Draft Recap: The Dirty Dozen

1. St. Louis: James Uribe, P
James Uribe is a hardthrowing lefty from UC-Irvine. Uribe is projecting nicely with 80's in control, velocity and splits. The Wyoming native is a legit four-pitch hurler, bringing a curve, slider, changeup and screwball to the hill. A nice pickup for St. Louis.

2. Houston: Louis Pedersen, C
It's not often that a catch is chosen second overall. But, it's also not often that one projects as well as Pedersen. He will be a competent pitch caller, but his defensive and offensive numbers make him a prize. Pedersen took $3.91m in slot money.

3. Seattle: Macbeth Sosa, 2B
One of this year's worst name combos, Sosa is a prototype second baseman. Above average defense is expected from the second bagger, as is offensive pop with 90+ contact and 70+ power. Took slot money--$3.82m.

4. Rochester: Pat Puckett, P
Puckett is going to spend his time living on the black. Strong control numbers complement high ratings for his slider and split-fingered fastball. Signed for $3.72m in slot money.

5. Santa Fe: Kent Jenks, SS
A solid offensive shortstop with good hitting and baserunning numbers. His defensive projections are below average for a shortstop. Jenks could very well be a third baseman before it is all said and done. Signed for $3.63m in slot money.

6. Texas: …
Okay, remember The Godfather? Phenomenal movie. Remember The Godfather Part II? Even better. Remember The Godfather Part III? Of course you don't. It never happened. I don't care what the draft history says. This year's draft never happened for Texas.

Seriously, I messed up my formula builder. It had worked for me the past couple of seasons, but in an effort to adjust the builder to go heavy on pitching this year, I apparently interrupted the space-time continuum and landed 10th round quality with the sixth pick.

7. Washington: Greg Gray, P
A nice power pitcher. This is the guy I wanted. 90+ at control and velocity and three 70+ pitches--four-seamer, cutter and sinker. He too the slot cash at $3.44m.

8. LA: Danys Aquino, C
Not much of a pitch caller, but he's a 75+ defender and has ridiculous projections in contact and in his splits. Took home a $3.35m bonus.

9. Fresno: Matthew Douglass, P
This towheaded freak is all finesse. 90+ control with four 50+ pitches--four-seamer, slurve, curve and change. Remains unsigned.

10. KC: Max Roosevelt, P
Roosevelt brings his soul patch from Tennessee to Kansas City. He is a power pitcher with great control ratings, although his splits against lefties leave a little bit to be desired. He's demanding $6m or he's threatening to go to college. Wuss.

11. New Orleans: Freddy Chen, 2B
Didn't realize that there were a lot of Chens in Oklahoma. Who knew? A good defensive second baseman, Chen is an inside-out hitter who will put the ball in play. He signed for a $3.07m bonus.

12. Little Rock: Doc Young, CF
The first outfielder drafted, Doc Young is going to fly through the outfield for the Outlaws. He has great range and glove, 99+ speed, and 60+ power numbers. The Doc's biggest downside is his arm. He signed for a $2.97m bonus.

The onIoNDEX: Number 1

The onIoNDEX is LIVE and correct. If you want to see the chart, feel free to give it a look see. I've posted it to view on Google Docs.

	onIoNDEX
San Francisco Oogle Birds	0.6960
Portland Beavers	0.6960
Minnesota North Stars	0.6683
Memphis Where My Pitches At?	0.6370
Jacksonville Panhandlers	0.6134
Rochester Lake Effect Snow	0.5820
Little Rock Outlaws	0.5820
Philadelphia Flash	0.5603
San Juan Reales	0.5582
Arizona Amberwoods	0.5580
New Orleans Missouri	0.5563
New York Chechakos	0.5291
Chicago Cubbies, of course	0.5028
Charlotte Webs	0.5025
Montreal Monarchs	0.5020
Kansas City Royals	0.4985
Fresno Yokuts	0.4788
Augusta Waves	0.4738
Seattle Nightmare	0.4733
Chicago Black Stockings	0.4728
Cincinnati Motorboaters	0.4720
Norfolk Subs	0.4714
Boston Minutemen	0.4476
Buffalo Hot Wings	0.4451
Washington D.C. Senators	0.4196
Santa Fe Booze Hounds	0.4177
Houston Holy Grail	0.4174
Burlington Pitch Factory	0.4097
Vancouver Gulls	0.3933
Texas Texans	0.3902
Los Angeles Stars	0.3349
St. Louis River Cats	0.2525

O.K. NOW WHAT????

