home with the honor.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: In the past, I've ripped the rookies for being nothing more than in the way. Like freshmen in high school. Anyhow, two of them made it easy -- Wayne Hardy and Julian Santana.

* * *

Bold predictions for the post-season. If I remember correctly, it is 5-5-7-7. I can never remember, you know, since I have never built a playoff team. Sonsabitches. Anyhow...

In the American League:
Boston beats Arizona, 4-3
Cleveland beats Tampa Bay, 4-2
Cleveland beats Boston, 4-2

In the National League:
Philadelphia beats D.C., 4-0
Cinci beats Portland, 4-3
Philadelphia beats Cinci, 4-3

In the World Series, Philadelphia beats Cleveland, 4-2.

Announcing The Ewads! Part II

First, I've gotten some shit (in the chat and on the forum) about choosing Merritt as the top starter. That's cool. Whatev. I copied six rows of stats on to a piece of paper and thought, who would be the most sought after pitcher if they were all on the market. I had Merritt marked at one and Al Posada as two. If he had run support and a decent bullpen, he'd probably have Posada numbers. No real methodology. Just a glass of Bailey's (or three) and the stats.

Anyhow, the second round of Ewads tonight.

THE KINGMAN AWARD: Given to player most resembling Dave Kingman's offensive prowess. Carlton Miller nudges Wayne Ramsey. Ramsey has more strikeouts, but I take Miller. He has one more home run and a batting average that is 42 points lower than Ramsey's. Plus, he has a dealbreaking .291 OBP.

THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION AWARD: Given to the closer who gives his manager reason to wear a portable EKG. Barry Hubbard takes this one easily. The eight blown saves aren't a league leader, but the 5.36 ERA among closers is.

THE TIM LEARY AWARD: Named after a mediocre pitcher who gave me headaches after going 9-19 in 1990. We're looking for the least effective starter here. Benji Santiago runs away here. 3-18 with a 8.09 ERA, 1.75 WHIP and .900+ OPS.

On to the important hardware...

LEAST VALUABLE PLAYER: Trey Daniels. A .564 OPS, a .249 BA. Then, add in four strikeouts per walk. Adding insult to injury, he has 0 home runs in 603 at-bats.

LEAST VALUABLE PITCHER: Santiago. I like piling it on.

Announcing The Ewads!

We here at the Onionball blog are bored. It's snowing like a motherfucker out (we live in Syracuse, N.Y. and received 13 inches of snow today...our office closed at 1 p.m.) and they haven't plowed in hours. So, with that in mind, we are going to crown our first-ever position-by-position player of the year awards — the ewads.

For those of you here in season one, you will remember our friend ewad. For our newer friends, let me just say that ewad was the textbook delinquent owner. At one point, he had one healthy starting pitcher -- Julian Nunez -- who threw more than 4,077 pitches.

So, yes, the award is tongue in cheek.

Anyhow, on to the ewads...

CATCHER: The ewad goes to James Gao. Batting .323 with a .938 OPS, including 30 home runs and 113 RBI. Threw out 61 basestealers. Has 44 doubles and has walked (66) more than he has struck out (61). Also nominated: Duke Harper/BUR, Tyrone Thomas/LR and Mark Yamamoto/MIL.

FIRST BASE: The ewad goes Al Mendoza. Hit .321/1.092 with 36 homers and 94 RBI. Walked nearly twice as many times as striking out (80 to 46). A stud. Also nominated: Greg Ramirez/WAS, Wayne Ramsey/CHI.

SECOND BASE: None. No one stood out to earn an award bearing the name of ewad. Nominated: Henry Cust/CHA, David Park/MIL.

THIRD BASE: Greg Lankford. Came over from Washington to hit .334 with 17 and 73. Almost even K:BB numbers. OPS of .955. Nominated: Philip Jacobs/CLE, Hunter Pierre/KC, Ramon Martin/SFE.

SHORTSTOP: Donovan Milligan. This was a toughy. Only hitting .292 with a .931 OPS, but 47 homers and 141 RBI push him over. Had the best defensive numbers of any of the better offensive shortstops. Nominated: Harpo Dunn/SF, Dennis Howell, SF, Gil Matthews/NY.

OUTFIELD: Ralph Ferguson. Had a nice season. Batting .327 with a .883 OPS, 17 homers and 82 RBI. Mixed in 53 steals with a .987 fielding percentage.

OUTFIELD: Orber Nieto. Hard to ignore his OPS (1.027). 44 homers and 119 RBI along with 43 steas put him on the radar.

OUTFIELD: Stubby Simon. Batting .294 with a .901 OPS. Has 35 homers, 115 RBI and 43 steals. Also, a nifty .994 fielding percentage.

Nominated: Nerio Turner/CLE, Andy Porter/MIL, Sammy Carr/LR, Hector Pettitte/BOS.

STARTING PITCHER: Kyle Merritt. Thank God he's in the NL. 13-8 this year with a 2.73 ERA, 216 Ks and a .216 opponent BA.

CLOSER: Tony Dodd. 52 appearances, 48 save opps, 46 saves. Edges Del Holtz/CLE and his perfect record in 42 save opps.

OnIoNDEX: Number Three

Whoops. Meant to do this a little more often this season. Anyhow, just 12 games to go and here's your power rating. Playoff teams are bolded. Teams in pennant or wild card chases are italicized.

Philadelphia Flash 0.667398496
Arizona Amberwoods 0.660097087
Tampa Bay Hurricanes 0.633690647
Cleveland Wahoos 0.633240157
Milwaukee Malt Liquors 0.613748428
Atlanta Mad Dogs 0.612877863
Boston Minutemen 0.600439655
Portland Beavers 0.600364807
Cincinnati Motorboaters 0.598584906
Washington D.C. Senators 0.566651515
Austin City Limit 0.545921053
Buffalo Hot Wings 0.52878
Charlotte Webs 0.528242424
Little Rock Voodoo Cats 0.527352
Colorado Springs Cricket Club 0.5271875
Kansas City Royals 0.520359375
Minnesota North Stars 0.509769231
Anaheim Asylum 0.501292683
Santa Fe Booze Hounds 0.500574257
New York Chechakos 0.468276596
Augusta Black Bears 0.460153226
Burlington Pitch Factory 0.42821875
Columbus Come from Behinders 0.413647482
Memphis In The Meantime 0.387374408
San Juan Epsteins 0.387020492
Seattle Steelheads 0.386846154
Chicago Cubbies, of course 0.373371951
Detroit Great Lake St 0.372971963
Pittsburgh Diamond Kings 0.372865385
Monterrey Surf Riders 0.372851133
San Francisco Slingers 0.367746988
Los Angeles Stars 0.347554054

S.4 Draft Review

With the number one pick in the draft, the San Francisco Slingers selected...

JORGE BENITEZ, DH (Unsigned)

So, let's talk about the man, the myth, the legend. Christened as the second coming of Nerio Turner, Timo Phillips and Jesus Christ, wrapped into a 6-2 frame, Benitez projects out to be a 90+ player. He has everything but a glove and speed, but maybe that's moot when you have the ability to park any pitch that comes near you. It's also worth noting that commish mark3313 stunned the world with this pick. I mean, he didn't take a shortstop?

