HBD - Morgan World

S20 Hall of Fame Preview: The Pitchers

2011-04-22T17:46:00.004-04:00

On to the pitchers. First, note that there's a slight difference in how pitchers are scored due to the reduced value of a Gold Glove for your pitchers. I'm also a little less confident in my choice of categories for rating pitching, as there's probably a little more overlap when I use both K and K/9 and ERA, WHIP and FIP (the most conveniently available defense-independent (sort of) pitching stat). Still I think the results are reasonably valid.

Just Finished Engraving The Plaque
Vitas Sobkowiak won 4 Cy Youngs. In truth though, we should be calling them Vitas Sobkowiak awards, because this guy set the standard. 302 wins and 10 All-Star appearances for the big righthander leave everyone else in the dust (except for Banjo Melhuse). (6889 pts)

The #2 man among pitchers is as far ahead of the rest of the field as Vitas is ahead of him. Jerome Turner was Morgan's answer to John Smoltz and Dennis Eckersley. The Cy Young and Fireman of the Year winner made 7 All-Star teams, and ranks #1 among eligibles with 1500+ IP with 7.91 K/9. His 3.98 FIP is the second best among the eligibles (more on that later). (4176 pts)

No one else is really deserving of much consideration, but the analysis did turn up some interesting results. Start with #3, B.C. Sierra. Sierra will never get real consideration because he didn't get a chance to rack up the career totals necessary, but remarkably, the guy is #2 in winning percentage, and #1 in FIP at 3.95. Sobkowiak is 4th (4.06) after Sierra, Turner and Robin Sullivan. A Cy Young and 5 All-Star bids over a 10 year career? Pretty impressive run.

Mike Andrews, Joel Coleman, Pedro Acosta, and Ramon Ramirez are the next best of the not good enough.

As for my ballot, I'm voting for Sobkowiak, Goya, Thomas, O'Malley, and Durbin.

S20 Hall of Fame Preview: The Position Players

2011-04-20T22:49:00.002-04:00

Voters, campaign season is just about upon us. Last year Carl Cochrane and Rafael Cedeno had their simulated dreams become reality when they were welcomed into the Hall of Fame. Who's going to have the votes this year? Let's start with a look at the position players:

The Lock
Vladimir Goya isn't just the greatest defensive centerfielder of all time. He's the greatest to play the position, period. 10 All-Star appearances, 8 Gold Gloves, 6 Silver Sluggers. Vlady ranks 3rd among HOF eligibles in runs scored, 4th in hits, and 2nd in stolen bases. Add in all those highlight reel plays he made in center, and Goya would probably be the most exciting player in the game. MVP voters slept on Goya during his career. HOF voters shouldn't repeat that mistake. (5383 points)

The Contenders
Yes, Eric Thomas was a career DH, and that's the kiss of death to some voters. But the guy could rake. 6 All-Star games, 3 World Series rings, 8 Silver Sluggers. Only Hugh Moore has a higher career OPS among the eligibles. In that group he's also 4th in runs, 4th in homers, 5th in RBI, 4th in OBP, and 3rd in slugging. He is the best pure hitter who isn't either still playing or already enshrined. (4927 points)

I'll admit it--I was surprised when I worked out the numbers and found out just how good Alan O'Malley was. In fact, he was the best second baseman to play the game. A 7-time All Star and Silver Slugger, O'Malley was the S9 AL MVP. His .320 lifetime average places him 12th among eligibles, and he leads the group in runs scored. If his home run totals weren't eye-popping, his 2654 hits, 1376 RBI and 432 SB give him a strong case. Note that among eligibles, only Goya, O'Malley and Izzy Devereaux finished their careers with at least 300 HRs and 300 SB. (4515 points)

Get Back To Me Next Year
686 home runs is a lot. So it may be controversial when I list Tim Durbin as the 4th most qualified position player among potential nominees. I'll admit, it's a little crazy. I'm probably only bumping him this far down the list because he had only 5 All-Star appearances and only 6 Silver Sluggers (at CF and 2b, no less). Still, I'm not going to monkey with the formula, especially because I can't quite get past the fact that while Goya, Thomas and O'Malley posted career OBPs of .395, .428, and .394 respectively, Durbin finished with a very ordinary .353. I'll probably still vote for him, if not this year than certainly a year or two down the road, but I'm not sure I'm ready quite yet. (3868 points)

Might Need To Talk To The Veterans' Committee
Derrick Flynn had the kind of longevity that allows you to put up 2775 hits, 541 homers, 1692 runs, and 1911 RBI. But beyond those counting stats, he looks like a great player, rather than a Hall of Famer. His .301 average is pretty good, but neither it nor his .366 OBP, .559 SLG, or .925 OPS are in the top 20 among eligibles. 5 All-Star appearances and 2 Silver Sluggers also aren't enough to compete with some of the other illustrious careers being scrutinized here. (2885 points)

Meanwhile, Tim Smith is one of only 5 eligibles with an OPS of 1.000 or better. He's made All-Star teams and won Silver Sluggers, a Gold Glove and a 2 championship rings. Smith's problem is that his career got a late start, and he just didn't have a chance to reach the milestones needed to put forth a serious case for induction. (2732 points)

Honorable Mention: Ben Musial, Al Pena, Benj Clark, and Hugh Moore

Points are awarded based on ranking among eligible players in statistical categories (top 20 in each category get points = (21-ranking)^2), and for awards, All Star appearances, and other notable accomplishments.

The Hall of Fame: Who you should be voting for

2010-09-12T19:07:00.009-04:00

As one might expect, the first couple seasons of HOF voting have involved a ton of nominations, many of them approaching Jim Deshaies-level desperation. In the midst of this confused landscape, those that voted ushered in the no-brainers: Doug Connelly, Rusty Jones and Earl Wilkerson.

In the hopes of helping the voters, I've attempted an objective study of the candidates for enshrinement. This far removed from the early days of Morgan, many owners didn't even see Jones or Connelly in action. So employing a scheme where I assigned points based on All-Star appearances and other awards, as well as points for ranking in important career stats,* I was able to separate some wheat from the chaff.

A perfect approach? Probably not. But, I think the results I've come up with make sense when viewed subjectively, and I suspect will make the HOF debate a little more interesting. On to the results!

The Hitters

Locks for a Plaque:

3 guys stood out above the rest. During their careers they gave pitchers nightmares. In my opinion, they should go in on the next ballot.

Yamid Sierra: Among the current nomination-eligible players, Sierra is the statistical king. He leads the pack in runs, hits, home runs and RBI. Toronto's had good and bad seasons, but Yamid's been the picture of consistency. The one knock on him is that he only played in two All-Star games and won one Silver Slugger. Even with Doug Connelly and Carlos Johnson overshadowing him most of his career, it's hard to believe he couldn't make more All-Star teams.

George Spence: If you're a relative newcomer to Morgan, you missed out. George Spence was only really dominant for about 5 years, but what a 5 years! While Connelly was the NL's best hitter, Spence was the best in the AL. Only Spence has posted a slugging percentage over .800 twice. In the first five years of Morgan, Spence was a 5-time All-Star, 4-time Silver Slugger, and was AL MVP twice. His AB/HR is better than Sierra's (11.4 vs. 11.7), despite missing out on some prime years when the league started. Now that the first tier of league legends are in, it's time for Spence to get his due.

Eric Thomas: He's a DH. He profited from a standout cast assembled by Jester. Doesn't matter. Thomas is too good to leave off your ballot. A member of 6 All-Star teams, he also won 8 Silver Sluggers to go with his 3 World Series rings. He's in the top 10 in runs, hits, homers, and RBI, and he is the only player in the top 10 in both on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Voters may not love one-dimensional players, but how many players have hit so well for so long?

Very close calls:

Rafael Cedeno: Maybe he gets in this next go-round. Maybe it'll be on the ballot after that. But with 2522 hits and a .322 career average from a shortstop, he should get in before his eligibility runs out. With 5 All-Star appearances and 3 Silver Sluggers and a top 10 finish in runs, hits, home runs, RBI and batting average, you can forgive Cedeno if he was only a mediocre defensive shortstop.

Hugh Moore: My gut tells me Cedeno should be in, and Moore should be out. His MVP goes a long way in my book, but Moore just didn't quite put up the impressive cumulative stats he needs. He's #1 in slugging percentage, but he only managed 1501 hits and 1222 RBI. And while he performed some heroics as a platoon player for Hartford's championship run in S9, he only made 2 All-Star teams and won 1 Silver Slugger.

Ben Musial: Looks a lot like Moore. He put up some nice power numbers (top 10 in homers, RBI, slugging) but the hits, runs and OBP aren't there. His 4 All-Star selections and his MVP are impressive, but he never won a Silver Slugger or a World Series ring. Playing out his best years at a time when offense was king, Musial didn't quite stand out enough to warrant HOF honors.

Tim Smith: Another guy with strong power numbers, Smith was a 4-time All Star and Silver Slugger. Adding in his 2 championship rings and his experience at numerous defensive positions and Smith has a pretty strong case. On the other hand, none of his career stats stand out, and they'll only seem less impressive when Carl Cochrane and Carlos Johnson and Tim Durbin hang 'em up.

Still worth talking about:

Phillip O'Malley is in the top 10 in a bunch of categories, though he only made 1 AS team and was never a standout star...Barry Durocher wasn't a real asset behind the plate, but at the plate he was the best around at getting on base safely...Andre Hamill was one of the very few players who could change a game with his aggressive baserunning for the go-go Braves...Darrel Perez didn't put up huge numbers, but not many players make it to 5 All-Star games, especially as a middle infielder.

The Pitchers

Bottom line? You might want to save your pitching vote for Vitas Sobkowiak in case he retires. After the Polish Prince of Mascoutah, every other arm pales in comparison. While I don't think there are any clear first-ballot types, there are some intriguing cases to be made and arguments to get fans riled up.

In the Ballpark:

Jerome Turner: Remind you of anybody? He's done some starting. He's pitched out of the pen. 7 All-Star teams, a Cy Young, a Fireman of the Year and a ring to his credit. He's done as good a job as anyone of keeping runners off the bases and winning games. His case might be clearer if his teams had ever agreed on how best to use him. 128 wins and 150 saves just don't feel like Hall of Fame numbers.

Mike Andrews: 179 wins and 6 All-Star appearances aren't shabby. But what some people will remember about him are the big money contracts he never quite lived up to. A 6-time All-Star, Andrews walked away never having won a Cy Young or a championship. Still, he ranks in the top 10 in just about every major pitching category.

B. C. Sierra: His .680 winning percentage, 5 All-Star appearances and Cy Young award are great, but he never won a title, and only racked up 132 career wins. Like many pitchers, he suffered through years of offensive domination and a truncated career. One day we may look back and have a better appreciation of pitchers like Sierra, but there's no veterans' committee to sneak anyone in the back door.

Joel Coleman: Coleman felt like he had a few years of real dominance, and his 4 All-Star selections and 2 Cy Youngs back that up, but his career numbers don't help his case. His career ERA is just ok at 3.97, and he only managed 136 wins and a .596 winning percentage. I don't see him making it onto many ballots.

Javier Sosa: As his career saves total looks less and less impressive with every one Jerome Patrick racks up, Sosa's case might be DOA. If not for some infamous playoff implosions, the 7-time All-Star and 5-time Fireman of the Year could have made it in on his first or second ballot. He's still got a chance, but his window of opportunity is closing fast. Of the pitching candidates, I think Sosa and Turner probably make the strongest cases.

Not Yet Mathematically Eliminated:

Ramon Ramirez has the most wins of any candidate not in the Hall with 192, and his other stats stack up pretty well, even if he never was a dominant hurler...R. J. Sivilla won a number of strikeout titles and a Cy Young, though his 162-122 record is just so-so...Andres Terrero's stats aren't Hall of Fame-worthy, but the guy was a winner for Hartford, posting a 162-104 record and taking home a Cy Young and 2 World Series rings...Before Javier Sosa surpassed him, Chris Santangelo was the league's premier closer, appearing in 6 AS games...

* For those finishing in the top 10 in a given category among retirees, points were apportioned logarithmically based on where a player ranked. Leading all possible nominees in HRs, for instance, is worth twice as much as finishing second, which is worth twice as much as a third place finish, etc.

Vet Committee and Rules for the league

2010-06-20T12:37:00.002-04:00

We have created the veterans committee (VC) for Morgan world and the members are joemac55, chrispy, jarazix, douglasdao, steelforge, chonefiggins and jester74. They will vote on league issues.

The proposals for competitive play guidelines are:
Teams with less than 50 wins in a single season will be voted on by the VC to see if they followed the fair play guidelines and can stay in the league.

Teams with less than 125 wins over 2 two seasons will be voted on by the VC to see if they followed the fair play guidelines and can stay in the league.

Teams that that will be going into the a season where they will be having a top 5 draft pick for the 4th season in a row will be voted on by the VC to see if they followed the fair play guidelines and can stay in the league.

The fair play guidelines that teams will be judged on are are as follows: did the teams carry full rosters, monitor pitching staffs in order to not use tired pitchers, play position players at appropriate defensive position, using available means to improve their roster (FA, WW, trades, etc), and any violation of standards mentioned in the HBD fair play guidelines.

S13 Draft Review

2009-07-12T18:22:00.002-04:00

My advance scouting isn’t great, but IMHO this was one of the worst drafts we’ve seen a while. I really only saw four guys in the whole draft that I thought – Wow, wish I had him on my team.
Best drafts.
Helena – Not only added the best player, but this team needed a quantity of players and they got that in later rounds. Best draft in the league.
Memphis – One of the best SPs and a solid bullpen guy.
Pawtucket – A couple of really nice SPs, both a little raw with nice upside. It’s more a surprise though if you have the first pick and don’t get on the best draft list.
Austin – An all-star middle of the order bat with the 18th pick is very good.
Oakland – Drafted a franchise star and another solid ML position player.

Anaheim – got a dominant closer in James Murphy. Two plus pitches with superior control and vR ratings. He won’t pitch 100 IPs, but good enough STA/DUR to close.
Got Darryl Romanski for letting Wes Davies walk. His defense probably isn’t good enough to be a full time C, but that huge hole in his vR rating really hurts his value.
Another good RP in Jason King.
Atlanta - A.J. Robinson is one of the more interesting guys in the draft. He could be an MVP candidate if he could get 550 ABs, but he might only get half that. One of the worst DUR ratings I’ve ever seen in a position player, but when he does play he makes an impact.
Grabbed another C with Phillip Dyer, very nice bat and good enough defensive ratings to not be a liability behind the plate.
Austin – I think Alex Sellers has a chance to put up some of the gaudiest numbers of the draft. He won’t win a batting title or get .400 OBP, but I think he’ll hit .270/50/130 and can play 2B or 3B effectively. Can’t believe he lasted until pick 18.
If Dion Dixon signs he’ll be a solid RP for this team.
Boise - Junior Olmedo is a very solid CF/2B. He would be a great leadoff or #2 hitter and a nice pickup at #20.
Lonnie Sterns is a great RP pickup in the second round. He can give you an inning plus 3-4 days a week.
Lonnie Sterns is one of the classic HBD guys that will hit .220 and hit 48 HRs if given enough ABs, some owners like these type of guys and other won’t ever play them.
Chicago – In an attempt to get every great young pitcher in the league they drafted Francis Tucker. A solid SP that says he is determined to go to college, if he signs it will be for at least $8M and possibly $10-12M range (and he’s worth it.)
Cleveland – SP Delanor Cuddyer has acceptable control and splits, but I think very nice his pitch ratings might be enough to push him over and make this guy stand out in the league.
Supplemental pick John Edwards is interesting. I don’t think his vR is good enough for the big leagues, but his control and pitch ratings are so good I might be wrong. He’d be great if the left handed specialist setting actually worked in the game.
Detroit – A great pick at 25 Will Shave might even have a better bat than the above raved about Alex Sellars. The only real downside is he’s a DH and DUR is just average.
Jo-jo Christenson is a nice looking RP with a tad low control, but should make a good LRA/LRB type guy.
Dover – can’t see un-signed first rounder. Sting Risley looks like a decent LRA type guy.
Durham – Kyle Brooks is an interesting pick. Excellent control and spilts, and two very good pitches. His STA is a tad low for an SP, but pitches 3-5 are horrible. I’m not sure how much that will affect him since he does have two nice pitches. Too bad we can’t control pitches because I would drop his last three pitches and make him a closer.
Florida – Got a very nice SP at number 20 in Adrian Selby. He’s not a #1 or #2 SP; picking in the 20s won’t ever get you that. He will be a solid SP, pitch 200+ innings, and probably a high 4’s ERA.
Fresno – I really like the first of their three 1st round picks, a good hitting 2B/CF. But Fresno hasn’t signed any picks in the first 5 rounds.
Hartford – Good SP Vance O'Neill - I would expect him to be a #2 or #3 kind of guy.
Gil Gardner isn’t bad for being a 2nd rounder, more of a back of the rotation/middle relief kind of pitcher.
Helena – The best player in the draft was picked at #3 - Sammy Cairo. If he doesn’t win an MVP at some point in his career I would be shocked. He’s could play in the majors today and do well, and about the only thing that would derail his trip to the hall of fame would be injuries.
Skeeter Aurilia is a nice little pitcher, only thing holding him back is STA/DUR combo, but he’ll pitch solid.
Kevin Burch is another really nice player, an RP that has great stuff. Again his STA/DUR combo is low, but probably good enough to be a closer.
Even Garry Saunders is a decent pick for this late in the draft.
Huntington – First pick hasn’t signed. Harry Ramirez is talented and versatile enough to make the majors, but not exactly a game changing type guy.
Louisville – a late first round pick Pablo Rodriguez is will have a good ML career. Unfortunately he doesn’t look like he can play SS at the ML level, which makes his bat less potent.
Madison – SP Pablo Rodriguez will have a good career. I see him a lot like Sting Greene.
Mike Monahan is a quality 2B with a good bat.
Memphis – Got one of the best SPs in the draft in Ricardo Cabeza. Pitching is always at a premium and Ricardo is at least the SP closest to being effective in the majors. I don’t consider him a HOF’er, but he’s a solid #1 or #2 and can pitch 220+ innings.
RP Maverick Moore was a great pickup at #61 – great stuff, but that STA/DUR is kind of low.
Minnesota – Roberto Lecuona looks more like a 3B than SS, but his bat is good enough to be a franchise player. Nice pickup at #9.
Nashville – CF Myron Clarke has a great glove and a good enough bat to eventually play in the majors. To me he still looks very raw though and has a long way to develop to make the majors and it might be 4-5 seasons before he makes the majors.
Roy Helms is another CF with a decent bat.
NY – haven’t seen them sign at significant players yet.
Oakland – At number 8 drafted a franchise player in Rickey Brantley. Great contact and power and good enough splits, his BE is a little low. I kind of see him as a Vlad Guerrero type guy. Won’t walk a bunch, but won’t strike out and will hit a ton of homers. I could see 40-50 HRs a season, but with such a high contact rating with that power that could be a conservative estimate. The most annoying thing about this guy could be his 90+ speed and 30+ base running ability. Those guys seem to end up with 35 SBs and 27 CS.
Lawrence Ellis is a nice player, but that low vR rating could keep him from being really good. Nice pick for #99.
Pawtucket – The first pick in the draft Pedro Melo was probably the SP with most upside. His control and splits just about assure him of being a very good SP. His name should be alongside that of Alex Lee, Hersh Knight, and Brett Bell. The only downside to him is his pitch ratings aren’t spectacular, but I think he will still be very good.
SP Mack Devereaux looks nice, but that control worries me a little bit.
Richmond – OF Denny Henry has interesting ratings. Power and splits are pretty average in the 50s and 60s, but he’s got such good contact and BE that he should have a great OBP.
San Diego - Ray Washington should have a nice long career in the majors. Looks to me a lot like Willie Liriano. So he’s more of a #2 or #3 kind of SP.
Also drafted a solid MIF Shane Simmons. Looks like a super utility type guy to me. I actually think that their next pick in Vinny Calderon has a better chance of being a quality starting position player.
San Juan – They had four picks from 28-53 First round holdout Gerald Duran looks to be a nice RP if he signs. Carlton Sisler was another good RP selection. They have another holdout and then the last first rounder is Len Thompson. I’m a little concerned about Len’s pitch ratings and poor STA/DUR combo. 60 IPs might be the most he can put out in a season.
Zack Enders can pitch a few more innings, but he looks like a SuB kind of pitcher.
Dennis Lo actually looks to be a decent 3B prospect.
For being such a weak draft San Juan is probably coming out with about as many ML’ers as any other team. But if Duran doesn’t sign, they could also be turning 4 first rounders and 2 second round picks into about 115 quality relief innings and a 3B that should be a good #7 hitter, which is probably less than they were hoping for.
Scottsdale - Lou Raggio looks to me one of the best RPs taken in the draft. The only real concern I have of him is his low GB/FB ratio. I usually don’t concern myself much with that rating, but in a place like Scottsdale it can be problematic.
St. Louis – Not only was this draft weak, but SS’s that could field seems very sparse. Marino Nieto is about the only quality fielding SS that also had a very good bat available in the draft.
Gerald Dunham looks like an above average bat that can play 2B.
Syracuse – hasn’t signed any significant players.
Tampa Bay – Adam Andrews looks like he could be an all-star SP, but he hasn’t decided yet if he is going to sign.
Texas – looks to have a gold glove type CF/2B in Juan Cairo with a solid bat.
Toronto – Grabbed SP Julio Manzanillo, who should have a long solid if unspectacular career in HBD.
Blaine Nen is probably the best defensive SS with any semblance of a ML bat and even that is just because he has a good vR and BE rating. His glove is still very raw, but has potential.
Vancouver - Ignacio Martinez could be a really good 4th OF or Backup 1B.

