2106 Playoffs


Pacific Series
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Cheyenne is entering as the favorites, more wins in the regular season and much more experience throughout the roster. This is their 3rd time in a row and 5th time in 6 years playing in the Pacific Series. While Astoria will be playing in their first one. However, Cheyenne is dealing with a few injuries, maily Baxter winning C Eric Titus, All-Star 2B Dan Harbin, and SP Jose Serrano. The loss of Titus and Harbin are the main issues, as Cheyenne has a noticeably weak offense. Their best offensive weapons are CF Kevin Meyer and RF Yekuno-Amlak Mshangama as the only 2 with an OPS+ of over 100, whilas Astoria has 6 (2B Tom Phelan, CF Tyler Kilbarger, 1B Ray Tolbert, DH David Westland, 3B Adam Moore, LF Josh Hernandez) and 3 others above 90OPS+. However, Cheyenne has the Osprey beat in pitching, with 3 pitchers below 3.00ERA while Astoria only has 1 under 4.00. Bullpen-wise they are pretty even with both teams having good options. Astoria has actually won the season series 11-9, but Cheyenne has one of the best home-field advantages and much more experience all around. 

Game 1: AST Andrew Redepenning (24-5, 2.19) vs CHY Marty Hodge (24-7, 2.41)
In the first playoff game in Astoria’s history, Redepenning would hold the door closed until the 8th when Astoria RF Dave Sharpes would score 2 on a single to score the first runs of the game. Mike Kohn would come in and close out the game. Both teams only had 5 hits, but Astoria was able to connect them together to score. 
AST 2 - 0 CHY

Game 2: AST Jose Orozco (10-12, 4.35) vs CHY Rafael Santa Cruz (19-7, 2.41)
The Osprey would score twice in the first and third, while Cheyenne would get 2 in the second. In the 5th Cheyenne LF Hisato Horio would hit a solo home-run to get the game within 1, but neither would score for the rest of the game, Astoria wins another close ballgame.
AST 4 - 3 CHY

Game 3: CHY Jeffrey Simon (21-11, 2.78) vs AST Jason Weatherford (13-13, 5.03)
In what many were predicting, an easy win for the Buffalo would turn out to be a complete riot for Astoria. The Osprey would put up 10 runs and clutch pitching and fielding as the Buffalo would strand 12 players and hit into 4 double plays. It's beginning to look dire for Cheyenne. 
CHY 3 - 10 AST

Game 4: CHY Ahmed Mathis (9-6, 3.58) vs AST Dusty McCord (13-14, 5.36)
Cheyenne’s season comes down to Ahmed Mathis who missed the first half of the season due to an injury where he lost some of his fingers. While they were surgically repaired he mentioned having issues with his splitter, but he has had a decent season nonetheless. However, in the playoffs it would all crumble apart, 6 runs in under 3 innings, preceded by Bourdon giving up 4 led to a complete and utter dismantling of the Buffalo rotation that was supposed to be one of the best ever. Between the collapse of the pitching staff and injuries to 2 of their best batters it's surprising the Buffalo even managed to make it this far. As for the Osprey, they will now enter their first ever Championship Series. DH David Westland won MVP hitting .545 in the 4 games.
CHY 3 - 10 AST. Osprey won the series 4-0.



Atlantic Series
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The Pretzels and the Harfang meet for the 4th time in what is becoming a classic rivalry match. Both teams are suffering injuries to their 3rd pitchers and a depth piece on offense. Both teams have outstanding batting, with multiple players likely to get Baxter votes this year. Neither have been as good pitching this season as previously, but I would not slouch on either’s bullpen, as both teams have a player (or 2) that could get Gervais votes if not outright win. Trois has historically been the much better team, yet Germantown has only won once in their matchups in the Atlantic Series, and this is easily the best Pretzels team yet. While the Harfang are possibly at their weakest with Thompson gone, Barthélémy having his “worst” season, and only Leon Lopez posting respectable numbers in the rotation. 

Game 1: GER Matt Richardson (13-12, 4.62) vs TR Leon Lopez (19-10, 2.96)
The 3x Taylor winner, Lopez, would lock in and absolutely dominate Germantown all day. In the 2nd Trois would put up 5 runs enroute to a total beatdown by the Harfang.
GER 0 - 10 TR

Game 2: GER Adam Minke (14-13, 3.44) vs TR Gary Hamilton (16-9, 4.01)
The 2-way rookie, Hamilton would easily cruise to a victory as the Harfang offense exploded once again, putting up 7 in just 5 innings while limiting the Pretzels to just 1 in the same frames. Germantown 2B Ritter Ammann would hit a solo home run in the 8th but nothing else would be done for the Pretzels.
GER 2 - 7 TR

Game 3: TR Jorge Franco (14-11, 4.69) vs GER Bernie Rosado (17-6, 3.17)
Germantown would put up 5 in the second inning thanks to 2 triples. Trois would answer back with 2 before giving up another run. By the 6th, Germantown had a 90% chance to win, but then Harfang rookie Jimmy Nickolaus would hit a double with the bases loaded before getting hit in himself, typing the game up at 6. The game would stay tied going into the 10th, with Germantown closer Eric Reed pitching his 3rd straight inning, Barthélémy would open it up with a double before Reed would strikeout the next 2 batters. Then Omar Ramos would come to bat, who was a defensive replacement after Moreau was pinch-hit for earlier in the game. Ramos would tap a ball down the left-field line and Barthélémy would beat the throw to take the lead. Germantown’s bottom of the lineup could not piece together anything in the bottom half of their inning, leaving the Harfang 1 win away from the championship.
TR 7 - 6 GER

Game 4: TR Danny Avila (15-11, 3.73) vs GER Omar Saldana (1-1, 5.40)
The injuries to Germantown’s pitching staff had mounted up and now have to rely on 32-year old Saldana who has not had a full-time starting spot since 2103. The Harfang would open up the scoring with back-to-back home runs from Barthélémy and Rico, with Buckley hitting one of his own 2 batters later. Germantown would tie it up with scrappy play and good baserunning, and take the lead in the 8th after Powers reached on an error. CL Eric Reed would come in to try to save the Pretzels season. C Lemon would reach first on an infield hit. CF Buckley would earn a successful sacrifice bunt. 1B Adler would ground a ball to first, but would advance the tying run to third. Pinch Hitter Mark Chapman would line a drive to left, tying the game. 3B Dubois would launch a triple off the centerfield wall to take the lead and leave the Harfang 3 outs away from their 5th straight Atlantic title. Unfortunately for the Pretzels, it was the worst part of their order and even with pinch hitters they couldn’t get any player to even get on base and the Harfang would be on their way to their 5th straight Championship try. Rookie SS Jimmy Nickolaus would win the series MVP.
TR 5 - 4 GER. The Harfang won the series 4-0.


Championship Series

vs
Both teams advanced while sweeping injury riddled opponents. Yet their histories couldn’t be more different. This is Astoria’s first time in the playoffs, and by extent, first time in the Championship Series. While Trois has made the playoffs all 6 years of the NABF and made the Championship Series 5 straight times, but so far has only won once. They fair similarly in both offense and defense, only being separated by 15 runs either way. In the season series Trois won the matchups 4-2. Another note is that Trois’ Hervé Barthélémy is known for signing large contracts and then opting out after 2 seasons, so far he has done so 3 times. All 3 times he has only played for the Osprey and the Harfang, so in a way, this is the ‘Barthélémy Series’.

Game 1: AST Andrew Redepenning (24-5, 2.19) vs TR Leon Lopez (19-10, 2.96)
The first game features a matchup of the likely Taylor winners this year, which should promise a pitching duel for the ages. Instead we got an offensive showcase from both teams. Barthélémy would hit a 2-run home run in the first, and 2 more would score in the 2nd. Astoria would bounce back in the 4th with a bases clearing double from 1B Tolbert to help tie the game. The Osprey would take a 1-run lead in the 7th, but Trois DH Delli Santi would take the lead with a 2-run home run of his own. The Osprey would then bring in lefty specialist Joey Nuttle as Trois is almost entirely lefties, but he would get rocked for 2 more in the 8th. Astoria would have no chance to answer back as they got shut down by Graham Lawlor, giving game 1 to the Harfang.
AST 5 - 8 TR

Game 2: AST Joe Orozco (10-12, 4.35) vs TR Gary Hamilton (16-9, 4.01)
Things would quiet down in game 2, as only 3 runs would score the entire game. As both starters and teams closers would shut down almost everything. With all 3 runs being scored due to good baserunning. With 2 of them going to Astoria for the Osprey’s first game win to tie the series. 
AST 2 - 1 TR

Game 3: TR Jorge Franco (14-11, 4.69) vs AST Jason Weatherford (13-13, 5.03)
Behind a crowd of nearly 30k, rookie Weatherford would dominate, pitching a complete game shutout. While the offense would score 7 runs, highlighted by a 2-run homerun from 1B Tolbert. 
TR 0 - 7 AST

Game 4: TR Danny Avila (15-11, 3.73) vs AST Dusty McCord (13-14, 5.36)
The Harfang batters would wake up after 2 games of slumber, putting up 5 runs in the 4th, and solo shots in the 6th and 8th. The Osprey put up a respectable 4 runs, and in the 9th they would get 2 on with 0 outs, but would get shut down after Dale Patterson would come in. Patterson was the closer for majority of the season as Nixon was injured, as the closer he posted an ERA+ of 210 and is a Gervais candidate. 
TR 8 - 4 AST

Game 5: TR Leon Lopez (19-10, 2.96) vs AST Andrew Redepenning (24-5, 2.19)
Rematch of game 1, this time both would showcase their stuff, each only giving up 1 run through 6 innings. But Redepenning would reach the end of his rope in the 7th, allowing 5 to score as the heart of the Harfang lineup ate him up. Lopez would continue to be lights out with 10Ks in 8 innings. Trois now sits 1 win away from their second championship. 
TR 7 - 1 AST

Game 6: AST Jose Orozco (10-12, 4.35) vs TR Gary Hamilton (16-9, 4.01)
Trois would open it up by scoring 3 in the first followed by a 2-run home run from Barthélémy in the 5th. But in the 8th, DH Westland and RF Hernandez would both double in a run, along with CF Kilbager and C Nunez scoring themselves to make it a 1 run ballgame. Trois would call upon CL Nixon to close it out, Nixon missed most of the season due to a rotator cuff injury. And the Osprey batters came up swinging, making contact on the first pitch of each at-bat, unfortunately it was all weak contact that was easily snagged by the defense and the Trois Rivieres Harfang would win their second Championship in team history! LF Hervé Barthélémy would win series MVP. 
AST 3 - 5 TR. The Harfang win the series 4-2

sorry for the delay, I have been struggling with how I want to present the World Cup and then work got really busy and then I found out I lost a whole season and half the World Cup and will have to redo them. So the next few seasons will likely be slow updates, but I have not forgotten about this project.

2107 Pre-Season Preview

last season 55-107, 7th in Pacific
5th ranked farm system (RHP Zane Dubos #2, C Czar Artemenko #23, CF Talbot Boulet #28, 1B Carlos Ramirez #29)
Payroll $1,567,077 - 11th
Lineup and Pitching

C, 29, Jonathan Shepherd, Great Lakes, .270/.339/.382, 99OPS+
1B, 23, T.J. Nasta, Texas, only made 3 starts last season
2B, 27, Marquis Kaba, Louisiana, .216/.305/.319, 73OPS+
3B, 25, Ryan Storch, Arctic Circle, .249/.338/.334, 86OPS+
SS, 24, Leland Abbott, Quebec, .231/.283/.293, 60OPS+
LF, 32, Paul Butler, Rocky Mountains, .314/.415/.557, 167OPS+ won Frey award
CF, 24, Christian Guérin, Quebec, .203/.274/.274, 52OPS+
RF, 23, Kyle Miller, Susquehanna, no stats rookie season. #78 ranked prospect
DH, 22, Oscar Solís, Florida, only made 29 starts, formerly #48 prospect

1 24, John Gillingham, Arctic Circle, 4-3, 2.93ERA, 141ERA+ in 14 starts
2 29, Josh Newcomer, Great Lakes, 14-14, 3.80ERA, 109ERA+
3 38, Vince Benbow, Australia, 10-1, 2.24ERA, 186ERA+ in 14 starts with Huron
4 33, Todd Luquette, California, 7-14, 5.46ERA, 76ERA+
5 32, Luis Hernández, Puerto Rico, 5-22, 6.43ERA, 65ERA+
CL, 31, Mel Leiva, Mexico, 23Saves, 3.83ERA, 109ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: #47 prospect John Sweet

Despite the addition of Benbow this may be the worst Alaska team yet. But they are still in the very early expansion phase, so the only comparable team would be Rome, which Alaska has a much better farm system than. Plus a few solid players they have developed like Gillingham and Storch. Miller, Solís, and Sweet will likely follow but the Avs will need to keep developing if they want to compete and with their farm system that could likely happen sooner than later. 

last season 93-69, 2nd in Pacific, lost Championship Series to Trois Rivieres
12th ranked farm system (RF Andy Koester #54)
Payroll $1,635,903 - 10th
Lineup and Pitching

C, 26, Joaquin Nuñez, Susquehanna, .236/.351/.367, 99OPS+ won Frey award
1B, 34, David Westland, Cascadia, .290/.354/.394, 107OPS+ 
2B, 25, D.W. Manning, Georgia, .318/.441/.396, 131OPS+ with Plymouth
3B, 23, Fred Randolph, Texas, no stats rookie season. Unranked
SS, 28, Kevin Jones, The Dakotas, .243/.332/.362, 92OPS+
LF, 25, Dustin Coghill, Virginia, only started 41 games due to injury
CF, 24, Cedric Lindsay, Arctic Circle, only started 3 games
RF, 35, Josh Hernández, Mexico/Cascadia, .225/.367/.508, 141OPS+
DH, 26, Adam Moore, Virginia, .261/.361/.381, 106OPS+

1 31, Andrew Redepenning, Virginia, 24-5, 2.19ERA, 189ERA+ won Taylor award
2 28, Jose Orozco, Dominican Republic, 10-12, 4.35ERA, 95ERA+
3 28, Dusty McCord, Cascadia, 13-14, 5.36ERA, 77ERA+
4 26, Jason Weatherford, Great Lakes, 13-13, 5.03ERA, 82ERA+
5 22, Justin Morris, Susquehanna, no stats rookie season. #179th ranked prospect
CL, 30, Mike Kohn, Cascadia, 32Saves, 0.81ERA, 513ERA+ won Gervais award
Other notable bullpen arms: Nick Ashely, Tyler D’Orio, Eli Lawson, Bart Rook

Huge losses this off-season with Ray Tolbert, Tyler Kilbarger, and Tom Phelan. Their owner, Cory Zink, has promised the city that they would win the championship, but honestly I don’t see how. They tried to trade for Manning as a rental, and while Manning is an absolute stud, they gave up 2 NABF-ready prospects in Chad Reichert and Russ Pettaway. The more and more I look at them, the more I see their 2106 as a fluke. 

last season 65-97, 6th in Pacific
2nd ranked farm system (RHP Sergio Montes #5, RHP Mike Carbone #12, RF Juan Castillo #15, RHP Daniel Ojeda #35)
Payroll $1,734,580 - 9th
Lineup and Pitching

C, 29, Kevin Edwards, Georgia, .272/.345/.356, 95OPS+
1B, 33, Jake Herold, California, .278/.409/.542, 163OPS+ (first season at first base)
2B, 25, Justin Driscoll, California, .283/.323/.369, 92OPS+
3B, 24, Jayden Royal, Florida, .251/.324/.346, 86OPS+ won Deshayes award
SS, 27, Philip Fievet, Quebec, .221/.282/.318, 67OPS+
LF, 27, Joseph Wallace, Rocky Mountains, .277/.366/.377, 70SBs, 107OPS+ won Deshayes award
CF, 25, Milt Scovell, Great Lakes, .213/.311/.330, 78OPS+
RF, 24, Ben Black, Georgia, .293/.360/.395, 110OPS+ won Deshayes award
DH, 34, Nick Parsons, Louisiana, .300/.398/.501, 149OPS+

1 32, Julio Sánchez, Dominican Republic, 7-7, 4.34ERA, 95ERA+
2 23, Wayne Hamel, Arctic Circle, 8-12, 4.81ERA, 86ERA+
3 23, Jim Vogel, Susquehanna, 13-16, 4.96ERA, 83ERA+
4 23, Edgar Sierra, Texas, 7-16, 4.49ERA, 92ERA+
5 24, Mike Pope, Great Lakes, 6.48ERA in 41.2 innings
CL, 25, Lorenzo Branch, Rocky Mountains, 32 Saves, 5.10ERA, 91ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Dennis Quintal, Matt Mauck, Léo Marie, and #12 prospect Mike Carbone.