2. ROYCE OLIVER, SS (Unsigned)

A five-tool, Timo Phillips-type player, Oliver also boasts at 29 control rating. You know, just in case reigny wants to make him into a pitcher. According to my scouting, Oliver's temper is projected to drop. That could be fun. Wouldn't it be cool to look at a box score one day and see:

Royce Oliver struck out on called strike three. Oliver ejected for punching ump in the nuts.

3. GIOVANNI THOMAS, P ($3.82m; RL assignment)

A power pitcher with Clemensesque temper numbers (I don't know what my problem is...I'm obsessed with the temper rating). Thomas' current rating is better than most of my starting pitchers. Given his ratings, has that Randy Johnson "The Early Years" feel. Dominant velocity but gives up spectacular home runs. With any luck, he'll reach his control projections. Also, has a cheezy mustache.

4. BRIAN TANAKA, P, (unsigned)

I've never seen a sinker-slider-change pitcher with velocity ratings as good as his. I would be a little concerned by the health ratings, but then again, my draft strategy was shit. Has a low temper number, which I'm sure has nothing to do with the fact that he grew up in Center City Philly. Also has cheezy mustache.

5. SCOOTER EASLEY, SS ($3,630,000; Rookie)

Has five-tool potential, but not with the same robust numbers as Royce Oliver. Also could be hampered by overuse of eye black (check his photo). Could be a better centerfielder than shortstop.

6. JESSE JACKSON, CF ($3,540,000; Rookie)

The Reverend...wait a second. They made Jesse Jackson a white guy. That's funny. Anyhow, another guy with five tool skills. What caught my eye was his bunt numbers, of all things. This guy has leadoff written all over him.

7. DANNY PHILLIPS, P ($4,000,000; LoA)

Phillips was the top player on my board, so I'm happy that he dropped to seven. He goes 90+ in stamina, control and velocity, has good health figs and could actually be a gold glove candidate on the hill. He won his debut for me.

8. BARRY HERNDON, P ($3,350,000; LoA)

A finesse pitcher, Herndon has all the makings of a good, reliable pitcher. A Jamie Moyer type. He's at LoA right now and has lost his first two. But, he's got SOOO much room between his current and potential numbers.

9. PASCUAL ALONSO, P ($3,250,000; Rookie)

This guy is all about placement. His velocity numbers are sub-50, but his control numbers could be the best in the draft. He projects 60+ on four different pitchers. And he's a lefty.

10. MATTY ORTIZ, SS ($3,160,000; Rookie)

Ortiz lacks the speed thing. I mean, he's not Benitez slow, but he doesn't have the five-tool speed. But, his glove will keep him in contention with the other shortstops in the top ten.

New Blog

We welcome back marauders299 this season. He has coverage of his team at our newest member to the Wailing Onion blog family. Hurricane Watch is listed to the left!

OnIoNDEX: Number Two

Not a big surprise here. Check the separation between Phila and Cinci, though...

Arizona Amberwoods 0.738849057
Tampa Bay Hurricanes 0.678313433
Philadelphia Flash 0.677990291
Atlanta Mad Dogs 0.677916667
Cincinnati Motorboaters 0.677628571
Cleveland Wahoos 0.632164706
Charlotte Webs 0.587804878
Colorado Springs Cricket Club 0.5864
Boston Minutemen 0.585763636
Milwaukee Malt Liquors 0.585508475
Washington D.C. Senators 0.58546
Austin City Limit 0.570095238
Portland Beavers 0.5253
Buffalo Hot Wings 0.524
Anaheim Asylum 0.523755556
Kansas City Royals 0.509517241
Minnesota North Stars 0.50775
Augusta Black Bears 0.4622
Little Rock Voodoo Cats 0.446083333
New York Chechakos 0.432029412
Santa Fe Booze Hounds 0.431912281
Burlington Pitch Factory 0.4315
Seattle Steelheads 0.401014706
Pittsburgh Diamond Kings 0.400943396
Memphis In The Meantime 0.400938272
Columbus Come from Behinders 0.386379747
Monterrey Surf Riders 0.386357724
San Francisco Slingers 0.372416667
Los Angeles Stars 0.355186667
Detroit Great Lake St 0.338590909
Chicago Cubbies, of course 0.309318681
San Juan Epsteins 0.309

On the DL

With my franchise arm going down on the 60-day today, I thought we'd take a look at the disabled list. I've added a new feature to the DL list. We'll list the player by team with the squad's training budgets. I just need to know that there is a direct correlation.

ARIZONA ($20)
Don Barkley, 60-day, elbow tendinitis

ATLANTA ($16)
Kip Davis, 15, bulging disk-neck

AUGUSTA ($14)
Larry Wilson, 15, strained shoulder

AUSTIN ($20)
Esteban Hernandez, 60, damaged soul

CINCINNATI ($17)
Fausto James, 60, ripped dick (groin tear)

CLEVELAND ($14)
Alan White, season, labrum tear

DETROIT ($11)
Travis Moller, 15, shoulder boo boo

LOS ANGELES ($18)
Sammy Paulson, 15, broken heart

LA (ANAHEIM) ($13)
Rob Mays, 60, ACL
Tanner Howard, season, ACL
Vic Alston, 60, wait for it...knee surgery

MEMPHIS ($16)
Darryl Standridge, 60, the clap

MONTERREY ($8...do you even get ice packs for $8m?)
Brian Atkins, 60, bone spurs
Troy Shumaker, 15, drank Mexican water

SANTA FE ($20)
Morgan Wells, 60, sunburn

A missive from madmuldoon

Your friend and mine madmuldoon sends this dispatch from the fringe.

It all started out innocently enough. A rainbow sticker here and there .A calender with the dates of our road games with San Fransisco, circled with Red hearts and the words "No MORE TEARS".Then the MR BUBBLES Virus started to take hold and spread like KY Jelley.

Coach Urbina knew we had a problem when the Bullpen dressed up as the Village People and were signing YMCA during the 7th inning stretch.Why Coach did nothing to stop the Virus is still a mystery.

A few weeks ago I walked into the clubhouse and was greeted by the music of Lawrwence Welk and Barry Mannilow wafting from every corner.And the starting RF was sashaying across the room in a megentia and safron ensamble.Then he entered the room where the hottubs are located and i could hear squeals and someone Shouted "Butter UP" And the Giggling was everywhere.

Well I knew I had to do something right away or we would have to change our name to the New York Riverdancers.So we started by yanking {no pun intended] out all the hotubs and sit down toilets [A real man doesn't need to sit to shit].And replaced them with single shower stalls and Urinals.

Then we require all players and coaching staff to attend 2 hours of Video class where we show John wayne movies with Marlboro man Commercials .The only official clubhouse music is a mix of Country Music and Heavy Metal .
After Weeks of decontamination the Virus that Mr Bubbles Unleashed on our club started to disapate .Now the only sign that the pestialence even happened is when occasionally the bullpen dresses up like the Village People ,But then again everyone knows Relief pitchers are crazy to begin with.

So fair warning to all the owners in "the Onion" Mr Bubbles is a real menace and you could be his next victim .

The onIoNDEX

We're 20 games, so it's the perfect time to run the first power rating for the season.