All About The Rings

2009-05-19T21:52:00.003-04:00

53 men have played in the postseason for at least two World Series winners. Of them, five share the record by playing with 3 Series winners: Tim Durbin, Rusty Jones, Will Monroe, Eric Thomas and Earl Wilkerson. Perhaps unsurprisingly, all 5 won all of their championships with Scottsdale/Vancouver.

Durbin, Monroe, and Thomas seek an opportunity to win a 4th ring with Vancouver, while Rusty Jones still has hopes of winning his 4th with the Scottsdale Force.

Also of note: Of the players who won the title with Toronto in Morgan League's inaugural season, one is still chasing a title this season--Boston starter Tom Nickle, who went 3-1 during the playoffs during that first season as a 24 year-old.

All-Time Records

2009-04-21T11:18:00.002-04:00

Top 5

Vancouver: 1,164-618
Atlanta: 1,094-688*
New York (AL): 1,063-719*
Hartford: 1,045-737*
Scottsdale: 1,044-738

* - Original owner.

Original Owner Records

Atlanta: 1,094-618; joemac55
New York (AL): 1,063-719; chris_rog1
Hartford: 1,045-738; ChoneFiggins
St. Louis: 941-841; wonderin32
Toronto: 913-869; barjaz
Memphis: 910-872; mh17
Austin: 880-902; chrispy
Boise: 845-937; hurricane384

Fascinating Facts

Since TheJester74 has taken over, Vancouver has never won fewer than 100 games.
Atlanta, Hartford, Scottsdale, and Anaheim have never had a losing season.
Most wins in a season, Vancouver, season 8 - 122
Vancouver has 7 of the top 10 winningest seasons in Morgan History.
Fewest wins - Florida, season 4 - 2
Honolulu, Durham, and Florida are the only teams with single digits wins in a season.
Of the 3 teams with single digit wins on their records, only 1 has followed that season with a winning season, Durham.
Two teams have never had a winning record. Honolulu & Nashville.
Of the 8 original owners, 6 are in the NL, and 2 are in the AL

World Series Information

Champions

Vancouver - 3
New York (AL)/Hartford - 2
Toronto/Washington, DC/Atlanta/Boston - 1

Appearances

Atlanta - 5
Vancouver - 4
Hartford - 3
Washington, DC/Sacramento/New York (AL) - 2
Toronto/St. Louis/Boston/Texas - 1

Random Facts about the Winners' Season (Rank)

Average ERA - 4.47 (7)
Average Runs - 1,055 (9)
Average fielding percentage - 98.4% (8)
AL leads in championships, 6-5
AL leads in wins, 32-27
Best ERA - Vancouver, season 10 - 3.60
Most RS - Scottsdale, season 4 - 1,318
Best FP - New York (AL), season 6 - 99.2%
Worst ERA - Toronto, season 1 - 5.02
Fewest RS - Boston, season 7 - 912
Worst FP - Atlanta, season 5 - 97.8%

SS Evaluation

2009-04-12T15:23:00.003-04:00

Ages of ML SS with 85 glove when drafted or signed as an IFA. Original means they were there when the world started. I checked 5 worlds that were all at least 10 seasons old.

World/Age	18	19	20	21	22	Original	Total Developed
Morgan S12	11	6	1	1	0	4	19
Schticless S12	10	3	2	2	1	1	18
Gleeman S10	7	2	2	1	2	14	14
Coop S10	6	2	2	3	3	4	16
Griffey S11	5	3	2	2	0	4	12
Total	39	16	9	9	6		79
Percentage	0.49	0.2	0.11	0.11	0.08

S11 Draft Review

2009-01-17T23:17:00.002-05:00

Anaheim - Ken Miller looks like he might be just a tad shy of true SS glove quality, but with his power rating he could be a silver slugger at 3B. Great pickup at 18.
Ed Brosier hasn’t signed yet, but he’s a good pitcher who could probably only throw 65-75 pitches a game so probably best suited for LRA, but maybe SP5.
2nd round pick Marshall Casey is interesting. Upper 90s power, decent splits, 90s Stamina and Health so I expect 50-60 HRs a season.
Then got a future 1B Rheal Coleman 4 picks later.
3rd round got a very nice Closer/Setup type RP in Alex Matos.
No way 4th rounder Nate Palmer is a starter (really a 0 vR rating), but as a 25th man on the roster he gives you SS glove and potentially one of the best SB threats in the league. Not to be outdone 5th round SS choice Jesus Mendez has 0 rating for vR and vL. I’ve never even seen a pitcher with double 0’s for splits.
Atlanta – Future closer picked at #28 Josh Hill, good RP with great pitch ratings. That’s who Dover gave up to get Tony Rivera. Rivera is probably better, but he’s 32 years old. Seems like a fair trade.
Atlanta has indicated they might not sign Tex Toler since he is known as a clubhouse cancer, but he is a decent CF.
The other half of the Rivera signing is Tomas Martin, can pitch a ton of innings and won’t walk many guys, but L/R splits are borderline ML. If he starts for ATL they will probably just hope he holds down the fort in the 5th spot.
2nd round pick Bob Webster is a stellar pitcher, but his mid 30s DUR and 18 STA mean that he can pitch 1 inning every 4 games.
3rd rounder Dmitri Burkhart is a borderline prospect. It usually takes higher L/R splits or pitch ratings to overcome mediocre control. Plus his STA/DUR combo doesn’t really make him an ideal LR or Mopup candidate.
4th rounder Michael Saarloos might be a role player or platoon, but he is young and very raw. Long way to go to develop.
Augusta – For the 25th pick they got a solid SP in Cliff Spradlin. His control is a tad low, but only his 5th pitch should be sub 60, and all his other ratings look good.
Norm Jordan is a safe pick at #78. He’ll be a role player, virtually every defensive and offensive rating falls between mid 50s and low 70s, so he’ll play a fairly non-descript 6-8 year ML career.
Pascual Guzman is one of those odd players that WifS invented, high STA but obscenely low DUR. Personally I don’t think a guy could pitch 85 pitches in a game and then be exhausted for 10 days should exist, but they do in this game. So he’s really a setup/closer type now.
Austin – 13th pick Zephyr Riley is a solid CF/2B prospect. Good range/glove and very nice offensive numbers. He is very raw though and has a long way to go to make his potential.
Destin Shuck looks like a great hitter in the #2 spot. Great OBP, has some power , and hits both Lefties and Righties. Good supp pick for RF.
Boise – Grabbed a solid SP James Hines at #21.
2nd round pick Albert Ashburn looks good, but that control is a bit low. His other numbers might be good enough to overcome that.
Not only does 3rd RP Billy Posey have good pitcher ratings, that DUR in the upper 90’s with mean he can pitch 90+ games a season.
Well a DH aren’t completely useless in the NL, but close. Getting a good PH that could be a backup C in a pinch in the 4th round isn’t that bad David Diaz, now if he picked up a DH in round one I would have certainly questioned the motives, but in round 4 a solid PH is better than nothing.
Boston – CF Glenn Jackson , so Boston has a CF that could leadoff with something close to a .400 OBP. Decent enough glove, but not spectacular.
Solid hitting 2B Buck Wainhouse in the second round.
Douglas Battle has a solid bat, but if he can only be 1B/DH he seems a little below average.
Charlotte – Can’t see his first round pick and he has yet to sign. 2nd round pick Paul Stocker his a great glove CF that has great contact and BE, but not good power or L/R splits. It will be interesting to see how he performs.
3rd round they got a solid 3B Willis Simms who has a little pop in his bat.
I really like 4th round pick Ugueth Soriano, and even if he doesn’t improve his DUR/STA it already stands at an impressive 78/34.
Chicago NL – Well the recent history of picking franchise players in the draft continues for Chicago. Of course pick 4,1,4, and 6 in the last four drafts helps. 3B Jesus Alicea looks to have long productive ML career ahead of him, an few trips to the all-star game isn’t out of the question.
Solid tweener type LR/SP in Orber Ozuna, either way he can probably give you 110-130 IPs a season.
3rd rounder Damion Seneca does everything ok, but doesn’t excel at anything.
Cincinnati - Got one of the top players in the draft in SP P.J. Melfi. Easily puts up 220+ IPs, and gives them a true ace.
SP Luis Hernandez should be able to cover the back end of the rotation.
Cleveland – Got a franchise slugging LH 1B Julian Rosario, it will be interesting to see how the affect of 95 speed and 26 base running skills plays out. He might steal 50 SBs and get thrown out 35 times.
SP/RP Phil Riley should be a good addition to the bullpen.
Well Vlad Goya isn’t worried about his job yet, but in 5 seasons Cleveland will be needing a new CF and Bob Phillips can fill that void…but not quite fill Vlad’s shoes.
Most flame out, but sometimes when given enough ABs those huge power guys like Paul Morandini come through and hit .235/48/115 and sometimes it fits a team’s needs.
Dover – Didn’t pick until 48, but got a solid big league IF Virgil Valdes, great makeup but poor health.
Maybe my scouting is off, but I’m surprised Jayson Rain fell all the way to #113. He’s not a silver slugger, but the only rating which really seems low is BE. Seems he could have been picked 30-40 picks sooner easily.
This draft sure seemed filled with tweener pitchers and Dover got one and it only cost a 4th round pick for Seth Knight.
Durham – Talk about doing it all, Luther Sellers is one of the most interesting guys to come along. All his offensive ratings are 75+, and he has the 100 speed rating with a solid base running skills. He’s going to be one of those rare guys that can win not just a game, but a series virtually by himself.
SP Andrew Daniels could be a back of the rotation type guy.
Florida – Is starting to get used to having to draft in a slot other than 1 or 2, but is still pulling quality talent. Alex Williams has a great bat and should be a great #5 or #6 hitter. Most of their other picks have not signed yet.
Hartford – It’s a little scary that a player like Wesley Hall is headed to the little league ballfield that is called Hartford. It’s one thing when a solid hitting 1B falls to #22, but it’s a 2B with a good glove it makes it even scarier and he’s good at everything else too.
But don’t worry too much, that good hitting 1B Taylor Pavano fell to them at pick #41
Quinn Kaufman is one of those good hitting catchers that abound, but he actually has a good enough glove to be effective behind the plate.
Lon Wood looks like at the very least one of those utility players that can hit and play every position outside of SS and C.
Shawn Hudson is the perfect backup catcher.
Helena – Went heavy on the pitchers, and grabbed an ace SP at #10 in Dick Brooks. He does absolutely everything well and is a certain all-star.
SP Andrea Byrne might make it, but the vR rating seems a tad low.
Louisville – RP Andrea Byrne -w ho I call an RP because in my experience a 14 DUR just can’t pitch as a starter every 5th day and I tried it with a guy that had mid-90s STA. Too bad because he is great in every other manner, but he should still give close to 100 IPs a season.
3B Jordan Benard has interesting ratings, super high contact and BE, and average splits and power. I am very interested in seeing what his stats turn out like.
In the third round Louisville got one of the best SS gloves in the draft Shane Knotts and even hits righties well.
If RP Melvin Walker can overcome low control he could be decent.
Memphis – I hope it’s my poor scouting, but I see Brian Kirby as having great ratings in everything except the vR rating. Seems like a big risk for the 4th pick in the draft.
IF Spike Sweeney is a good all round pick for the third round.
Milwaukee – Their first pick has me stumped a bit, maybe my scouting is way off on this player, but I find it hard to believe he wouldn’t have be available much later in the draft. John Halama has good vR, control and pitch ratings, but his STA and DUR ratings are so low it really affects his usefulness. I actually tried to find a player with 30/30 STA/DUR in the majors and there isn’t one.
Orber Mendoza is an interesting OF. He has great contract and BE and solid power numbers, but modest L/R splits. He is certainly ML material, but I will be interested in seeing what his stats look like.
They got a utility guy Ted Verdugo in the second round. I actually like their #84 pick better Benny Vincente.
Minnesota – Got the premier RP in the draft Juan Galarraga, besides his great control, and L/R splits he has such great STA/DUR that it is almost like having getting a 26th man on the roster. There really was only one negative about this player, and unfortunately it has already come back to bite Minnesota and that is his health rating. Juan has already found himself on the DL for most of the rest of the season.
With the first supp pick they grabbed a pretty good SP in Joe James.
Nashville – SS Mark Posey looks like he will actually have SS quality glove and hits well enough that he doesn’t have to bat 8th or 9th. Nice pickup at #11.
A little torn on SP Derek Paige, decent ratings except vR seems a bit low.
2nd rounder Al Peterson looks like a solid 3B prospect, that high BE really separates him from just and average guy.
CF Stan Matthews looks like a pretty good later round pickup. CF type glove, speed and good splits.
NY AL – 3B Frank Herndon looks to be one of those very solid quality 3B with a Robin Ventura type career. Reminds me of George Gryboski in his stats.
2nd Round pick Lloyd Jenkins is a great hitting slugging DH. Another nice pick for #80 in the draft.
Richmond – This team had 4 first round draft picks. RP Wilkin Padilla was one of the better RPs in the draft. His STA/DUR is so good his best role might actually be Setup A rather than closer so he can 100 or so IPs.
#24 they got SP Barney Velandia who looks like a very nice starter. Two great pitches and very nice control, splits are a tad low but I think the pitch ratings and control will make up for it.
Their third first round pick won’t sign, but their fourth one is a good hitting LF that is a great value pick. Benji Gunderson has great hitting ratings everywhere except an extremely low BE. BE is one of my favorite ratings, but his other batting ratings are so high I think he will still be a valuable player.
4th round pick Norman Edmonds is a decent ML 3B. Same goes for 1B/LF Dick Harris.
Rochester – looks like their first round pick at #14 isn’t going to sign or their pick at #44. They did get a very nice Catcher Ozzie Lee who can be a quality backstop and good bat.
Salem – got one of the better SS in Josh Hume. Good glove, and a nice hitter.
Sam Schneider seems like a decent ML’er, maybe a utility type guy.
San Diego – 8th pick in the draft Jimmy Jefferies reminds me of my own Felipe Rodriguez. Speedy, high OBP, overall very nice player.
Pretty good SP George Adams at #43.
Scottsdale – Didn’t have a 1st round pick, and didn’t sign a guy until the 5th round. At least they got a great bargain on the IFA market.
Sioux Falls – Had thoughts about taking Juan Gallaraga at #1, but after Juan’s injury they are probably glad they passed on that. Instead they chose Sandy Yeats. Probably not the premier HOF type SP they were hoping to get, but he is a very good SP. All four of his pitches are very highly rated, pretty good splits, and doesn’t really have any red flags. Would be a solid SP for any team in the league.
St. Louis – They found a replacement for CF McNamara in Raymond Parnell , a good hitting CF that is already 21 so he should be in the bigs soon.
After getting Parnell in the first round they got a very raw Ariel Vizcaino in round two. Good player that is probably 4 seasons away from the majors.
Hi Wilson is also a good 3rd round pick for 3B.
Got one of the premiere defensive catchers in Hughie Marion. Not a bad hitter, but will struggle against RH pitchers.
Tacoma – The best SP in the draft will probably end up being Alan Gibson. Obviously the player Sioux Falls wish they had seen. A guy like him playing in the pitchers ballpark like Tacoma could have multiple seasons under 3.00 ERA.
Picked a solid closer at #55 in Ralph Gordon. Then got a nice middle reliever Wilfredo Mendez.
Nice defensive C Victor Sanchez will just help this pitching staff.
Texas – Good RP Glenn Ball, nice splits and control. Good enough STA/DUR that he could be the team’s primary setup guy.
Dizzy Reitz looks like a decent #3 or #4 SP,
Larry Clinton looks more like a long relief/emergency starter type guy to me. Control is good, splits ok, but as I looked the lack of a dominant 1st pitch I think will keep him from being a really good SP. That said for the third round he was a good gamble, and maybe he surprises.
Toronto – SP Lewis Mays is very raw. He’s got a rubber arm and could pitch 230+ IPs, but he’s a long way from projections. If he does get close he could be a quality contributor.
SP Dummy Cogan looks good, but he has shaky control.
Hipolito Castillo all round pretty good 2B.
Vancouver – 1st and 2nd round picks haven’t signed. John Conine will be at best the 25th guy that is a great defensive CF/2B and speed off the bench.