After 2105 there were serious considerations by the owner to get rid of the team, not even relocation, just delete them. But the NABF told him that that is not an option so instead he decided to hire marketing expert Danny Torres as the President of Baseball Operations, a unique move to say the least. Torres instantly began to formulate plans to renovate the teams identity but during last season with the emergence of young talent Driscoll, Royal, Wallace, Black, and even Hamel to a degree, he decided to create an environment of entertainment focused around these youths. They not only created shiny new uniforms, revamped promotions, but also a new fanzone in right field that extends outside the park known as “The Swamp”. Before every home game, at least 1 player gives a fan interview/Q&A to help with fan engagement. This not only helped their attendance last year, but also the team morale. This season they are predicted to get back within .500 range and nearly double their attendance from a season ago. Though, they still need their pitchers to develop as they keep rushing them to the majors (case and point, this is reliever Marie’s 4th season and he is only 21)

 last season 102-60, 1st in Pacific, lost Pacific Series to Astoria
10th ranked farm system (RHP Carlos Padilla #14, RHP Tim Cote #20, LHP Mike Tijerina #40)
Payroll $2,349,769 - 3rd
Lineup and Pitching

C, 29, Eric Titus, Great Lakes, .352/.476/.487, 168OPS+ in injury shortened season and will miss 1st month of 2107.
1B, 25, Edgar Morales, California, .239/.287/.301, 63OPS+ won Deshayes award
2B, 26, Dan Harbin, New England, .260/.321/.362, 89OPS+ won Deshayes award
3B, 23, Nick Fraser, Susquehanna, .225/.292/.268, 57OPS+ time spent in Dakota and Cheyenne
SS, 25, Dean Monahan, Cascadia, .235/.315/.295, 70OPS+ won 3 straight Hernandez awards
LF, 26, Hisato Horio, Japan, .220/.319/.299, 72OPS+
CF, 35, Kevin Meyer, Rocky Mountains, .257/.355/.464, 126OPS+
RF, 22, Yekuno-Amlak Mshangama, Zambia, .289/.386/.417, 123OPS+ won Frey award
DH, 32, Jon Magallanes, Rocky Mountains, .259/.327/.370, 93OPS+ 

1 29, Rafael Santa Cruz, Florida, 19-7, 2.41ERA, 171ERA+
2 31, Jeffrey Simon, The Dakotas, 21-11, 2.78ERA, 148ERA+
3 30, Ahmed Mathis, Rocky Mountains, 9-6, 3.58ERA, 115ERA+
4 27, Jose Serrano, Dominican Republic, 8-6, 3.44ERA, 120ERA+
5 26, Warren Bourdon, Quebec, 4.92ERA in 67.2 innings
CL, 29, Kyle McMurphy, Rocky Mountains, 1.83ERA in 39.1 innings
Other notable bullpen arms: Chris Keon, Jose Guerrero, Josh Burford, Mike Hilger

2107 will be a pivotal time for Cheyenne, many of their top players only have 2-3 seasons left and with several top prospects they may want to deal and move around some talent in order to better structure themselves for the future. Or maybe they want to go all-in to secure dynasty status (only 1 Championship but have been easily the 2nd best team this decade behind only Trois). But they keep having a consistent theme of injuries, from their lost 2103 season to getting sweeped in last years Pacific Series, injuries continue to be their #1 enemy. Personally, I blame the altitude as Cheyenne is over 6,000ft above sea level (higher than Denver). Besides injuries, their offensive reliance on Eric Titus is also an issue. While none of their batters are inherently bad (as they are all great defensively and have good speed all-around) they really don’t have any reliant to hit them in without Titus as demonstrated by the end of last season, with him missing at least the first month this season will definitely be a test as to what the front office will decide to do. 

last season 86-76, 4th in Pacific
6th ranked farm system (SS Rüdiger Martin #7, RHP Ryan Reimann #21, LHP Suk Kim #26, RHP Quan Hang #27)
Payroll $2,150,530 - 6th
Lineup and Pitching

C, 33, Scott Vander Ark, The Dakotas, .229/.293/.344, 72OPS+ with Rome
1B, 41, Larry Adair, Arctic Circle, .334/.423/.441, 140OPS+
2B, 25, Carlos Dominguez, Louisiana, only started 2 games last season
3B, 22, John Davis, Louisiana, only started 27 games last season
SS, 36, Ian Brinley, Texas, .273/.371/.456, 129OPS+ won Frey award
LF, 32, Trevor Reardon, The Dakotas, .307/.436/.506, 55SBs, 161OPS+
CF, 34, Ron Young, The Dakotas, .279/.354/.435, 118OPS+
RF, 31, Ray Toth, Hawaii, .286/.363/.459, 128OPS+ with Eureka in 2105
DH, 33, Jose Zarate, Venezuela, .244/.338/.415, 108OPS+

1 26, Bobby Brooks, Texas, 13-16, 3.95ERA, 105ERA+ will miss first 2 months of season
2 24, Fritz Bresson, Quebec, 17-10, 3.61ERA, 114ERA+
3 26, Nick Preston, Great Lakes, 6-16, 4.28ERA, 97ERA+
4 23, Danny Tatman, 6-7, 4.58ERA, 85ERA+
5 24, Alex Carrillo, Mexico, 17-9, 4.69ERA, 88ERA+
CL, 30, Nick Hartle, The Dakotas, 26Saves, 1.62ERA, 255ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Angelo Juárez, Ryan Leonard, Aaron Odle

The last 3 seasons have been extremely rough for Dakota, despite finishing above .500 twice in that time they haven’t been close to a playoff berth. Mostly due to lack of pitching depth after Denman and Hernández left. Brooks and Bresson look poised to make up for it, but they probably aren’t as good. But a good farm system makes the future look bright… at least for the pitching side. Brinley, Reardon, Young, and Adair are all aging and Martin is a long way from making the NABF, the once royal Eagles may become a basement dweller soon. This could be their last chance to make something happen, I would love to see some crazy desperation deals at the dead-line. 

last season 91-71, 3rd in Pacific
13th ranked farm system (SS William García #44)
Payroll $2,456,134 - 1st
Lineup and Pitching

C, 26, Ryan Croston, California, .184/.279/.269, 53OPS+
1B, 34, Kyle Thompson, California, .283/.397/.611, 177OPS+ won Baxter award
2B, 30, Jorge Rodríguez, Dominican Republic, .197/.281/.311, 64OPS+
3B, 25, Carlos Escobedo, California, .252/.323/.347, 87OPS+
SS, 26, Jamie Tipton, California, .276/.381/.410, 120OPS+
LF, 28, Jonathan Humphrey, California, .228/.318/.310, 75OPS+
CF, 27, Ken Kachmar, Maritimes, .253/.354/.361, 99OPS+
RF, 24, Tyler Noble, New England, .209/.351/.359, 97OPS+
DH, 34, Antonio Garza, Dominican Republic, .293/.388/.566, 162OPS+ won Frey award

1 33, Felix Hernández, Dominican Republic, 16-10, 3.21ERA, 129ERA+
2 22, Tillmam Tamayo, Brazil, 9-9, 3.39ERA, 122ERA+
3 34, Ben Denman, Florida, 18-12, 3.74ERA, 111ERA+
4 25, Dustin Cloud, The Dakotas, 4.71ERA in 91.2 innings
5 31, Antonio Madrigal, Colombia, 16-7, 3.59ERA, 115ERA+ won Castaneda award
CL, 31, Jake Pawlowski, California, 30 Saves, 2.27ERA, 182ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Rogelio Victoria, Trent Pullin, and Justin Loeser

Last season was a tough loss, despite winning 91 games. But they look to continue their previous dominance as prospects Tamayo, Cloud, and Pullin have developed well on the pitching side of things while Tipton, Kachmar, and Noble have trended upwards on the hitting side. Not to mention former top prospects like C Méndez and 2B Cor John are in the majors, though no consistent playing time to judge them yet. The Californian Giants look to have another push towards dynasty status. OOTP has them barely missing the playoffs this year but I honestly see them winning the Pacific, especially if Denman can bounce back.

 last season 77-85, 5th in Pacific
7th ranked farm system (2B Thierry Charles #30, RHP Nelson Encarnación #34, CF Jim Rivers #38)
Payroll $1,521,210 - 12th
Lineup and Pitching

C, 27, David Kleinschmidt, Virginia, .165/.265/.265, 48OPS+ won Deshayes award
1B, 24, Lou Goodchild, Quebec, .271/.306/.371, 88OPS+
2B, 26, Josh Peppers, Great Lakes, .243/.365/.441, 123OPS+ won Frey award
3B, 26, Jose Orozco, Dominican Republic, .272/.311/.467, 114OPS+
SS, 32, Ryan Irvin, Texas, .195/.276/.325, 67OPS+
LF, 35, David Moran, Texas, .299/.375/.506, 143OPS+
CF, 27, Katsumi Canio, Japan/Brazil, .360/.400/.497, 149OPS+ won Frey and Deshayes awards
RF, 23, Melvin Navarrete, California, .287/.373/.423, 121OPS+
DH, 24, Chris Caron, Texas, only started 10 games last season

1 37, Alex García, Colombia, 15-14, 4.39ERA, 94ERA+
2 26, Rich Platte, New England, 17-14, 4.87ERA, 85ERA+
3 34, Brian Van Winkle, Texas, 9-19, 4.81ERA, 86ERA+
4 25, Nick Lambert, Georgia, 10-15, 5.10ERA, 81ERA+
5 23, Bobby Crocitto, Louisiana, didn’t play in NABF last season by 114ERA+ in 2105
CL, 26, Greg Cone, The Dakotas, 30 Saves, 1.36ERA, 303ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Alain Thomas and former #1 prospect Paolo Barreau (will likely move to starter throughout the season)

It’s probably too soon to call this a successful rebuild, but they definitely look poised to make a leap if not a jump this season. Their only holes on offense are Kleinschmidt and Irvin who are both top defenders. While they have no true ace, they have a ton of rotational depth and a great 1-2 to end games (though not much else in the pen besides Cone and Thomas). OOTP has them making the playoffs, I’m not sure if I see them beating Cheyenne, Eureka, and Dakota, but I can easily see them having a statement season, especially if Platte, Lambert, Crocitto, or Barreau reach their ace potential. 

Atlantic Conference:
last season 88-74, 3rd in Atlantic 
8th ranked farm system (SS Sosa Jouon #6, RHP Carlos Flores #24, 2B Benjamin Whitford #39)
Payroll $1,901,619 - 8th
Lineup and Pitching

C, 25, Stephen McMorrow, Louisiana, .224/.289/.328, 68OPS+
1B, 28, Chris Conway, Virginia, .279/.359/.389, 104OPS+ 
2B, 30, Ramiro Ruíz, Colombia, .247/.354/.367, 97OPS+
3B, 21, Dan Nichols, The Dakotas, only started 2 games last season
SS, 25, Douggie Clarke, Virginia, .299/.357/.402, 106OPS+ won Deshayes award
LF, 25, Aaron Ruggiero, Cascadia, .233/.351/.318, 83OPS+ won Deshayes award
CF, 29, Gary Urbanczyk, Susquehanna, .240/.363/.543, 144OPS+ won Frey and Deshayes award
RF, 27, Kevin Campeau, Maritimes, .284/.399/.469, 136OPS+
DH, 32, Corey Kruskamp, Rocky Mountains, .276/.332/.453, 112OPS+

1 24, Nick Grueneich, Virginia, 18-11, 3.96ERA, 106ERA+
2 25, Keith Badey, Great Lakes, 14-16, 3.25ERA, 129ERA+
3 24, Matt Frizzell, Cascadia, 11-12, 3.69ERA, 114ERA+
4 24, Thomas Legros, Quebec, 3.31ERA in 122 innings
5 39, Steve Francen, Rocky Mountains, 11-10, 4.27ERA, 98ERA+
CL, 24, Geoff Bolen, Maritimes, 16 Saves, 3.83ERA, 110ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Charlie Symmonds, Alex Schepers, Lee Ray, Jeremy Peerenboom, Jonathan Latham, C.J. Clymer

The Admirals have finished 3rd place in the Atlantic 4 times in the past 5 seasons. They also have one of the youngest cores on both offense and defense. Their “worst” pitcher is Lee Ray who got Taylor votes not that many years ago. Offense has a few question marks, mostly at catcher and third, but the all-around depth they have is pretty rare in the NABF, Trois is really the only team who could potentially match their depth, but depth doesn’t win you championships. If they can’t figure it out and make the playoffs this season then I have no idea what they need to do to win. 

last season 80-82, 4th in Atlantic
3rd ranked farm system (LHP Dan Miles #1, LHP Abe Martínez #13, LHP Mario Anguiano #22, RHP Oscar Noriega #25, RHP Manny Julia #31)
Payroll $1,477,980 - 13th
Lineup and Pitching

C, 26, Ethan King, Georgia, .196/.297/.263, 54OPS+
1B, 33, Oscar Morales, Florida/Puerto Rico, .231/.353/.419, 110OPS+
2B, 31, Jason Martin, Susquehanna, .361/.422/.528, 157OPS+ won Frey, Deshayes, and Hernandez awards
3B, 26, Chris Bachert, Louisiana, .233/.319/.375, 89OPS+
SS, 25, Tom Helms, Rocky Mountains, .226/.350/.286, 75OPS+
LF, 24, David Castillo, Texas, .254/.311/.376, 86OPS+
CF, 26, Savion Jones, Louisiana, .256/.294/.388, 84OPS+ won Deshayes award
RF, 25, Adam Beyer, Florida, .299/.382/.453, 126OPS+
DH, 23, Tyler Hammerich, Florida, .225/.251/.361, 65OPS+

1 27, Steven Dorsey, Susquehanna, 16-11, 3.32ERA, 127ERA+
2 25, Bill Mowry, Susquehanna, 7-7, 3.68ERA, 114ERA+
3 25, Cyrille Vincent, Quebec, 11-13, 5.41ERA, 78ERA+
4 33, Craig LeBlanc, Florida, 9-5, 3.41ERA, 123ERA+
5 24, David Castillo, Texas, 5.63ERA in 38.1 innings (same David Castillo that’s the starting LF)
CL, 27, Harold Sykes, New England, 14 Saves, 4.03ERA, 104ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Wilson Velasco, Pat Paul, Ted Bass, and #1 prospect Dan Miles

OOTP has no faith in the Flamingos, but honestly I could see them having their first above .500 season this year. Beyer has shown to be a true stud, Martin had one of the best seasons ever, while Morales, Jones, and Hammerich underperformed their usual selves could prove to be an interesting offensive show. Pitching wise, Dorsey is looking to solidify himself before potentially hitting free agency. Vincent, despite the numbers, was actually really good but walked too many and was “unlucky” according to his BABIP. With Miles already up, and Anguiano, Noriega, and Julia likely to make debuts later this season I could see Florida begin to break out into a great pitching powerhouse team. 