Again, the formula is pretty simple and rewards scoring and good pitching [Winning percentage + (team OPS-opposition team OPS) divided by runs scored margin.]

No surprises...

1. Cincinnati Motorboaters 0.852511
2. Atlanta Mad Dogs 0.750067
3. Philadelphia Flash 0.702831
4. Washington D.C. Senators 0.695286
5. Arizona Amberwoods 0.687571
6. Kansas City Royals 0.635429
7. Milwaukee Malt Liquors 0.634500
8. Tampa Bay Hurricanes 0.622500
9. Anaheim Asylum 0.605000
10. Charlotte Webs 0.593833
11. Austin City Limit 0.581286
12. Augusta Black Bears 0.578857
13. Cleveland Wahoos 0.572000
14. Colorado Springs Cricket Club 0.564429
15. Boston Minutemen 0.553231
16. Minnesota North Stars 0.549826
17. Portland Beavers 0.494600
18. Santa Fe Booze Hounds 0.486500
19. Little Rock Voodoo Cats 0.479692
20. Monterrey Surf Riders 0.455850
21. Los Angeles Stars 0.425806
22. Columbus Come from Behinders 0.424242
23. Pittsburgh Diamond Kings 0.421000
24. Detroit Great Lake St 0.400375
25. Burlington Pitch Factory 0.367000
26. New York Chechakos 0.354474
27. San Francisco Slingers 0.323000
28. Buffalo Hot Wings 0.303212
29. Chicago Cubbies, of course 0.303189
30. San Juan Epsteins 0.267815
31. Memphis In The Meantime 0.255350
32. Seattle Steelheads 0.253173

From the deeply mad mind of madmuldoon

We'll post your season previews here at Onionball. Feel free to sitemail them my way. This one comes way of your friend and mine madmuldoon, owner of the New York Cheechakos:


Hello again Cheechako fans after 3 years in the Wailing Onion league I can sum up their history in two words.Consistantly Average.The Cheechako's have finshed Year 1) 72-90, Year 2) 73-89, Year 3) 74-88 . At this rate of improvement it may take 20+ years to make the Playoffs.So this Gumshoe reporter went out to ask The management of this obscure franchise, what they have planned for this team.


I caught up with Madmuldoon the only owner this club has ever known at Rolondo's Puffy Tacos in San Antonio were the Cheechako's are playing ST .Mad was sitting in a corner table with his back against the wall staring across a myriad of plates. Some with half -eaten challupas and fajitas swimming in a pool of green chile mole' . He motioned for me to sit to the left of him so that he had plenty of elbow room for the fresh plate of Gorditas that just arrived. Mad then bellowed "Bring a plate for my friend here " and continued talking between bites. "man this team is ready to make it's move this year .I hired a new skipper Alfredo Urbina. He was with Millwaukee last year and seems to know more about balls and strikes than that Kraut we had the last 3 seasons .We also added a bunch of young talent and dropped most of the veterens .They want to many Clams to play a game I'd play for free."he paused and ordered two shots of Blantons Bourbon for dessert then continued. "We brought up SS Cal Matthews from AA who hit .304 belted 68 Homers and 369 Ribbies in 3 minor league years. And also has .940 fielding percentage.Then we moved up 3B Carson Veres. Who is a career .317 hitter and added CF Ryan Holden to back up Dario White who we aquired from the Reigny and his Surf Riders." Mad then downed his shots and ordered two more."On the pitching side late last year we moved up Lonnie Hall ,Wiki Andujar ,Ober Gonzales who are ready for their first full year .Then in the offseason we moved up a Great looking setup guy. Kurt Hill who has a minor league career ERA of 2.47 and 109 WHIP .So I believe we'll give that Boston club a run for their money" .With that Mad excused himself and wobbled out the door leaving me with the check.
So it looks like the Cheechakos are a young team looking to improve for the long haul .Sorry gotta go now I have a bunch of dishes to do!!! how can one man eat that much!!!

On the Books: Hitting

A look at the career hitting records that will be in play this season:

Career

Batting Average
1. Timo Phillips/SJ: .363
2. Pat Saunders/KC-CHA: .357
3. Al Mendoza/KC: .352
4. Hector Pettitte/BOS: .344
5. Mark Yamamoto/SFE-CIN-MIL: .341

Hits
1. Pat Saunders/KC-CHA: 657
2. Joe Stein/AUS: 606
3. James Gao/AUS-CSP: 600
4. Dave Adams/CSP: 596
5. Edwin Underwood/COL-ANA: 579

Home Runs
1. Nerio Turner/CLE: 174
2. Felipe Hernandez/MIL: 169
3. Donovan Milligan/CLE: 164
4. Len Heiserman/MIL-SEA: 162
4. Wayne Ramsey/CHI: 162

RBI
1. Al Mendoza/KC: 454
2. Nerio Turner/CLE: 434
2. Tanner Howard/COL-ANA: 434
4. Felipe Hernandez/MIL: 429
5. Donovan Milligan/CLE: 427

Stolen Bases
1. William Saitou/PHI: 290
2. Chul Tabaka/DET: 289
3. Ralph Ferguson/LA-NAS-TB: 229
4. Trey Daniels*/MNT-POR: 179
5. Mule May/WAS-PIT-KC: 168
*: Player is unsigned for season four

On the Books: Pitching

A quick check of the major career records that will be in play this season:

Wins
1. Lon Costello/CIN: 64
2. Benny Pujols/ATL-KC-DET: 61
3. Midre Navarre/KC-BUF: 57
4. Mel Petersen/DET: 56
4. Ugueth Neruda/KC: 56

ERA
1. Lon Costello/CIN: 2.42
2. Mel Petersen/DET: 2.66
3. Louis Paul/SEA: 2.72
4. Rico Johnson/CSP: 2.91
5. Kyle Merritt/CHA: 2.93

Strikeouts
1. Kyle Merritt/CHA: 775
2. Ugueth Neruda/KC: 670
3. Floyd Brock/NAS-TB: 664
4. Garrett Collins/CHA: 655
5. Lon Costello/CIN: 623

Saves
1. Gregory Rando/CSP: 128
2. Jose Bonilla/ATL: 114
3. Miguel Tavarez/CSP-CLB: 113
4. Duke Monroe/PHI: 106
5. Earle Edmonds/DET: 105

On The Move: Free Agency Wrap Up

Well, it's good to see the the economic downturn hasn't touched the spenders here in the Wailing Onion. Ben Bernanke (pictured at right) would be pleased. Here are the big names that switched jerseys this week. My apologies if I missed your big signings.


Skeeter May
San Juan FA Resign

Hardball Dynasty's

Skeeter May

Shortstop Skeeter Estes reupped with the Epsteins, the team of my youth. He inks a two-year, $4.4M deal.

Yuniesky Pineda
Arizona FA Resign

Hardball Dynasty's

Yuniesky Pineda

Yuni also went back to his old stomping grounds, getting $2.4 for one year. He was 6-0 with a 2.55 ERA out of the bullpen in S3.

Vic Molina
From Milwaukee to Monterrey

Hardball Dynasty's

Vic Molina

Vic asked for $5m per to start the FA period, but took two years at $2.9m. Molina was 5-3 with a 5.73 ERA in Milwaukee.