Top Drafts
Tacoma – Best Draft in the league. Not only one of the best players, but quality players later in the draft.
Sioux Falls - but picking #1 almost ensures you will be on this list.
Anaheim – All round good selections
Cincinnati – based solely on their first pick
Durham – almost based solely on their first pick.
Richmond – 3 quality first round picks, which are all above average type guys
Hartford – got 5 players that can play well in the big leagues.
Good Picks for where they picked Drafts
NY
Texas

Top 32 Prospects

2009-01-07T14:14:00.007-05:00

Ordering these players was quite difficult. I do feel like the top 5 are the best five, even if not in that order. The pitchers on this list look more impressive then the hitters, perhaps because we throw hitters into the ML fire more quickly then we are willing to with pitching prospects. The list is biased based on what I think makes a player successful in this game (as compared with Major League Baseball, defense seems to me to be less important) and my perception of what positions are at a premium (ie. catcher). It was also challenging to remain mindful of stamina, durability, and health, which left some more talented players lower than they would have been ranked otherwise. The list is 32 long because there are 32 teams, and I like the symmetry of it. It also seems worth mentioning that, with the exception of one player, these are not players who are up in the ML yet. If this list were expanded to those prospects who are currently playing their rookie seasons, there would be at least 8 high-ranking additions to this list (for example, Alex Lee)

1. Jesse Richardson Florida Pheonix
2. Curtis Shumaker Boise Falcons
3. Cookie Beltre Vancouver Shrugging Atlases
4. Russell Martin Chicago Curse
5. Galahad Mercker Chicago Curse
6. Polin James Charlotte Cutters
7. Marc Bunning Scottsdale Force
8. Jimmie Astacio Toronto Storks
9. Jermaine Knepper Nashville Hound Dogs
10. Stevie Park Tacoma Express
11. Tim Cook Nashville Hound Dogs
12. Al Valdez Anaheim Redbirds
13. Ron Conti Texas Black Socks
14. Charlie Towers Boston Blood Sox
15. Andrea Eiland Charlotte Cutters
16. Todd Russell Richmond Hicks (Just got promoted)
17. Edwin McGowan Dover Gophers
18. Davey Galarraga Helena Brewers
19. Juan Santiago Boise Falcons
20. Yuniesky Espinoza Vancouver Shrugging Atlases
21. David Cooper Milwaukee Gurus
22. Albert Sellers Richmond Hicks
23. Matthew Carter Atlanta Braves
24. Quentin Riggs Anaheim Redbirds
25. Neil Meadows New York Mugger Funk
26. Hector Bonilla Helena Brewers
27. Brett Bell Dover Gophers
28. William Satou Memphis Elvi
29. Orber Pulido Florida Pheonix
30.Christopher Brewington Charlotte Cutters
31.Harold Diaz Charlotte Cutters
32. Cal Robertson Austin Wranglers

AL South

2009-01-05T12:36:00.002-05:00

Durham Horseflys
Hipolito Prieto RF AAA 20 B+
Josh Donahue 2B AA 19 B+
Jimmie Ordonez RF AA 19 B-
Keith Becker RP AAA 21 B-
Javier Rincon SS AA 19 C

Nashville Hound Dogs
Jermaine Knepper SP AA 21 A
Tim Cook 2B AAA 20 A
Zeus Affeldt RF AA 20 A-
Albert Gomez SS LoA 18 B+
Sammy Martin SP AAA 21 B

Memphis Elvi
William Satou SS AA 22 A-
Carl Osborne 2B AAA 21 B+
Sid Ducey 2B AAA 21 B-
J.T. Roth 2B LoA 19 C+
Victor Rodriguez RP HiA 20 C

Texas Black Socks
Ron Conti 3B AAA 23 A
Duke Webster RF LoA 19 B+
Jacque Radke RP AA 19 B
Pat Zhang RF AAA 22 C+
J.P. Carreras SP AAA 23 C

NL East

2009-01-04T14:06:00.002-05:00

Boston Blood Sox
Charlie Towers 3B AAA 21 A
Anthony Montgomery RP AAA 20 B+
Victor Guzman 2B HiA 21 B
Roberto Hernandez SP AAA 21 C+
Fred Landrum SP AAA 19 C

Chicago Curse
Russell Martin SP HiA 19 A+
Galahad Mercker SP AAA 22 A
Delino Gonzalez 2B HiA 20 C+
Bill Lowe SS AAA 21 C
Jose Soto C AAA 23 C

Cincinnati Horsies
Kent Karl DH AA 19 B-
Andrew Malone SP AAA 24 C+
Paul Chen SP LoA 18 C+
Tom Cameron 1B AAA 22 C
Kris Thomson LF AAA 22 C-

Hartford Harpoons
Orber Mullin 1B HiA 20 B+
Mateo Dominguez 1B HiA 20 B+
Rudy Duran SP AA 21 B-
Gus Yamamoto SP AA 20 C+
Connie Grant RP AAA 21 C

AL West

2009-01-03T15:43:00.003-05:00

Helena Brewers
Davey Galarraga SP HiA 19 A
Hector Bonilla SP HiA 22 A
Kyle McNamara 2B HiA 21 B
Alex Guerrero SP AAA 23 C+
Wayne Wheeler RP HiA 21 C+

Salem Mad Monks
Albert Richard RF AA 21 B
Torey Rodriguez 2B LoA 21 B-
Dion Wilkerson SP HiA 20 B-
Pete Mitchell RF AAA 20 C+
Roger Darnell SP AA 21 C+

Scottsdale Force
Marc Bunning SP AAA 19 A
Peter Stone RP LoA 21 B-
Matty Martinez RP AAA 24 B-
Alex Cervantes C AAA 24 C
Dennis Lee CF AAA 23 C

Vancouver Shrugging Atlases
Cookie Beltre 2B AA 20 A+
Yuniesky Espinoza CF LoA 18 A
David Perez 3B AA 20 B
Don Pettibone RP AA 19 B
Parker Flood 1B AAA 23 B-

NL North

2009-01-02T19:24:00.003-05:00

Augusta Mainiacs
Davy Duran CF AA 24 B-
Juan James SP AA 20 B-
Trevor Browne SP AAA 23 C+
Sammy Blasco SS AAA 21 C
Piper Cornelius RF AA 21 C

Boise Falcons
Curtis Shumaker 2B AAA 21 A+
Juan Santiago CF HiA 20 A
Everett Winston RP HiA 23 B
Tony Humphries 1B LoA 21 B
Orlando Candelaria LF AAA 21 C+

Cleveland Cleveland Stormtroopers
Daryl Simms 2B LoA 20 B-
Pepper Buchanan LF LoA 19 C+
Felix Maxwell RF LoA 19 C
Pedro Zapata RF AAA 22 C
Delanor Wagner CF AAA 24 C

Toronto Storks
Jimmie Astacio RP AA 21 A
Jimmie Gabriel SP AAA 23 B
Ramon Martin RF AAA 22 B-
Pascual Barrios SS HiA 22 C+
Angel House SP AA 22 C+
*I want to note that with Astacio, he could throw 60-90 innings as a shut down closer, but why not use him in long relief so that he can rack up 150-200 innings? Throwing potentially three times as many innings greatly increases his value, in my opinion.

AL North

2008-12-31T11:07:00.004-05:00

Dover Gophers
Edwin McGowan SP AA 22 A
Brett Bell SP AA 20 A
Jason McCartin 1B AAA 22 B+
Kris Harper RF LoA 21 B
Bill Blauser LF AAA 26 B-

Milwaukee Gurus
David Cooper SS AA 20 A
Everett Sanders 2B AAA 21 A-
Clayton Serrano SP AAA 23 B-
Jeremy Bird 3B AAA 21 B-
Will Richardson RF HiA 21 C+

Minnesota St. Paul Sots
Walter Reith SP AAA 21 B+
Justin Shields 3B HiA 24 B
Felix Kimura RF AA 24 C+
Roger Dillon CF HiA 21 C+
Darwin Reitz 2B AAA 23 C+

Sioux Falls Badlands
Paul Maduro 3B AA 20 B
Midre Calvo 3B AAA 21 B
Pat Richard CF AA 24 B-
Kevin Carter SS AAA 23 C
Hal Throneberry 2B AA 23 C-

NL South

2008-12-29T15:43:00.002-05:00

Atlanta Braves
Matthew Carter LF AA 21 A
Ramiro Suarez 2B AA 21 B+
Kane Howard RP AAA 25 B
Hersh Hodges 3B LoA 19 B-
Adrian Parris C HiA 23 B-

Austin Wranglers
Cal Robertson RP LoA 23 A-
Vinny Hukata SP AAA 22 B
Antonio Kelly 2B AAA 24 B-
Yamid Roque SS AA 20 C
Jeffrey Eaton CF AA 24 C

Louisville Wild Turkeys
Vincenzo Osborne C AAA 21 B+
Jimmie Samuel 3B AAA 21 B+
Emmanuel Crespo COF AAA 24 B
Rickey Bagley RP AAA 23 C+
Bart Carter RP AAA 24 C+

Richmond Hicks
Todd Russell SP AAA 21 A
Albert Sellers SS AAA 22 A
Hideki Dong CF AAA 26 B-
Sammy Rodriguez RF AAA 26 C+
Glenn O'Toole RP HiA 20 C+

AL East

2008-12-27T12:46:00.004-05:00

Charlotte Cutters
Andrea Eiland SP HiA 19 A
Harold Diaz 3B HiA 23 A-
Christopher Brewington RF AA 20 A-
Dale Presley SP AA 22 B
Everett Winston RP AA 23 B-

Florida Pheonix
Jesse Richardson SP AAA 23 A+
Livan Mangual SP AA 21 A-
Orber Pulido SP LoA 19 A-
Ray Anderson CF AAA 22 B
Jerry Richardson DH LoA 19 B

New York Mugger Funk
Neil Meadows RP AA 20 A
Eric Anderson SS HiA 22 B
Harry Lugo LF AA 20 C+
Edwards Terry CF LoA 21 C+
Neal Rose SS AA 21 C+

Rochester Tigers
Guillermo Park CF AA 20 C+
Dan Brocail RP 23 AA C
Kris Cobb SP 23 AAA C
Wayne Enders SP 22 AA C
Orlando Romero 2B HiA 20 C

NL West

2008-12-26T19:58:00.002-05:00

This prospect report, unfortunately, is going to be brief. One division at a time I will list each team's top five prospects (in my opinion), with A grades for sure thing all stars, B grades for above average guys with a shot at one all star appearence, and a C grade for guys who could be average major leaguers. At the end I will then put together a top 30 list for the whole League. Also, I wont pretend any clarvoyance, or even great concistancy across teams, but hopefully this is something good to look at. And if you trade an all-star, be sure to aim for guys on these lists!

Anaheim Redbirds
Al Valdez 2B/CF AA 21 A
Quentin Rigs 1B HiA 20 A
Javy Bolivar RF AAA 23 B+
Miguel Rijo LF AA 21 B
Brian Winn SP LoA 19 B-

San Diego Devil Dogs
Hooks Jackson SP AAA 21 B+
Fernando Perez 3B AA 20 B
Darren Prior RF AAA 22 B-
Moose Park RF AA 20 C
Kenny Hill CF AA 24 C-

St. Louis Showboats
Clarence Schneider RF AAA 23 B
Rollie Nixon 3B AAA 23 B-
David Mendoza RF AA 21 C
Fred Riley SS AA 23 C
Wesley Piper SP HiA 21 C

Tacoma Express
Stevie Park SS HiA 20 A
Andrew Davis CF AA 23 B
Patrick Champion SP AAA 21 B-
Louis Casillo RP 22 AA C+
Alex Ayala SS 21 AA C

Talent-Based Playoffs

2008-12-18T13:41:00.001-05:00

NL Playoffs
1. Atlanta
2. Cleveland
3. Anaheim
4. Boston
5. Toronto
6. Hartford

AL Playoffs
1. Vancouver
2. Milwaukee
3. Texas
4. New York
5. Scottsdale
6. Sioux Falls

This is based on the assumption that the wildcard teams are seeded 5 and 6. (Scottsdale is actually ranked as the second best team in the AL).

Brian's Divisional Talent Rankings

2008-12-18T13:36:00.002-05:00

AL North
1. Milwaukee
2. Sioux Falls
3. Dover
4. Minnesota

AL East
1. New York
2. Charlotte
3. Florida
4. Rochester

AL West
1. Vancouver
2. Scottsdale
3. Helena
4. Salem

AL South
1. Texas
2. Nashville
3. Durham
4. Memphis

NL North
1. Cleveland
2. Toronto
3. Boise
4. Augusta

NL East
1. Boston
2. Hartford
3. Chicago
4. Cincinnati

NL West
1. Anaheim
2. San Diego
3. Tacoma
4. St. Louis

NL South
1. Atlanta
2. Louisville
3. Richmond
4. Austion

Brian's Talent Rankings

2008-12-17T15:12:00.003-05:00

These are rankings I've calculated using the 4 major breakdowns in the Franchise Rankings screen. These are purely based on numbers and calculated by weighting the categories that I feel are important for a team on a percentage basis. (PS - if your team isn't listed in a particular category, let me know via trade chat or whatever and I'll let you know.)

Starters

Vancouver
Boston
Texas
Scottsdale
Florida

Bench

Atlanta
Milwaukee
Toronto
Nashville
Helena

Rotation

Vancouver
New York
Milwaukee
Boston
Atlanta

Bullpen

Atlanta
Cleveland
Milwaukee
Anaheim
Vancouver

Top 5 Talent-Wise

Atlanta
Vancouver
Scottsdale
Milwaukee
Cleveland

Coming tomorrow...division by division breakdown.

World Series Stats

2008-12-08T13:36:00.002-05:00

The AL is leading, 6-4.
Vancouver (Scottsdale) became the first 3-time World Series champion.
Vancouver ranked 1st in pitching, 3rd in runs scored, and 17th in fielding percentage.
Atlanta made its world-leading 5th appearance.
This was just the second World Series to go 7 games in the world's history.
Vancouver was the worst-ranked fielding team to win the World Series.
AL leads 31-23 (in games).

Top Free Agent Pitchers

2008-12-05T10:40:00.003-05:00

Relief Pitchers
1. Emil Renteria (L) - AUG
2. Will Pickford (L) - SD
3. Milt Young (L) - TEX
4. Andres Arroyo (R) - AUS
5. Steve Childers (R) - ROC
6. Dwight Marshall (R) - LAA
7. Eric Ramirez (L) - Free Agent
8. Louis Widger (L) - NAS
9. Miguel Molina (L) - ROC
10. Turk Chouinard (R) - FLA

Starting Pitchers
1. Mike Andrews (R) - MIL
2. Jesus James (R) - MIN
3. Virgil Quinn (R) - RIC
4. Arlie Dillon (R) - CLE
5. Curtis Greenwood (R) - AUS
6. Ed Wallace (L) - TEX
7. Jose Cordero (R) - ATL
8. Ralph Taylor (R) - LAA
9. Ivan Ulrich (R) - CIN
10. Gill Kwon (R) - TEX

Swingmen/Other
1. Jermaine Brumfield (R) - CLE
2. Alvin Mills (R) - Free Agent
3. Ted Rivera (R) - VC
4. P.T. McNamara (R) - VC
5. Daniel Malone (R) - DUR

Top Free Agents - By Position

2008-12-05T10:09:00.002-05:00

Catcher
1. Yogi Lieberthal (R) - VC
2. Bob May (L) - HAR
3. John Bong (S) - HAR

First Base
1. Blade Rothschild (L) - CIN
2. Jon Zentmeyer (R) - SD
3. Al Cabrera (S) - HEL

Second Base
1. Stewart Stieb (R) - SXF
2. Buddy Munoz (R) - LAA
3. Fernando Diaz (R) - LOU

Shortstops
1. Tanner Dransfeldt (R) - LAA
2. Nolan West (L) - TEX
3. Harry Franco (R) - ROC

Third Base
1. Mark Ross (R) - DOV
2. Sam Rivera (R) - AUG
3. Mendy Messmer (R) - CH1

Right Field
1. Bonk Linton (R) - MIL
2. Tim Lincoln (L) - AUS
3. Heath DeRosa (R) - MEM

Center Field
1. Billy Ray Jensen (L) - AUS
2. Yannick Gilbert (R) - FLA
3. Bill Locko (L) - TEX

Left Field
1. Carl Cochrane (R) - MIN
2. Tony Rivera (S) - ATL
3. Pedro Fernandez (R) - LAA

Designated Hitter
1. Happy Presley (R) - SAL
2. Juan Castillo (R) - FLA
3. Steve Offerman (L) - ROC

TOP 5 OVERALL
1. Bonk Linton
2. Carl Cochrane
3. Tony Rivera
4. Happy Presley
5. Juan Castillo

Pitchers to come later today.

**DISCLAIMER**
All rankings were done using a formula developed by hurricane384. These are pure formulaic entries. The top 5 overall are done based purely on my hitting formula.

League Notes on the Almanac

2008-12-01T16:41:00.001-05:00

S4 ROY has already retired (he was 28 when he won the award)

S6 ROY Rickey McCartney is widely considered the worst player to win a major award. While his season was deserving of an award he has never replicated that success.

s7 had our only shared MVP award.

Earl Wilkerson went the longest time between winning two award. Winning the Cy Young in S1 and s7.

S8 and S10 featured Rookie of the Year award winners that also won MVP. Dennis Perez and Clint Hutton.

Joel Coleman and Earl Wilkerson are the only two pitchers to have won an Cy Young in both leagues.

3 players have won two Cy young awards while Leo Mackowiak is the only player to win the Cy Young twice in a row.

ROY By position
pitcher 5
LF 2
1B 6
2b 1
SS 3
RF 1
cf 1
3B 1

Catcher is the only position never to have won ROY.

S10 Championship

2008-12-01T00:14:00.003-05:00

The Vancouver Shrugging Atlases won the S10 Championship in a thrilling 7 games series against Atlanta. Vitas Sobkowiak was named World Series MVP winning 2 games with a 2.08 ERA in the world series.

2008-11-25T20:06:00.001-05:00

Below is some of the raw data gathered on the number of ABs players got on HBD teams compared to real MLB players. This info is further discussed on HBD forums.

	600+ ABs	500	400	300	200	100
VAN-morgan	3	2	2	3	1	4
ANA-morgan	1	6	0	2	0	4
ARI-morgan	1	3	3	0	6	0
ATL-morgan	0	6	1	4	0	2
FLA-morgan	2	4	2	1	3	3
NY-morgan	0	5	4	1	2	2
SCO-morgan	1	6	2	1	1	1
WAS-morgan	0	2	4	3	2	5
Ana-Moneyb	2	4	1	1	4	2
FLA-moneyb	1	2	2	4	2	3
Minn-moneyb	3	0	5	1	2	4
NY-moneyb	2	2	3	1	4	1
WAS-moneyb	0	6	1	1	0	3
TOR-moneyb	0	4	1	2	3	4
SF-moneyb	2	4	1	0	3	3
PHI-moneyb	1	4	2	1	2	4
ARI-MG	2	3	4	1	1	3
CIN-MG	0	1	4	2	5	4
KC-MG	2	5	1	0	1	4
MEM-MG	1	4	2	3	2	2
NOR-MG	1	4	3	0	2	0
SEA-MG	0	5	4	1	2	1
TB-MG	2	4	3	1	1	2
TRE-MG	0	7	0	2	2	3
ANA-glee	2	3	1	2	2	3
BOS-glee	2	5	2	0	0	5
FLA-glee	0	5	5	0	2	2
MIL-glee	2	1	3	3	4	2
Mon-glee	3	3	2	2	1	2
OKC-glee	0	1	3	5	3	4
SAJ-glee	0	5	1	1	4	4
TAC-glee	1	2	5	1	2	2
HBD	1.16	3.69	2.41	1.56	2.16	2.75

MLB
ATL	0	5	2	1	1	6
AZ	2	3	1	3	3	5
BAL	1	4	3	1	0	4
BOS	1	3	4	2	2	4
CHC	1	4	2	2	2	2
CHW	1	3	5	2	0	3
CIN	0	3	1	2	2	3
CLE	2	2	1	5	2	1
COL	1	1	2	3	6	2
DET	1	4	2	2	2	4
FLA	0	3	2	3	2	3
HOU	1	2	3	4	2	3
KC	0	4	2	4	4	0
LAA	0	4	2	2	4	3
LAD	1	5	1	2	2	4
MIL	1	3	3	1	3	1
MIN	1	3	2	3	2	3
NYM	3	1	0	3	3	4
NYY	1	5	2	2	3	3
OAK	0	2	5	2	2	4
PHI	2	3	2	3	4	0
PIT	0	3	1	1	4	6
SD	2	1	0	5	1	4
SEA	3	2	0	2	4	2
SF	0	3	2	1	3	4
STL	0	4	4	2	1	4
TB	1	2	4	3	2	3
TEX	2	1	3	2	4	5
TOR	1	2	2	4	3	2
WSH	0	2	1	3	3	9
MLB Totals	0.97	2.90	2.13	2.50	2.53	3.37

S10 Best Pure Hitters

2008-10-28T00:06:00.001-04:00

I Ran a quick little analysis on the league. Everything is based on current ratings so this is not based on future predictions and scouting played no part in this.