last season 92-70, 2nd in Atlantic, lost Atlantic Series to Trois Rivieres
4th ranked farm system (RHP Heath Victory #4, SS Luis Laboy #8, C Han-seung Park #11, 2B Craig Lamm #36)
Payroll $2,216,174 - 5th
Lineup and Pitching

C, 24, Bernward Kurtz, Susquehanna, .243/.303/.395, 92OPS+ won Frey and Deshayes in first full-time season
1B, 37, Emilio Rodríguez, Puerto Rico, .270/.394/.396, 119OPS+ won Deshayes Award
2B, 31, Ritter Ammann, Susquehanna, .292/.368/.440, 123OPS+
3B, 29, Ben Cintron, California, .259/.311/.382, 91OPS+
SS, 22, Jonathan Querio, Susquehanna, .230/.334/.273, 70OPS+
LF, 29, George Powers, Quebec, .293/.422/.555, 169OPS+ won Frey award
CF, 22, Ivan Nájera, Dominican Republic, .232/.309/.284, 65OPS+
RF, 25, Jeremy Cooper, Georgia, .350/.446/.575, 181OPS+ won Frey and Deshayes 
DH, 23, Zack Joyner, Florida, .258/.345/.416, 110OPS+

1 34, Bernie Rosado, Susquehanna, 17-6, 3.17ERA, 130ERA+
2 33, Jake Hale, California, 9-6, 4.33ERA, 96ERA+
3 34, Matt Richardson, Susquehanna, 13-12, 4.62ERA, 90ERA+
4 37, Ross Whitehead, Maritimes, 7-5, 3.09ERA, 134ERA+
5 21, Sean Gentry, Louisiana, 3.52ERA in 7.2 innings
CL, 33, Anton Latorre, Dominican Republic, 2.02ERA, 204ERA+, 18.7K/9
Other notable bullpen arms: Jason Walker, Kevin Taylor, Ryan Nixon, and Eric Reed who won the Gervais last year (unsure why he isn’t the closer again)

The Pretzels have finished 2nd 3 times in a row, losing to Trois in each Atlantic Series. They lost arguably their best pitcher Minke in free agency, but they don’t seem too phased with several young pitchers who could take his place (mainly Gentry and eventually Victory from the minors). Offensively, they seem to have struck gold with Kurtz, who in his first season was essentially the best catcher in the entire league (mostly because Titus was injured, but still). Querio and Nájera, while not the greatest on paper, are great defenders with good speed which is also a good thing to have. It should be criminal to be this good even after losing your best pitcher and still have a top 4 farm system (with Laboy and Park looking like they could be generational talents). This could easily be the year they finally overcome Trois Rivieres.

last season 75-87, 5th in Atlantic
11th ranked farm system (LHP Bill Clark #16, RF Eiji Ikeda #33)
Payroll $2,434,859 - 2nd
Lineup and Pitching

C, 25, Victor Alvarez, Georgia, only started 23 games last season
1B, 24, Ron Mudd, Florida, .283/.357/.390, 105OPS+
2B, 31, Fernando Criado, California, .282/.377/.518, 144OPS+ 
3B, 24, Philip Brawner, Arctic Circle, only started 11 games last season
SS, 32, Mike McClary, Texas, .309/.394/.401, 119OPS+ won Frey award
LF, 29, Matthew Wagoner, Great Lakes, .288/.332/.548, 138OPS+
CF, 34,  Robby Roberto, Texas, .274/.351/.465, 123OPS+
RF, 33, Tom Mackey, Great Lakes, .286/.374/.420, 118OPS+
DH, 22, Jeremy Richey, Arctic Circle, .301/.340/.480, 123OPS+ won Castaneda award

1 30, Marty Hodge, Australia, 24-7, 2.41ERA, 171ERA+ with Cheyenne
2 33, Adam Minke, Susquehanna, 14-13, 3.44ERA, 120ERA+ with Germantown
3 25, Brad Vedder, Great Lakes, 4.48ERA, 93ERA+, 11.0K/9
4 23, David Stone, Texas, 10-11, 3.72ERA, 112ERA+
5 25, Lou Tamblyn, Australia, 9-15, 4.24ERA, 98ERA+
CL, 23, Ivan Ramírez, Virginia, 18 Saves, 3.16ERA, 132ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Oscar Torrez, Juan Huitz, Ricky McDonald

Words cannot describe how utterly disappointing their last season was. They were in range of a potential wild card spot just to fall to 12 games below .500 while finishing the season in the red financially after a splurge on the International Rookies the previous season. It was a disaster all around and heads rolled in the front office. Owner Jamari Simmons fired almost every person of value, some reports say he even fired the janitor. He also stated a will to decrease the payroll by nearly a million, which is strange as they spent a ton of money this off-season to acquire Hodge and Minke. Honestly the team doesn’t have many holes and I could see them go far, but reports state the internal clubhouse atmosphere is pretty bad which could hamper their ability to go far. 

last season 70-92, 6th in Atlantic
1st ranked farm system (LHP Tim Troke #3, LHP Dan Richard #10, RHP Felike Ipo #18, SS Masashi Miyahara #19, LF Justyn Cox #32)
Payroll $1,382,157 - 14th
Lineup and Pitching

C, 31, William Roehm, New England, .195/.284/.267, 52OPS+ with Huron
1B, 25, Jonathan Padilla, Texas, .270/.321/.382, 92OPS+
2B, 35, Angelo Alonzo, Mexico, .345/.425/.561, 169OPS+
3B, 26, Matt Bentz, Virginia, .295/.358/.415, 112OPS+ won Frey award
SS, 25, Eric Gilbo, Cascadia, .180/.262/.250, 41OPS+
LF, 24, Devin Lamar, Georgia, no stats rookie season. Unranked prospect 
CF, 26, Jonathan Parsons, Great Lakes, .228/.293/.313, 66OPS+
RF, 27, Josh Funk, Susquehanna, .261/.333/.350, 88OPS+
DH, 21, Matunde Simai, Gabon, started 1 game last year, formerly ranked #15 prospect

1 25, Mike Kulbeth, Louisiana, 16-18, 3.28ERA, 324Ks, 127ERA+ won Taylor award
2 25, Matt Kenney, Rocky Mountains, 12-14, 4.13ERA, 101ERA+
3 26, Roberto Corral, Curaçao, 12-15, 5.38ERA, 77ERA+
4 24, Chad Reichert, Cascadia, 6-10, 4.72ERA, 88ERA+ with Astoria
5 27, Ben Mann, Susquehanna, 7-15, 5.04ERA, 83ERA+
CL, 34, Bill Van Auken, Susquehanna, 24 Saves, 4.09ERA, 102ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Johnny Martínez

Honestly I am unsure how to describe Plymouth this season. The D.W. Manning trade for Reichert and Pettaway (4th outfielder) looks like it may be good in the long term, but both are still unproven. Which is probably the best way to describe the team. Outside of Alonzo, who is aging, and Kulbeth who finally won the Taylor (in possibly his worst season) there really isn’t much else here. Bentz and Padilla have both put up good seasons in the past but can’t seem to be any more than average. All in all, will likely end up as another lost season. They continue to struggle with the lack of New England talent

last season 55-107, 7th in Atlantic
14th ranked farm system (1B Jonathan Carrethers #17, RF Giuseppe Nana #45)
Payroll $1,908,797 - 7th
Lineup and Pitching 

C, 28, Peter Phillips, Georgia, only started 27 games last season
1B, 37, Ray Tolbert, Cascadia, .257/.416/.443, 138OPS+ with Astoria
2B, 36, Juan Torres, Florida, .315/.391/.438, 125OPS+ with Florida
3B, 37, Chris Shepherd, Great Lakes, .273/.404/.438, 134OPS+ won Frey award with Dakota
SS, 23, Kyle Belew, Susquehanna, .262/.338/.342, 95OPS+
LF, 33, Tyler Kilbarger, Susquehanna, .331/.375/.491, 139OPS+ with Astoria
CF, 25, Sean Dobson, Florida, .258/.347/.350, 89OPS+
RF, 33, Ian Mosher, Georgia, .308/.370/.435, 118OPS+
DH, 40, Mel Velez, Guatemala, .291/.380/.490, 135OPS+

1 23, Matt Atkinson, Georgia, 7-18, 4.94ERA, 85ERA+
2 25, Alfredo Jimenez, Cuba, 7-22, 5.56ERA, 76ERA+
3 30, Luke Rush, New England, 9-11, 5.40ERA, 78ERA+
4 25, Dave Delgado, Venezuela/Louisiana, only pitched 1 game last season
5 28, Billy Jones, Rocky Mountains, 3-11, 7.30ERA, 58ERA+
CL. 24, Kyle Magnani, Georgia, 32 Saves, 3.42ERA, 123ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Ryan Sumner, Ian Strauss

Welcome to the Retirement Home! Rome spent big this off-season to put together what will likely be a top 5 offense. Unfortunately, all are close to retirement and won’t stick around for long (besides Kilbarger). They are mostly here to help develop Belew, Dobson, and others in the organization. If only games could be won with just offense. Because their pitching is pretty bad. Atkinson still has some time to develop, and Magnani/Sumner make a good 8-9 pairing, but other than that it is absolutely awful. In the race of expansion teams, I have no idea how Rome has such a worse farm system than Alaska. They are quite opposite, yet will likely both stink this year unsurprisingly.

last season 105-57, 1st place in Atlantic, won Championship Series for 2nd time in team history.
9th ranked farm system (C Hairama Nalanie #9, 2B Enrique Deramos #37)
Payroll $2,301,459 - 4th
Lineup and Pitching

C, 27, Josh Lemon, Great Lakes, .251/.326/.348, 84OPS+
1B, 25, Tom Newman, Arctic Circle, only started 8 games last season
2B, 31, Tom Phelan, Quebec, .284/.367/.389, 110OPS+ with Astoria
3B, 27, Christian Dubois, Quebec, .278/.357/.387, 103OPS+
SS, 24, Jimmy Nickolaus, Virginia, .227/.289/.283, 57OPS+
LF, 30, Hervé Barthélémy, Quebec, .245/.361/.548, 146OPS+ 
CF, 26, Jon Buckley, Great Lakes, .260/.343/.398, 52SBs, 102OPS+
RF, 28, Ron Peterson, Arctic Circle, .326/.393/.549, 155OPS+ in injury shortened season
DH, 27, Joe Delli Santi, Virginia, .309/.412/.642, 184OPS+ won Baxter award

1 29, Leon Lopez, Puerto Rico, 19-10, 2.96ERA, 141ERA+
2 34, Danny Avila, Colombia, 15-11, 3.73ERA, 112ERA+
3 24, Gary Hamilton, Quebec, 16-9, 4.01ERA, 104ERA+
4 27, Jorge Franco, Panama, 14-11, 4.69ERA, 89ERA+
5 26, Jeremy Phillips, Susquehanna, 4.13ERA in 61 innings
CL, 25, Dale Patterson, Florida, 29 Saves, 1.99ERA, 211ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Benjamin Platt, Bob O’Brien, Graham Lawlor, and #41 prospect Eddie Salazar

The Harfang look to solidify their dynasty by winning a third championship. They definitely have the pieces, both stars and depth-wise. Only “weakness” is really only 1 above-average starting pitcher with Lopez, who is on the last year of his contract. Along with him, Barthélémy enters into his infamous 2nd year option year (which he has elected to opt-out of his previous 3 contracts, so I expect him to leave again). But even if he does leave, Delli Santi has proven to be a beast, plus Trois has plenty of outfield talent, with 3 other outfielders near or at league replacement level last season as backups. They have not missed the playoffs yet, and have been to 5 straight Championship Series, and I don’t see either streak ending this year.

Pre-Season Predictions
Pacific:
Cheyenne Buffalo 94-68
Galveston Launch 84-78
Eureka Redwoods 83-79
Astoria Osprey 81-81
Baton Rouge Cajuns 80-82
Dakota Eagles 78-84
Alaska Avalanche 74-88

Atlantic:
Trois Rivieres Harfang 101-61
Germantown Pretzels 86-76
Chesapeake Admirals 82-80
Huron Gryphons 81-81
Plymouth Pilgrims 81-81
Rome Gladiators 68-94
Florida Flamingos 65-97

On another note, after this season concludes will be the first ever Baseball World Cup. The season following will have the 2nd phase of expansion with teams from Mexico and the Maritimes making their debut. Thus, updates for the next few seasons will likely slow down so that I can make sure I do good work. As I’m still figuring out the best way to handle the World Cup and last expansion I felt that I handled it poorly with the draft not working properly and the following season didn’t have a proper schedule.

2107 Playoffs

Pacific Series
v
There were 1 question for Cheyenne coming into the season, how would they do without Eric Titus for a month? They did quite badly, but once he came back? They did not lose more than 5 games a month since his return. Titus is a catalyst for their mid-tier offense. But don’t let that overshadow the seasons that Kevin Meyer and Yekuno-Amlak Mshangama have had, both will likely get down-ballot Baxter votes. And of course, their pitching is second to none. While they have fought with some injuries, they are perfectly healthy entering the playoffs for what feels like the first time. For Eureka, last season was highly questionable, but many were saying it was just a fluke. After this season it definitely seems that way. #1 in offense and #2 in pitching (behind only Cheyenne). Even though 4-time Taylor winner Hernández regressed horribly (won’t even be in their playoff rotation), Denman, Madrigal, and Cloud stepped up with productive seasons and the latter even received a 4 year extension. However, their new ace, Tillmam Tamayo will not be able to pitch in the Pacific Series, however if they progress he should be healthy for the final round. Offensively they are led by the killer due to Thompson and Garza, but had plenty of depth around them such as Tipton, Kachmar, and Humprey who each had 30SB seasons, plus Purkis and Haskins who can do a bit of everything. And don’t forget about rookie C Méndez who since getting the starting job in August is hitting over .400. In the regular season series Cheyenne won 12-8. 

Game 1: EUR Dustin Cloud (13-14, 4.17) vs CHY Ahmed Mathis (23-9, 2.91)
Kyle Thompson would continue his playoff dominance, hitting 2 home runs. But in the 3rd inning Cheyenne’s offense would explode for 6 runs! While Eureka would only score 2 more runs allowing the Cheyenne to get the game 1 win.
EUR 4 - 6 Cheyenne

Game 2: EUR Antonio Madrigal (14-4, 3.57) vs CHY Rafael Santa Cruz (23-7, 2.46)
Tempers would begin to fly in the 3rd after Kyle Thompson was hit by a pitch. He would later score off a Méndez double. But the bickering would continue after a small collision at second by Eureka’s Kachmar and Cheyenne’s Monahan. After a small shove the umpires would get involved to simmer it down. While nothing else happened during the game, both teams had plenty of things to say about each other in the press conferences afterwards. Eureka would win the game after keeping Eric Titus hitless, silencing the keystone of Cheyenne’s offense.
EUR 6 - 3 CHY

Game 3: CHY José Serrano (12-5, 2.71) vs EUR Ben Denman (23-9, 3.09)
The Redwoods would go up by 3 quickly while Denman would cruise. But after a double that left Kachmar on second, he would shout to Titus “that’s how you hit the ball”. This rallied the Buffalo around their captain and they would be able to tie the game up. Entering the 8th it was 4-4. With Pawlowski on the mound it seemed like it would go down to the wire, but after a single, a sac bunt, a dropped throw from Thompson, and a walk would leave the bases open for Titus to get his revenge. He wouldn’t even need to swing his bat as he would be walked to score the go-ahead run. In a press conference after the game he said “sometimes swinging ain’t needed”. The Buffalo would tack onto 2 more runs to win game 3. 
CHY 7 - 4 EUR

Game 4: CHY Jeffrey Simon (21-9, 3.77) vs EUR Justin Loeser (5-10, 4.15)
What was expected to be more of a bullpen game turned into a thrilling pitching duel with only 1 run scored throughout the match. The run would be scored from an unlikely place. Cheyenne rookie 3B Tom Hoppe, who has not played a single game in the NABF before this series (filling in for Fraser who is day-to-day with a wrist issue) would double to score Monahan who went first to third. Leaving Cheyenne 1 win away from the Championship Series.
CHY 1 - 0 EUR

Game 5: CHY Ahmed Mathis (23-9, 2.91) vs EUR Dustin Cloud (13-14, 4.17)
The game would start with a bang as Eric Titus would get an RBI double before being driven in himself. In the bottom of the inning, Antonio Garza would launch a 2-run home run to tie it up. Both would score once more to leave the game tied entering the 7th. When Dan Harbin would drive in Meyer after stealing second to take the lead. Ahmed Mathis, who is only a year removed from losing parts of fingers, would have to take the mound against the heart of the lineup. And he would shut them down, striking out Thompson and getting Garza to ground out. Getting the final out in a complete game to send the Buffalo to the Championship Series. Rookie 2B Danny Soler would get series MVP. 
CHY 4 - 3 EUR. The Buffalo win the series 4-1



Atlantic Series
v
The Pilgrims make the playoffs for the first time in their history. Led by a totally destructive offense. Alonzo and rookie Simai both have Baxter cases, Parsons, Bentz, and rookies Pettaway and Lamar each put up 110OPS+ seasons. Pitching depth is a bit of an issue, ace Kulbeth is possibly the best pitcher in the league but outside of him there are a few question marks. Kenney, Richard, and closer Van Auken have been good but have struggled immensely with consistency. But if their offense can get going they might not need to be too consistent. What to even say about Trois?! This is their 7th straight time in the postseason, and likely their best team yet. New addition Tom Phelan won the batting title and has a solid Baxter case himself, let alone Delli Santi and Barthélémy. Dubois, Newman, Lemon, and Buckley are as good as expected. Pitching wise, Lopez is in the conversation with Plymouth’s Kulbeth for best in the league. 2-way star Gary Hamilton had an outstanding year, with a combined WAR of 8.1. Danny Avila had a bounce back season, and newly promoted closer Dale Patterson had an outstanding season. Plus more bullpen depth with the likes of Plat, O’Brien, and Jackson. The Harfang won the season series 11-9. 

