AL South Team Notes

Texas Black Socks – 98-64

Best Players – Ben Musial, Matthew Bravo, Ramiro Trevino, Lorenzo Fernandez

Team Rankings – 4^th Offense, 21^st Pitching, 12^th Fielding

Team Notes – Texas took a big step forward this year establishing themselves as a true contender. Stripping from Memphis the title of AL South Division crown they have owned since the league began. Eschewing the strategy of "you win with pitching" is easier to do when 64 HR and 140 RBI qualifies you as only third best hitter on your team. Ben Musial put up a historical 80HR 208 RBI performance that left the other MVP candidates in the dust. If they add some more pitching to this monstrous lineup (which could come from AAA SPs Armando Manual and Desi Hutch) they will surely be in contention for a championship.

OK City Pain – 64-98

Best Players Guillermo Molina, Tommy Webster, Terry Cummings

Team Rankings 13^th offense, 25^th Pitching, 9^th Fielding

Team Notes- A Solid hitting team, their pitchers lack of control really kept this team from competing. They have some real stars in their minor league system though. Paul Burrell looks to be a Miguel Tejada clone, and Wes Davies is another stunning prospect who has power and speed. This team off-season priority is obviously going to be to improve their pitching staff and then let their position players develop. It will be a surprise if they make the playoff next season, but success isn’t too far off.

Memphis Elvi 84-78

Best Players – Glen Kubenka, Julio Guerrero, Joshua Slocumb, Alex Suarez

Team Rankings – 10^th Offense, 11^th Pitching, 29^th Fielding

Team Notes – Memphis’ stranglehold on the AL South finally ended this season. A well balanced team will a number of all-star caliber players. Kubenka is the first superstar to come from the draft in this league. Joshua Slocumb has to be the deal of the century averaging 53HR 130RBI for the past four seasons, while only making $2.3M per year over that time frame. Being that they have only committed 48M to next year’s payroll they should have the enough cash to reload and reclaim their title next year.

Sante Fe Locomotive 61-101

Best Players – Derrick Flynn, Joe Borchard, Phillip O’Malley,

Team Rankings – 7^th Offense, 31^st Pitching, 31^st Fielding

Team Notes - Sante Fe was season 3’s big surprise when they missed the playoffs on the last day of the season, but the season they couldn’t find that same magic. They have an imposing lineup that is lead by Derrick Flynn, but that can’t make up for the fact they only have one pitcher on their roster that posted under a 6.00 ERA last season. They play in the worst pitchers park in the league, but they still have to find a way to keep the ball in the park. They do have two highly touted young pitchers in Brant Stevenson and Jesus James, but they both got lit up by the ML competition last season. They have more help on the way in their minor leagues like Paul Ma, Pedro Mesa, Ruben Dali, and Lee Durham – but their best minor leaguers are position players and they really need pitching and defense.