It was a simple process, ranked every one of the 411 position players by each of their current offensive attributes, and then scored them by where each of their individual rankings fell within the rest of player in the world. No type of ranking formula is perfect, but I actually thought the simplicity of this formula gave good results.

Here is list of the top 20 pure hitters in the World
1 Carlos Johnson
2 Clint Hutton
3 Rafael Cedeno
4 Russell Cook
5 Bonk Linton
6 Chili Olsen
7 Eric Thomas
8 Gerald Bradley
9 Alex Cordero
10 Harry Huff
11 Rusty Jones
12Andres Tarasco
13 Vic Moreno
14 Lawrence Trammell
15 Rudy Griffiths
16 Esteban Montanez
17 Tony Rivera
18 Don Gwynn
19 Homer Monroe
20 Steve Taylor

Just for curiosity sake (and because I have a player on this list) I also listed the 10 absolute worst hitters in the league.

Mitch Alexander
Seth Crawford
Ivan Torres
Reggie Black
Fernando Ordaz
Sam King
Benji Gonzalez
Josh Gilbert
Cory Painter
Corey White

S10 Draft Review

2008-10-23T18:23:00.003-04:00

This year my scouting was not as strong as it has been in the past so you might see your players significantly different than I saw them.

Top Ten Draft Prospects

#1 SP Russell Martin
#2 SP Andrea Eiland
#3 SP Marc Bunning
#4 SP Jermaine Knepper
#5 IF Curtis Shumaker
#6 SP Hector Bonilla
#7 SP Edwin McGowan
#8 IF Harold Diaz
#9 OF Duke Webster
#10 SP Tommy Blake

The biggest story of this draft has to be the depth of All-Star Caliber SP that came out. It is akin to the SP version of the 1983 NFL draft. On the flip side the offensive side seemed to lack much punch and that problem was exacerbated even more so by the shunning of a contract offer by super-star prospect Britt Robertson, whose offensive numbers read like 86 CON 88 POW 100 vL 86 vR 76 BE. Other than him I only saw 2 offensive prospects that might put up any sort of numbers that could get them Silver Slugger type awards.

Anaheim – A solid SP Brian Winn should make the majors but his control will keep him from being an all-star. About the best you can expect from the 24th pick.
In the supplemental round got a great 3B Paul Maduro that could have been picked higher.
Got a Gold Glove type CF in Craig Cooke with pick 41.
Another good player with their second round pick 1B Stuart Speaker
Got 2 good setup man in John Glanville and Carl Winn Then two defensive catchers in Charlie Blankenship and Santiago Martin later in the draft.
Wasn’t a draft full of all-stars, but it is possible his first 8 picks could contribute some way to the major league team one day. Did a great job of getting the most talent available when they picked.

Arizona - SP Wesley Piper was picked at number 13. He’s got a rubber arm and great control, but unless my scouts are way off I don’t see his L/R splits as major league material.
Again maybe it’s my scouts but I like his 3rd round pick Woody Martin looks much better than his 1st round selection.

Atlanta – An all round solid 3b Hersh Hodges looks like a typical solid draft pick from ATL again.

Solid hitting and decent glove C Adrian Parris was picked up in the supplemental round
Sam Reid was nabbed in the second round and should do well.
Another good draft by Atlanta.

Augusta – SP Eric Bell was picked 31. Decent splits and control, but pitch rating isn’t spectacular. Second round SP Al Valenzuela is almost the opposite. OK L/R splits, but great pitch ratings.

Austin – One of the stories of this draft is the big gamble to draft Britt Robertson. He probably had the biggest upside of any player in the draft. Personally I saw him as a 100 OVR player, but he said he was determined not to sign. Still I’ve seen these guys sign albeit to huge contracts. So teams had to decide to play it safe or potentially let a Randy Moss type player drop to teams below them. I personally think it was a good gamble since they had the prospect money available, but unfortunately it did not work out.

At least they got a dependable RP Cal Robertson, who even if he doesn’t develop already has 92 DUR/26 STA, so he can give you at least an inning in 90+ games a season.

Boise – This was a draft that was top heavy and had some great all-stars available early in the draft. Boise picked up one of those guys in Curtis Shumaker. He is ready to play in the majors today and will certainly be up in a season or two, I think he is the player in the draft that is closest to producing in the major leagues. What makes him so good is not just his great bat and solid glove; but he has superb durability, speed, and makeup. A true cornerstone player.
Picked solid hitting 1B Tony Humphries in the second.
Interesting RP George Ball looks to be a nice long relief type guy.

Boston – Almost seems unfair that a team this good got a very good SP Tommy Blake so late in the draft. Good splits, DUR/STA, and pitch ratings.
Then got a very nice closer in Anthony Montgomery with pick #69. This was a pretty good draft for where they picked.

Chicago NL – This team is going to have a scary pitching duo up in the majors very soon. With the fourth pick in the draft Russell Martin was choosen and will join Galahad Mercker as almost certainly the best young SP duo in the league. Even if they barely make the playoffs, who would feel comfortable facing them in a 5 game series? It would remind me of the 2001 Diamondbacks team that was a decent team but could throw Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling at teams during the playoffs. Obviously the 2001 Arizona team is their model, because they drafted a Tony Womacks clone Delino Gonzalez in the second round.
Just based on Martin alone this is one of the best drafts in the league.

Chicago NL – Grabbed a certain all-star SP in Marc Bunning who looks to be just a stellar prospect. Any team would have been happy with this pick at #5. No weakness in this pitcher, his great STA/DUR ratings mean he can easily pitch 220+ IPs. Control, vL, vR and pitch ratings all seem top notch.

Cincinnati – Sorry to say this, but Rick Starr just doesn’t have the control to be an effective pitcher. He really has some great ratings, but that control is too much to overcome.
Their second pick though seems to be a solid hitter in Kent Karl. Then 3rd round pick Tom Anderson looks to be at least a decent back of the order type pitcher.

Cleveland - Daryl Simms looks to be the typical high quality speedy defensive player that Cleveland likes to build their team around. So is second round pick Pepper Buchanan.

Colorado – Unfortunately this is another team that just seemed to ignore the control rating for a pitcher. Tom Morris has decent SP ratings except he is going to walk about 6 guys every 9 innings, which is deadly in Colorado.

Dover – Picked up a very good SP in Edwin McGowan. His pitch ratings keep him from being on par with a couple of the spectacular SPs drafted earlier, but he’s worth the pick at number 9.
OF/1B Kris Harper seems to be a nice high OBP kind of guy.

Florida – Sam Wood hasn’t signed and wasn’t even offered a contract since Florida signed IFA Orber Pulido. Well if Florida traded a team Wood for Pulido and a first round draft pick next year I think it would be vetoed so I think it was a smart move dropping Wood to get Pulido.
Then grabbed a nice DH Jerry Richardson in round 2 and a decent hitting 1B Vic Arias in round 3.

Hartford – SP Harry Gonzales doesn’t have ideal control for an SP, but his splits and pretty good pitch ratings might be enough to overcome it.
Oddly enough 2nd round pick is the exact opposite. Bubba Nash has pinpoint accuracy, but his splits are pretty average. Still a decent pick for selection number 74.
For being the 106th pick in the draft I actually like Jamey Koch. Decent splits and good enough control, his flaw is obviously below average stamina that will probably relegate him to long relief or setup duties, still I’m sure if needed he could fill in to start a game or two if needed.

Helena – With the first pick in the draft Helena choose Hector Bonilla. He will certainly have a long career in the big leagues, and he could probably throw 250 innings a season which will save their bullpen. I still don’t think he was the best pitcher in the draft and probably not even the second best. But in HBD we don’t get to see every prospect so I don’t fault Helena with who they choose. Bonilla will anchor the rotation for many seasons.
While I don’t think number 1 pick Bonilla was the best player in the draft, I think Helena had one of the best drafts based on both getting him and getting the best supplemental round SP in Braden Friend. He could have easily been picked 15-20 spots sooner. Then they got one of the best closers in the draft 3 picks later in Tarrik Munoz.
Add a quality setup men Cedrick Jenkins and Carl Greenwood then a Long Relief/Mopup guy in Todd Parker and you have in my opinion one of if not the top draft in the league. I realize that it doesn’t seem like I’m really going out on a limb giving the guy with the first pick in the draft the best grade, but I have seen plenty of times a team take the first pick and then completely drop the ball on the rest of the draft. Helena got ½ an entire pitch staff in one draft which is an impressive feat.

Iowa – with the 15th pick in the draft Iowa selected Harold Diaz. He’s a great looking IF that has a great bat. His health and durability probably lead to him dropping to #15. He’s playing SS in the minors, but he just doesn’t have the glove to be a SS in the majors.
2nd round pick Harold Diaz is a very similar player, good bat but not really a SS.
He’s not a star, but 3rd rounder Jordan O'Neill also has a shot at the majors.

Kansas City – Got a really nice leadoff type 2B in Josh Donahue, he looks like a .400+ OBP guy with some speed.
In the second round they got a solid 3B in Jimmie Ordonez, who isn’t spectacular at anything, but does everything above average.
They got one of the best defensive SS’s in the draft in Paulie Byrdak with the 96th pick. His bat will never be an asset, but his glove might be so good he gets in a lineup.

Las Vegas - Stevie Park looks like a quality player with a good future. Like his contact and BE rating. Looks like Les Weber too me.

CF Andrew Davis was picked in the supplemental draft, should do well and has some nice pop in his bat.

Louisville – The 16th pick in the draft was Howie Oliver. As far as pure “stuff” goes I like him as a pitcher. He’s got great control, good splits, and nice pitch ratings. What I don’t like is that he’s a tweener pitcher. His DUR rating means he can’t start on regular rest, and he doesn’t have great stamina either. So at best he throws 105 IPs a season or so, kind of like a Warren Nielsen type guy. We don’t know what players the owner saw available here, and he will be a useful player, but at #16 it seems a little high for me.
Their next pick was the third round and they got Grant Dixon. He looks like a pretty good pitcher for the third round. Oddly enough I only think he is a notch below their first round pick, but being picked 94th makes me give it a much better grade.
Their fourth round pick is in the mold of the first two picks they had, still any chance to get some production out of the fourth round is decent and Harold Moss has a shot at the majors.
5th round selection looks a lot like guys I select around then, Danys Chavez. Great power and BE so he will probably be a HR champ at AAA, but his chances of hitting above .230 in the majors is slim.

Memphis – Hasn’t picked this high in the draft since season 1 when they got Glenn Kubenka. While Glenn became the face of this quality franchise, I just don’t think Preston Forrest will be that guy for them. Maybe it is my less than stellar scouting, but to me it looks like his control, and L/R splits are all just barely average.
In the second round they got a tweener pitcher in Joe Hogan, but he really has good ratings other than STA/DUR so I think he will do fine in the big leagues.
3rd rounder 2B J.T. Roth is interesting because so many of his numbers or either huge (like his contact and range in the 90s) or tiny (power less than 10 and AS in the 40s) I actually like offensive players that excel in something even with a weakness over a guy that is just average in many things.
5th round pick Wayne Collier I see as a utility infielder type guy.

Milwaukee – In one season Milwaukee went from picking 2nd, to picking 29th. So they actually had to work to find talent instead of trying to pick which all-star they wanted. Ben Hennessey won’t be a cornerstone player like they have drafted in recent years, but he’s a decent RP that can throw a few innings.
Barney Shaw is a power hitting COF/1B, but has health issues and it’s already bit him.
4th round pick Wayne Durbin looks like a 25th guy on the roster type guy.

Minnesota – SP Gabe Curtis is a solid, but not spectacular a SP. A fine pick for very late first round pick.
With the 41st pick they got Reagan Cassidy who is a not quite as good as their earlier pick, but might be a back of the rotation type guy.
Nashville – SP Jermaine Knepper looks to be an ideal starter. Great STA/DUR combo, excellent contact and L/R splits. The pitch ratings are a bit low, but his contact and splits are so high I don’t think it’s a huge concern.
2nd round pick Phillip Carr is a decent hitting IF. Not an all-star, but should be a decent roll player.

NY (AL) – IF Eric Anderson is a solid hitting IF with a glove just a bit below SS standards. Great pick for #30 and should be a asset for this team for many years.
Six picks later they got CF Edwards Terry, another fine role player on a good team. Doesn’t blow you away with any of his ratings, but has nice rating everywhere and is another piece of the puzzle toward a championship.

Salem – Picking 12th is usually around the beginning of the time that all the perennial all-star type guys have been grabbed and teams are trying to pick from the best of the second tier guys. Albert Richard is a switch hitting RF that has some pop. Reminds me of Homer Monroe.
I really like C prospect Isaac Hernandez, he’s an excellent defensive catcher who has enough of a bat that he could be in the starting lineup.
5th round pick Wally Harmon actually has a shot of being on the major leagues one day.

Scottsdale – Having a hard time judging their draft. First round pick has not signed and I did not scout him. Second round pick looks good except for that bad control rating. This team actually put a lot of money into prospect budget, so my guess is they are waiting for a big IFA fish to come along.

Scranton – Picking third in the draft they got franchise SP Andrea Eiland who was yet another fine SP in this draft. There is not much bad you can say about him. Easily will pitch 250+ innings a seasons, 270 wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility and he should be an all-star numerous times.
Next they grabbed a very nice RP Everett Winston. Now his control is decent, and L/R splits good, but his STA/DUR is phenomenal and so are his pitch ratings. Great pick at #49.
IF Bret Duffy is a decent guy.

Texas – Loves drafting big hitting sluggers, and that’s what Duke Webster is. I don’t consider him the best overall player in the draft, but he could easily be the guy the puts up the gaudiest offensive numbers. Reminds me of Steve Taylor but it’s scary how close his projections are to Yamid Sierra. One of the few quality sluggers available in the this draft.
With the 39th pick in the supplemental round they got a solid RP Jacque Radke.
2nd round pick Sam Nielsen looks like a decent big leaguer as does OF Chuck Vogelsong.

Toronto – First round pick hasn’t signed yet, second rounder SP Steven Wolf looks decent for the back of the rotation.
3rd rounder CF Charles Daniels is a speedster with a great glove, but his bat will keep him on the bench most of the game.

Vancouver – Had 3 picks between 32 and 43, and proceeded to use all of them on RPs. Decent group of setup type guys, Tom Smoak and Don Pettibone are very similar type pitchers. One of their advantages is they both project to DUR in the 90s, so a rested bullpen is almost a sure thing. Felipe Cruz is more of that tweener type SP/RP.
2nd rounder Paul Cannon is a defensive wizard, but the bat is just ok. A backup in the majors is about all he can expect.
Rob Turner is an interesting prospect because he is so raw. Maybe my scouting is off on him because his current ratings are just ok, but power and BE projections are off the charts, and contact and L/R are decent. He might never make the majors, but if he develops in 5-6 seasons he might actually be a force in the majors.

Washington – The poor showing in the draft wasn’t due to this owners fault. Our pleas to WifS were not heard to get the former owner replaced before the draft occurred. Wayne Enders was taken in the first round and he just doesn’t have the L/R splits to be a ML pitcher.
2nd rounder Dan Brocail actually might be a decent RP eventually.

The “Where were our scouts on that guy” all-star team.

2008-09-17T12:36:00.000-04:00

Guys drafted below number 75 that have gone on to produce at the ML level. Virtually every team had at least two shots at these players and most team picked up career minor leaguer sometime before these guys.
1B Lon Morris Won rookie of the year in S5 and was the Gold Glove 1B in S6. His best season he hit .287/55/136, and had another seasons of .261/54/120. Drafted #116 in S3 he has had one of the most impressive out of nowhere guys careers.
RF Rex McMillon. In S9 Hit .315/30/115 with 200 hits. Drafted #75 in S4.
DH Happy Pressley is going into his 5th season in the majors. His best season was S7 when he had 191 Hits while batting .357. He is a career .314 Hitter with .374 OPB. Happy was picked #141 in S3
C Lee Mitchell is starting his 4th season as starting catcher for Las Vegas. He has a solid glove, and in S9 hit .311/36/111 for the team. By far this player is better than anyone picked almost 200 slots ahead of him as he was pick #344 in S2, Lee is the lowest picked player to make the list.

SS Vinny Hayes. Anaheim’s slick fielding starting SS drafted #104 in S4.
RP Eduardo Velazquez. In S8 he was 14-3 w/ 3.52 ERA. He’s 28-18 w/ 19 Saves in 298 Career innings. Eduardo was drafted #85 in S3.
C David Mayne took a long time to get to the majors. Drafted in S1 he did not get any meaningful playing time until S8. He’s a great defensive catcher with pop in his bat. In S9 he was an all-star, won the gold glove, and the HR Derby. His best season was S9 when he hit .288/43/122, which might not be that impressive for a C more suited for a DH, but this guy is a top notch defensive Catcher. David lasted until pick #136 in S1.
1B Brace Iannone is no longer in the majors, but for three seasons (6-8) he averaged 42 HRs 121 RBIs while batting .287. Certainly these are better numbers than his pick of #144 would indicate.
RP Bill Hitchcock is starting his second full season as Salem’s closer, last season he saved 34 games with a 3.71 ERA. He was drafted #185 in S4
C T.J. Ausmus made it to the big leagues in his second pro season, and actually played pretty well in his third pro season. Still contributing this many seasons after being drafted #189 in S3.
RP Bernard Morgan is in his third season in the majors. He has a career 4.14 ERA while winning 12 games in 144 IPs. Bernard was drafted #166 in S3.
C John Simmons is one of the premier defensive catchers in the game. He was the starting catcher for NY in their Championship season in S8. He was drafted #171 in S3.

C/DH Timothy Hardy is one of the best hitting catchers in the league. He has a career .429 OBP and career 1.023 OPS in 423 career games. He was draft #76 in S2.

RP Tom Hoffman is entering his 3rd season as the Vegas closer. He’s been very effective and over his career he has a 1.24 WHIP and 3.45 ERA in 185 IPs. Pretty good for being drafted #101 in S2.
DH Richie Stanley has just put in one season in the majors. But in S9 he hit .341 in 466 ABs. Not bad for a guy drafted #216 in S4.
RP Mikey Henderson has been a capable setup B type guy. Over the past 3 seasons he has a 3.75 ERA. He was drafted #121 in S2.

RP Al Ortiz has had a bit of a roller coaster career, but in his travels actually pitched well in Cincy. Drafted #146 in S2

2008-08-08T20:27:00.003-04:00

Anaheim - Drafted a franchise 1B in Quentin Riggs who should do very well. I see him as a Will Clark kind of player.

Bo Yarnall in the second round looks like a backup C. He is ML material and Bo knows how to do everything ok, but doesn’t excel in any area.

Third round pick Max Estrada is interesting. I’ll say chances are that his ratings won’t translate into a great MLB player. His control and splits are slightly above average to mediocre, but he has two highly rated pitches might be enough to overcome the others. For a third round pick I think it was a great gamble on a guy that might have some upside.

Arizona – Pick SPs late in the first round almost always gets a guy that has a couple of warts. Allen Sisco should have a decent career, but his vR rating and 4th pitch certainly not ideal.