Game 1: PLY Matt Kenney (17-10, 4.16) vs TR Leon Lopez (23-4, 2.34)
Plymouth’s first playoff game ever would get off to a rocky start, giving up 2 runs in each of the first 2 innings. They would continue to pour on as Gary Hamilton would hit a 2-run home run. The Harfang would end up with 7 runs while Plymouth could not quite get going in their first game.
PLY 3 - 7 TR

Game 2: PLY Mike Kulbeth (20-13, 2.92) vs TR Gary Hamilton (19-9, 3.20)
Both would score 2 in the opening frame. Trois would benefit from solid all-around play as 6 of their starters recorded multiple hits, including 3 from C Lemon. This would leave Trois up 7-4 entering the 8th, where Plymouth rookie Devin Lamar would crush a 2-run home run to bring the game within 1. Unfortunately, the top of the lineup could not make anything happen as 2 of them strike out and the other grounded out. 
PLY 6 - 7 TR

Game 3: TR Jorge Franco (19-10, 4.04) vs PLY Roberto Corral (15-8, 4.23)
Corral in his short career had gained many skeptics. Once heralded as the counterpart to Kulbeth, many now see him as a liability due to his tendency to walk a ton of batters. But today he showed out. Giving up only 1 run in 8 innings and only 1 walk as well. The offense didn’t need to do much to get the Pilgrims their first win. 
TR 1 - 3 PLY

Game 4: TR Danny Avila (15-11, 3.07) vs PLY Dan Richard (13-8, 4.73)
The gates would flood open early as Phelan and Delli Santi would take turns hitting RBI singles in the 1st and 3rd. The Harfang would always stay at least 3 runs ahead throughout the contest. In the 8th, Plymouth would have a great opportunity, as they would have the bases loaded with 2 outs. But C Gettingby would fly out on the first pitch, leaving them 1 loss from elimination. 
TR 5 - 2 PLY

Game 5: TR Leon Lopez (23-4, 2.34) vs PLY Matt Kenney (17-10, 4.16)
The game would be quiet through the first 4, before Trois would get a 1 run lead. Which usually is enough for Lopez to cruise, but in the bottom of the inning the Pilgrim offense would finally explode scoring 4 runs off of back-to-back doubles from Parsons and Alonzo. The Harfang would slowly crawl back to tie it in the 7th, but again the Pilgrims offense would break out scoring 8 runs! Thanks to home runs from Pettaway and Bentz. 
TR 4 - 13 PLY

Game 6: PLY Mike Kulbeth (20-13, 2.92) vs TR Gary Hamilton (19-9, 3.20)
Back in Quebec for game 6. Kulbeth would get a chance to make up for his mishaps in game 2. Going all 9 innings with 11 strikeouts. Also allowing only 1 run, while the offense would explode again. Led surprisingly by SS Gilbo, who is usually considered an offensive liability, but today would be a home run shy of a cycle. It was an all-around team effort as they would score 8 enroute to force a game 7. 
PLY 8 - 1 TR

Game 7: PLY Roberto Corral (15-8, 4.23) vs TR Jorge Franco (19-10, 4.04)
Barthélémy would open things up with a 2-run double in the first inning. The Pilgrims would slowly claw back up with gritty play, being down by only 2 entering the 9th. Lefty closer Patterson would come in to face the heart of the order. Alonzo would strike out. Simai would strike out. And Bentz would ground out to first base, ending what looked to be a miracle run by the Pilgrims in a disaster of an inning. Trois on the other hand would be going to their 6th straight Championship Series, an absolutely unbelievable accomplishment. Despite hitting no home runs, Joe Delli Santi would win the Series MVP. 
PLY 3 - 5 TR


2107 Championship Series

v
A rematch of the 2104 Championship Series. The best pitching core vs a team that is second in both pitching and hitting. A true master of 1 vs master of all matchups. The season series was quite one sided as Cheyenne won 5 out of the 6 games, as well as having gotten several more days of rest. Trois won their series and had to instantly travel to Cheyenne in 1 day for game 1. The experts were split down the middle over which team had the better odds, with many saying it will likely go down to game 7. 
Game 1: TR Leon Lopez (23-4, 2.34) vs CHY (23-9, 2.91)
Surprisingly both pitchers would get hit around by the offenses, with a huge 3rd inning by both teams. After 6 the game would be tied 6-6, but Eric Titus would hit a go-ahead 2-run double in the 8th to give the Buffalo the advantage. Closer Hilger would step up and not allow a hit while striking out 4 in the final 2 innings. 
TR 6 - 8 CHY

Game 2: TR Danny Avila (15-11, 3.07) vs CHY Rafael Santa Cruz (23-7, 2.46)
Another classic pitching duel as only 1 run would score in the first 8 frames. Down by 1, Trois would have to step up against Santa Cruz who had only given up 2 hits the entire game. Tides seemed to turn as Delli Santi would hit a lead off single, then Barthélémy would reach safely after Santa Cruz shanked a throw. Cheyenne would then bring in Hilger to try to close it out. He would quickly strike out Andy Rico. Then Buckley would launch a first pitch double scoring both runners. He would eventually come around to score himself leading to a 3 run 9th inning. Cheyenne would start the bottom of the 9th, now trailing by 2, with a single from Magallanes. Monahan would hit into a fielder’s choice. Morales would ground out, but move the runner to second. Rookie Tom Hoppe would hit a ball to the left-center gap, and Buckley would dive… but miss the ball and the speedy Monahan would be able to score. Leading by only 1 with 2 outs and a runner on 1st, they would intentionally walk Meyer, bringing up Hisato Horio. Who would strike out, tying the series. 
TR 3 - 1 CHY

Game 3: CHY José Serrano (12-5, 2.71) vs TR Gary Hamilton (19-9, 3.20)
Game 3 would follow game 2 with another pitching duel, as few hits were even allowed. Trois would have a small 2-1 lead entering the 9th. With Patterson on the mound, Titus would lead things off with a single. Mshangama would strike out. Fraser would walk after a 9 pitch at-bat. Magallanes would strike out. And Monahan would end the game with a fielder’s choice. Ending another classic pitching duel. 
CHY 1 - 2 TR

Game 4: CHY Jeffrey Simon (21-9, 3.77) vs TR Jorge Franco (19-10, 4.04)
In a critical game 4, 2-way star Hamilton would open it up with a 2-run double in the first. Cheyenne would tie it in the top of the 6th with a double from Fraser, but Trois would bounce back with a run of their own to take the lead. With Patterson exhausted, the Harfang would have to call upon Benjamin Platt. He would get 2 strike outs to end the game, leaving the Harfang 1 win away from their second straight title. 
CHY 3 - 4 TR

Game 5: CHY Ahmed Mathis (23-9, 2.91) vs TR Leon Lopez (23-4, 2.34)
In a do or die game for Cheyenne, it would start with Trois’ Dubois hitting a lead off home run. Mathis would settle down after that, and the Buffalo would tie it up with a home run from Mshangama in the 5th. But manager Sean Goggin would come onto fire from fans as he would keep Mathis into the 8th and after walking Morales. This would result in a go-ahead 2-run home run from Delli Santi. Patterson would come into the 9th against the bottom of the lineup. Striking out Monahan and getting Morales and Hoppe to ground out and fly out, respectively. Giving Trois Rivieres their second straight championship and third all time. Patterson would also win Series MVP, I believe as the first pitcher to win such an award. 
CHY 1 - 3 TR. The Harfang win the series 4-1.

2108 Baseball World Cup

Teams and Groups
The Baseball World Cup will work similarly to the FIFA World Cup, though slightly different. 5 groups of 4 will play 3 games against each opponent with each group’s winner and 3 wild cards making it to the tournament stage (tie-breakers use run differential). The tournament itself will mostly hold NABF nations for now, but will later expand to have teams outside the NABF. Currently the World Cup will be throughout 2 posts, this one being the teams and groups introduction and another focusing on the group stage and the tournament itself. 

Sorry for the long delays, I've been very sick and very busy at work and I was having trouble figuring out how I wanted to do this. I am also testing a potential player name/number jersey idea template that is simple enough that even I can do. 

Group A:
 California, is also the host for the inaugural tournament. With cities like Eureka, Redding, Oceanside, Tulare, Stockton, and Reno all hosting games. With Oceanside hosting the final due to its warmer climate than Eureka. 
Current NABF teams: Eureka Redwoods, who have won 2 NABF Championships
Main Rivals: Cascadia, Mexico, and the Rocky Mountains
Jerseys: White with red hats, with California Republic spelled out across the chest and a red stripe towards the bottom of the shirt to mimic their flag. Player names are in black with red numbers. Their “road” uniforms (act more like a clash) are gray with black pinstripes. Player names and numbers are written in black with a red outline. Both utilize the same red hat with a simplified bear from the flag on it. 
Lineup and Pitching:

C Ryan Croston, 65OPS+ with Eureka
1B Kyle Thompson, 179OPS+ with Eureka
2B Fernando Criado, 135OPS+ with Huron
3B Ben Cintron, 70OPS+ with Germantown
SS Jamie Tipton, 102OPS+ with Eureka
LF Jesse Haskins, 123OPS+ with Eureka
CF Ryan Lowery, 102OPS+ while playing in the European League last season
RF Melvin Navarrete, 127OPS+ with Galveston
DH Jake Herold, 172OPS+ with Baton Rouge

1 Jake Pawlowski, 307ERA+ with Eureka (usually a closer)
2 Jake Hale, 118ERA+ with Germantown
3 José Lopez, 125ERA+ with Eureka
4 Hao Huan, was just the 3rd overall pick in the draft by Huron.
5 Justin Loeser, 103ERA+ with Eureka
CL, Pat Dow, 199ERA+ with Dakota
Other notable bullpen arms: Jeff Caron and collegiate prospect Rey Moya

Easily one of the top offensive teams. Pitching is a bit shaky, using Pawlowski as a starter will be an interesting choice. It will also be interesting to see how Huan fairs as he will likely be in the majors next season. 

 New England
Current NABF teams: Plymouth Pilgrims, who just had their best season
Main Rivals: Susquehanna, Quebec, and Maritimes
Jerseys: All red jerseys with white pants, with a Flyers-esque nameplate that is white with green names. Player numbers are simply white. Their “road” jerseys are just a white version of their red jerseys, but with a green nameplate and white letters. The hats are red with a stylized ‘NE’. Both pants are white with a slim green stripe on the side. 
Lineup and Pitching

C William Roehm, 62OPS+ with Plymouth
1B Dan May, 86OPS+ with Alaska
2B Jeff Leising, was just drafted 7th overall by Galveston.
3B Rio Carr, 76OPS+ while playing in the Caribbean League (won 6 consecutive Deshayes with Huron)
SS  Dan Harbin, 93OPS+ with Cheyenne
LF Justyn Cox, 56OPS+ in 48 games with Plymouth
CF Carl Stones, 116OPS+ in Huron’s AAA team (plus 12 games with Huron)
RF Tyler Noble, 101OPS+ in 50 games with Eureka
DH John Allinger, 81OPS+ with Baton Rouge

1 Rich Platte, 107ERA+ with Galveston
2 Brent Wilson, 89ERA+ with Germantown 
3 Jeremy Lewis, 76ERA+ with Dakota
4 Luke Rush, 78ERA+ with Rome
5 Josh Detamore, 110ERA+ in Astoria’s AAA team
CL, Phil Palmer, 122ERA+ with Plymouth 
Other notable bullpen arms: Sebastian Moore and prospects Justin Cryer and Ryan Reimann

Probably one of the weakest all around teams. However, they have a decent amount of prospects ready to make a showing for themselves, while Carr is looking to get back into the NABF. I’d be shocked if they can move out of the Group stage.

 The Dakotas
Current NABF Teams: Dakota Eagles, were one of the best teams but have missed the last 4 playoffs and have entered a rebuild.
Main Rivals: Rocky Mountains and Great Lakes
Jerseys: Fairly plain all-green jersey and hat, with the flag symbols on it. The ‘road’ jersey is the same clean design but with white instead of green, both have yellow piping. 

C Scott Vander Ark, 43OPS+ in 45 games with Dakota
1B Trevor Reardon, 102OPS+ with Dakota
2B Dave Orns, played 15 games with Dakota last season
3B Dan Nichols, 69OPS+ with Chesapeake
SS Kevin Jones, 61OPS+ with Astoria
LF Scott Purkis, 121OPS+ with Eureka
CF Bob Mahoney, 64OPS+ with Cheyenne
RF Michael Baxter, 63OPS+ with Trois Rivieres
DH Ron Young, 95OPS+ with Dakota

1 Nick Hartle, 288ERA+ with Dakota (as the closer)
2 Greg Cone, 143ERA+ with Galveston (as the closer)
3 Jeffrey Simon, 113ERA+ with Cheyenne
4 Dustin Cloud, 102ERA+ with Eureka
5 Doug McFarland, 94ERA+ with Florida’s AAA team
CL, Mitch Null, 137ERA+ with Astoria’s AAA team
Other notable bullpen arms: prospect Nick Christiana

I guess closers used as starters will be fairly common in the tournament. Reardon had a down season last year but has consistently been in the top 5 for Baxter votes. They likely won’t get the top spot in the Group but have a chance at a wildcard spot if they can win the games vs Virginia. 