Hello fellow Onions . Well it's been awhile since i posted a State of the Chechakos address . If you remember in season one I traded all my stud players for lots of young talent.Thinking that in 3 years i would have a winner. O.K. you can quit laughing now.Well by my 3rd year i posted that it was a 4 year plan instead.Then there were seasons 5 and 6 and still my team pretty much sucked.Then late in season 6 the IFA fairy brought me ML ready SS Al Espinosa.This player changed my fortune and in season 7 with a record of 108-54.We won the division and went all the way to the ALCS.A Cinderella season indeed.I can't believe i used that term "cinderella". And whats with Snow White .I mean heres this single babe living with 7 emotionally disturbed midgets.Like Sleepy has narcolepsy, Grumpy is bi-polar,Dopey and Happy have a chemical dependancy problem.the only one worth a damn is Doc.Uh....oh ya baseball.....sorry about getting sidetracked.Theres another term I hate sidetracked......sorry again.O.K. back to WIS .My team is at .500 because my bats are silent if it were'nt for my pitching staff i'd be back in the cellar like Allsox.Tehe.Sorry allsox had to rub it in.This years team is exactly the same as last years team with the exception of the release of P Kurt Hill.I've got some young talent a few years away so I ask you all NOW WHAT???

OnIoNDEX: Season 8, No. 1

Hey kids!

It's been a little while, but we seem to be pacing well. With 30 games, it looks like the divisional battle in the NL West will be one to watch this season. In the AL, eh, I have my own problems in the AL. Nonetheless, Minnesota and Memphis look like the class of the group.

But, what if we had a convoluted formula like the BCS or RPI to guide us. I thought that with 30 games down that it would be high time to dust off the OnIoNDEX -- the least predicative power ranking in the entire madeup sports world.

For those of you new to the ratings, I use a mathematical formula (yeah, I guess Mrs. Bumpus was right...I would need math as an adult) that rewards scoring and good pitching:
[Winning percentage + (team OPS-opposition team OPS) divided by runs scored margin.]

It shakes out below. Frankly, I think the formula might be broken. San Francisco and Portland are way too low, but then again neither team is really scoring runs, so who knows?. Until I have time to hammer out a new formula, I offer the following:

Yeah, there was a problem with the formula. Turns out that a few teams having equal runs scored and runs allowed throws a wrench into the formula. I'm going to wait until the PM2 session to run the rankings.

Opening Day

In real life, the World Series has just been played. For for 30 of us, this marks opening day. And, at least for me, it's the final day to gloat about the Yankees winning. Yes, they spent $200+ million. Yes, they couldn't find more than three serviceable starters to go in the playoffs. Yes, Joba Chamberlain is the next Hideki Irabu. I concede all of those things. But, it doesn't matter. The Yankees won. The Red Sox didn't. And for a little while, all is well in the world.

Let's take a peek at what's happened during days one and two of the WO:

• The steroid era is over, so said the forums. 54 home runs in two cycles. Chicago (A) has eight. Portland has four.
• Portland, by the way, is 2-0. The Beavs posted consecutive 11-1 and 7-1 wins against Los Angeles.
• Aging juicer Nerio "I'm not hear to talk about the past" hit a pinch-hit, ninth-inning, two-out homer for his new club in DC. The tater forced extras, with Washington beating Charlotte in the 13th.
• Speaking of the Webs' loss to DC, Kyle Merritt struck out eight and earned a ND in that start.
• Chicago's Carlton Miller notched the major's first two-homer game against Montreal.
• Alvin O'Brien and Les Carroll have started their respective Cy Young campaigns convincingly. O'Brien led Arizona to a 9-3 win against KC, notching six K's. Carroll won the season opener for Chicago (A), striking out nine at Montreal.
• And, because it's my blog, Texas won its season opener after forgetting to reset its pitcher's settings from spring training. Three pitchers through 2.1 innings, (only Benny Pujols topped 40 pitches) with Ryan Witt collecting a two-inning save. D'oh.