8 of their next 9 picks after Sisco were also pitchers. Usually this is just an accidental consequence to trying to prioritize pitchers (or another position), but it rarely seems to produce the best results in a draft. Second round pick Brian Bannister The combination of low splits and two very low pitch counts doesn’t seem to indicate success at the major league level.

Atlanta – If 1st round pick Bill Swisher signs (sorry can’t link unsigned players) they will have gotten a great hitting catcher that is passable behind the plate. His durability is low, but the almost 30 point difference in vR and vL ratings make him a great half of a tandem. Looks like he won’t sign though.

In the supplemental round the got a decent SP/LRA in Eduardo Cruz. He is versatile guy who could fill the roll of starter or a good long relief type pitcher.

In round two ATL got Shane James who has great DUR/STA ratings and solid enough numbers to make it to the majors. Like with 90% of the RPs out there whether he is actually an effective RP is up to the HBD gods.

3rd and 4th rounds they picked Charlie Rakers and Emmanuel Sanchez who look very much like their second round pick except with not quite as impressive DUR/STA ratios. 3rd and 4th round picks are iffy to be making the majors so any player that has a shot at producing in the majors is a good pick.

Atlanta always has picked toward the end of the draft, if their first round pick signs then this will be a very good draft for where they picked. If he doesn’t than at least they got half a bullpen for the future.

Augusta – Drafted SP Juan James with the 25th pick in the draft. He’s looks to be a #3,4 or 5 pitcher. Good control and 4 decent pitchers, maybe a pitching coach can get him to drop that 5th pitch which is currently rated a 9. I think in the pitch list it is actually noted as being underhanded.

In the supp round they drafted a nice hitting 1B/LF Ben Simms who will have a great BA, but won’t exactly knock the cover off the ball. He’ll do well at the major league level.

With their second supp pick they drafted Davy Duran, a slick fielding 2B/CF type guy. Actually I really like this guy and he could have been drafted sooner except for what I see as a very dismal DUR rating in the low 60s. You have to have a platoon ready for players with DUR ratings in the low 60s, but when it comes to making a choice between a talented guy with low DUR and not so talented guy with DUR in the 90s – go for the talent.

In round two they got a quality defensive SS in Roger Taylor. Hopefully that really high contact rating will keep his BA in the acceptable range to keep his glove in the lineup.

I don’t see 3rd round pick Louie Johnson as being an impact SP, but maybe he makes the team as LR/Mopup type guy.

Austin - Juan Santiago was a good pick at number 9 in the draft. He’s a quality leadoff hitter that will get on base and steal bases. He’ll never be in the MVP discussion, but he just looks like the type of player that can create a lot of havoc in a game for an opposing team.

They grabbed another CF with their next pick, Jeffrey Eaton. He has gold glove type defense and an adequate bat.

Boise - Timothy Roberts looks to be a great closer, but I will say the same thing I wrote about when Milwaukee got Gregg Goulet with the fifth pick a few seasons again. I find it hard to justify picking a player that high in the draft when he will only pitch 45-60 IPs a season. Next RPs seem to be the most volatile position in the game when there was probably options that are sure things. That said if you can solidify a position in need for 10 seasons he will look back and be happy.

I actually like Vinny Durham about as much as their first round pick. He’s a starter and has a number of highly rated pitches.

Vinny Durham picked in the 3rd round also looks like a decent RP.

Boston – Grabbed slugging 3B Charlie Towers with the 19th pick in the draft. He doesn’t have ideal contact or batting eye, but he has monster power and L/R splits.

They seemed to like Charlie Towers so much they drafted his brother Shane Towers in the next round. He will probably be a platoon type guy.

Chicago – drafted CF/2B Pat Richard in the first round. He’s playing SS now, but 55 errors in rookie league don’t seem to translate into successful big league SS. He could be a great CF/2B. He has some pop in his bat and a great batting eye. Good solid talent, but not the kind of bat that will carry a team.

For being the 67th guy picked in the draft Delino Benitez looks like a solid SP, on par with and better than many of the SPs picked late in round one or in the supplemental round.

Chicago Lookouts – Picked up the best player in the draft in Galahad Mercker. He is a virtually lock to play in multiple all-star games.

Tony O'Neill is actually a pretty good pickup and I can see him as a core player for this team for many years.

3rd round choice Willie McMillon couldn’t hit a RH pitcher to save his life, but he might be the best defensive SS drafted this season. Much worse players could have been picked in the third round.

Cincinnati – With the 13th pick choose Andrew Malone. He’s a solid pitcher, not spectacular but should hit the majors. 2 of his four pitcher look good, but 2 look below average, and his splits are just average ML material. His OVR rating is bumped up by his rubber arm which could though 250+ innings if you wanted him on the mound that long. He could be pitching in the big leagues in two seasons though as he is already pretty far along in development.

Colorado – While first round pick Otis Roth didn’t seem to indicate that he would hold out, it looks like the sixth pick in the draft might not sign. Too bad since he looked like a good player that could hit both lefties and righties, even at 19 he could probably play on numerous teams today. His vL and vR ratings are already at 63 now.

Unfortunately second round pick Andy Adcock just proves that poor control can doom the best rated pitchers. Every other number is major league material, but that control has doomed him to a 10.70ERA in rookie ball.

While he’s not without blemish, 3rd round pick RP Yannick Andrews actually looks like he could be a decent relief guy.

Dover – Got one of the stars in the draft with Brett Bell with the 5th pick in the draft. Sure you wish his Stamina topped out in the mid 80s instead of upper 60s, but he will still be a stellar SP and should win many awards. The bad news is that he broke his arm this season, at least on the bright side for going on the 60 day DL he only dropped 2 OVR points.

It seems pretty clear that WifS changed some player creation matrix and added the extreme platoon player, and one of the best could be Jeff Sutton. Outside of his vL rating he could be an all-star. Played correctly and he will be a very productive player at the big league level.

Watty Brumfield would have a solid bat for a gold glove type SS or 2B, unfortunately he can only play DH or 1B and would be below average at those power hitter type positions.

Florida – Took an interesting player at #18 in William Harris. He has a great bat and I could see him hitting .330+ in the majors. But he has some unique skills, for instance he projects to having a superb glove. But his range is a bit low for 2B and his arm is well below average. Not often do we see a great glove rating with all the other defensive skills being average to below average. He also could be the fastest guy in the league with 100 speed rating, but his base running skills are suspect. He’s already tearing up the rookie league, and I’m sure in 3-4 seasons he will be doing the same in the bigs.

George Herman looks to be another in a trend of very talented players that can only hit from one side of the plate. Oddly enough he is a lefty that can only hit lefties, but should do it very well.

Fifth rounder Luis Alvarez looks to be a very good defensive backup catcher.

Hartford – This team had 6 picks in the first 2 rounds, but none before #29. Richie Cox is a superb hitter, but his catching skills leave a lot to be desired. Hartford has already tried experimenting with him at LF, but not sure this is his best chance at the majors either.

With the 37th pick they grabbed future 1B Mateo Dominguez who looks like he could be a star. Hits everything well and should be a very good 1B for many seasons.

Ok we get it, Chone likes slugging 1B types. Orber Mullin picked at #47 is very similar to the guy they grabbed 10 picks earlier, but he doesn’t hit RH pitchers as well. Three picks later they grabbed another one of these guys, but he won’t sign.

Connie Grant won’t be able to pitch a ton of innings, but he’s a solid RP that should make the majors. Later in the 2nd round they got another RP Tracy Gold who should also be in the majors in a few seasons.

Indianapolis - Christopher Brewington is a good hitting RF and was picked about where he should be in the draft. Won’t be a superstar, but will be a solid core player for this team.

B.J. Durham has a decent bat, but it might be a little light if he can only play in a traditional power position like RF/LF/1B.

Las Vegas – Got a pretty good SP Patrick Champion with the 12th pick. Solid all around he should be a major league pitcher for many seasons.

Supplemental pick Dwight King might make is as a major league SP, but that control is borderline.

Louis Castillo looks like a decent setup man in a few seasons for Vegas.

Little Rock – Well Arte got a steal of a player at #28, Hipolito Prieto is a solid guy that should have a great career for LR.

Late in the second round they also got a pretty good setup man in Sherm Blair.

He won’t be a star, but 4th round pick Alexander Gibson might actually get some meaningful ABs in the majors. Pretty good for a 4th rounder.

Louisville – Is another team that had multiple 1st and 2nd round picks. With #23 they got DH/C/1B Vincenzo Osborne who is a talented hitter that they are going to have to find a place for on the field.

With multiple first round picks you can gamble on a quality SP with low health. Sammy Paniagua is a quality player, but his low health rating has already landed him on the DL with a major injury. Here’s hoping he is able to recover and get back on track.

2nd round pick Tomas Lee looks like a nice closer for the future. Norman White is one of those tweener type pitchers with his STA/DUR combo that will probably end him up as a long relief type guy.

Memphis – Actually had the fortune of having two picks in the top 20. At #17 they got IF William Satou, who has a very good bat and will be a core player for them. He probably won’t be able to play SS in the majors, but his bat is good enough that you don’t have to worry about him not producing enough at another position.

With pick #20 the got power hitting OF Tiny Gardner, this is the kind of guy that can carry a team offensively. Nice to see a team get extra draft picks and they produce such a good crop of guys.

2nd rounder Thumper McIntosh looks like a nice setup/closer type, and bringing in a closer named Thumper just sounds cool.

Milwaukee – Second pick in the draft was David Cooper, a solid fielding IF with a great bat. Looks like this is the last time Milwaukee will be picking this high for a while as they have been flirting all season with the second best record in the AL.

Didn’t pick again until the third round and got a very good player in Will Richardson. He could be a core player in the future for this team. 4th rounder Quilvio Santiago looks like a decent backup IF.

Minnesota – Had 4 picks between 24 and 49, and they signed them all. Justin Shields is a quality IF that is doing very well in rookie ball so far.

I’m not sure if Willis Roundtree will become a successful major leaguer. He has great numbers all around except for L/R splits which are below average. His pitch ratings are nice and he has great control, so maybe he does make it.

Felix Kimura is a supplemental pick that should turn out to be a good 2B with nice OBP.

Both Chad Torrealba and Alex Pinzon are fringe talent that could end up on the roster.

Monterrey – Has a history of drafting well, and is starting to show some signs of improving at the ML level. Dale Presley is another solid pick. I kind of see him as a #3 or #4 starter that can throw a ton of innings.

Didn’t pick again until the third round and got Jim Moriarty. Chances are his control limits him from being a star, but a pretty good pick for a SP in the third round.

Nashville – With the 8th pick in the draft the grabbed Tim Cook who offensively looks a lot like Timothy Bryne , who I think is one of the unheralded stars in this league. Cook’s numbers will probably be very similar to Bryne’s with a .330 career BA, .950 OPS, will produce at any spot in the batting order from 1-5, but only average about 450 ABs per season. He’s a very nice pickup.

Second round pick Boomer Roth actually might have a glove good enough to play SS, and he has a pretty good bat to go with that. Another quality pickup at this point in the draft.

NY - Harry Lugo looks like a pretty standard MLB OF. Decent numbers all round, but nothing extremely well. He is tearing it up in rookie ball.

Salem – Picked up a decent SP with the 15th pick in Dion Wilkerson. Very nice pitch rating and should be able to throw a ton of inning.

Miguel Furcal looks to be a typical OF for the ML team.

I actually really like their 3rd round pick, the 100th guy taken in the draft. Curt Palmer has good stuff, stamina is a bit low for most SPs but he should be able to get 5 good innings a game. He’s doing well so far.

Salt Lake City – Picked up the premier RP in the draft with Neil Meadows at #21. He’s raw and has a long way to go, but it’s a good pick and should play for many seasons in SLC despite his rough start so far in the minors.

Rip Lawrence is probably going to be a decent long reliever. Control will be an issue for him. Randy Brown is also a borderline productive ML’er, which is what you expect so late in the second round.

Kyle McNamara looks to be a pretty good defensive CF, that can maybe hit well enough to start.

Scottsdale – Had the third pick in the draft. This won’t be pretty for Scottsdale because the guy really looked like just a slightly above average major league ball player, but he spurned the offer and didn’t sign. Wayne Wheeler looks like a capable RP. The good news is that by next draft this former rookie owner will have completed 6 drafts and I’m sure he’ll land something decent with that pick.

Texas – Drafted a powerful slugging IF Ron Conti with pick #10. He should have a respectable average and OBP, and could easily hit 45-50 HRs in any season.

2nd round pick Henry Simpson looks to be a decent prospect that should make the team in 3-4 seasons.

Toronto – I’m still somewhat torn about Yorrick Walton being a successful big league player. Maybe its my poor scouting, but I see his vR rating really low and he doesn’t seem to have a good enough pitch ratings to overcome his vR rating. That said he is doing well in the rookie league so far.

Second round pick didn’t sign, but the third rounder Bernard O'Neil looks to at the very least be a speedy defensive CF off the bench, and maybe more.

Vancouver – The first of three first round picks was Rob Neal who is a very raw closer prospect. Given time he should develop into a quality RP, but he is probably at least 4-5 seasons away.

David Perez looks like he will develop into a productive ML starter, but probably won’t get his glove quite up to the SS requirements. Might be good enough at least be an emergency backup for SS while manning 3B/2B. One note about this player, combine poor HS scouting with average advance scouting and you get a player that projects a whopping 10 points below what my HS scout thought he was, ouch.

The final first round pick was Rudy Patterson who is a Hal Morris like 1B.

2nd rounder Abraham Waters might have a career as a platoon OF.

Washington – Didn’t pick until the supplemental round, Kris Cobb probably tops out at being a 5th starter/Long Relief type pitcher.

Got a nice power hitting 1B Pete Mitchell with the 40th pick.

Also got a quality OF in the second round Nate Taylor. Nice player that has a good glove and a good enough bat.

Pitching Projections

2008-06-27T11:37:00.003-04:00

I know I posted on the World Chat that I was going to be an analysis/projection on some of the pitchers in our World to attempt to project them throughout a career. My first choice was Earl Wilkerson. I compared him to Greg Maddux. That was really just a hunch. As I looked deeper though, they are very comparable. Wilkerson has averaged 156 K's per season for his career while Maddux's 162-game average is 155. 46 walks for Maddux versus 77 per season for Wilkerson, but the comparison will have to do.

I can't really explain what I did very well, but here it goes.
1st 4 years of the career - Maddux w% was .526 with a decision % of 81.2%.
I took the 81.2% minus 73.4% (Wilkerson's career decision percentage for the 8 seasons of data that we have). This gave me 7.8%. I adjusted each of Maddux's first four full seasons down by this amount to determine the projected/predicted number of decisions Wilkerson would have had in his first four seasons. I did the same thing with the winning percentage, only this time adjusting Wilkerson's wins upwards based on the fact that his career W% was higher than Maddux's. I did the same thing for the final 9 seasons of Wilkerson's career.

The final projection for Wilkerson is a record of 365-141. Let me know if what I did makes sense and if anybody would be interested in more of these...

World Series Factoids

2008-06-16T11:58:00.005-04:00

Season 1 - Toronto (NL) defeats Washington, DC (AL) 4-3
Pitching - 16th; ERA - 5.02
Batting - 16th; RS - 1,003
Fielding - 5th; F% - 98.2%

Season 2 - Washington, DC (AL) defeats St. Louis (NL) 4-0
Pitching - 1st; ERA - 4.32
Batting - 22nd; RS - 1,058
Fielding - 6th; F% - 98.3%

Season 3 - Scottsdale (AL) defeats Atlanta (NL) 4-1
Pitching - 10th; ERA - 4.62
Batting - 2nd; RS - 1,137
Fielding - 10th; F% - 98.1%

Season 4 - Scottsdale (AL) defeats Hartford (NL) 4-1
Pitching - 5th; ERA - 4.11
Batting - 1st; RS - 1,318
Fielding - 5th; F% - 98.4%

Season 5 - Atlanta (NL) defeats Sacramento (AL) 4-1
Pitching - 2nd; ERA - 4.40
Batting - 7th; RS - 1,060
Fielding - 16th; F% - 97.8%

Season 6 - New York (AL) defeats Atlanta (NL) 4-2
Pitching - 8th; ERA - 4.82
Batting - 2nd; RS - 1,153
Fielding - 2nd; F% - 99.2%

Season 7 - Boston (NL) defeats Sacramento (AL) 4-1
Pitching - 14th; ERA - 5.00
Batting - 17th; RS - 912
Fielding - 5th; F% - 99.1%

Season 8 - New York (AL) defeats Atlanta (NL) 4-0
Pitching - 3rd; ERA - 4.25
Batting - 7th; RS - 979
Fielding - 4th; F% - 99.0%

World Series Winners (seasons)
Scottsdale - 2 (3, 4)
New York - 2 (6, 8)
Toronto - 1 (1)
Washington, DC - 1 (2)
Atlanta - 1 (5)
Boston - 1 (7)

World Series Appearances (seasons)
Atlanta - 4 (3, 5, 6, 8)
Washington, DC - 2 (1, 2)
Scottsdale - 2 (3, 4)
Sacramento - 2 (5, 7)
New York - 2 (6, 8)
Toronto - 1 (1)
St. Louis/Monterrey - 1 (2)
Hartford - 1 (4)
Boston - 1 (7)

Championships
AL - 5
NL - 3

Wins
AL - 25
NL - 16

Last one (sorry it took so long)

2008-06-06T20:18:00.002-04:00

NL West

Colorado Creampuffs- ($18.75m/year) This franchise’s only two international signings in the previous five seasons were Pascual Espinosa and William Hukata. Here’s to warswics turning things around, assuming he wants to invest in this area. Colorado has two international prospects on the current roster, and a grade of F.

Anaheim Redbirds- ($9.5m/year) Since taking over, hopkinsheel has reduced the international budget to zero and lowered his prospect budget to the minimum, instead focusing on training and scouting for the amateur draft. Still, before his arrival, there were two notable signings. In season 6 the franchise landed Antonio Nakamura, who has great velocity, and in season 5 signed Al Rivera, who will be a good case study in investigating the importance of pitch ratings. This team also has two international on the ML club, and a C+ grade.

Las Vegas Gamblers- ($14.25m/year) robbie04, despite never spending a whole lot on int’l scouting, has signed a remarkable seventeen total internationals in the past four seasons, but none for more than $2.5 million. Most noteworthy are Hawk Swann, Willie Mercedes, and Emil Julio, and Octavio Guevara, and despite this depth the impact at the ML level wont be great. This team also has two internationals on the ML team, and a grade here of C-.

Arizona Scottsdale- ($24.75m/year) Season 4 was wonderin32’s biggest season on the IFA market, and since then he has only signed 4 players, all of whom are decent, but not all of whom one would expect to make the Bigs. The best asset acquired is David Mendoza’s bat, but by Doug Connelly’s standards it is meek. William Hayashiand Javier Paniagua are both pitchers who are maybes for the majors, but I expect Hayashi to work out as a back of the rotation starter. Last, Luis Sanchez has an okay bat, but lacks the tools necessary to make him more than a bench player. This team merits a C+ grade, and currently has five IFAs on the big league roster.

IFAs

2008-06-02T20:56:00.002-04:00

AL West

Salem mad monks- ($13.25m/year) In season 5 buckeyejeff hired no one to scout players internationally, whereas in Season 8 he poured 12 million into this endeavor. Never a big time player on this scene, he’s still landed a smattering of players with shots at playing a role on the ML club at some point. Benny Garces is by far the best signee, and should contribute in the bullpen. Beyond him is just average talent like Fausto Gutierrez and Yorvit Escobar. Salem has 1 int’l on the ML roster, and a D grade.