 Virginia
Current NABF Teams: Chesapeake Admirals, always the bridesmaid, never the bride. They have finished 3rd 4 separate times in the last 6 seasons. 
Main rivals: Susquehanna and Georgia
Jerseys: White with thick blue stripes down the middle, the ‘Virginia’ wordmark sits upon a trident like the flag. They have white hats with a blue brim and a red ‘V’ font. Blue player names and numbers are written in red. Road jerseys are blue with similar designs, but white players names and white numbers with a red outline. White pants with blue piping on both jerseys. 
Lineup and Pitching:

C Mike Wautlet, 99OPS+ with Dakota
1B Joe Delli Santi, 150OPS+ with Trois Rivieres
2B Jimmy Nickolaus, 39OPS+ with Trois Rivieres
3B Matt Bentz, 115OPS+ with Plymouth
SS Douggie Clarke, 99OPS+ with Chesapeake
LF Dustin Coghill, 91OPS+ with Astoria
CF Jeff Marsh, only played 10 games with Trois Rivieres
RF Eddie Sheriden, 111OPS+ in 50 games with Huron
DH Adam Moore, 84OPS+ with Astoria

1 Andrew Redepenning, 121ERA+ with Astoria
2 Nick Grueneich, 128ERA+ with Chesapeake
3 Ivan Ramírez, 141ERA+ with Huron (mostly as reliever)
4 Aaron Odle, 107ERA+ with Dakota (mostly as reliever)
5 Ted Bass, 109ERA+ with Florida
CL, Kevin Taylor, 131ERA+ with Germantown
Other notable bullpen arms: Alex Schepers, C.J. Clymer, and prospect Adam Gibson

A surprisingly all-around team. Could definitely make a surprise jump into the tournament and make some noise. 

Group B:

 Great Lakes
Current NABF Teams: Huron Gryphons, have had a lot of bad luck recently, but great on paper.
Main rivals: Quebec, Susquehanna, Virginia, and The Dakotas
Jerseys: kind of a huge mess. White with 5 blue stripes on the sleeves and across the bottom of the shirt. Red wordmarks, numbers, and names. The ‘road’ jerseys are a similar design but with a red jersey (and white wordmarks, numbers, and names). The stripes however are still blue, though a tad lighter for better contrast. The hats are a red/white/blue tri-color.
Lineup and Pitching

C Eric Titus, 168OPS+ with Cheyenne
1B Chris Shepherd, 153OPS+ with Rome (usually a 3rd baseman)
2B Josh Peppers, 101OPS+ with Galveston
3B Tom Hoppe, 99OPS+ with Cheyenne’s AAA team 
SS Tyler McClean, 57OPS+ with Eureka
LF Matthew Wagoner, 133OPS+ with Huron
CF Milt Scovell, 104OPS+ with Baton Rouge
RF Dave Sharpes, 120OPS+ with Astoria
DH Tom Mackey, 111OPS+ with Huron
(also have CF’s Jon Buckley and Jonathan Parsons on the bench)

1 Josh Newcomer, 133ERA+ with Alaska
2 Keith Badey, 123ERA+ with Chesapeake
3 Brad Vedder, 102ERA+ with Huron
4 Tim Jackson, 143ERA+ with Trois Rivieres
5 Nick Preston, 80ERA+ with Dakota
CL Ricky McDonald, 89ERA+ with Huron
Other notable bullpen arms: Oscar Torrez, Ryan Hoskins, Dave Meisel, and Ryan Hyde

Newcomer, Badey, and Vedder are a tandem no team hopes to face, let alone how clean their lineup is. The Lakers are my personal favorite to win the whole thing. Let alone their offensive core of Titus, Wagoner, Mackey, and Shepherd make for an equally challenging effort. 

 Maritimes
Current NABF Teams: none, will receive an expansion team in 2109
Main rivals: Quebec and New England
Jerseys: Easily the loudest jerseys in the tournament. A yellow base with a large blue cross, similar to the flag. With a white wordmark with a blue outline (also the T in Maritimes is made to look like an anchor). With a red hat with a yellow brim and a blue and white ‘M’. The player names are in blue and the numbers are red with a white outline. Oh and white pants with a blue piping stripe made to look like a wave. Luckily, they ran out of money and their ‘road’ uniforms are just gray with the same wordmark on it. Red player names and yellow numbers with blue outlines. 
Lineup and Pitching

C Henry Stone, 86OPS+ with Galveston’s AAA team
1B Dave Chatwin, 111OPS+ in the Caribbean league last year. 
2B Jack Oram, 124OPS+ in Germantown’s AAA team
3B Christian Dugas, injury shortened season with Plymouth’s AAA team
SS Aaron Munro, 117OPS+ with Eureka’s AAA team
LF Earl Moulds, only 14 games played with Galveston
CF Ken Kachmar, 83OPS+ with Eureka
RF Kevin Campeau, 111OPS+ with Chesapeake
DH Harry Reader, 121OPS+ with Rome’s AAA team

1 Geoff Bolen, 159ERA+ with Chesapeake (as closer)
2 Ross Whitehead, 59ERA+ with Germantown 
3 Sean Cameron, 155ERA+ with Florida’s AA team
4 Jim Bonnar, 127ERA+ with Galveston’s AA team
5 Tim Cote, 73ERA+ with Cheyenne’s AAA team
CL Brian Gray, was just drafted 27th overall by Trois Rivieres
Other notable bullpen arms: prospects William Miller, Tom Soper, and Wilford Ashton.

The Maritimes are just here for a good time, said Campeau. The main story with them is the many collegiate pitchers who have been drafted recently thanks to Ross Whitehead’s pitching academy. The 38-year old said that his main reason for continuing his career was to be able to pitch in this tournament for his country. Despite struggling in recent seasons, he still remains as the face of Maritime baseball. 

 Cascadia 
Current NABF Teams: Astoria Osprey, had made the Championship Series in 2106, but fell all the way to last in the Pacific last year.
Main Rivals: California, Rocky Mountains, and The Dakotas
Jerseys: plain white, with dual blue-green sleeve stripes. Green hats with a blue C. Player names are in blue but numbers and the wordmark are in green. The pants continue a blue-green stripe from the jersey. ‘Road’ jerseys are green with gray pants, and keep the same design.

C Kun Niu, 79OPS+ in 36 games with Astoria
1B Ray Tolbert, 136OPS+ with Rome
2B Evan Vance, 109OPS+ with Eureka’s AAA team
3B Derrick West, 98OPS+ with Trois Rivieres’ AAA team
SS Dean Monahan, 59OPS+ with Cheyenne 
LF Aaron Ruggiero, 71OPS+ with Chesapeake
CF Mike Lewis, 105OPS+ with Dakota’s AAA team
RF Josh Hernández, 65OPS+ with Astoria (has dual-citizenship with Mexico)
DH David Westland, 109OPS+ with Astoria

1 Matt Frizzell, 113ERA+ with Chesapeake
2 Chris Keon, 126ERA+ with Cheyenne
3 Chad Reichert, 87ERA+ with Plymouth
4 Scott Szczur, was just drafted 8th overall by Dakota
5 Dusty McCord, 84ERA+ with Astoria
CL Mike Kohn, 224ERA+ with Astoria
Other notable bullpen arms: Ryan Nixon, Beau Schulte, and prospects Mike Marazzi and Marshall Elkan

Easily the best bullpen in the tournament, and not a bad young rotation to go with it. The offense is solid enough that I could see them make a surprise wild card run. They definitely have potential for the next World Cup.

 Georgia
Current NABF Teams: Rome Gladiators, have been the worst team in the league ever since they expanded.
Main rivals: Florida, Louisiana, Virginia
Jerseys: White with blue pinstripes, a blue hat with a red brim, and red wordmarks, names, and numbers (included a number on the front of the jersey). ‘Road’ jerseys are red with a G over the heart, blue numbers and names with the same hat, and simple gray pants. 
Lineup and Pitching

C Ethan King, 98OPS+ with Florida’s AAA team
1B Ian Mosher, 99OPS+ with Rome
2B D.W. Manning, 147OPS+ with Astoria
3B Tim Brown, 91OPS+ with Alaska’s AAA team
SS Antoine Ellison, 61OPS+ with Galveston
LF Devin Lamar, 118OPS+ with Plymouth
CF Jeremy Cooper, 127OPS+ with Germantown
RF Ben Black, 122OPS+ with Baton Rouge
DH Russ Pettaway, 133OPS+ with Plymouth

1 Nick Lambert, 97ERA+ with Galveston
2 Kyle Magnani, 93ERA+ with Rome (as reliever)
3 Jeremy Peerenboom, 147ERA+ with Chesapeake (as reliever)
4 Matt Atkinson, 68ERA+ with Rome
5 Ryan Sumner, 128ERA+ with Rome (as reliever)
CL Dave Carr, 88ERA+ with Florida
Other notable bullpen arms: prospects Jaden Ames, Brandon Fagan, and Dave Carr

I didn’t expect much out of Georgia since Rome is a pretty new team and haven’t exactly done anything. But I wouldn’t call this team bad, they have an outside shot at a wildcard and could easily pull off an upset against Great Lakes to attempt a #1 spot. 

Group C:

 Susquehanna
Current NABF teams: Germantown Pretzels, have been consistently good, making the playoffs 3 of the last 4 seasons, but have not been able to win a championship yet. 
Main rivals: Virginia, New England, Quebec, and Great Lakes
Jerseys: sand/yellow colored jerseys like their flag, with one sleeve green and the other blue (mimicking their flag). Similar tri-colored hats. With a blue player name and wordmark and green numbers. Pants are the same sand/yellow color with the piping stripes being one green and one blue. The ‘road’ uniforms (which I don’t think are needed) are gray sleeveless pullovers with blue pinstripes (mimicking the Pretzels alternate jersey, though with different colors). 
Lineup and Pitching

C Bernward Kurtz, 72OPS+ with Germantown
1B Tyler Kilbarger, 127OPS+ with Rome
2B Jason Martin, 138OPS+ with Florida
3B Nick Fraser, 86OPS+ with Cheyenne
SS Kyle Belew, 126OPS+ with Rome
LF Jared Myers, 94OPS+ with Baton Rouge
CF Gary Urbanczyk, 130OPS+ with Chesapeake
RF Kyle Miller, 109OPS+ with Alaska
DH Ritter Ammann, 119OPS+ with Germantown

1 Eric Reed, 196ERA+ with Germantown (as reliever)
2 Bernie Rosado, 110ERA+ with Germantown
3 Bill Van Auken, 181ERA+ with Plymouth (as closer)
4 Steven Dorsey, 93ERA+ with Florida
5 Adam Minke, 104ERA+ with Huron
CL Josh Burford, 158ERA+ with Cheyenne
Other notable bullpen arms: Bob Molina, Benjamin Platt, Bill Mowry, Matt Richardson, and Charlie Symmonds

Obviously biased, but easily my favorite team. Also, the rivalry between them and Virginia is possibly the biggest in the tournament, let alone the one between Germantown and Trois Rivieres making Susquehanna/Quebec just as intense. But the Virginia one in particular is extreme not just due to history and geography, but Chesapeake’s best player, Gary Urbanczyk, is easily the best Susquehanna player and had been linked to go to Germantown until he signed a massive contract with Chesapeake last off-season, leading to constant heckling when playing in Germantown. Many were wondering if he would even play in the World Cup due to this, but in an interview that made the front page across the nation Urbanczyk said “For what I care, I have never played for Chesapeake” showing his determination to have Susquehanna prevail. 

 Cuba
Current NABF Teams: none, but have several in the Caribbean league.
Main rivals: Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Florida
Jerseys: white with blue pinstripes, with red player names, numbers, and wordmarks. ‘Roads’ are all blue with similar coloring. Both have a blue hat with a red brim.
Lineup and Pitching

C Eddie Marrero, in Cheyenne’s International squad
1B Rich Gaytan, 92OPS+ in Florida’s AA team
2B Alex Mendoza, 87OPS+ in Galveston’s AA team
3B Mario Ruperto, 72OPS+ with Rome
SS Francisco Collazo, 115OPS+ with Baton Rouge’s A team
LF Omar Ibarra, 104OPS+ with Germantown’s AAA team
CF Al Burgos, 102OPS+ with Cheyenne’s AAA team
RF Antonio Soriano, 92OPS+ with Germantown’s A team
DH Pablo Valencia, 144ERA+ with Chesapeake’s AAA team

1 Eddie Salazar, 67ERA+ with Trois Rivieres
2 Oscar Torres, 102ERA+ with Florida’s AA team
3 Alfredo Jimenez, 87ERA+ with Rome
4 Julio González, 78ERA+ with Galveston’s AAA team
5 Hector Delgado, 103ERA+ with Germantown’s AA team
CL Eddie Castillo, 162ERA+ with Germantown’s AA team
Other notable bullpen arms: top prospect Jesus Ortega

Ok, so I may have messed up with the Caribbean teams and wasn’t able to add better players, I should have it fixed for the next World Cup. Either way, they have a decent amount of good prospects, mainly Salazar and Marrero. 

 Venezuela
Current NABF teams: none, but have one in the South American League
Main rivals: Brazil and Colombia, neither of which are in this tournament
Jerseys: yellow jersey with red pants and a tri-color hat. Has blue and red piping stripes around the jersey. Blue player names and numbers. ‘Road’ is red with gray pants and blue striping, names, and numbers with the same tri-color hat.

C Alex Respighi, 99OPS+ in the South American League
1B Jose Zarate, 122OPS+ with Dakota
2B Juan García, 101OPS+ in the South American League.
3B Andy Rico, 126OPS+ with Trois Rivieres
SS Luis Rico, 99OPS+ with Astoria
LF David Ruíz, 154OPS+ in 38 games with Eureka
CF Danny Duque, 94OPS+ with Astoria’s AA team
RF Oscar Aguilar, 104OPS+ with Galveston’s AAA team
DH Orlando Lazzarini, 140OPS+ with Eureka’s AAA team

1 Omar Saldaña, 77ERA+ with Germantown
2 Joel Acrsio, played small amount of games at literally all 4 levels of Germantown
3 Juan Huitz, 64ERA+ with Huron (as reliever)
4 Dave Delgado, 61ERA+ with Rome
5 Marty Díaz, 66ERA+ with Huron’s AAA team
CL Bobby Villoresi, a 2-way player in Alaska’s system that so far hasn’t actually pitched(?)
Other notable bullpen arms: Alex Nava and prospect Marty Díaz

A sneakily good offense, but their pitching is a huge liability. Should easily beat Cuba though.

 Texas
Current NABF Teams: Galveston Launch, have been rebuilding for years, but are currently full of a ton of good young players and have shown glimpses of turning it around last season. 
Main rivals: Mexico, Louisiana, and The Dakotas
Jerseys: White with a big star under the wordmark, a tri-color hat, and interestingly a mostly red back of the jersey as homage to the ‘redback’ dollar bills they use. However the red only goes up slightly past the player numbers and are separated from the front with a blue stripe. The player numbers are white with blue names. The ‘road’ jerseys are the same concept but with a blue primary (uses the same white pants as well). 

C John Toledo, 96OPS+ with Huron’s AAA team
1B David Moran, 142OPS+ with Galveston
2B Ian Brinley, 115OPS+ with Dakota
3B Fred Randolph, 106OPS+ with Astoria’s AAA team
SS Mike McClary, 147OPS+ with Huron
LF Mike McIntyre, injury shortened 2107, 149OPS+ with Galveston in 2106
CF David Westfall, 72OPS+ with Astoria
RF David Castillo, 168OPS+ with Florida (in 82 games)
DH Jonathan Padilla, 100OPS+ with Plymouth

1 Brian Van Winkle, 91ERA+ with Galveston
2 Bobby Brooks, 83ERA+ with Dakota
3 David Castillo, 86ERA+ with Florida (2-way player)
4 Johnny Martínez, 144ERA+ with Plymouth (as reliever)
5 David Stone, 75ERA+ with Huron
CL Joey Nuttle, 135ERA+ with Astoria
Other notable bullpen arms:Matt Mauck prospects Edgar Sierra, Rodolfo Rodriquez, and Dan Miles

A few years ago, the Brinley/McClary double play tandem would’ve easily been the thing of dreams. But Brinley has begun to lose a step, but the team as a whole is pretty solid, especially around the young players Padilla, Westfall, and Castillo who still have room to grow. Pitching, as with Galveston, is a big issue. But since they play in possibly the weakest group, they have a high chance at making it past the group stage.