Mark Yamamoto
From Santa Fe to Milwaukee

Hardball Dynasty's

Mark Yamamoto

All-world catcher (Microsoft Word just autospelled that catheter...weird) Yamamoto got $10.6m for two years. He's certainly worth it -- career 1.054 OPS, .341 BA and the all important more walks than strikeouts. And he's a nifty pitch caller.

Mule Cornelius
Columbus FA resign

Hardball Dynasty's

Mule Cornelius

I'm always weary about paying ML prospects, but what do I know? Mule got $7.3M a year for three years. Okay money for a career .283 hitter on the farm. The shortstop premium, I suppose.

Maximo Lemon
From Augusta to Philadelphia

Hardball Dynasty's

Maximo Lemon

Two years for a total of $10.4m, with an apparent $5m signing bonus. Not bad. Lemon moves North and brings his 43-37 record and 4.15 career ERA.

Andres James
From August to Milwaukee

Hardball Dynasty's

Andres James

Andres takes his 24 saves from a year ago to the Great White North and signs a two-year, 6.8m contract in the process.

Tommy Ayala
From KC to Colorado Springs

Hardball Dynasty's

Tomas Ayala

The outbound train from Kansas City continues with Ayala hopping aboard. He gets three years at $32.5m to head to the Rockies.

Stump Grace
From Cleveland to Seattle

Hardball Dynasty's

Stump Grace

You want to talk contract year performer? Dude cut three full runs off his ERA from S2 to S3. And, he bagged $4m per from Seattle in the process. Oh, and this guy looks like his name should be Stump.

Gordon DiSarcina
From Richmond to Milwaukee

Hardball Dynasty's

Gordon DiSarcina

Gordon gets two years and $22m to move North. A fair price to pay for an average of 200 Ks and 14 wins per season.

Jumbo Walsh
from Milwaukee to Little Rock

Hardball Dynasty's

Jumbo Walsh

I made a play for Jumbo and actually offered more money, but he (apparently) wanted that no trade. He got it and goes to Arkansas for $9.6m over two years.

Karim Castro
from Burlington to Memphis

Hardball Dynasty's

Karim Castro

I took a gamble, hoping his power outage doesn't last into this season. He gets $6m per for three seasons and a team option in the fourth.


Mule May
from Pittsburgh to Kansas City

Hardball Dynasty's

Mule May

Mule also put on a show last season to head into FA. Popped his average up 50 points to .282 in S3. The speedster will cover CF in KC for two years, $8.4m.

Andre Canseco
from Columbus to Little Rock

Hardball Dynasty's

Andre Canseco

Jose and Oscar's little cousin got out of Ohio to escape the presidential campaign ads. A career .253 hitter, Canseco got a three year, $17.1m deal.

On The Move: The Trades

In case you missed some of the trades during the off-season, here are a few of the faces wearing new hats in season four:


Among the preseason tradeds:

Hardball Dynasty's

Andrew Mulder

From Colorado Springs to Seattle

Hardball Dynasty's

Preston Mays

From Santa Fe to Portland. I know...improbable. How do we keep letting Ralph and Mark get all the good players?

Hardball Dynasty's

Henry Cust

Hardball Dynasty's

Pat Saunders

From KC to Charlotte for three BIG ceiling minor leaguers.

Hardball Dynasty's

Chief Webster

From Portland to Tampa Bay

Hardball Dynasty's

Stubby Simon

From Memphis to Milwaukee. Arbitration sucks.

Sing it Juanyea

And I'll take, with me the memories, to my sunshine after the rain, it's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

This was my class song when I graduated from Liverpool (N.Y.) High School in 1995. Today, we'll use it to bid adieu to the imaginary men that retired from the Wailing Onion today. They include:

John Alexander: Played three seasons in Seattle at shortstop. A career .277 hitter.

Cory Redding: Journeyman starter on the downside of a career as a workhorse. 20-25 ML record with a 5.27 ERA.

The rest were career minor leaguers. These were the only ML players of note that I saw.

Single-Season Records Smashed

Here's a quick check of the record book and which marks fell in Season Three:

Timo Phillips/SJ: .382 BA (tie - S.2 Pat Saunders/KC). Incidentally, Timo also has the top three single-season OPS marks.

Andy Porter/MIL: 33-game hit streak

Bubba Sisler/CHA: 2.02 ERA

Sonny Anderson/BUF: 86 appearances (tie - S.1 Juan Navarre/LV)

Barry Hubbard/PHI: 50 saves (tie - S.1 Duke Monroe/PHI)

Mr. T Pities The Fools Who Haven't Reupped for Season 4

Per WIS Request

Check out Hardball Dynasty!

Hardball Dynasty -- The Ultimate Online Baseball Game

Hardball Dynasty -- THE Fantasy Baseball Simulation Game

Coming Soon...

Okay, so I never got the draft preview up. I suck.

My job(s) have gotten out of control and this blog has fallen off my radar screen. So, I introduce a new set of hand to Onionball. Ralph Bedwell, known to the chat forum as rbedwell and the owner of Portland, will join the fray as a poster to the Onionball forum.

If you are interested in posting to the forum, sign up for a blogger.com account and e-mail me at jpquark at earthlink dot net.

Coming Soon...

Stay tuned for a draft recap...I need a couple of days as work has picked up some.

OnIoNDEX

Still looking for a proper title for the power rating. Anyhow, no surprises here. You'll see the top five is made up of four of the same clubs. Cincinnati's index is down more than .05. I could tell you why, but I already closed the Excel spreadsheet. Whoops.

Four teams have made double-digit climbs and four others have sunk like my 401k, posting double-digit losses.

1 Cincinnati Motorboaters 0.673445783 (/)
2 Atlanta Mad Dogs 0.642110092 (+9)
3 Washington D.C. Senators 0.626355932 (-1)
4 Boston Minutemen 0.626112676 (/)
5 Nashville Saints 0.625375 (/)
6 Philadelphia Flash 0.610526316 (/)
7 Buffalo Hot Wings 0.6096875 (/)
8 Arizona Amberwoods 0.594653333 (+16)
9 Kansas City Royals 0.564064516 (-5)
10 Seattle Steelheads 0.563287356 (-4)

11 Anaheim Asylum 0.5617 (+8)
12 Austin City Limit 0.547520833 (+11)
13 Colorado Springs Cricket Club 0.532054054 (-5)
14 Charlotte Webs 0.518391304 (+14)
15 Little Rock Voodoo Cats 0.5173 (-6)
16 Minnesota North Stars 0.5172 (+5)
17 Detroit Great Lake St 0.502272727 (/)
18 New York Chechakos 0.50225 (/)
19 Memphis In The Meantime 0.501385714 (+12)

20 Cleveland Wahoos 0.485826087 (-5)
21 San Juan Epsteins 0.47025 (-1)
22 Santa Fe Booze Hounds 0.46922449 (+5)
23 Pittsburgh Diamond Kings 0.438688525 (+2)
24 Burlington Pitch Factory 0.423226415 (-2)
25 Columbus Come from Behinders 0.418 (+4)
26 San Francisco Slingers 0.37689011 (-14)
27 Milwaukee Malt Liquors 0.376820513 (-17)
28 Chicago Cubbies, of course 0.376327869 (-15)
29 Portland Beavers 0.36045122 (-3)

30 Los Angeles Stars 0.345205882 (/)
31 Monterrey Surf Riders 0.32895 (+1)
32 Augusta Black Bears 0.312930818 (-16)

What's Happening Abroad?