Scottsdale Snowbirds- ($24.5m/year) This franchise, back in season 2, signed Placido Gil at the ripe age of 13. They learned from this, and would later sign Karim Feliz in Season 8 for $17 million, who should turn out to be a super-reliever at the ML level; if he throws less than 162 innings, he will have been under-utilized. After him, there are a whole lot of okay players, but no one possessing any eye-popping tools, such as Vicente Cabrera, Carlos Johnson, and Julio Polanco. This team also has only one international on the big leagues squad, and a grade here of C+.

Vancouver Shrugging Atlases- ($27m/year) I hate to say it, but once again TheJester74 has done a great job. His pick ups here include two defensive short stops, Rigo Vizcaino and Guillermo Roque, an offensive catcher Trenidad Macias, and a good bull pen arm Pedro Figureoa. And while Vic Solano wont make this team despite a $9.5 million bonus, Orlando Martin and his $12.3 million bonus were instrumental in acquiring Hersh Knight. 2 internationals on the current Vancouver roster, and a grade of A-.

Salt Lake City Air Force- ($15.75m/year) Before willcatfan’s arrival this franchise signed Rafael Cedeno in season 2, our world’s first big time, ML ready signee. Since then, there has been a steady flow of quality talent with defensive SS Quilvio Molina, and the very solid Harry Gonzales. Moreover, he signed pitchers Javier Ugueto and Louie Posada, who were subsequently sent to Boise in trades for ML ready bats. This team garnishes an A- grade as well, having 5 internationals on the current big league roster.

IFA's

2008-06-01T15:57:00.003-04:00

To those who are new to Morgan, this is a review of the last four seasons of International Free Agent signings in Morgan world. Their posted one division at a time (still two to go), but if you look back on the blog you can see how your franchise's previous owwner did in that department. Without further ado...

NL South

Louisville Wild Turkeys- ($22.5m/year) t2bott has made really only one big signing, and a handful of minor pickups in the IFA market. But that one bigger signing was Jumbo, that is, Jumbo Soriano, who lacks the stamina to be a regular starter, but should make for a great long reliever. Included in those minor signings are Jose Romero, who has great velocity, and Pedro Cueto, who may make the ML team as a speed guy off the bench. Currently Miguel Santos is the only IFA on the big league squad, and a grade here of C-.

Atlanta Braves- ($27m/year) Since season 1 joemac55 has been the best in Morgan in the IFA market, with an astounding nine players on the current ML team signed internationally. In each of the past four seasons Atlanta has signed a player with a bonus over $9 million. Season 5 brought Ivan Gonzalez, a stellar fielder with some speed. Season 6, Alex Rivas a solid defensive shortstop with pop. Season 7 saw the signing of Ivan Johnson, a nice corner outfielder. Then Season 8 brought Ramiro Suarez, an offensively minded second baseman. Thus, an A grade for Atlanta.

Monterrey Habaneros- ($26.25m/year) The franchise thedutchman took over in season 5 needed rebuilding, of which signing internationals has been a big part. Here, I see four names worth mentioning. First is Tomas Guerrero, who’ll be the starting SS in years to come. Next is Frank Sasaki, who ought to be the future closer for this team. Then there are pitchers Kevin Chen and Victor Ramirez, who both have flaws, but whose strengths are good enough to break through at the ML level. Overall a B+ grade for a team that has 2 IFAs on the current roster.

Austin Wranglers- ($26m/year) Each of the last six seasons chrispy has steadily been increasing the amount of money allotted to signing prospects. While there has been a high volume of prospects signed, none receive a bonus larger than $7 million dollars. That includes Vinny Hukata, who will start for this team if he can stay healthy, Jose Flores who has a lot of pop in his bat, and Benji Perez who should find a spot in the bullpen as a lefty specialist. This team has 5 intl’s on the big league club, and a grade here of C-.

NY WINS WORLD SERIES

2008-05-27T19:56:00.002-04:00

The NY Mugger Funk beat the Atlanta Braves to capture their 2nd World Series Trophy.

They pulled off a sweep, but each game was close. Game one the tying run was at the plate in the bottom of the ninth, Game two was a two run game up until the bottom of the eighth inning, Game three was 3-1 going into the eighth inning, and the final game went into extra innings.

Vin Burks gets the MVP, not just for his great job in the World series, but for going 4-0 with 0.95 ERA in the playoffs.

Internationals

2008-05-27T17:59:00.003-04:00

AL South

Little Rock Boulders- ($18.25m/year) Arte’s ML team has only one IFA, Ruben Dali, who signed in season 4. Since then, Arte has continuously cut funding to this endeavor, which has shown in the quality of prospect he has signed. See Hector Rodriguez, Brian Wanatabe, and Al Guerrero as evidence of the reductio in quality prospects. So then it isn’t particularly condemning or unfair to give out an F grade here.

Texas Black Socks- ($27.5m/year) noccolo has clearly increased his focus on IFAs simply based on his spending pattern, but it is only now beginning to pay dividends. Pat Zhang is a nice pick up out of Japan who will put up good numbers in the Bigs. Beyond him, Texas has netted some guys who could fill out their bullpen, with Carlos Colon and Delino Castillo. Will give a grade of C here to a team with 4 IFAs on the ML club.

Memphis Elvi- ($16m/year) mh17 has never put a whole lot of investment into signing IFAs. In fact, the largest signing bonus a prospect received was 1.3 million to Al Garrido. Other players who’ve been signed include Bartolo Gonzalez, Manuel Lopez, and Lou Roundtree. Still, an increased amount allotted to int’l scouting seems to hint that mh17 may soon become a player on the IFA market. But still for now, an F grade, noting that 2 IFAs at the big league level.

Nashville Hound Dogs- ($18m/year) This is another franchise that has never spent a lot towards getting top end IFAs, but as a result of an extra large prospect budget this past season, psanders84 landed Sammy Martin, who I see topping out as a #2/#3 starter, only because he isn’t great with righties. Beyond him there is Harry Alvarado, who ought to break through to the ML level because of his great defense with a below average bat. The only other player that’s been signed is Bernie Garces. Nashville has 3 IFAs at the show, and a grade here of C.

International Prospect Analysis

2008-05-27T17:44:00.002-04:00

NL North

Cleveland Cleveland Stormtroopers- ($16.5m/year) As the proud owner of this franchise, I can say that a great job with IFAs in seasons 2 and 3 is fueling this team currently, with the inexpensive additions of Louie Alvarado, Jesus Perez, and Willie Pena. But since then the team has made only one signing that I feel is worth mentioning in Torey Brito, who may platoon at first in Cleveland with Antonio Maduro. Cleveland has only the three aforementioned IFAs on the ML roster, and earns a grade of C-.

Toronto Storks- ($28.75m/year) In his first six seasons, barjaz only dabbled in the international market, but in the last two seasons Toronto has placed a new focus on IFAs. The fruits of this labor are three big time signings. The first is Jimmie Gabriel, who I see as a solid number three starter. The second is Jimmie Astacio, who could be a superb closer, but may better serve the team as a long reliever or setup type so that he can get many more innings than simply closing would allow. Last is Hector Guzman, who cannot produce like Yamid Sierra has, but should still get on base well. 3 IFAs on the team currently, and the highest grade I’ve given thus far, an A-.

Boise Falcons- ($34.25m/year) hurricane384, like douglasdao, simply hasn’t been able to hit any homeruns on the IFA market, repeatedly transferring money out of his prospect budget as a result of nothing coming along. Boise has not signed any prospects that demanded a signing bonus greater than five million(Louie Fernandez). An example of what has been typical for this franchise are signings like Juan Montanez, Edgar Estalella, and Ugueth Martin, all of whom have the potential to help out the ML club, but none of whom I would consider to be late-first/early-second round talent. 2 IFAs on the current roster, and a C- grade.

Augusta Mainiacs- ($26.75m/year) Augusta has been relatively quiet on the IFA front, signing only two players. One of those two, Sammy Blasco, should be a super sub for this team, with the ability to play every position and ridiculous speed. The other one was one of the top two signings of season 6 in Eduardo Merced, who represents the elusive plus defender at short who can also rake. The ML team has 3 IFAs, and a grade of B for getting lucky in season 6.

Various Information

2008-05-23T09:59:00.003-04:00

Just some miscellaneous information that I find interesting that I feel like posting...

This first category is the franchise that has drafted players making up the highest percentage of players in their system...
1. Minnesota (78.3%)
2. Wichita (75.0%)
3. Arizona (71.7%)

The least...
30. Las Vegas (49.4%)
31. Houston (48.9%)
32. Sacramento (42.4%)

The second category is the franchise that has internationals making up the highest percentage of players in their system...
1. Las Vegas (30.8%)
2. Boise (28.9%)
3. Atlanta (27.7%)

The least...
30. Augusta (5.8%)
31. Nashville (5.6%)
32. Minnesota (4.3%)

Oldest ML team
Anaheim - 31.7 yrs old
Youngest ML team
Bosie - 24.4 yrs old

Most expensive per player
Vancouver - $3.7M
Least expensive per player
Boise - $545K

International Signings Review

2008-05-22T22:42:00.002-04:00

AL North

Minnesota St. Paul Sots- ($7.63m/year) Daggers actually spent nothing on international scouting in season 8. Not sure if he still gets mail from his four international scouts, and if so where they go to look for talent. The franchise has made five signings in four seasons, a group of uninspiring players who shouldn’t top out above AA, led by relief pitcher Jesus Martin. The most expensive signing was his cousin, Benny Martin, at $2.5 million. Minnesota has no internationals on the big league club, and a D grade here, because there is at least an effort to minimize wasteful spending.

Chicago Knights- ($17.5m/year) katauska really doesn’t have the prospect budget to be pursuing top tier internationals, but of his five signings, there are two noteworthy relief pitchers signed. The good one is Antonio Kim, who signed for $5.7 million in season 5 and has potential to be a closer, and the bad one is Andres Ramirez, who has enough stuff to break in on the ML roster if he reaches projections. Damaso Estrada is the only foreign born player on the ML roster for the knights, and a C grade.

Dover Gophers- ($23.25m/year) badhame7 has realized the impact potential of international free agent signings, increasing the budget in this area every season he has owned the team. Season 6 saw the addition of a nice relief pitcher for $2.5 million in Edgar Elcano. Season 7 included the addition of a great defensive catcher in Delino Sanchez for $3.6, who may not be as useful going forward given today’s update. Then finally season 8 saw a coronation to this new commitment to IFAs in the $10 million dollar signing of Vic Suarez, who will lead off for this team for many seasons to come. Dover currently has 3 IFAs on the ML club, and a grade of B-, but expect more to come.

Milwaukee Gurus- ($54m/year) douglasdao has been incredibly aggressive pursuing IFAs for five or six seasons, with nearly 30% of his budget going towards this pursuit. To be honest it is a tough grade to give, as he has gotten some great talent, but it has been a little bit like driving a hummer when gas is $4.30 a gallon; inefficient. Still, he has added the back of the future rotation (Clayton Serrano, Enrique Mendoza, Ruben Lucano), a great hitting catcher and his defensive minded platoon-mate (Orlando Amaral and David Sardinha), and an average SS/CF (Rolando Castro). So then, as for a grade, I can’t give this franchise higher than a B+; take it as a sign of the luck that is required in the IFA process. The ML club has 5 internationals currently.

Where Are They Now? Season 2

2008-05-22T11:58:00.001-04:00

Time now for another installment of "Where Are They Now?"

Bonk Linton– Majors (Vancouver Shrugging Atlases)
#1 – Honolulu Volcanoes (RF)
855 G
.297 BA
.381 OBP
.561 SLG
213 HR, 646 RBI, 98/158 SB.
RF - .981 FLDG%, 25 A, 20 E, 5 +, 1 - in 768 G

Brant Stevenson– Majors (Little Rock Boulders)
#2 – Tucson Mad Jesters (P)
148 G/143 GS
5.21 ERA
1.49 WHIP
640 K
47 – 55, 8 CG
872-2/3 IP

Felipe Rodriguez– Majors (Vancouver Shrugging Atlases)
#3 – Nashville Sounds (2B)
442 G
.303 BA
.380 OBP
.573 SLG
524 H, 100 HR, 415 R, 141/167 SB
2B - .986 Fldg%, 28 E, 2 + plays, 7 – plays – 386 G

Sherman Woods – Not Signed
#4 – Cleveland Cleveland Stormtroopers (2B)

Bob Thompson– Majors (Salem mad monks)
#5 – Colorado mad monks (P)
84 G/84 GS
4.46 ERA
1.40 WHIP
541-1/3 IP
39 – 31

2008-05-21T15:24:00.003-04:00

First, an example of the kind of talent that has not been coming down the pipeline in our world, but has been in others- Pedro Seneca (not sure if it shows projections, but 97 ovr, with 84/89/94/100/92 for dur/ctr/vL/vR/velocity)

NL East

Hartford Harpoons- ($17.75m/year) Hartford has only 5 IFAs who signed for 600K plus in the period under investigation, including one big impact player and two guys who can add some depth. That impact player is Albie Torres, the most expensive signing in Morgan in season 5 at $12.8 million, and sports an ERA that is not reflective of how well he has pitched. And while it’s tough to break through on a good team like Hartford, William Lim and Vin Matos, both season six signees, will add depth to the ML squad. Hartford has three internationals on the ML roster, and a grade of B-, for the good of seasons 5 and 6 and the bad in seasons 7 and 8.

New York Metropolitans- ($18.5m/year) New owner ajf00529 has not focused on the international scene, and previous owners have been scatterbrained in this area as well. If Tony Blanco can work through his control problems and Alex Martinez can work through his control problems these two can contribute at the ML level. Beyond them, there isn’t much here. Alex Villano is ajf’s only signing, a nice defensive pick up for just $670K. There is only one international on the Met’s ML team currently, and a grade here of C-.

Wichita Twisters- ($14.25m/year) Of the first eight teams Wichita has spent the least. To be perfectly candid I believe that peteskin would be well served by investing more money into college and int’l scouting. That said, all three int’l signings have been solid. Orlando Candelaria is a solid switch-hitter, Felipe Ortiz will get on base, and Diego Santana posted a .847 ops in his cup of tea with the ML club this season. So, in spite of my criticism, a B- grade for a team with 3 internationals on the ML club.

San Juan Jumping Beans- ($32.13m/year) The biggest spender of teams looked at thus far, San Juan has signed five players with signing bonuses greater than $5 million. I am of the opinion that the two season five signees were misses, in Santiago Barcelo and Sammy Rodriguez, but beyond that there is some real talent. Enrique Mercedes and Tino Lee are both nice back of the rotation pitchers in that they lack stamina, Hiram Whang had a great glove, and Jose Soto is a nice catching prospect. Still, I get the feeling that San Juan has been jockeying to get in position for that HoF talent that simply hasn’t come along in our world. They have accumulated 6 internationals onto the ML roster, and I would give a grade here of B-. It’s the same grade as less talented Wichita and Hartford earned, but jarazix has been spending twice as much and it has not amounted to a vast difference in talent. As he won a WS, I don’t feel guilty saying this.

International Signings Review

2008-05-20T19:06:00.004-04:00

Alright, I’m going to begin doing a review of international free agent signings. So, as before, I’ll begin by defining my methodology: First, this will be a review of seasons 5-8 only. Next, I’m going to stick to reviewing players who received a signing bonus of/greater than 600K, which is slot money for a player taken with the last pick of the first round of the amateur draft. Third, like with the prospect reviews, I’ll go one division at a time. Fourth, I will include a team’s budget in international scouting and prospects (counting one million for every two transferred out, two million for every one million transferred in, and then subtracting 6 million for spending on amatuers). Then grades will be given based on potential added ML impact and depth against money spent. Also, while the numbers are easily found in the franchise rankings tab, I will list the number of IFAs on each franchise’s ML team, which wont be considered in grading. I expect these grades to be unrefined, arbitrary, and maybe unfair; but whatever, because everyone likes seeing an actual grade. Last, I want to remind the group that our world, compared to others, has had some abysmal IFA classes of late.

AL East

Indianapolis Hoosierdaddies- ($27m/year) Fourteen players signed over the four year period, including four catchers and seven pitchers. Joaquin Pascual was the most expensive signing, and is already contributing at the ML level, but his numbers aren’t great. Rafael Merced could turn into a nice ML catcher, and two other catchers, who aren’t great at catching, wield ML bats, in Tomas Alarcon and Felipe Martinez. Currently 4 IFAs on the ML roster and a grade here of C.

Huntington Herd- ($24.75m/year) Three times spent over five million on a signing bonuses, with ten total IFAs, by my count. Those three are David Ramirez, Jimmie Lee, and Rico Delgado. Lee and Delgado both offer two or three tools at the ML level if they reach projections, and Ramirez will be a great bullpen arm, a bullpen which may be constructed with three or four other IFAs. Currently there are 3 IFA’s for Huntington at the ML level, and a grade here of C+.

Florida Phoenix- ($28m/year) Before chazzzzzzzz took over there was almost no focus on international signings. Al Vazquez, Florida’s most expensive signing, is going to be an average ML player at best (in this author’s opinion), but beyond him there are a few things to like, such as Geronimo Beltran’s bat and eye, Pedro Berroa can be a closer, and Albert Pena has gold glove range with a decent enough bat. Has 4 IFA’s at the ML level, and a grade of B for some savvy pick-ups.

New York Mugger Funk- ($17.75m/year) Three key components to the Mugger Funk’s current success are IFA’s from seasons 1-4, in Esteban Montanez, Del Mercedes, and Alex Gutierrez. But despite these signings paying dividends, NY has turned away from a focus on international signings. In fact, in four seasons they have signed just four players, and only one worth mentioning, Ruben Pizzaro. He brought in a $5.8 million dollar bonus, but even then Pizzaro is no lock for the majors. NY has four IFAs at the ML level, but a D for money being inefficiently spent.

S8 Playoff Team Rankings

2008-05-14T21:14:00.001-04:00

	Pitching	Hitting	ML Salary
Augusta	4	6	$54M
Cleveland	5	12	$64M
Hartford	8	3	$76M
Atlanta	6	4	$64M
Houston	14	5	$77M
Arizona	16	2	$74M

Minnesota	10	11	$84M
NY	3	7	$100M
Little Rock	9	15	$90M
Memphis	12	24	$86M
Vancouver	1	1	$94M
Sacramento	11	10	$77M

S8 Draft Review (teams M-W)

2008-05-09T19:18:00.003-04:00

Memphis – With pick #22 Memphis picked Carl Osborne. He’s a raw player at 18, and he might be 4-5 seasons away from contributing but he looks like a very good leadoff hitter. What I like about him as a leadoff hitter is not just his speed, but he’s a switch hitter and has 90+ rating at both durability and health. So he could be a 650 AB per season kind of guy.

2nd round pick Kip Haynes has a solid bat, but his glove is not good at all. If he can only play 1B his bat is below average for a 1B. He probably would steal more bases than any other 1B though.

Milwaukee – This team has certainly invested in the future. Spending over $5M each on the their first two picks and another $1.5M on a third rounder. Everett Sanders is a SS, with a good bat. That would be a very good bat if he can stay at SS. His range isn’t ideal, but his other defensive ratings are SS quality.

Interestingly enough 45 picks later they got almost an identical player in Jeremy Bird. His bat is just a hair lighter than Sanders, but still ML quality. Obviously his signability was a factor in him dropping as he got $5.5M for being the #52 pick. With him signing it looks like a good gamble, I suspect Bird would have gotten more on the IFA market.

I’m not usually a fan of a team first two picks being the same position, but two SS or two SPs are usually valuable enough and versatile enough to be exempt from that.