Group E:

 Rocky Mountains
Current NABF Teams: Cheyenne Buffalo, consistently one of the top teams in the league, but have only been able to claim 1 Championship.
Main rivals: The Dakotas, California, Texas, and Mexico
Jerseys: Blue with sublimated mountain tops at the bottom of the jersey similar to the flag (and Colorado Rockies city jerseys). Red player numbers and names with blue hats that also have some mountain tops on the back. The ‘road’ jerseys are the same but with white instead of blue. Both jerseys use white pants.  
Lineup and Pitching

 
C Casey Curry, 132OPS+ in Germantown’s AAA team
1B Nestor Rivas, 114OPS+ with Dakota’s AAA team
2B José Álvarez, 77OPS+ with Alaska
3B Pedro Guzman, 66OPS+ with Florida
SS Tom Helms, 63OPS+ with Florida
LF Jon Magallanes, 124OPS+ with Cheyenne
CF Joseph Wallace, 108OPS+ with Baton Rouge
RF Paul Butler, 164OPS+ with Alaska
DH Kevin Meyer, 134OPS+ with Cheyenne

1 Ahmed Mathis, 147ERA+ with Cheyenne
2 Matt Kenney, 103ERA+ with Plymouth
3 Steve Francen, 119ERA+ with Chesapeake
4 Mike Baker, 68ERA+ combined with Cheyenne and Rome
5 Mike Tijerina, 99ERA+ with Cheyenne’s AAA team
CL Kyle McMurphy, 277ERA+ with Cheyenne
Other notable bullpen arms: Mike Hilger, Lorenzo Branch and prospects Victor Martínez, Chris McCready, and Daniel Rutkowski

For how dominant Cheyenne has been it is a bit surprising that Rocky Mountains don’t appear to be as good on paper, though they do follow Cheyenne with having a strong pitching core. 

 Arctic Circle Federation
Current NABF Teams: Alaska Avalanche, while they have fared better than Rome, they are still struggling to get a foothold. 
Main rivals: The Dakotas and Quebec
Jerseys: an all powder blue set, with dark blue player numbers and names. They also feature white hats similar to Alaska. Their ‘road’ jerseys are a similar style except in white. 
Lineup and Pitching

C Danny Lemon, 52OPS+ with Trois Rivieres 
1B Larry Adair, 111OPS+ with Dakota
2B John Baldwin, 65OPS+ with Cheyenne
3B Tom Newman, 93OPS+ with Trois Rivieres
SS Philip Brawner, 104OPS+ with Huron
LF Ron Peterson, 132OPS+ with Trois Rivieres
CF Cedric Lindsay, 91OPS+ with Astoria
RF Jeremy Richey, 114OPS+ with Huron
DH Ryan Storch, 98OPS+ with Alaska

1 John Gillingham, 130ERA+ with Alaska
2 Wayne Hamel, 97ERA+ with Baton Rouge
3 Tyler D’Orio, 110ERA+ with Astoria (as reliever)
4 John Sweet, 122ERA+ with Alaska (as reliever, also has dual-citizenship with The Dakotas)
5 Joel Laliberte, 105ERA+ with Alaska’s AAA team
CL Wiley McFayden, 109ERA+ with Eureka’s AAA team
Other notable bullpen arms: prospects Heath Victory, Dana Dorey, Bill Clark, and Tom Swedlove

Not a lot of depth, but a ton of youth. Brawner and Richey look to be mainstays in Huron for a long time. Gillingham is likely to become the ace for Alaska. Hamel has shown signs of brilliance in Baton Rouge. Let alone, Sweet, Clark, Dorey, Swedlove, and Victory all have elite potential (though mostly as relievers). Another top hitter could put them in contention in the following World Cups. 

 Mexico
Current NABF Teams: none, but are receiving a team in 2109.
Main rivals: California, Texas, and Rocky Mountains
Jerseys: white, with what many are calling a gaudy eagle that is above the wordmark (in a way, similar to the flag), though the eagle is comically large. Player names and numbers are green, but red numbers appear on the front of the jerseys. The ‘road’ uniforms are red and do not feature the funny eagle on them. Both player names and numbers are white with green outlines as is the wordmark. Both jerseys utilize a red hat with a green brim. 

C Ignacio Dorado, 130OPS+ with Baton Rouge’s AA team
1B Angelo Alonzo, 160OPS+ with Plymouth 
2B David Millan, 87OPS+ with a team in the South American League, he hasn’t played in the NABF since 2103 but won the first Hernandez award
3B Carlos Hernández, 91OPS+ with Alaska’s AA team
SS Nelson Cabrera, was just drafted 4th overall by Florida
LF Juan Aguilera, 143OPS+ with Dakota’s AAA team
CF Fernando Aguilar, 107OPS+ with Baton Rouge’s AA team
RF Albert Dorta, 170OPS+ with Dakota’s AA team
DH Victor Soto, 134OPS+ with Dakota’s AA team

1 Alex Carrillo, 95ERA+ with Dakota
2 Carlos Padilla, 142ERA+ with Cheyenne’s AAA team
3 Willie Hernández, 87ERA+ with Trois Riviere’s AAA team
4 Juan Donate, 108ERA+ with Germantown’s AAA team
5 Robert Velez, 140ERA+ with Huron (as reliever)
CL Ruben Cabrales, 81ERA+ with Baton Rouge’s AAA team
Other notable bullpen arms: Mel Leiva, prospects Henry Rodríguez and Teyo Leon, as well as high school prospects Javy Alvarez, Jose Rossello, and Jon Pascual.

I don’t want to downplay them, they may be the best nation not currently playing in the NABF. Their team also doubles as a prospect showcase with several players being draft eligible next season. Since this is a relatively weak group, they may have a chance at moving on. 

 Louisiana
Current NABF Teams: Baton Rouge Cajuns, have been in a full-scale rebuild for many years now. But have had a lot of breakout prospects over the last 2 seasons. 
Main rivals: Georgia, Texas, and Florida
Jerseys: Plain white with gold fleur-de-lis almost everywhere on the jersey, to the point where it almost hurts to look at. They have red and white trim at the sleeves and pants similar to the old Mets stripes. Red player numbers but gold player names (something Baton Rouge will pick up next season). ‘Road’ uniforms are gray with blue piping across the jersey, the player numbers turn blue but the names stay gold despite readability being an issue. Hats are of course tri-colors (I totally don’t have a thing)
Lineup and Pitching

C Stephen McMorrow, 77OPS+ with Chesapeake
1B Valentin Pernot, 67OPS+ with Cheyenne
2B Carlos Dominguez, 84OPS+ with Dakota
3B Chris Bachert, 96OPS+ with Florida
SS René Gaultier, 92OPS+ with Dakota’s AAA team
LF Nick Parsons, 139OPS+ with Baton Rouge
CF Savion Jones, 83OPS+ with Florida
RF Jared Lawrence, only 36 games with Germantown
DH John Davis, 86OPS+ with Dakota

1 Mike Kulbeth, 146ERA+ with Plymouth
2 Jonathan Latham, 122ERA+ with Chesapeake (as reliever)
3 Jonathan Masden, 105ERA+ with Alaska (as reliever)
4 Léo Marie, 150ERA+ with Baton Rouge (as reliever)
5 Matt Bourland, 106ERA+ with Chesapeake’s AAA team
CL Jason Walker, 174ERA+ with Germantown
Other notable bullpen arms: prospects Adam Montero and Claude Trouvé

The pitching is interesting, with Kulbeth being the only regular starter. But Latham, Maden, and Marie have all shown to be exceptional bullpen arms. Their youth is also phenomenal, in their starting lineup Nick Parsons is the only player over the age of 27. They could become an interesting nation to follow. 

Group D:
 Quebec
Current NABF teams: Trois Rivieres Harfang, easily the most dominant team in the league and is easily a dynasty. 
Main rivals: Great Lakes, Susquehanna, New England, and Maritimes
Jerseys: a white jersey with some blue striping along the seams. The back of the jersey is interesting with a blue cross across it, helping form a blue outline around white player names and numbers. The ‘road’ jersey is a light, almost powdery, blue jersey and pants. That features a similar cross pattern, with blue numbers with a white outline, but the player names are fully white for readability. Also the wordmark of ‘Quebec’ features a fleur-de-lis over the first ‘e’ to represent the accent in the French spelling. Both jerseys feature blue hats. 
Lineup and Pitching 

C Donald Oakes, 113OPS+ with Eureka’s AAA team
1B Bob Heath, 81OPS+ with Huron
2B Tom Phelan, 138OPS+ with Trois Rivieres
3B Christian Dubois, 124OPS+ with Trois Rivieres
SS Leland Abbott, 71OPS+ with Alaska
LF Hervé Barthélémy, 138OPS+ with Trois Rivieres
CF Matt Gilroy, 99OPS+ with Galveston
RF Gary Hamilton, 131OPS+ with Trois Rivieres
DH George Powers, 147OPS+ with Germantown

1 Gary Hamilton, 134ERA+ with Trois Rivieres
2 Fritz Bresson, 95OPS+ with Dakota
3 Thomas Legros, 110ERA+ with Chesapeake
4 Cyrille Vincent, 88ERA+ with Florida
5 Dan Richard, 90ERA+ with Plymouth
CL Alain Thomas, 122ERA+ with Galveston
Other notable bullpen arms: Bob O’Brien and Warren Bourdon, plus prospects Paolo Barreau, Ben Keddy, Philippe Lemaître, and Zane Dubos

A favorite to win the whole thing, especially when led by all the front end talent headlined by the big 3 from Trois Rivieres. Let alone all the prospects littered throughout the whole team. Despite having one of the lowest populations they surprisingly have one of the best teams. Endless talent and prospects to help them be a World Cup contender for the next several events. Though some critics mention the youth of their pitching with all their starters under the age of 25 and none have put together consecutive above-average seasons yet. 

 Puerto Rico
Current NABF Teams: none
Main rivals: Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Florida
Jerses: a white jersey with red pinstripes (though 1 pinstripe is blue). With blue player numbers and names. The ‘road’ jerseys are fairly simple gray jerseys with blue and red features. The hats are red with a blue brim for the home and blue with a red brim for the road. 
Lineup and Pitching

C Ismael Méndez, 161OPS+ with Eureka
1B Gustavo Espinoza, 85OPS+ with Plymouth’s AAA team
2B Enrique Deramos, 130OPS+ with Trois Rivieres’ AAA team
3B Victor Flores, 124OPS+ with Florida’s AA team
SS Alberto Montero, 97OPS+ with Huron’s A team
LF Martín Sosa, 138OPS+ with Baton Rouge’s AA team
CF Franklin Garza, 120OPS+ with Baton Rouge’s AA team
RF Miguel Hernández, 80OPS+ with Baton Rouge’s AAA team
DH Emilio Rodríguez, 135OPS+ with Germantown

1 Leon López, 183ERA+ with Trois Rivieres
2 Luis Hernández, 91ERA+ with Alaska
3 Wilson Velasco, 105ERA+ with Florida (as reliever)
4 Alex Abila, 109ERA+ with Cheyenne’s AAA team
5 Efrain Rivas, 117ERA+ with Dakota’s AAA team
CL Jose Guzman, 145ERA+ with Chesapeake’s AA team
Other notable bullpen arms: prospects Oscar Noriega and Jorge Peña

Fairly solid, not as many holes as other Latin American teams, but also not as good as some others. However, with 2 of their main rivals in this group there is sure to be some extremely exciting games. 

 Dominican Republic
Current NABF Teams: none, though there are some rumors about being a contender for the next wave of expansion in the future.
Main rivals: Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Florida
Jerseys: a dark blue with white numbers and names with red outlines. The ‘road’ jersey is white with blue numbers and red player names. Both jerseys utilize a blue hat with red brim and ‘DR’ logo.
Lineup and Pitching

C Miguel Rodríguez, 63OPS+ with Cheyenne’s AA team
1B Gilberto Morales, 113OPS+ with Dakota’s AAA tema
2B Jorge Rodríguez, 86OPS+ with Eureka
3B Jose Orozco, 131OPS+ with Galveston
SS Julio Manzo, 42OPS+ with Huron
LF Antonio Garza, 155OPS+ with Eureka
CF Ivan Nájera, 55OPS+ with Germantown
RF Pablo Barron, 120OPS+ with Baton Rouge’s AA team
DH Jon Arías, 107OPS+ in the Caribbean League

1 Anton Latorre, 543ERA+ with Germantown (as closer)
2 Jose Serrano, 157ERA+ with Cheyenne
3 Julio Sánchez, 107ERA+ with Baton Rouge
4 Jose Orozco, 78ERA+ with Astoria
5 Felix Hernández, 82ERA+ with Eureka
CL Angelo Juarez, 144ERA+ with Dakota
Other notable bullpen arms: Rogelio Victoria, Robby Barela, Alejandro Escarcega, Francisco García, and prospect Carloes Flores

An outstanding pitching core, but a rather lacking batting core outside of Garza. With rivalry games aplenty in this group it will make everything matter, especially as they probably won’t be able to challenge Quebec for the #1 spot and will have to aim for a wild card.

 Florida
Current NABF Teams: Florida Flamingos, the only non-expansion team to never finish .500 or above. Eternally rebuilding, though have had some great performances of late. 
Main rivals: Georgia, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Dominican Republic
Jerseys: Bright orange, with light blue player names, numbers, and a white/yellow wordmark. The hats and pants are also orange. Their ‘roads’, if they are even needed, are the same concepts but in white with orange player numbers. 

C Greg Stout, 82OPS+ with Chesapeake’s AAA team
1B Oscar Morales, 154OPS+ with Florida (has dual-citizenship with Puerto Rico)
2B Juan Torres, 113OPS+ with Rome
3B Jayden Royal, 144OPS+ with Baton Rouge
SS Ron Mudd, 52OPS+ with Huron
LF Zack Joyner, 107OPS+ with Germantown
CF Sean Dobson, 79OPS+ with Rome
RF Adam Beyer, 133OPS+ with Florida
DH Tyler Hammerich, 92OPS+ with Florida

1 Rafael Santa Cruz, 173ERA+ with Cheyenne
2 Dale Patterson, 159ERA+ with Trois Rivieres (as closer)
3 Ben Denman, 138ERA+ with Eureka
4 Trent Pullin, 154ERA+ with Eureka (as reliever)
5 Chris Holland, 128ERA+ with Chesapeake’s AAA team
CL Jose Guerrero, 134ERA+ with Cheyenne (knuckleballer)
Other notable bullpen arms: Manny Julia, Dave Valencia, and prospects Jim Gutsch, Jose Young, and Dave Valencia

Honestly, Florida is probably the most surprising team to me. I knew they had some decent players spread around the league, but I did not notice how many of them were elite. If they can get past the group stage they may be able to pull off some upsets in the brackets.

Hopefully I will have the tournament itself posted tomorrow

2108 Pre-Season Preview

At the conclusion of this season will be the second phase of expansion, with teams awarded to Mexico and the Maritimes. While full identities will be announced then, the cities have been decided. The teams will be located in Durango and Halifax, respectively. There is already much fanfare over Durango, with many Mexican players stating they may forfeit the draft to instead sign with the team right away. This isn’t new, as both Alaska and Rome did similar, with try-outs helping to fill out their rosters, but not to the scale of what Durango might be. Best of luck to both franchises in the future. 