The scouts have been out. Here's a wrap of what's been happening in international signings:

Player Signing Franchise Pos Bonus Contract Type
Damian Park New York Chechakos P $10.2M MILB w/STI
Polin Unamuno Little Rock Voodoo Cats P $110K MILB
Luis Gonzales Cleveland Wahoos P $125K MILB
Erubiel Blanco Charlotte Webs LF $14.3M MILB
Tony Machado Memphis In The Meantime 3B $2.0M MLB
Carlos Mendez Cleveland Wahoos P $250K MILB
Benito Valentin Anaheim Asylum P $3.0M MILB
Alex Duran Monterrey Surf Riders 1B $3.0M MILB
Victor Lopez Los Angeles Stars C $3.4M MLB
Geronimo Perez Pittsburgh Diamond Kings P $3.5M MILB
Ricardo Mercedes Memphis In The Meantime SS $3.6M MILB
Miguel Montero Little Rock Voodoo Cats RF $5.8M MLB
Gorkys Blanco Memphis In The Meantime RF $60K MILB
Louie Nunez San Francisco Slingers 1B $63K MILB
Don Bang Memphis In The Meantime P $800K MILB

Welcome to the Deadball Era

Pictured at right is Gavvy Gravath, the biggest slugger of the the Deadball Era.

Remember when we first started this little league. A guy named Nerio Turner was hitting home runs at a pace that should have netted him 120+ for the season. Milwaukee had multiple 50 and 60 home run hitters. Teams with 1,000+ runs were a dime a dozen. Hell, even Memphis was putting runs up on the board.

Welcome to season three, where the bats have been as lively as old Gavvy himself.

Here's what I mean:

Pat Saunders: BA -115 BA, OPS -289.
Tanner Howard: -120 BA, -370 OPS, HR:AB ratio from 1:8.8 ABs to 1:14 ABs.
Edwin Underwood: -89 BA, -326 OPS.
Timo Phillips: -78 BA, -325 OPS.

In the meantime (that sounds like a GREAT team nickname), the top 12 pitching leaders by ERA post averages of 2.00 or less. Of those 12, only four have WHIPs that are above 1.00. This includes Ugueth Neruda in KC, Augusta's Maximo Lemon and Charlotte's Kyle Merritt. Suddenly, two-time Cy Young winner Lon Costello (6-0, 2.31 ERA) is just a good pitcher.

Onion Wars

With 22 of 162 games booked, it's high time to post our first power ranking of the season.

Again, the formula is pretty simple and rewards scoring and good pitching [Winning percentage + (team OPS-opposition team OPS) divided by runs scored margin.]

POWER RANKING #1
1 Cincinnati Motorboaters 0.729441
2 Washington D.C. Senators 0.721900
3 Kansas City Royals 0.690833
4 Boston Minutemen 0.638700
5 Nashville Saints 0.635286
6 Philadelphia Flash 0.630550
7 Buffalo Hot Wings 0.598857
8 Colorado Springs Cricket Club 0.552200
9 Little Rock Voodoo Cats 0.547444
10 Milwaukee Malt Liquors 0.547053

11 Atlanta Mad Dogs 0.546978
12 San Francisco Slingers 0.546231
13 Chicago Cubbies, of course 0.544083
14 Seattle Steelheads 0.543941
15 Cleveland Wahoos 0.506824
16 Augusta Black Bears 0.501600
17 Detroit Great Lake St 0.501455
18 New York Chechakos 0.499625
19 Anaheim Asylum 0.496276
20 San Juan Epsteins 0.458313

21 Minnesota North Stars 0.457563
22 Burlington Pitch Factory 0.455250
23 Austin City Limit 0.454750
24 Arizona Amberwoods 0.453297
25 Pittsburgh Diamond Kings 0.409553
26 Portland Beavers 0.367000
27 Santa Fe Booze Hounds 0.353100
28 Charlotte Webs 0.361444
29 Columbus Come from Behinders 0.347000

30 Los Angeles Stars 0.329500
31 Memphis In The Meantime 0.316667
32 Monterrey Surf Riders 0.229083

Season Preview: Santa Fe Booze Hounds

From the desert, paulbliss offers a preview of his team with a nickname after my own heart (or liver):

The season 3 version is eerily similar to the season 2 team. The team is coming off what the team considered a successful season. After narrowly missing the playoffs in season 1, the team secured a wild-card berth and defeated the Philadelphia Flash in a dramatic 5 game series. The team then suffered a 4 game loss to the bulldozer of a team that is the Cincinnati Motorboaters.

As always, pitching wins in the postseason and after posting an NL-leading 1029 runs in the season 2, the offense was stopped by the Motorboaters pitching staff. Owner Paulbiss6 set out in the offseason to improve a porous rotation that has a 4.74 ERA, which was worst among NL playoff teams. After striking out in the bidding war for Benny Pujols, cheaper options were sought. The new faces include 9-year vet Randy Flanagan, who came aboard in free agency, youngster Roscoe Street, who was acquired in a trade with Atlanta and reliever Del Holtz, a FA acquisition from Minnesota.

Owner Paulbiss6 feels the team has enough to push into the playoffs again, but it needs help from the pitching staff if it is to make any headway deep into the playoffs. The window of opportunity is closing fast and the future is now.

Season Preview: Portland Beavers

Friend of the blog rbedwell checks in from the woods of Oregon with this preview of his Portland Beavers (in the interests of full discloure, I'm footing the bill on three of the pitchers he mentions in the second sentence. Ralph...you are welcome):

The Beavers are a team of castoffs. Portland’s vaunted prospects are not yet ready for prime time, so the Rose City has become the home of the unwanted masses of players who still think they have what it takes to make it in The Show. Many of them are still highly paid – but not by Portland. The Beavers roster features names and salaries like Erubiel Rosado ($6.5 mil), Frank Patterson ($5.0), Charles McCurry ($5.4), Todd Lincoln ($4.0), Kurt Hitchcock ($3.4), Trey Daniels ($4.2), and Derek Mullaney ($4.1), all of whom are being paid by teams other than the Beavers. “We have the best team that other people’s money can buy,” quipped Portland G.M. Ralph Bedwell. “We got all those guys off the waiver wire after they were released. But they still have some tread left on the tires.” In addition, the Beavers are carrying ten current or former Rule 5 draftees. “Our payroll may be only $24 million,” said Bedwell, “But we’re no joke this season. We’ll be competitive and will go all out to win every game. Realistically, .500 will make for a very successful season here on the banks of the Columbia River. And I think we’ll make it.”

Season Preview: New York Chechakos

muldoon sends in this clipping from the local media. Apparently, Penthouse is the hometown paper of the New York Chechakos...

***

New York Chechakos had a three year plan where they planned to bring up the young arms of Wiki Andujajar, Will "dirt" Rhodes ,Kyle Crawford,and Curt Hill from AA. But it seems owner Hank Steenburgeon has ordered GM Madmuldoon to leave the youngins in AAA for a little seasoning before bringing them up to the ML.