Philadelphia Flash, Season 8 Preview

Season 7 in Review: The Philadelphia Flash restaked their claim atop the NL East after a one-year hiatus by going 92-70. Despite the division title, it was their worst regular season by record since the inception of the Wailing Onions Baseball League.

But the Flash had reason to be optimistic at the dawn of the postseason. Midseason acquisition 3B James Funaki helped bring balance to a formerly right-handed heavy lineup, and the Flash won their NLPS 3-1 over the Chicago Cubbies, of course. They followed that performance by upsetting the Austin City Limit in the NLDS, again 3-1.

But the Portland Beavers, fast becoming a familiar playoff foe, awaited in the NLCS. The Flash rallied from a 3-1 deficit to force a Game 7, thanks to Lon Costello's timely return from the DL. But the usually reliable bullpen faltered in the decisive game, and the Flash were denied their first ever world series berth.

Season 8 Preview: Season 8 marks Year 2 of the Lon Costello experiment, with the fearsome starting five in the rotation from a year ago still in tact. If Costello can stay healthy throughout the postseason, can the Flash finally break through against Portland?

Key Acquisitions:

3B Troy Olerud
The Flash only pursued one big fish from this year's Free Agent class, and that was Olerud. Olerud, 29, spent the apst 5 years of his career in Little Rock before signing with the Flash for 5 years for $34M. The contract includes a mutual option for Season 12. In other words, expect to see Olerud around for a while. Olerud is a slugging 3B who will relieve Funaki and Yamid Ordonez of their infield duties and send the platoon to RF.


RP Alberto Rivera
Not wanting their bullpen to falter in a decisive playoff game this year, the Flash focused on improving their bullpen from top to bottom. It is now a source of strength for the team, and the cornerstone of the overhauling was Alberto Rivera. Acquired in a trade from--well what do you know--Little Rock, Rivera had an excellent year a year ago, posting a 2.73 ERA in 82.1 innings of work in the AL. The Flash believe jumping to the NL will only make him better, and give the Flash a veritable gauntlet of backend relievers.

Key Departures:

CF Willie Campos
Campos had been a valuable contributor to the Flash since midway through Season 1, and the two parties finally parted ways this offseason. An All-Star in Season 2, the Flash saw the 33-year-old as no longer mobile enough to play CF for them. With Type A compensation coming back for him, it made the decision to let him go even easier. Despite having a down year last year, he still hit 31 HR and drove in 100 runs. He really came through in the clutch though, hitting .328 in the postseason, a far cry from his career postseason average of .232. The Chicago Black Stockings signed Campos to a 3-year deal for $18.6M, with a mutual option in the contract's final year.

RF Cozy Thomas
Cozy Thomas, while still a solid player, had stopped putting up the numbers he did when he first joined the Flash as last year played out. A former standout for the Flash whose acquisition in Season 4 paved the way to their only other NLCS berth, Thomas saw his power numbers go down every season in Philly. His .231 average a season ago earned him a demotion from a starting job once Funaki was acquired. The Memphis Where My Pitches At? inked Thomas to a 2-year deal worth $9.2M.

Outlook: Not much has changed from the NLCS team of a year ago, and the Flash feel almost every personnel change was for the better. Replacing Campos' production from the CF position will be difficult, but a stronger-still pitching arsenal could mean good things ahead for the Flash. Whatever the result, expectations have never been higher for this team hungry for a World Series berth.