Pacific Conference:
last season 73-89, 5th in Pacific
14th ranked farm system (1B Carlos Ramírez #18, CF Talbot Boulet #53)
Payroll $1,323,392 - 13th
Lineup and Pitching

C 22, Czar Artemenko, Arctic Circle, .208/.262/.298, 55OPS+ in 75 games
1B 24, T.J. Nasta, Texas, .248/.305/.359, 23SBs, 83OPS+
2B 23, José Álvarez, Rocky Mountains, .263/.298/.349. 23SBs, 79OPS+
3B 26, Ryan Storch, Arctic Circle, .265/.348/.374, 100OPS+
SS 25, Leland Abbott, Quebec, .254/.313/.310, 73OPS+
LF 26, Tim Brown, Georgia, .200/.287/.273, 56OPS+ in 45 games
CF 25, Christian Guérin, Quebec, only played 19 games due to injury
RF 24, Kyle Miller, Susquehanna, .288/.351/.412, 111OPS+
DH 33, Paul Butler, Rocky Mountains, .328/.409/.562, 29HRs, 167OPS+ won Frey award

1 25, John Gillingham, Arctic Circle, 8-8, 3.29ERA, 130ERA+
2 30, Josh Newcomer, Great Lakes, 13-13, 3.22ERA, 133ERA+
3 29, Jeff Caron, California, 11-10, 3.97ERA, 108ERA+
4 27, Nick Preston, Great Lakes, 10-15, 5.31ERA, 80ERA+ with Dakota
5 25, Alex Carrillo, Mexico, 3-9, 4.50ERA, 95ERA+ with Dakota
CL 24, Jonathan Masden, Louisiana, 22 Saves, 4.09ERA, 105ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Oscar Torrez and prospects Zane Dubos and John Sweet

While they may have the lowest rated farm system, much of that is due to them calling many of them up in the last year or so. Artemenko, Dubos, and Sweet have all been top 10 ranked prospects, as well as Miller nearly won the Castaneda last year. Nasta, Storch, and Abbott have all shown signs of being great as well. While this definitely won’t be their year, they will likely showcase their team potential in a year or two, right when Butler and Newcomer’s contracts are up. 

last season 64-98, 7th in Pacific
13th ranked farm system (RHP Kieron Dale #34, RHP Brad Winters #41, LHP Josh Thomas #46)
Payroll $1,767,228 - 9th
Lineup and Pitching

C 27, Joaquin Nuñez, Susquehanna, .220/.320/.325, 79OPS+
1B 25, Bob Heath, Quebec, .256/.311/.350, 80OPS+
2B 24, Jason Martin, Susquehanna, only played 26 games (unrelated to the one in Florida)
3B 27, Adam Moore, Virginia, .240/.327/.341, 85OPS+
SS 29, Kevin Jones, The Dakotas, .203/.274/.315, 34SBs, 63OPS+
LF 26, Dustin Coghill, Virginia, .261/.345/.352, 94OPS+
CF 22, David Westfall, Texas, .267/.295/.333, 18SBs, 74OPS+ in 41 games
RF 27, Daves Sharpes, Great Lakes, .305/.385/.416, 61SBs, 122OPS+
DH 35, Antonio Garza, Dominican Republic, .279/.370/.567, 49HRs, 158OPS+

1 30, Andrew Redepenning, Virginia, 9-12, 3.55ERA, 120ERA+
2 29, José Orozco, Dominican Republic, 9-20, 5.47ERA, 78ERA+
3 30, Ricky McDonald, Great Lakes, 5-12, 4.80ERA, 89ERA+
4 29, Dusty McCord, Cascadia, 12-15, 5.11ERA, 84ERA+
5 23, Justin Morris, Susquehanna, 8-16, 4.30ERA, 99ERA+
CL 25, Tyler D’Orio, Arctic Circle, 3.89ERA in 39 innings, 110ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Joey Nuttle, Ian Strauss, and Nick Ashley (will miss 5 months due to injury)

What a quick rise and even quicker downfall. After making the Championship Series 2 years ago, they fell all the way to last place. Many expected them to try to rebuild, but instead they signed 2 DHs (Garza as well as Westland who I didn’t mention earlier because he has nowhere to play). Owner, Corey Zink said that he was disappointed in his players last season, stating it was their fault the team couldn’t replicate their previous success. It is expected that he is to blame for the signings of Garza and Westland. There was also a rumor that broke earlier in the off-season that he is close to trading fan favorites Moore and Jones because he didn’t like the contracts he signed them to a few seasons ago.

last season 72-90, 6th in Pacific
1st ranked farm system (RHP Sergio Montes #5, RF Juan Castillo #17, RHP Ruben Cabrales #19, RHP Daniel Ojeda #22, RHP Mike Belcher #23)
Payroll $1,731,948 - 11th
Lineup and Pitching

C 26 Stephen McMorrow, .248/.301/.349, 75OPS+ with Chesapeake
1B 34, Jake Herold, California, .309/.401/.597, 35HRs, 175OPS+
2B 25, Patrick Moreau, Quebec, played 34 games with Trois Rivieres
3B 25, Jayden Royal, Florida, .330/.390/.501, 37SBs, 147OPS+ won Deshayes and Frey
SS 23, Arthur Ducklow, Quebec, no stats, rookie season. Unranked
LF 28, Joseph Wallace, Rocky Mountains, .280/.357/.400, 50SBs, 110OPS+
CF 26, Milt Scovell, Great Lakes, .261/.364/.376, 35SBs, 106OPS+
RF 25, Ben Black, Georgia, .308/.381/.428, 31SBs, 125OPS+ 
DH 35, Nick Parsons, Louisiana, .282/.375/.501, 21HRs, 142OPS+

1 24, Wayne Hamel, Arctic Circle, 7-7, 4.40ERA, 97ERA+
2 24, David Stone, Texas, 6-7, 5.71ERA, 75ERA+ with Huron
3 24, Jim Vogel, Susquehanna, 9-17, 5.13ERA, 83ER+
4 24, New England, Jeremy Lewis, 8-19, 5.60ERA, 76ERA+ with Dakota
5 24, Joel Laliberte, Arctic Circle, 2-7, 6.75ERA, 63ERA+ with Alaska
CL 23, Adam Gibson, Virginia, 17 Saves, 4.68ERA, 91ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Jason Walker and Léo Marie

An extremely solid offensive core backed up great veteran influence. However, Royal, Wallace, and Black are all free agents next year, and it is unlikely that either will re-sign with the club. However, they were able to re-sign Scovell, and he has been a huge promoter of the club in and around the city. They also have some pretty good prospects, though other than Ojeda, they probably won’t make an impact for another 2-3 years. Don’t even get me started on their pitching “core”. 

last season, 110-52, lost in Championship Series to Trois Rivieres
9th ranked farm system (RHP Tim Cote #15, LHP Mike Tijerina #35, RF Nassir Sheikh #36, C Eddie Marrero #37)
Payroll $2,352,108 - 2nd
Lineup and Pitching

C 30, Eric Titus, Great Lakes, .344/.432/.549, 171OPS+ won Deshayes and Frey
1B 22, Valentin Pernot, Louisiana, 68OPS+ in 50 games
2B 27, Dan Harbin, New England, .272/.347/.353, 95OPS+ won Deshayes award
3B 24, Nick Fraser, Susquehanna, .250/.343/.330, 88OPS+
SS 26, Dean Monahan, Cascadia, .214/.322/.252, 61OPS+ won Deshayes and Hernandez
LF 27, Hisato Horio, Japan, .255/.353/.312, 44SBs, 86OPS+
CF 36, Kevin Meyer, Rocky Mountains, .287/.395/.458, 47SBs, 136OPS+
RF 23, Yekuno-Amlak, Mshangama, .326/.405/.499, 47SBs, 150OPS+ won Deshayes and Frey
DH 33, Jon Magallanes, Rocky Mountains, .276/.340/.429. 113OPS+

1 31, Ahmed Mathis, Rocky Mountains, 23-9, 2.91ERA, 308Ks, 147ERA+ won Taylor award
2 32, Jeffrey Simon, The Dakotas, 21-9, 3.77ERA, 113ERA+
3 22, Chris Keon, Cascadia, 10-5, 3.39ERA, 126ERA+
4 27, José Guerrero, Florida, 4-4, 3.18ERA, 134ERA+ (mostly as reliever)
5 33, Luis Hernández, Puerto Rico, 14-15, 4.71ERA, 91ERA+ with Alaska
CL 32, Mike Hilger, Rocky Mountains, 47 Saves, 0.82ERA, 158Ks, 517ERA+ won Gervais award
Other notable bullpen arms: Kyle McMurphy, Josh Burford, Warren Bourdon, and prospect Carlos Padilla (he pitched 1 game last season before needing Tommy John)

A slightly new-look pitching core with Santa Cruz gone and Serrano out with injury (again, has never started more than 30 games in a season and has only started 20 or more twice, but has a sub 3 ERA). Keon will get more use while Guerrero will likely be able to start for a whole season for once (is often more used as a reliever). I expect Padilla will replace Hernández after a month or two. Having such a strong pitching core also has benefits of allowing top prospects Cote, Tijerina, Ortega, and Schneider more time to develop before getting called up. Which is a nice novelty to have, compared to Baton Rouge or Galveston who brings top prospects up early to get destroyed. Offensively they continue to do what the Buffalo always do, defense and speed. Pernot looks to be a decent contributor to that playstyle as well. I could not imagine how potent the offense could be if they had a home run hitter, their franchise single-season record is 22 from Kevin Meyer.

last season 75-87, 3rd in Pacific
4th ranked farm system (3B Rüdiger Martin #7, RHP Scott Szczur #13, RHP Quan Hang #20, LHP Suk Kim #44)
Payroll $1,900,903 - 6th
Lineup and Pitching

C 28, Mike Wautlet, Virginia, .278/.358/.363, 101OPS+
1B 34, José Zarate, Venezuela, .292/.358/.454, 125OPS+
2B 26, D.W. Manning, Georgia, .328/.468/.427, 149OPS+ with Astoria won Frey award
3B 23, Phil Butler, Florida, .302/.358/.407, 112OPS+
SS 23, René Gaultier, Louisiana, no stats, rookie season. Unranked
LF 42, Larry Adair, Arctic Circle, .307/.390/.374, 113OPS+
CF 35, Ron Young, The Dakotas, .258/.340/.367, 97OPS+
RF 25, Manny Guzman, Puerto Rico, .232/.313/.299, 71OPS+
DH 37, Scott Purkis, The Dakotas, .267/.376/.431, 124OPS+ with Eureka

1 25, Fritz Bresson, 17-11, 4.49ERA, 95ERA+
2 27, Bobby Brooks, 6-11, 5.14ERA, 83ERA+
3 27, Jason Weatherford, Great Lakes, 9-16, 5.76ERA, 74ERA+
4 24, Andy McKenzie, Virginia, no stats rookie season. Unranked
5 26, Wiley McFayden, Arctic Circle, no stats rookie season. Unranked
CL 26, Pat Dow, California, 2.15ERA in 29 innings, 198ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Aaron Odle, Ben Keddy, and Ryan Leonard

The signing of Manning was a bit of a surprise, the owner said they wanted to give Larry Adair 1 last chance at the playoffs, while also stating that Manning’s youth would also help the rebuild. A rebuild that really needs pitching, Luckily Szczur and Hang seem close to debuting, Szczur showcasing his stuff at the World Cup, going 2-0 with 1.80ERA in 10 innings. Other notable prospects I didn’t mention are RHP Ryan Reimann, who pitched in the majors last season but will be in AAA to start this season, and 2-way star Yin-reng Fa who dominated from both sides in AA but is only ranked #67. Unfortunately for Adair, I don’t see the Eagles doing much this season. They really should’ve stuck to the rebuild. 

 last season 95-67, 2nd in Pacific, lost Pacific Series to Cheyenne
5th ranked farm system (CF Bart Gallagher #11, RF Bill Sutherland #32, SS William Garcia #38, LHP Jorge Peña #39)
Payroll $1,994,552 - 5th
Lineup and Pitching

C 22, Ismael Méndez, Puerto Rico, .368/.432/.520, 164OPS+ in 80 games, won Castaneda award
1B 35, Kyle Thompson, California, .289/.390/.639, 58HRs, 182OPS+ won Baxter and Frey awards
2B 31, Jorge Rodríguez, Dominican Republic, .233/.312/.366, 88OPS+
3B 23, Tyler McClean, Great Lakes, .222/.267/.304, 58OPS+ in 78 games
SS 27, Jamie Tipton, California, .268/.362/.370, 40SBs, 104OPS+
LF 33, Jesse Haskins, California, .258/.394/.416, 125OPS+, won Deshayes award
CF 28, Ken Kachmar, Maritimes, .256/.342/.323, 85OPS+ in 74 games
RF 25, Tyler Noble, New England, .247/.347/.384, 103OPS+ in 47 games
DH 24, Cor John, Netherlands/Aruba, only 9 starts last season

1 23, Tillmam Tamayo, Brazil, 13-4, 3.05ERA, 140ERA+
2 26, Dustin Cloud, The Dakotas, 13-14, 4.17ERA, 102ERA+
3 35, Ben Denman, Florida, 23-9, 3.09ERA, 138ERA+
4 32, Antonio Madrigal, Colombia, 14-4, 3.57ERA, 119ERA+
5 25, Justin Loeser, California, 5-10, 4.15ERA, 103ERA+
CL 32, Jake Pawlowski, California, 41 Saves, 1.39ERA, 306ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Harold Sykes, Trent Pullin, José López, Rogelio Victoria and prospect Dave Valencia

It’s hard to call a 95-win season disappointing, but that’s what many Redwoods fans felt. However, much of that was due to injuries as nearly every starter was out for some time. Some losses came in the off-season as Antonio Garza left while Felix Hernández was cut due to regression. They put all that saved money immediately into the farm, signing the 2 biggest international rookies as well as drafting Californian native Amador Navo, who is currently ranked #76, but is expected to be the replacement for the aging Kyle Thompson. I expect them to be much better than what OOTP predicts, I say they should easily get another 90-win season.

last season 73-89, 4th in Pacific
8th ranked farm system (2B Thierry Charles #24, LHP Jalen Wilson #40, RF Oscar Aguilar #42, 1B Humphrey Grant #43 ,RHP Justin Cryer #45)
Payroll $1,856,730 - 7th
Lineup and Pitching

C 27, Ryan Croston, California, .208/.317/.279, 66OPS+ with Eureka
1B 36, David Moran, Texas, .327/.398/.484, 145OPS+
2B 37, Ian Brinley, Texas, .270/.367/.415, 117OPS+ with Dakota
3B 27, José Orozco, Dominican Republic, .292/.338/.510, 28HRs, 134OPS+
SS 26, Eric Gilbo, Cascadia, .206/.275/.309, 58OPS+ with Plymouth
LF 26, Matt Gilroy, Quebec, .283/.352/.369, 35SBs, 101OPS+
CF 28, Katsumi Canio, Japan/Brazil, .358/.385/.485, 65SBs, 141OPS+ won Deshayes and Frey
RF 24, Melvin Navarrete, California, .301/.370/.457, 42SBs, 129OPS+ in 91 games
DH 25, Chris Caron, Texas, .208/.321/.319, 79OPS+ in 78 games

1 27, Rich Platte, New England, 17-13, 3.98ERA, 107ERA+
2 26, Nick Lambert, Georgia, 15-15, 4.39ERA, 227Ks, 97ERA+
3 24, Nelson Encarnación, pitched 1 game before tearing ligament
4 23, Paolo Barreau, Quebec, 6-13, 5.42ERA, 78ERA+
5 35, Brian Van Winkle, Texas, 7-19, 4.66ERA, 91OPS+
CL 27, Greg Cone, The Dakotas, 28 Saves, 2.97ERA, 143ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Alain Thomas

For the past 6 or so seasons, the Launch and the Cajuns have been dueling over the battle of the rebuilds. For a bit it seemed Baton Rouge was winning with Wallace, Royal, and Black. While Galveston really just had Canio and a few good showings from others, but nothing sustained. Both teams struggled with pitching, both having to call up pitchers way too early seemingly ending their potential (case and point, 2101 first round pick, Bobby Crocitto who is now a long reliever that wouldn’t make it on any other team). Even Platte, Lambert, and Barreau have had issues. However, during the World Cup and this years spring training, all 3 of them (along with Encarnación) have “put it together” with strong showings. So much so that OOTP has them winning the Pacific. While I don’t have them going that far, I do see them being better than Baton Rouge, not just this year but in the future as well. Since Lambert, Orozco, and Canio have long contracts, and the rest of their young talent is a few years away from Free Agency while Baton Rouge’s big 3 are all free agents after this season. And just in time, current owner, Pat Avery advised the Texas Gazette that he is putting the team up for auction at the conclusion of this season. There are many potential candidates, though it seems likely they will stay in Galveston. But they will need a new stadium as they currently have the 3rd oldest and is considered one of the worst in the league.