When this Reporter caught up to the ML coach MO Mercedes at Patsy's House of Pleasure in the Bronx .Mo waved me over to sit at his table and promptly ordered a round of Bull Blasters to go with the long Island ice tea he was nursing. "let me tell you about this season," mo said. "I can't wait to start playing this year because we have the rookie of the year Sammy "GOING" Gonzales. Who aught to whack 60+ homers this year." Then Mo paused to stuff a wad of bills in the G-string of a brown skinned cutie. Then took a shot and bellowed "we brought up a young pitcher Quinn McMasters who will help but " he sighed "I sure could use some of that Pitching talent in the minors."

The next afternoon I caught up to Madmuldoon and asked what happend to the 3 year plan. Muldoon replied, "We want to be careful not to bring up guys before they're ready. But hey ,we have a good chance to win our division this year so don't count us out."

Will the offense carry the team ? if not the future looks bright.The farm system is loaded with talent and it seems New York Chechakos are a patient club.

Franchise Ranking: Budgeting

Who has the biggest salary ceiling? Detroit!

Franchise Player
Detroit Great Lake St 110
Seattle Steelheads 106
Kansas City Royals 102
Philadelphia Flash 97
Minnesota North Stars 94
Milwaukee Malt Liquors 92
Cincinnati Motorboaters 92
Atlanta Mad Dogs 91
Colorado Springs Cricket Club 90
Chicago Cubbies, of course 89
Cleveland Wahoos 87
Monterrey Surf Riders 86
Columbus Come from Behinders 85
Nashville Saints 83
Memphis In The Meantime 82
Santa Fe Booze Hounds 82
Washington D.C. Senators 81
Little Rock Voodoo Cats 80
San Juan Epsteins 80
Austin City Limit 79
Anaheim Asylum 77
New York Chechakos 72
Buffalo Hot Wings 71
Pittsburgh Diamond Kings 70
Los Angeles Stars 70
Augusta Black Bears 69
Arizona Amberwoods 66
Boston Minutemen 65
Burlington Pitch Factory 60
Charlotte Webs 49
Portland Beavers 41
San Francisco Slingers 28

Franchise Ranking: How old we are

Hey...I lead the league in something! Too bad it is average age of my ML team.

Memphis 31.5
Arizona 30.6
Nashville 29.9
Kansas City 29.9
Philadelphia 29.4
Chicago 29
Santa Fe 28.9
Portland 28.8
Seattle 28.8
New York 28.6
Little Rock 28.4
Cleveland 28.3
Colorado Springs 28.3
Austin 28.2
Milwaukee 27.9
Atlanta 27.9
Anaheim 27.7
Detroit 27.6
Minnesota 27.5
Cincinnati 27.4
Columbus 27.2
Boston 27.2
Pittsburgh 27.1
Charlotte 27.1
San Juan 26.8
Monterrey 26.8
Burlington 26.8
Buffalo 26.7
Washington D.C. 26.6
Los Angeles 26.2
Augusta 26
San Francisco 24.7

Franchise Ranking: How big we are?

Here's a look at the largest franchises by number of players

Nashville 201
Arizona 183
New York 175
Anaheim 169
Chicago 168
Portland 163
Austin 162
Columbus 161
San Juan 160
Kansas City 160
Boston 159
Little Rock 159
Buffalo 157
Seattle 157
Cleveland 156
San Francisco 156
Monterrey 153
Philadelphia 153
Milwaukee 151
Minnesota 150
Pittsburgh 149
Cincinnati 149
Santa Fe 148
Augusta 145
Burlington 145
Atlanta 144
Washington D.C. 143
Detroit 142
Memphis 141
Charlotte 141
Los Angeles 135
Colorado Springs 128

Franchise Ranking: International Signings

Colorado Springs has signed NO international prospects. Impressive:

Nashville 23
Chicago 18
Cleveland 16
New York 15
Detroit 11
Washington D.C. 11
Augusta 10
Portland 10
Memphis 9
Los Angeles 9
Milwaukee 7
San Francisco 7
Burlington 6
Boston 6
Columbus 5
San Juan 5
Kansas City 4
Atlanta 4
Austin 4
Buffalo 4
Charlotte 4
Santa Fe 3
Monterrey 3
Pittsburgh 3
Seattle 2
Philadelphia 2
Anaheim 2
Cincinnati 2
Minnesota 2
Arizona 2
Little Rock 2
Colorado Springs 0

Franchise Ranking: What we're spending

A look at the big spending franchises this season (calculated by taking the franchise's average salary and multiplying it by its roster size...may not be exact):

Seattle $106,917,000
Detroit $105,506,000
Kansas City $97,120,000
Atlanta $89,136,000
Philadelphia $85,986,000
Milwaukee $85,466,000
Cincinnati $85,228,000
Minnesota $82,800,000
Nashville $81,204,000
Santa Fe $80,808,000
Anaheim $80,444,000
Colorado Springs $73,472,000
Cleveland $73,164,000
Washington D.C. $70,642,000
Arizona $70,638,000
Chicago $69,552,000
New York $66,675,000
Austin $66,420,000
Columbus $66,010,000
Monterrey $63,342,000
San Juan $62,560,000
Buffalo $61,073,000
Augusta $60,755,000
Memphis $59,784,000
Little Rock $55,491,000
Portland $54,442,000
Boston $48,972,000
Pittsburgh $45,892,000
Burlington $45,095,000
Charlotte $42,864,000
Los Angeles $36,045,000
San Francisco $16,536,000

Franchise Ranking: Most expensive ML Rosters

A look at the big spending franchises this season (calculated by taking the ML team's average salary and multiplying it by its roster size...may not be exact). Check the range between Seattle and San Fran:

Seattle $98,800,000
Kansas City $90,000,000
Detroit $86,400,000
Atlanta $80,000,000
Philadelphia $80,000,000
Nashville $75,400,000
Milwaukee $72,800,000
Anaheim $70,000,000
Cincinnati $70,000,000
Colorado Springs $69,600,000
Santa Fe $67,500,000
Minnesota $65,000,000
Arizona $64,800,000
Chicago $60,000,000
Cleveland $60,000,000
Washington D.C. $59,800,000
Augusta $57,500,000
Monterrey $57,500,000
Austin $55,000,000
New York $55,000,000
Memphis $52,000,000
Columbus $47,500,000
Little Rock $47,500,000
Portland $47,500,000
Buffalo $43,200,000
San Juan $42,500,000
Burlington $40,000,000
Pittsburgh $37,500,000
Boston $35,000,000
Charlotte $30,800,000
Los Angeles $30,000,000
San Francisco $8,950,000

Free Agency Recap

First, teams with the most FA signings:

Memphis: 10 (there was a non-roster invite or two in there)
Chicago: 7
Little Rock: 7
Phila: 6
Santa Fe: 6
Seattle: 6

Here's a quick recap of the big free agency signings from the off-season:

Benny Pujols (KC) to Detroit: 5 yrs./$100m
Mitch Meyers (BUR) to Washington: $10m bonus + 3 yrs/$34.6m
Hughie Pride (LV) to Colorado Springs: 2 yrs/$24m
Tomas Johnson (NY) to Milwaukee: 4 yrs/$23.6m
Vic Brock (CHA) to Atlanta: 5 yrs/$41m
Luke Sanford (BUR) to Atlanta: 3 yrs/$21m
Norm James (CLE) to Seattle: 5 yrs/$28.0m
Socks Reid (SEA) resigned: 3 yrs/$15.6m
Jumbo Tejera (RIC) to Little Rock: $17.5m

NL Preview THUNDER

My department chair said that you can make any mundane activity exciting by adding the word thunder to the beginning or end. I hate to give him credit for it, but he's right. Now, the AL preview.