Minnesota - Walter Reith looks to me like one of the stars of the draft. To get a legit star SP to fall to a team at #18 is just amazing. Maybe my scouting has overrated him, but to me he looks like a pitcher with 4 pitches all projecting over 60, good L/R splits, pin-point control, and ideal STA/DUR combination to pitch 220-240 innings per season. Add very good health along with good enough makeup and he has the look of a SP that will anchor a team. I do have one concern about him though, and it surprises me. He is really get shelled on the mound. 1.75 WHIP and 6.00 ERA are scary numbers to post against rookie hitters over 15 games.

Roger Dillon was their second round pick. I’m a little torn on whether this guy becomes a solid producer at the ML level. His contact rating is amazing, and in my opinion they tweaked the sim a bit and contact rating has more effect than it used to have. His splits are good, but his BE and power ratings are low. If his glove work is good enough to play 2B in the majors then I think he’s a good pick, if he can’t make it as a 2B and has to move to the outfield his bat will be considered a little light.

3rd round pick Tom Buckley looks like a backup SS or platoon against LH pitchers.

Monterrey – This is one of those teams that has not seen much success at the ML level, but keeps drafting stars and soon enough they are going to be fielding a powerful team. Todd Russell is a top of the line SP. He should give them about 210 quality innings. He also could have two pitches rated 90+, which is something no SP in this league currently has. Very interesting pitcher and he should do well.

Hideki Dong is also a very good pick at #50. He projects to a quality CF/2B and his bat is very strong, reminds me of Kiki Lopez.

Anthony Bruske is a speedster that might make it as a 24th or 25th guy on the roster.

Nashville – With the 9th pick in the draft, Nashville picked up a 4 star player in Zeus Affeldt who offensively compares well to Rafael Cedeno, but with a better health rating. On the negative side Zeus is an atrocious bunter, but that really shouldn’t keep him from being a MVP ballot type guy.

CF Ryan Kent was chosen at #54 and he should be able to make it to the majors one day.
SS Bill Sanford is a 3rd rounder that looks to fill the backup SS role. If called upon he could probably fill a starting SS role without killing a lineup with his bat. Overall a good pick for #86. Then their next pick James Glynn seems to fill a very similar role as a 2B instead of SS.

New York- NL If I’m not mistaken Kennie Hentgen is the first player from the S8 draft to make it to the big leagues. He was the eighth pick, but outside of Tacoma IF Les Park, Kennie was probably the most ready to play in the big leagues of any player in the draft. While he was the most ML ready of any player, his ceiling isn’t particularly high. I really don’t think the early promotion hurt his chances of developing his bat; he actually already looks pretty close to his projections in that area. His glove certainly needed some improvement, and is no where close enough to having a SS quality glove now or in the future. Good player, but I don’t think he’s all-star material.

New York – AL The Funk took a gamble taking SS Neal Rose in the first round. He projects to being a great SS with a great bat. But the gamble is his truly awful health rating and a durability rating that for now is 40. This has already bit the Funk in the arse when Rose found himself on the 60 day DL. I think Neal Rose will eventually make the majors (but probably not as a SS) and could even have a number of productive seasons, unfortunately I think he will be one of those “if only he had stayed healthy” kind of guys when you look back at his career

R.J. Washington looks like a speedy leadoff type COF.

Ted Moore could find himself as a defensive replacement type MIF, but his bat isn’t strong enough to be a full type starter at the ML level.

Sacramento – They had 3 picks between #29 and #42, and a total of 8 picks in the first five rounds. Dante Bradley is a switch hitting slugger in the mold of current Sacramento all-star Benj Clark. Dante is a DH/1B type of guy, and his average could get affected by the fact strong armed outfielders should be able to throw him out at first base with his 0 speed and 11 base running ratings. There is no denying he is an impact bat and should do well for them.
At pick #36 they got a gold glove type catcher in Alex Cervantes. He is stellar behind the plate, but his great 99 durability rating is somewhat offset by the fact he would really need to be platooned against LH pitchers.

Osvaldo Martin was picked at #42, he’s a quality RP that I’m sure would have gone much higher if he didn’t have such low DUR/STA. He’ll probably only be able to give 40 IPs a year at most. I think this was the perfect spot for him because Sacramento could “blow” a first round pick on 40 IPs a year as it had two other first rounders, and as a playoff fixture a guy like this gets even more valuable come the post-season with the extra days of rest.

If given a choice Sacramento always go for the guy with power, 2nd round pick is a 2B/COF Roger Webster that chicks dig because the long ball. Ditto for Sandy Stairs.

Salem – Picking 17th they grabbed SP Roger Darnell. Roger is a dichotomy of pitching extremes, my scouts see his L/R splits as projecting to more than 30 point difference. Then he has 2 pitches that project to at least upper 80s and 90s, and then three pitches that project to 40s, 30s, and 20s. It will be interesting to see what his career ends up looking like. So far he has a tough go of it in Lo-A.

Interestingly enough they grabbed another SP in round 2 Rollie Bale, he doesn’t have Darnell’s upside, but his low ratings are not as low either. Looks like a LRA type guy at the major league level.

Norberto Baerga in the 4th round looks like a solid backup type catcher player. Neither catching nor hitting skills blow you away, but they should be acceptable enough to rest starters without worrying to much.

San Juan – Picking 24th after winning a world series in Boston, San Juan chose IF Bill Lowe. If it were not for his sub-par range he would be a SS, as it is he probably ends up playing spectacular defense at 3B at the ML level. He’s got a solid bat, and his durability, health, and makeup are good. I see him very much like a LH version of Stan Easley.

When looking at their second round pick Edgardo Nunez its hard not to compare him to their first round pick. He’s not quite as good, but similar in many ways.

In the third round they got RP Michael Robbins, who has a shot as a Setup B type guy.

Tacoma – With the third pick in the draft Tacoma picked up Les Weber. I certainly think he was deserving of such a high slot. He was drafted as a SS, but I’m not sure he really projects to that at the major league level. Maybe if he was a 18 years old his glove would progress, but he’s already 22 and his glove rating is 56. The truth is he is probably can’t sit in the minor waiting for his glove to develop because his bat is just too good, he could hold his own in the majors today (not that I wouldn’t suggest giving him some time in the minors to progress more.) Many SS I penalize in reviewing when they look like they just won’t be able be able to make it to ML standards defense ratings. If you can play a good gloved SS that has offensive ratings that are all around 60 then he is ahead what the rest of the teams can put on the field. But once he moves over to a less demanding defensive position the bar moves up on what is considered good batter ratings. Les Weber you could play at first base and he still would be ahead of most teams, any defense you get from him is gravy. I wouldn’t call him the best bat taken in the draft, but I think he has the best bat/glove combination.

At pick #48 they go SP Alex Guerrero. He’s not a bad choice and was probably one of the best SPs available at this point in the draft, but we’ll have to see if he pans out and makes it as a major leaguer. Same goes for third round pick Andrew West.

Daniel Daly is not better than either of their first two SP picks, but for being a fifth rounder I think he has the best shot of any 5th SP of making the majors.

Texas – At my initial glance at first round pick Paxton Thompson I was a little disappointed. He would definitely be on the lower end of the spectrum in terms of defensive ability if he plays 2B. Then his L/R splits are in the 60s. That’s good, but doesn’t blow me away for being the 12th pick in the draft. But when you dig a little deeper you see some of those ratings that make a good player great. His contact and power are obviously great, along with his very good batting eye. His health and durability ratings are superb, that probably bumps him up 50-75 ABs per season. He has good base running skills so he gets you some SBs – he really is a complete player. Ideally I think if things go right for him he could be a Derrick Flynn type guy, which I’m sure would be fine with Texas.

They got another good player in the second round, Hub Walton is a COF with a very nice bat. Of course good bats in the second round always have a wart, and his has to be his health rating.

Kent Dykhoff has a look of a utility type guy that makes the team as a decent backup.

Toronto – With the 20th pick in the draft Toronto selected rubber armed SP Angel House. He has the ability to easily throw 240 innings fully rested. The question is do they want him out there that much. He has very good control, decent splits, his pitch ratings worry me a bit. One pitch over 80 and three pitches that might not make it to 40 could make it rough on him.

There second round pick is similar, Brett Dixon can throw a ton of inning, but how effective will he be at the ML level. He has done well so far in the minors.

I really like their 4th round choice in Wilt Swann. He’s no all-star, but for a 4th round pick he is very good. He has one of the best gloves in the draft, and honestly his bat isn’t that bad. He might only his .210, but with that glove some teams could decide to play him.

Vancouver – with the 32nd pick in the draft Vancouver picked Glenn Nixon. He’s got great “stuff” and has had an excellent rookie campaign, but he is not without flaws. He has yet to pitch into the 5th inning as a starter this season. He might be able to be a spot starter one day, but the truth is he is probably a long relief type guy with his less than ideal STA/DUR.

After that Vancouver drafted numerous HOF potential guys – sadly due to a international scout eagerness to impress the owner he oversold IFA Guillermo Roque as a future all-star, they blew their budget and did not sign any players picked from the supplemental round to round 23.

Wichita – The 4th pick in the draft was James Chen, who is a capable SP. He’s got good control and nice splits. Three pitches for an SP in this game always worry me a bit, particularly when none are really dominating and one is poor.

I like their 3rd round pick Angel Dawkins He has a potential to get his stamina in the upper 20s to low 30s, and a durability of 95+. Decent splits and a couple of good pitches means he can really anchor a bullpen so you don’t have to throw any tired pitchers out there. Reminds me of a Tom Waterson type guy that could give you 75-100 innings of relief.

Where Are They Now?

2008-05-02T10:49:00.002-04:00

TOP 5 Season 1 Draft Picks
Vicente Garza – Majors (Austin)
#1 – Austin Wranglers (SS)
494 G
.304 BA
.372 OBP
.483 SLG
54 HR, 284 RBI, 147 2B, 370 R, 108/143 SB.
SS - .956 FLDG%, 48 E, 1 +, 16 - in 186 G
CF - .975 Fldg%, 20 E, 7 +, 24 -, in 261

Lenny Affeldt – Majors (New York Mugger Funk)
#2 – New York Real Koser Deli (P)
183 G
4.84 ERA
1.37 WHIP
78 – 60, 26 CG
1,186 IP

Ken Jefferies – Majors (New York Mugger Funk)
#3 – St. Louis Destroyers (SS)
833 G
.303 BA
.367 OBP
.528 SLG
162 HR, 664 RBI, 201 2B,
SS - .927 Fldg%, 63 E, 0(+), 4(-) – 177 G
CF - .971 Fldg%, 22 E, 2(+), 16(-) – 237 G
2B - .986 Fldg%, 14 E, 2(+), 1(-) – 176 G
RF - .984 Fldg%, 4 E, 4(+), 0(-) – 187 G

Walt Hayes – OOB
#4 – Chicago Knights (P)

Glenn Kubenka – Majors (Memphis Elvi)
#5 – Memphis Elvi (2B)
833 G
.307 BA
.370 OBP
.574 SLG
190 HR, 651 RBI, 739 R, 266 2B, 142/223 SB
2B - .983 Fldg%, 70 E, 11(+), 13(-) – 681 G

S8 Draft Review (Teams A through L)

2008-04-21T10:53:00.001-04:00

To make the comparison’s go easier I’m using a simple star system to refer to prospects.

4 star prospects are sure thing prospects, perennial all-stars, potential HOF type guys. I usually would expect only 1 or 2 guys in a draft could get this.
3 star prospects are stud players that you would expect to make an all-star appearance. Usually all round very good ratings, or great ratings combined with a flaw
2 star prospects solid ML players that should be solid contributors.
1 star prospects will probably be ML players, but not exactly impact guys.

By the way this year my advance scouting is lower than in the past – so you might completely disagree about opinion, just going by what my scouts say they are.

Albuquerque – Has signed none of his first 5 players. Odd since he has must have about 9M left in cash for prospects. First round pick SP looks to be a decent middle of the rotation starter.

Anaheim – Had 3 picks between #28 and #41. Miguel Rijo is an OF that looks to very solid roll player, certainly a two star player maybe three. To be honest the next two pick Pellow and Bollivar are very similar type guys, each of them have solid offensive ratings, with some pop in their bat. 2nd round pick Zeke Pearson doesn’t have a lot of power, but should be a high OBP switch hitter. While they all should be ML players, I’m guessing if this was a live draft he would not have picked similar guys four picks in a row.

2nd Round pitcher Jon Rowan is a one star type pitcher. He’s not bad just the DUR is just too low to be a SP. C Julio Johnson will be a solid ML backup catcher.

Their 5th round pick is very interesting. Chris Franklin could be a 3 star prospect. He’s got power, good splits, his batting eye is not ideal but good enough. Sure he is a DH only type guy, but many NL clubs are finding success using these guys at 1B.

Arizona - Their first round pick still has not signed (Tim Prince) and their third round pick also says he has his heart set on college and is currently asking for $7.5M. He might be worth it though, I’m sure he’d get that if he were an IFA. There second round pick Fred Riley did sign, and I actually like him a lot. Good splits and good defense, though I don’t think his glove cuts it as a SS at the ML level. His DUR is a tad low, but for a second round pick they did very well. Certainly a two star prospect.

If those two pitchers sign it would be a very nice draft, a little iffy without them.

Atlanta - Kane Howard is a solid pitcher. He won’t walk many and has some good pitch ratings, but I just don’t use guys with sub 20 DUR as SPs, and certainly not without an upper 90s STA. Matty Lowell is a borderline 2 star prospect. His bat is a little light for a COF. Cookie Goodwin was not a great prospect, but an injury just crushed him. His health rating dropped 12 points. As a powerhouse Atlanta always picks very late in the first round, but I am frequently amazed at the guy that fall to them there. Unfortunately this year seems a little leaner than in the past.

Augusta – The surprise team so far this season was able to grab a future all-star in Matthew Carter I can see this guy battling for a batting title and I would consider him a 3 star prospect.

They also grabbed a RP Rube Hickman and 3B Piper Cornelius who isn’t much of a power threat, but should hit for average.

Austin - Antonio Kelly is a very talented player. Good glove with a nice bat, but that health rating is Kerry Wood’ish. Raul Jose could be a gold glove type CF, and

Boise - #2 pick in the draft Al Valdez is a star in the making. Besides his great all round offensive ratings, he should be a quality 2B/CF and his DUR means he could play 162 games. It’s a very overlooked rating, but it could be a 15% boost in stat totals over a similar player with an 85 DUR.

Ed Crawford is an interesting player. He crushes LH pitching, but really might struggle against RH pitchers. It would be hard to platoon him being that he only really has a glove for DH. Then again it might work out well as 1B platoon against LH SPs and then use him as a pinch hitter when the RH SP is replaced by a LH RP. Morrie Hansell is another DH type, good offensive number, but health is a major concern.

This is one of the downsides to a pre-rank draft. Boise needed an impact bat, but after Valdez was drafted their next five picks are 1B/DH only type guys. They probably would have moved to another type of player if they saw what they had got.

Chicago – After a drought of not having their first round pick sign, Chicago finally found someone to take their money. The got switch hitting Wallace Christians who has great range, and could hit 40 HRs with a decent average. He’s a three star type prospect.

Ticked off at accidentally drafting a player in the first round that would sign, they signed a guy in the supplemental round that won’t. He says his heart is in staying at college his demands are $8M, so that’s the least amount he will sign for. Probably more if he signs at all, but seriously he might be worth the $8M because he was probably would have been drafted in the top 10 if he wasn't so stubborn about going to college.

In round two he got two pitchers, but both to me look like they have to low of control to make it in the bigs.

Cleveland – Ivan Ledee is a legit 3 star prospect. I expect him to be an all-star type guy with 1.000 OPS. His health rating is pretty bad, but the truth is you’re not going to get a guy of his caliber at #19 without a blemish.

With the 33rd pick in the draft Cleveland grabbed Sid Ducey He’s a good two star prospect that I expect to make the majors.

Their 2nd round pick is very interesting. Antonio Maduro has MVP like batter ratings. He will crush everything while he is on the field. How do you pick up a guy like this with the 51st pick in the draft? Well he’s got the glove of a DH. Cleveland could decide to play him at 1B, but the other problem is his DUR rating means it will be a stretch for him to get 375AB. I think it’s a good pickup with a second round pick because he could platoon with another guy, PH some, and then play a rested playoff series. And it looks like they could have picked up the right handed platoon for him 13 picks later in Antonio Maduro

Good draft for Cleveland offensively (half a point deduction for drafting a guy with a 1 Control rating in round 4 Virgil “If it weren’t for gravity…” Candelaria)

Dover – Grabbed a heck of a closer in Cooper Moore. Reminds me a lot of my own closer in Vancouver Will Monroe, except I think Moore will be even better. He’s a solid all round RP and really doesn’t have much if any flaws.

Pick #39 Jason McCartin is a solid all round 1B prospect.

With pick #58 They grabbed another top end RP in Travis Jarvis. He doesn’t have quite the mind blowing numbers of Cooper Moore, but honestly he is good enough to close for most teams.

Lee Erdos isn’t a bad pickup for the 90th player overall selected. He is a 1 star type SP/LRA prospect. He doesn’t blow you away, but he has an 80, 70, and two 60 rated pitches. He’s a serviceable back of the rotation SP or long relief option.

Florida – With the first pick in the draft Florida selected Jesse Richardson. He has great L/R splits, makeup, and outstanding control. He seems like the perfect pitcher to pair with a low PC catcher that can hit. I do have one concern about him, and that is what I see as his Durability topping out at 17. If that is accurate (which certainly might not be) it could keep his pitch counts in the 90s which puts his IPs around 180-190 (similar to another very good SP Willie Pena,) He was certainly deserving of the first pick, and particularly for a team that has some stellar talent at position players, but needed an Ace SP. If I my scouting is off on DUR then I would give him 4 stars, but if its accurate I would have to give him 3 ½ stars.

2nd round pick George Crawford is a CF with superb speed. He got a good BE and contact (the latter being something I think HBD has given more weight to recently), so he could be a leadoff hitter or bat “leadoff” from the 9th spot.

4th round pick Bob Denny might be a one star prospect. He could find himself at the back of the rotation or maybe as a LRA type guy.

Hartford – Didn’t pick until 25, but got an interesting guy in Rudy Duran. He certainly won’t be an SP at the ML level (unless he was a tandem guy) but he should be able to give Hartford 100 very good innings.

Their second round pick was Lewis Risley, and I think this was a very good pick at this spot. I find it hard to believe 69 other players were better than him. He doesn’t have any single rating that jumps out at you, but every rating is solid. He could play either CF/2B, and his offensive ratings are all in the 50s and 60s. At the very least he is a super utility guy you can play everywhere except SS/C and he hits well enough to not kill your team. A solid 2 star prospect.

Amos Petersen is very similar to their first round pick, he is one of those “tweener” pitchers with sub 20 DUR and sub 60 STA. But he has great stuff and should give them another 50-80 IPs of solid numbers.

Clinton Meyer is a more traditional RP. His control is a little lower than ideal but he has very nice splits and good pitch ratings. He should make a good setup guy.

Hartford didn’t get a HOF player, but as I look at their guys I thought almost all of the guys they picked should have been gone before they had a chance to grab them.

Houston – At #30 Houston grabbed Rickey Bagley. He’s a solid RP that has very nice pitch ratings.

Late second rounder Russell Montgomery is a solid back of the rotation/LRA type guy. Its hard to grab decent SPs this late, but he should be able to contribute somewhere. Very good control, decent splits, and average pitch ratings.

Huntington – Late first round pick Jimmy Wolf is a SS that has some power and hits lefties very well. His BE rating is pretty low, but if he is able to play SS you usually give up some offensive skills for a good glove.

Unfortunately after that they picked four SPs that had great stamina, durability, and control, but their L/R splits are just to low to be effective at the ML level.

Indianapolis – They grabbed the premier catcher in the draft with the 6th pick Pedro Arroyo. He projects to a quality defensive catcher, and has outstanding offensive ratings. Then add that he project to 100 DUR, Indy won’t have to worry about a catcher for the 10 years. He is certainly a 4 star prospect.

George Reynolds just doesn’t seem to have the control to make it as a ML SP.

Lenny Robinson is a decent CF, but I still only project him a 1 star prospect

Las Vegas – I didn’t scout their first round pick, but he hasn’t signed yet so that’s a bad sign for him signing at all. They have a second round pick, and the next three pitchers they grabbed probably won’t make the majors. Another tough draft for Vegas. But it was a poor draft that also didn’t sink much money into – which beats a poor draft that costs a lot of money in scouting. They have obviously employed a strategy of not putting much into the draft, try and land a decent first rounder, and spend the rest of the money on free agents. While its not the strategy of most owners it isn’t a method without some merit.

Little Rock – They needed pitcher, and their first 6 picks were just that. Clint Hernandez was their first pick. He has great pitch ratings and control, and his L/R splits are pretty good. Still unless his DUR gets a boost I just don’t see him as a SP. Currently no pitcher being used as a SP in the world has a DUR rating that low (I don’t count Horacio Rosario, he’s been throwing 50-60 pitches a game and still can’t recover to 100% by the time it is his turn in the rotation)

Keith Becker is an interesting pitcher. His splits are just so-so, but he has good control and two highly rated pitches. He can save a bullpen though with his mid 40s stamina and mid 80s durability. So he is almost always available to pitch 2 innings if you need them.

League Leaders - AL - SB comparison

2008-04-18T14:18:00.002-04:00

MLB (AL) Top 10 SB
Crawford - 50
Roberts - 50
Figgins - 41
Patterson - 37
Suzuki - 37
Lugo - 33
Sizemore - 33
Owens - 32
Crisp - 28
Damon - 27

HBD (AL) Top 10 SB
Through 89 games (projected final SB total)
White - 62 (113)
Estrada - 61 (111)
Montanez - 61 (111)
Valdes - 53 (96)
Newfield - 52 (95)
Alicea - 49 (89)
Bonilla - 47 (86)
Stinnett - 44 (80)
Rodriguez - 41 (75)
Cordero - 38 (69)

MLB (AL) Top 10 SB (SB%)
Crawford - 83%
Roberts - 88%
Figgins - 77%
Patterson - 80%
Suzuki - 82%
Lugo - 85%
Sizemore - 77%
Owens - 80%
Crisp - 82%
Damon - 90%

HBD (AL) Top 10 SB (SB%)
White - 87%
Estrada - 88%
Montanez - 88%
Valdes - 83%
Newfield - 81%
Alicea - 83%
Bonilla - 90%
Stinnett - 83%
Rodriguez - 85%
Cordero - 84%

League Leaders - NL - SB comparison

2008-04-17T10:49:00.002-04:00

The issue we seem to be running into at this point is the fact that the top baserunners are ridiculously successful at stealing bases.

MLB (NL) Top 10 SB
Reyes - 78
Pierre - 64
Ramirez - 51
Byrnes - 50
Rollins - 41
Victorino - 37
Wright - 34
Taveras - 33
Matsui - 32
Phillips - 32

HBD (NL) Top 10 SB
Through 85 games (projected final SB total)
Hamill - 70 (133)
Gomez - 59 (112)
Goya - 55 (105)
Buckley - 47 (90)
Torres - 47 (90)
Terrell - 45 (86)
Merrick - 38 (72)
Garza - 36 (69)
Beamon - 35 (67)
Oropesa - 32 (61)

MLB (NL) Top 10 SB (SB%)
Reyes - 78.8%
Pierre - 81.0%
Ramirez - 78.5%
Byrnes - 87.7%
Rollins - 87.2%
Victorino - 90.2%
Wright - 87.2%
Taveras - 78.6%
Matsui - 88.9%
Phillips - 80.0%

HBD (NL) Top 10 SB (SB%)
Hamill - 95.9%
Gomez - 93.7%
Goya - 84.6%
Buckley - 87.0%
Torres - 82.5%
Terrell - 86.5%
Merrick - 84.4%
Garza - 83.7%
Beamon - 92.1%
Oropesa - 84.2%

Team Stolen Base Analysis

2008-04-17T09:55:00.004-04:00

Just a real quick and dirty analysis here, but there has been some discussion on the board about SBs being out of whack. At first glance, they may be, but let's look at this a little more in-depth.

Steps:
1. Project current HBD totals through 162 games.
2. Add 2 "teams" to ML totals. I did this by averaging the totals of all ML teams and adding it to the bottom of my spreadsheet twice so that we can have as fair a comparison as possible.

Numbers:
SB/CS
HBD (162G)a - 5,518/7,416 - 74.40%
MLB (162G)b - 3,112/4,181 - 74.44%

CS/SBA^
HBD (162G)a - 1,898/7,416 - 25.60%
MLB (162G)b - 1,068/4,181 - 25.56%

SB/G
HBD (162G)a - 1.06
MLB (162G)c - 0.60

SBA^/G
HBD (162G)a - 1.43
MLB (162G)c - 0.86

a - projected
b - 2007 + 2 average teams
c - actual 2007
^ - Stolen Base Attempts

Conclusions:
1. HBD teams are getting caught as much (on a percentage basis) as their MLB counterparts.
2. HBD teams are attempting 66% more stolen bases per game than their MLB counterparts.
3. HBD teams record 77% more stolen bases per game than their MLB counterparts.

Please let me know what you think. When I get time I may compare the top 5 MLBers to the top 5 HBDers...maybe even split it up amongst AL/NL.

Voting on George Spence

2008-03-28T09:43:00.000-04:00

George Spence
Chicago
Knights
Age: 33	B/T: S/L
Born: Durant, IA
Position(s): LF/1B/DH
View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Vote in the poll now

2008-03-26T00:24:00.000-04:00

Best Free Agent Class

These are in a loose order about my opinion of who added the most talent in free agency.

NY-N SP Mike Andrews, OF Ben Musial, IF Tom Terrell

Mike Andrews is the largest per season contract even seen in Morgan World. Mike is certainly talented, 4 consecutive seasons of sub 4.00 ERA is very good and he will give you 200+ IPs, and while he is 32 years old it is only a 3 year contract. Its a lot of money, but I don't think it was stupid money spent. The Tom Terrell signing was ok, but I thought there were better and cheaper albeit older 2B on the market at the time. Ben Musial is a former MVP and is a monster with a bat that could end up in the HOF. He’s a bit older, but signed for a song. They got two real difference makers in free agency. They also signed a few guys that they ended up waiving or releasing already.

Anaheim – OF Albert Guzman, IF Dick Yeats, P Mack Ramirez, P Eric Franklin, CF Shane Wilson, P Tony Floyd, SS Tanner Dransfeldt

Seems like every year I write this list Anaheim is at the top. Another great free agent class, and another class that is heavy on the Geritol pills. SS Tanner Dransfeldt is a good pickup. 3B Yeats is a borderline HOF, and you have to wonder what his career numbers would look like if he got to play in his prime. He’s no longer a star though and is more of a solid contributor. Pitchers Ramirez, Floyd, and Franklin are just looking to fill a role and keep that ERA under 4.50.

Florida – SP Joel Coleman, 1B/COF Miguel Vincent, SP Donnie McFeely, C Nicholas Miller

I like the Coleman and McFeely signings. This team has talent, but it needed some SPs that could eat innings. Don’t know how much computer players benefit from it, but it can’t hurt to have Coleman’s 2 Cy Young awards in your rotation. Obviously this team has some spare payroll though, because I have a hard time finding out how/why they committed $15M total contract to Vincent.

Indianapolis – SP Ted Stoops, RP Quinton Ventrella.

Stoops is a quality innings eater. He will do nothing but help this team, but he did sign a pretty large 5 year contract and has a career 5.04 ERA. Indy doesn’t have much committed to payroll right now, so it is not an awful contract. Personally I like the $50M total contract that NY-N spent on Mike Andrews more than the $46M total contract committed to Stoops. I realize the terms are different, but for similar total value Andrews is a Cy Young candidate and Stoops is just a good solid pitcher.

LV – C/PH Ozzie Daugherty, SP Hector Romero, RP Dusty Blake

SP Romero will do well for this team. He’s an interesting pitcher with some of the best pitcher ratings in the league, but he has poor control. So what you get is a roller coaster of performances during the season. He will pitch a 9 Inning 3 hit shutout with 13Ks, and follow it up with 2.2 IPs 6BB and 7 ER. Blake is a decent RP, and C/PH Daugherty still has a good bat.

Memphis CF Felipe Onteveras, SS Alfredo Gonzalez

Memphis is working to bolster their defense with two light hitting great defense guys.

Augusta – SP BC Sierra, SP Al Gutierrez, P Louis Maxwell, RP Marc Wayne.

Augusta was able to re-sign some of their big name pitchers and picked up a quality RP/CLA in Marc Wayne.

Cleveland – COF Vic Saenz, P Andy Lowe

Cleveland picked up 2 time all-star Vic Saenz. He is getting older, but still can hit. Saenz reminds me of Darrin Erstad.

Nashville - SP Ozzie Hines, SP Curtis Greenwood.

Not a spectacular pair of FA SPs, but they fill a void until the prospects arrive. They might even outperform some of the higher priced FA in our league

NY-A SP Vin Lee, 2B Dan West, RF Earnest Strange

NY with its loaded team didn't need to find a star as much as they needed to find depth. West is a former all-star, but at 35 he will be asked to play a roll instead of having to carry to the team. At $3M per it was a very good signing. Lee is another former all-star that will fill a need for this team, but double digit wins is unlikely.

Texas - SP Gil Kwon

After a breakout year in Season 6 when he pitched 247 IPs with a 3.86, season 7 was a disapointment for Kwon. Texas got the 31 year old Kwon for a good price and hopes he bounces back.

Albuquerque – SS Erubiel Valdes, 1B Jon Zentmeyer. Signed a quality defensive SS in Valdes and a pretty good slugger in Zentmeyer who should hit .290/35/110

Predictions for S8

2008-03-24T23:03:00.000-04:00

	Picks #1	Picks #2	Picks #3
NL North	Cleveland	Augusta	Cleveland
NL East	Hartford	San Juan	San Juan
NL South	Atlanta	Houston	Atlanta
NL West	Anaheim	Anaheim	Arizona
NL WC	San Juan	Hartford	Houston
NL WC	Monterrey	Atlanta	Anaheim

AL North	Minnesota	Milwaukee	Minnesota
AL East	NY	NY	NY
AL South	Memphis	Little Rock	Memphis
AL West	Vancouver	Vancouver	Vancouver
AL WC	Little Rock	Chicago	Florida
AL WC	Chicago	Memphis	Sacramento

Legends Voting (HOF)

2008-03-12T12:23:00.002-04:00

If you are a member of legends committee please vote in the poll about Doug Connelly.

Doug Connelly
Arizona
Scottsdale
Age: 33	B/T: S/L
Born: Tohatchi, NM
Position(s): 1B/LF
View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Legends of Morgan (HOF)

2008-02-29T10:42:00.001-05:00

Season 8 will be the inaugural season of the Legends of Morgan; an owner driven version of Morgan's Hall of Fame. Part of the reason behind not naming it the Morgan World HOF is that we will be voting on active players, and if a HOF is ever instituted by WifS it could cause confusion if we had two HOF.

What is being proposed is that a group of Morgan owners commits to voting on players nominated by the league. We would aim to get 75% approval from the Legends/HOF Committee for a player to be accepted.

To nominate a player an owner will post a link to the player and state he is being nominated on the World Chat section. If another owner seconds the nomination the player is then eligible to be voted on by the committee. This process will keep the committee from spending time discussing players that plainly do not belong in the discussion. Seconding a players nomination doesn’t mean that you would definitely vote that player in, but you think he at least deserves to be discussed.

One issue we will be dealing with is players that the world was created and some very good players were in the middle of their careers and will never have career totals that approach a guy that played since he was 23. At the same time we cannot ignore career totals, and being great for one or two seasons does not make a HOF career. At the very least the committee needs to see a 5 season average of what a player did.

- A player can only be nominated once per season.

- A player can be nominated by any owner

- The nominating owner should provide info about the player. Summary of awards, statistical achievements (world top 5 list), average seasons stats for at least a 5 season threshold or more. This is while not required will help the committee.

- There will be an age requirement

- Voting will be done of the league blog by the committee members.

- All Morgan owners are eligible to be on the committee, the requirement being that do your utmost to at least vote on all the players that come up for a vote and you try to be fair with your vote.

The Legends of Morgan/HOF is not completely finalized yet so this list is not law, please feel free to offer up any opinions to the group. Also let me know via trade chat or sitemail if you want to be part of the voting committee.

Finally this is something that is being done to add an interesting element to the game, but everyone has opinions. If you nominate a player realize there could be a discussion about him. Other owners have might have different criteria for what they think deserves induction, people are free to feel certain players don’t deserve induction. And voters please avoid incendiary comments about other owner’s players, use stats or to a lesser extent ratings to backup any views about them not deserving induction.

Congrats to Boston

2008-02-26T23:09:00.003-05:00

Boston won the championship in thrilling fashion. Rock Gardner hit a walk-off 2-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning of game 5 of the World Series. This was after Vin Lee threw his second gem of the World Series. In 2 games and 16 innings he gave 1 run.

Boston also won game 4 in the 10th inning. In game 4 Wes Davies hit a single in the 10th inning, stole second when the throw to second sailed into the bleachers. Then Enrique Ruiz (admittedly not primarily a 3b) botched a routine grounder and Davies came home to score the winning run.

Thanks to everyone for another great year in Morgan. Hope to see you next season.

Vin Lee
Boston
Blood Sox
Age: 34	B/T: R/R
Born: Caracas, VE
Position(s): P (SP2)
View Hardball Dynasty Profile

S7 Pitching Stats

2008-02-26T23:08:00.000-05:00

Name	Wins	WHIP	ERA
Scottsdale Mad Jesters	114	1.32	4.33
Washington War Criminals	93	1.36	4.37
Cleveland Stormtroopers	87	1.38	4.51
Houston Texans	104	1.48	4.71
Salem mad monks	83	1.40	4.75
Anaheim Redbirds	95	1.44	4.76
Sacramento Air Force	100	1.37	4.77
New York Mugger Funk	107	1.34	4.78
Chicago Knights	90	1.42	4.79
Atlanta Braves	92	1.42	4.83
Minnesota St. Paul Sots	87	1.45	4.89
St. Louis Melon Farmers	72	1.43	4.97
Toronto Storks	87	1.47	5.00
Boston Blood Sox	90	1.49	5.00
Las Vegas Gamblers	78	1.53	5.02
Memphis Elvi	89	1.45	5.04
Austin Wranglers	78	1.45	5.06
Hartford Harpoons	90	1.46	5.09
Arizona Scottsdale	89	1.55	5.44
New Britain Claymores	68	1.55	5.45
Cincinnati Reds	58	1.49	5.46
Wichita Twisters	62	1.62	5.57
Fresno Grizzlies	72	1.56	5.77
Dover Gophers	74	1.55	5.80
Santa Fe Locomotive	79	1.58	5.95
Texas Black Socks	73	1.59	5.96
Milwaukee Gurus	66	1.58	5.98
Monterrey Habaneros	66	1.64	6.13
Nashville Hound Dogs	68	1.66	6.29
Indianapolis Hoosierdaddies	66	1.66	6.32
Florida Phoenix	56	1.60	6.33
Colorado Funky Back Beats	59	1.90	8.12

S7 Hitting Stats

2008-02-26T23:07:00.001-05:00

Name	Runs	HRs	AVG	OPS
Scottsdale Mad Jesters	1227	419	0.306	0.962
Houston Texans	1120	254	0.306	0.884
New York Mugger Funk	1073	247	0.300	0.858
Arizona Scottsdale	1066	319	0.291	0.881
Colorado Funky Back Beats	1023	248	0.303	0.852
Atlanta Braves	1017	215	0.291	0.817
Texas Black Socks	993	319	0.283	0.859
Sacramento Air Force	982	343	0.281	0.861
Chicago Knights	962	239	0.289	0.816
Santa Fe Locomotive	962	276	0.285	0.839
Hartford Harpoons	942	257	0.282	0.823
Nashville Hound Dogs	931	202	0.278	0.788
Dover Gophers	926	207	0.282	0.801
Anaheim Redbirds	924	240	0.275	0.797
Memphis Elvi	923	266	0.270	0.801
Washington War Criminals	922	226	0.282	0.795
Boston Blood Sox	912	231	0.285	0.814
Austin Wranglers	911	220	0.284	0.802
Minnesota St. Paul Sots	905	243	0.278	0.815
Toronto Storks	902	220	0.287	0.812
Monterrey Habaneros	899	234	0.282	0.805
Indianapolis Hoosierdaddies	869	223	0.276	0.781
Salem mad monks	867	253	0.285	0.829
Las Vegas Gamblers	851	243	0.280	0.802
New Britain Claymores	836	286	0.265	0.785
Cleveland Stormtroopers	825	186	0.273	0.760
Milwaukee Gurus	804	231	0.273	0.776
Fresno Grizzlies	777	199	0.258	0.744
Florida Phoenix	771	155	0.279	0.755
St. Louis Melon Farmers	758	213	0.258	0.749
Wichita Twisters	754	196	0.261	0.750
Cincinnati Reds	734	199	0.261	0.727

2008-02-15T21:46:00.003-05:00

Testing playing linking in the blog

Rusty Jones
Scottsdale
Mad Jesters
Age: 32	B/T: R/R
Born: Gilcrest, CO
Position(s): LF/1B/DH
View Hardball Dynasty Profile

S7 Playoffs rankings

2008-02-13T23:57:00.001-05:00

Name - Run Difference - Offense rank - Pitching Rank
Chicago +125 9th 9th
NY +268 3rd 8th
Washington +184 16th 2nd
Memphis +58 15th 16th
Scottsdale +463 1st 1st
Sacrament +167 8th 7th
Toronto +44 20th 13th
Atlanta +162 6th 10th
Houston +291 2nd 4th
Anaheim +132 14th 6th
Hartford +60 11th 18th
Boston +68 17th 14th

If the playoffs started today...

2008-01-20T21:38:00.001-05:00

First, take a look at our predictions from the beginning of the season: http://hbd-morgan.blogspot.com/2007/12/division-winner-and-wildcard.html .

NL North: Cleveland Cleveland Stormtroopers
NL East: Boston Blood Sox
NL South: Houston Texans
NL West: Las Vegas Gamblers
NL Wildcard 1: Hartford Harpoons
NL Wildcard 2: Atlanta Braves/Anaheim Redbirds (I forget the tiebreaker rules)

AL North: Chicago Knights
AL East: New York Mugger Funk
AL South: Memphis Elvi
AL West: Scottsdale Mad Jester
AL Wildcard 1: Sacramento Air Force
AL Wildcard 2: Washington D.C. War Criminals

AL is the tougher league to make the playoffs by 8 games at this point. The two one seeds would be Scottsdale and Houston (Oh and Houston has less wins than Washington).

Top teams at each level by record:

AAA: New Britain
AA: Scottsdale
HiA: Washingtond D.C.
LoA: Houston
RL: Anaheim