HMM: Washington reeled in Mitch Meyers for three years and $34.6m during the off-season, making one of the biggest bargains of the draft a luxury item (Meyers went off demanding in the range of $5m per). As someone who has spent big money on a non-superstar arm in the past, I scratched my head over this one. With this much money on the table, one has to hope that Meyers earns his payday. But, I also think back to J.J. Lambert in S.2. Statistically speaking, Meyers is 26-25 for his career with a 4.55 ERA, 292 Ks, 1.38 WHIP and 398 IP. Is this piece enough to push them over the hump and into first place?

ON THE RIVERFRONT: Lon Costello, Brad Bird, Al Posada and Felipe Balboa are back to front the ever dangerous Cincinnati rotation. One big change for S.3 was the jettisoning of Doug Linton to the junior circuit and the acquision of 80+ rated Ken Giovanola from Portland. Paired with the lineup that constantly scores enough runs to win, it's hard not to expect repeat performance in S.3.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH: C-Springs' Rico Johnson was a good pitcher in S.1. In S.2, he evolved into a great one. He added seven wins, subtracted six losses and peeled a quarter of a run off his ERA. He and Pat Stein make a formidable duo upfront. At 32 years old, can Rico carry the Cricket Club to another 94-win campaign?

PREDICTABLE PREDICTIONS:

DIVISION CHAMPS: Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Colorado Springs
WILD CARD: Washington and Santa Fe
LCS CHAMPS: Cincinnati

AL Preview THUNDER

My department chair said that you can make any mundane activity exciting by adding the word thunder to the beginning or end. I hate to give him credit for it, but he's right. Now, the AL preview.

SHIFT OF POWER: braddavis, Midre Navarre and Benny Pujols have left the friendly confines of Kaufmann Stadium and Kansas City. ronzabill is in and with him a new focus on the future. Ugueth Neruda and McKay Hernandez are the 1-2 combo in the rotation and the offensive machine still churns with Henry Cust, Pat Saunders, et al. But, could this mean the end of KC's reign over the Wailing Onion? They are still the Vegas favorite at 5-1, but Cinci is very close at 7-2.

ALGONQUIN FOR 'THE GOOD LAND': (Only makes sense if you've seen the movie Wayne's World) Milwaukee went from AL North darling to third place in S.2. The loss of Len Heisermann certainly hurt, but something else was missing. tsteve might have fixed that problem with three important big trades. First, he picked up Doug Linton and his 80+ rating towards the end of last season, giving him an important innings eater. An off-season trade with Memphis added front-line starter Santos Bautista and lefty Vic Molina for a trio of prospects. Finally, he added low-cost closer Dante Kroon (33/38 in saves). Look for Andy Porter to be the offensive story of S. 3 in the Onion. Benny Pujols' Detroit landing notwithstanding, Milwaukee looks like it's poised to make a run.

THE BRAWL: Look for another beat-'em-up season in the East. Boston comes off an 83-win season, but the 20-game margin from top to bottom was one of the tightest divisions in the Onion. And, with each team spending money to get better, this division winner will likely be like last year's -- only a shade over .500.

IN THE DIRTY SOUTH: Richmond's wood shop bridge collapse, combined with timely Nashville wins, put the Saints in an unreachable division-leading position. Look for Nashville to rein over the South again as Memphis begins a slow rebuild and Monterrey regains its bearings.

PREDICTIVE PREDICTIONS:

Division winners: Milwaukee, Boston, Nashville and KC.
Wild Card: Seattle, Cleveland
LCS Champ: I'm at a toss-up between Milwaukee and KC. Check back with me later.

Trade Thunder

We've come to expect our commissioner to make smart, calculated trades in order to build a successful club in the long term.

And today, he brought the thunder.

SAN FRANCISCO GETS:

Garland Nathan Santa Fe Booze Hounds Age: 20 B/T: R/R Born: Freer, TX Position(s): SS View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Uh. Holy shit?

Garland Nathan (and I don't really care about revealing numbers here) is projected at 90+. He's currently rated higher than my shortstop. In 208 minor games, he's hitting .338/.427/.554 with a .981 OPS. He has hit 33 homers, 85 doubles and driven in 178. And, he has a .977 fielding percentage. S-T-U-D.


SANTA FE GETS:

Who cares? Actually, they get:

Preston Mays San Francisco Slingers Age: 24 B/T: R/R Born: Grant, MI Position(s): P (SP3) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

At AAA last season, this 80+ righthanded starter was 19-6 with a 2.99 and 1.12 WHIP. He bypassed AA, jumping from HiA to AAA. He notched 200Ks in 204.2 IP. He's a two-time MILB pitcher of the year and was the AAA Rookie of the Year last season. He projects 80+.

Peter Kim San Francisco Slingers Age: 21 B/T: R/R Born: Durand, IL Position(s): 2B/LF View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Already on his third team, this hot potato went started in Pittsburgh in season one before moving West. He is a career .303 hitter.

Bob Harper San Francisco Slingers Age: 22 B/T: R/R Born: Las Vegas, NM Position(s): P (P) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

A career AA guy who started in Chicago's organization, Harper has 241 Ks in 275.1 IP. He has a career 4.45 ERA.

Expansion, Contraction and the Noobs

Season three brings us three new faces in three new places.

madtown joins the AL South and takes the Richmond franchise West to Little Rock, where they will be known as the Voodoo Cats. mad has a career winning percentage of 43.4 with zero playoff appearance in his two other worlds.

ronazbill inherits the gold standard in Kansas City. A HBD vet, ronza is 1241-1027 with 10 playoff apeparances and one world series title in 14 seasons. In the Ford world with the Cincinnati Red Legs, ronza has a world title and a NL pennant and five division titles.

jdeleonardis is relatively new to the HBD scene, but has been successful. In two seasons, he is playing .525 ball, with a pair of 80+ win seasons in the Rookies and Joey Belle worlds. He takes the Colorado River Otters franchise West to the O.C., where it will be known as the Anaheim Asylum. So, muldoon will feel at home on road trips (I suppose).

Welcome the noobs.

A quick look ahead

My fat ass is back from Las Vegas and I finally kicked that hangover (two days...holy shit). With the world full and turning, we'll do the following over the next couple of days:

• Introduce the new owners.
• Preview the top free agents on the market.
• Ignore the top coaches.

I'd also like to hear from you guys. Is there a regular blog feature you'd like to see or does anyone want to contribute something? I would be happy to take your pieces for a season preview.

I leave for the Outer Banks on Friday, but my beach house has WiFi, so I will be on periodically. Yeah, I'm the asshole who goes on vacation and dicks around online. What can I say?

WS Game Seven :::: Kansas City — Cincinnati

A title is on the line. The matchup is even. And, while many of us are asleep, a champion will be decided.

Kansas City and Cincinnati head to game seven, thanks to a 7-6 win by the Monarchs in the sixth game. Heading into the tiebreaker, it's a dead heat, with the Motorboaters only outscoring K.C. by a run — 39-38. Both teams are 2-1 in their home parks, which could benefit game seven host Kansas City in this 2-3-2 series. The Monarchs won games two and six, but dropped the series opener at home.

PITCHING
Cincinnati has sent the following rotation to the hill thus far: Costello-Bird-Costello-Balboa-Posada-Bird. Conventional wisdom says that you shuffle the order so Costello goes in game seven. He's 2-0 during the World Series, giving up four runs in 17 innings.

Kansas City has sent out Pujols-Navarre-Escobar-Neruda-Pujols. By that pattern, you'd expect game two winner Midre Navarre. Navarre was the winner of the 12-7 game two, but gave up seven runs and five hits while striking out eight.

In a Costello-Navarre matchup, you have to go with Costello.

BATTING
In a DH game, Cincinnati ha used the following lineup

O'Connor/2b (.333)
Ward/rf (.303)
Toombs/1b (.207)
Johnson/lf (..321)
Martin/c (.333)
Cust/3b (.359)
Sandberg/dh (.280)
Mercado/ss (..283)
Waters/cf (.255)

Martin provides the pop in the lineup with five playoff dingers and 12 runs batten in.

For KC:

Cust/2b (.350)
Mendoza/1b (.351)
Osbourne/ss (.355)
Jacobs/rf (.373)
Saunders/lf (.386)
Pierre/3b (.304)
Leonard/c (.245)
Krause/dh (.222)
Sanders/cf (.278)

Jacobs has jacked six and driven in 19. Cust has brought around 18 runners.

THE EDGE

I have always liked the Kansas City franchise. And, against any other team, I would take them. But, if Costello goes tonight, the trophy heads to the Queen City.

Of course, you're talking to a guy who in Vegas last week lost $150 playing roulette and more than I'm willing to admit in the sports book.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Power Ranking Final

This is the end of season power ranking. Pretty dead on and you can really see divisional strengths here.

Again, the formula is pretty simple and rewards scoring and good pitching [Winning percentage + (team OPS-opposition team OPS) divided by runs scored margin.]

1.	Kansas City Monarchs	0.7104	—
2.	Cincinnati Motorboaters	0.6984	—
3.	Atlanta Mad Dogs	0.6483	—
4.	Nashville Saints	0.6114	+3
5.	Santa Fe Booze Hounds	0.6055	—
6.	Cleveland Wahoos	0.5935	—
7.	Colorado Springs Cricket Club	0.5803	-4
8.	Detroit Great Lake St	0.5801	—
9.	Philadelphia Flash	0.5745	-5
10.	Arizona Amberwoods	0.5686	—
11.	Seattle Steelheads	0.5624	+2
12.	Washington D.C. Senators	0.5437	-3
13.	Milwaukee Malt Liquors	0.5312	-1
14.	Buffalo Hot Wings	0.5251	+1
15.	Boston Minutemen	0.5105	+5
16.	Columbus Come from Behinders	0.4997	+3
17.	Austin City Limit	0.4994	+5
18.	Charlotte Webs	0.4950	-1
19.	Richmond Renegades	0.4890	-5
20.	San Juan Epsteins	0.4759	+1
21.	Minnesota North Stars	0.4745	-5
22.	Memphis In The Meantime	0.4693	-4
23.	Burlington Pitch Factory	0.4517	—
24.	New York Chechakos	0.4516	—
25.	Augusta Black Bears	0.4443	—
26.	Los Angeles Stars	0.4144	+1
27.	Pittsburgh Diamond Kings	0.3892	+1
28.	Chicago Cubbies, of course	0.3836	-2
29.	Portland Beavers	0.3774	—
30.	Monterrey Sand Dawgs	0.3215	—
31.	Colorado River Otters	0.3023	—
32.	San Francisco Slingers	0.2284	—

Playoff Previewtacular: Cincinnati cs. Santa Fe

The last of the LCS previews.

Batting: The contrast is evident. Santa Fe broke the 1,000-run plateau in S.2, led by Aurelio Valentin (.347-46-158) and three batters with 1.000+ OPS. Cinci? They have great hitters, in Pablo Johnson (.309-36-149) and Al Ward (.302-22-72) but they scored less runs and have an OPS that runs 50 points lower than the competition. EDGE: Santa Fe

Pitching: The contrast is evident. No slight on Vern Dunwoody, paulbliss612 or the Santa Fe hurlers, but they couldn't hold a candle to Cincinnati. Four pitchers at 17+ wins and a team ERA more than one runs less than the Fe do it for me. EDGE: Cincinnati

Prediction: Pitching wins championships. Cincinnati in five.

Playoff Previewtacular: Arizona vs. Nashville

Another in a line of incoherent playoff previews:

Batting: Nashville sticks out because they got close to scoring 1,000 runs (997). They have four 30+ home run hitters and six regulars bat over .300. Arizona's offense is no slouch by any means -- 935 runs scored, 270 home runs and a team .282 batting average. They have six hitters batting .290+ and three 40+ home run hitters. If baseball is a game of streaks, the hot bat is going to own this series. EDGE: Push.

Pitching: It's odd. Nashville got better once they dumped J.J. Lambert. Anyhow, these teams are about even across the board with a couple of exceptions. Nashville strikes out more batters (led by Floyd Brock's 212 Ks) and Arizona's propensity to give up hits (more than 70 more than Nashville, which gives them a .270 OAV). EDGE: Nashville by a hair.

Prediction: I wouldn't bet my subprime mortgage on it, but Nashville in 6.

Playoff Previewtacular: Colorado Springs vs. Atlanta

Another in my in-depth, insane playoff previews.

Batting: It's tough to ignore the offense that scores 100 more runs. But, then again, Atlanta did take almost 200 more at-bats than C-Springs. The Mad Dogs lean on Roger Winston, who hit .291-42-127 and Oswaldo Furcal's 1.009 OPS. The Cricket Club looks to a pair of 100-RBI guys in James Gao and David Belliard. You know, with the same number of at-bats, these teams would probably be even (or damn close). EDGE: PUSH. But, Gao is a stud.

Pitching: The pitching is pretty close too. C-Springs gave up less hits and runs and walked less batters, but Atlanta tallied more strikeouts and won more games. The Cricket Club sends Rico Johnson to start game one. At 23-5, 2.78 and 182 Ks, Johnson is one of the best in the game. Pat Stein is a competent number two and Gregory Rando is a solid closer. Atlanta has four starters with double digit wins and half as many with double-digit losses. 18-game winner Eric Cummings (3.92 ERA and 187Ks), Magglio Rodriguez (212 Ks) and closer Jose Bonilla (44 saves) highlight the roster. EDGE: Colorado Springs, but not by much.

Prediction: Seven games for sure. I think Colorado Springs has the edge, if Rico Johnson pitches twice.