Atlantic Conference:
last season 82-80, 4th in Atlantic
7th ranked farm system (SS Sosa Jouon #4, RHP Carlos Flores #25, 2B Benjamin Whitford #29)
Payroll $1,618,983 - 12th
Lineup and Pitching 

C 25, Ross Edwards, Virginia, 61OPS+ in 46 games
1B 29, Chris Conway, Virginia, .282/.353/.390, 100OPS+
2B 27, Ben Baier, The Dakotas, 109OPS+ in 30 games
3B 22, Dan Nichols, The Dakotas, .229/.323/.295, 68OPS+
SS 26, Douggie Clarke, Virginia, .293/.355/.374, 97OPS+ won Deshayes award
LF 26, Aaron Ruggiero, Cascadia, .232/.317/.310, 34SBs, 70OPS+ won Deshayes award
CF 30, Gary Urbanczyk, Susquehanna, .235/.347/.504, 37HRs, 51SBs, 127OPS+ won Frey award (career 252HRs and 251SBs, neat)
RF 28, Kevin Campeau, Maritimes, .256/.359/.417, 20HRs, 109OPS+
DH 31, Ramiro Ruíz, Colombia, .292/.379/.412, 113OPS+

1 25, Nick Grueneich, Virginia, 13-12, 3.37ERA, 128ERA+
2 26, Keith Badey, Great Lakes, 13-11, 3.49ERA, 124ERA+
3 25, Matt Frizzell, Cascadia, 11-13, 3.80ERA, 113ERA+
4 25, Thomas Legros, Quebec, 13-13, 3.92ERA, 110ERA+
5 25, Jonathan Latham, Louisiana, 3-5, 3.52ERA, 123ERA+ (mostly as reliever)
CL 25, Geoff Bolen, Maritimes, 31 Saves, 2.70ERA, 160ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Rodolfo Rodríquez, C.J. Clymer, Jeremy Peerenboom and prospects Chris McCready and Carlos Flores

A few years ago their weakness was their pitching, with aging veterans and Frizzell as their only youth talent. Now their pitching is not just their strength but the insane youth of it, Badey is their oldest pitcher at 26 years old. Though, the eternal bachelors may not do quite as well this year. Many are calling this a retooling year, as their offense is still lacking a bit and with the expansion draft coming up they want to save as many of their young players as possible, some rumors say they may leave Urbanczyk and Clarke out in the expansion draft in order to save some money (and roster spots for Jouon/Whitford). Honestly, the Admirals are now one of the teams I’m looking forward to the most in the coming seasons. (which is a lot coming from a Germantown fan).

last season 70-92, 6th in Atlantic
10th ranked farm system (RHP Oscar Noriega #14, SS Nelson Cabrera #28)
Payroll $1,750,801 - 10th
Lineup and Pitching

C 27, Ethan King, Georgia, .170/.280/.216, 35OPS+ (elite defender tho)
1B 34, Oscar Morales, Florida/Puerto Rico, .298/.407/.531, 21HRs, 151OPS+
2B 32, Jason Martin, Susquehanna, .326/.413/.463, 136OPS+ won Deshayes award
3B 26, Tom Newman, Arctic Circle, 91OPS+ in 47 games with Trois Rivieres
SS 28, Philip Fievet, Quebec, .203/.271/.258, 48OPS+ with Baton Rouge
LF 25, David Castillo, Texas, .366/.415/.576, 165OPS+ in 82 games (2-way player)
CF 27, Savion Jones, Louisiana, .258/.294/.382, 40SBs, 81OPS+
RF 26, Adam Beyer, Florida, .310/.390/.469, 130OPS+ won Frey award
DH 24, Tyler Hammerich, Florida, .265/.298/.413, 90OPS+

1 30, Leon López, Puerto Rico, 23-4, 2.34ERA, 262Ks, 184ERA+ won Taylor with Trois Rivieres
2 30, Rafael Santa Cruz, Florida, 23-7, 2.46ERA, 173ERA+ with Cheyenne
3 26, Cyrille Vincent, Quebec, 14-15, 4.88ERA, 210Ks, 88ERA+
4 23, Dan Miles, Texas, 7-7, 4.51ERA, 96ERA+
5 25, David Castillo, 7-10, 5.00ERA, 86ERA+ (2-way player)
CL 26, Bill Mowry, 8-14, 5.00ERA, 86ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Ted Bass, Wilson Velasco, Alejandro Escarcega, and prospect Manny Julia

Oh my. I can’t believe it… something nice actually happened to Florida. This is impossible. They still probably will stink. But the signings of López and Santa Cruz (which coaxed Morales into coming back) are insane signings. It also allows them to develop prospects for longer in the minors (similar to what I was talking about with Galveston, as it too plagued the Flamingos). They still have too many holes on offense, something I don’t think Cabrera can fix as he’s mostly a defensive wizard. But with that cap space, I could see them continue to make big splashes in the upcoming seasons so that they may finally finish above .500 (something I thought I would never see happen)

last season 89-73, 3rd in Atlantic
2nd ranked farm system (RHP Heath Victory #3, C Han-seung Park #12, 3B Luis Laboy #16, RHP Adelbert Miller #26)
Payroll $2,297,765 - 3rd
Lineup and Pitching

C 25, Bernward Kurtz, Susquehanna, .199/.301/.320, 70OPS+ won Deshayes award
1B 38, Emilio Rodríguez, Puerto Rico, .295/.418/.430, 133OPS+ won Deshayes award
2B 32, Ritter Ammann, Susquehanna, .295/.361/.432, 117OPS+ 
3B 23, Craig Lamm, Susquehanna, .291/.345/.467, 121OPS+ in 68 games
SS 30, Ben Cintron, California, .224/.268/.348, 68OPS+ 
LF 26, Ernest Mott, Quebec, .254/.359/.385, 104OPS+ in 56 games
CF 23, Ivan Nájera, Dominican Republic, .217/.277/.282, 30SBs, 87OPS+ won Deshayes and Hernandez
RF 26, Jeremy Cooper, Georgia, .262/.381/.441, 42SBs, 125OPS+ won Deshayes award
DH 30, Georgia Powers, Quebec, .287/.410/.485, 144OPS+ 

1 35, Bernie Rosado, Susquehanna, 14-8, 3.86ERA, 110ERA+
2 28, Steven Dorsey, Susquehanna, 10-20, 4.61ERA, 94ERA+ with Florida
3 35, Matt Richardson, Susquehanna, 6-7, 4.02ERA, 106ERA+
4 22, Sean Gentry, Louisiana, 3-3, 5.71ERA, 74ERA+
5 21, Heath Victory, Arctic Circle, only pitched a few innings last season
CL 34, Anton Latorre, Dominican Republic, 39 Saves, 0.78ERA, 169Ks, 544ERA+ won Gervais award
Other notable bullpen arms: Eric Reed, Nick Hartle, Mike Kohn, Ryan Nixon, and Kevin Taylor

After missing the post-season for the first time in 3 years they still have one of the stronger teams in the Atlantic. With plenty of prospects that will make their debuts this season. They are close to the salary cap with several key players that will be free agents within the next 2 seasons (Powers, Latorre, Cintron, Richardson, Rodríguez, and nearly all of their top tier bullpen). So plenty of decisions will have to be made.

last season 70-92, 5th in Atlantic
6th ranked farm system (RHP Haon Huan #6, LHP Bill Clark #9, LHP Mike Cervantes #27)
Payroll $2,249,090 - 4th
Lineup and Pitching

C 24, John Alcock, Quebec, only played 25 games
1B 34, Tom Mackey, Great Lakes, .264/.340/.431, 108OPS+
2B 32, Fernando Criado, California, .268/.352/.509, 34HRs, 132OPS+
3B 23, Julio Manzo, Dominican Republic, only played 33 games
SS 25, Philip Brawner, Arctic Circle, .279/.328/.417, 102OPS+
LF 30, Matthew Wagoner, Great Lakes, .285/.356/.500, 29HRs, 131OPS+
CF 25, Jared Myers, Susquehanna, 49 games with Baton Rouge
RF 23, Jeremy Richey, Arctic Circle, .289/.341/.444, 38SBs, 112OPS+
DH 33, Mike McClary, Texas, .335/.411/.491, 145OPS+ won Frey award

1 31, Marty Hodge, Australia, 15-12, 3.47ERA, 123ERA+
2 34, Adam Minke, Susquehanna, 9-16, 4.11ERA, 104ERA+
3 26, Brad Vedder, Great Lakes, 14-13, 4.17ERA, 254Ks, 103ERA+
4 24, Edgar Sierra, Texas, 13-15, 4.77ERA, 89ERA+
5 26, Lou Tamblyn, Australia, 8-9, 6.46ERA, 66ERA+
CL 24, Ivan Ramírez, Virginia, 29 Saves, 3.03ERA, 141ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: #9 ranked prospect Bill Clark

With Richey, Brawner, and Clark the Gryphons are becoming the Arctic Circle team lol. Other than that they continue to be as disappointing as ever. At first I thought it was because their stars underperformed but it looks like only Mackey underperformed. They continue to struggle with lack of depth, though I think they may fight for .500, if not more if everyone plays up to their capabilities. Other than Mackey (who has a team option) everyone else has at least 1 more year left on their contract before its truly panic mode.

last season 93-69, lost in Atlantic Series to Trois Rivieres
3rd ranked farm system (LHP Tim Troke #2, RHP Felike Ipo #10, SS Masashi Miyahara #21, 3B Joseph Bruns #33)
Payroll $1,774,161 - 8th
Lineup and Pitching

C 30, Isaac Gettingby, Australia, .216/.277/.331, 65OPS+
1B 22, Matunde Simai, Gabon, .297/.424/.557, 33HRs, 165OPS+ won Frey and Castaneda
2B 24, Aaron Novak, The Dakotas, 44 games played last season
3B 27, Matt Bentz, Virginia, .291/.375/.410, 113OPS+ 
SS 22, Victor Cabral, Brazil, no stats, rookie season. #90 ranked prospect
LF 23, Justyn Cox, New England, 37 games played last season
CF 27, Jonathan Parsons, Great Lakes, .306/.383/.421, 53SBs, 118OPS+
RF 24, Russ Pettaway, Georgia, .279/.386/.466, 131OPS+
DH 36, Angelo Alonzo, Mexico, .337/.430/.520, 157OPS+ won Frey and Baxter

1 26, Mike Kulbeth, Louisiana, 20-13, 2.92ERA, 339Ks, 147ERA+ 
2 26, Matt Kenney, Rocky Mountains, 17-10, 4.16ERA, 103ERA+
3 25, Chad Reichert, Cascadia, only 5 games last season due to injury, 88ERA+ year prior
4 27, Roberto Corral, Curaçao, 15-8, 4.23ERA, 101ERA+
5 34, Jake Hale, California, 12-9, 3.61ERA, 118ERA+ with Germantown
CL 25, Phil Palmer, New England, 3.51ERA in 66.2 innings, 122ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Ryan Sumner and Dan Richard

After getting propelled to their first ever playoff appearance thanks to rookies Simai, Pettaway, and Lamar (latter of whom has no starting spot this year). The Pilgrims continue to bolster their lineup with prospects like Novak, Cabral, and Cox as well as a few veteran pitchers like Hale and Sumner. They are putting themselves in the right place, but now have almost too much. Good young players like the aforementioned Devin Lamar and Jonathan Padilla now have no place to play. A few contract discussions are needed as well, Kenney, Padilla, and Parsons are all Free Agents this year while Alonzo and Bentz have options for 1 more year. They have the cap room, but recently there’s been more young players choosing free agency than staying with the team while Alonzo may want to finish his career with the Mexico expansion team. However, for this season, I see them making another run back to the playoffs.

last season 60-102, 7th in Atlantic
12th ranked farm system (1B/3B Jimmy Sparrowhawk #1)
Payroll $1,284,459 - 14th
Lineup and Pitching

C 23, Bill Freeman, Georgia, only 42 games last season
1B 38, Ray Tolbert, Cascadia, .280/.423/.445, 133OPS+
2B 27, Ricardo Rodríguez, California, only 21 games last season with Cheyenne
3B 27, Chris Bachert, Louisiana, .261/.334/.387, 94OPS+ with Florida
SS 24, Kyle Belew, Susquehanna, .318/.381/.455, 124OPS+
LF 29, Jonathan Humphrey, California, .205/.291/.280, 31SBs, 59OPS+ with Eureka
CF 34, Tyler Kilbarger, Susquehanna, .309/.354/.453, 125OPS+
RF 25, Samuel Binns, Australia, .292/.345/.418, 104OPS+
DH 34, Ian Mosher, Georgia, .272/.339/.395, 97OPS+

1 24, Matt Atkinson, Georgia, 6-13, 6.40ERA, 68ERA+
2 26, James Wood, New England, 4 games played with Florida
3 26, Alfredo Jimenez, Cuba, 13-15, 4.96ERA, 87ERA+
4 25, Mike Baker, Rocky Mountains, 3-7, 7.39ERA, 59ERA+
5 26, Tomas Pereda, California, 10-5, 4.67ERA, 91ERA+ with Galveston
CL 25, Kyle Magnani, Georgia, 22 Saves, 4.63ERA, 94ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Benjamin Platt, Bob Molina, and Marshall Elkan

The Retirement Home experiment failed last season, only Tolbert and Kilbarger remain. Luckily some of their prospects are finally beginning to show up. Belew and Binns had good seasons last year, while Freeman and Jonathan Carrethers (back-up 1B/DH) look to continue to improve. Unfortunately, basically all of their prospects lie in the offense. With only maybe 2 decent bullpen prospects in the minors, and basically no starter caliber prospects means it’s going to be a tough road for the Gladiators. The expansion hell continues, and starting next year they will have competition from 2 new expansion teams which will make tanking for picks even harder.

 last season 108-54, 1st in Atlantic, won Championship Series
11th ranked farm system (C Hairama Nalanie #88, LHP Philippe Lemaître #30, 2B Enrique Deramos #31)
Payroll $2,610,080 - 1st (technically over the salary cap, due to players on the IL)
Lineup and Pitching

C 28, Josh Lemon, Great Lakes, .276/.356/.343, 90OPS+ won Frey award
1B 28, Joe Delli Santi, Virginia, .291/.393/.530, 34HRs, 147OPS+ won Frey award
2B 32, Tom Phelan, Quebec, .345/.418/.454, 136OPS+ 
3B 28, Christian Dubois, Quebec, .298/.387/.432, 121OPS+ won Deshayes, Frey, and World Cup MVP
SS 25, Jimmy Nickolaus, Virginia, .176/.255/.251, 37OPS+
LF 31, Hervé Barthélémy, Quebec, .262/.366/.510, 37HRs, 135OPS+ won Frey award
CF 27, Jon Buckley, Great Lakes, .232/.307/.356, 44SBs, 79OPS+
RF 29, Ron Peterson, Arctic Circle, 130OPS+ in 45 games due to injury (will miss first 2 months of this season as well)
DH 25, Gary Hamilton, Quebec, .310/.386/.463, 129OPS+ (2-way player)

1 28, Jorge Franco, Panama, 19-10, 4.04ERA, 106ERA+
2 25, Gary Hamilton, Quebec, 19-9, 3.20ERA, 134ERA+ (2-way player)
3 27, Tim Jackson, Great Lakes, 8-6, 2.99ERA, 144ERA+
4 35, Danny Avila, Colombia, 15-11, 3.07ERA, 140ERA+
5 33, Julio Sanchez, Dominican Republic, 15-11, 4.00ERA, 106ERA+
CL 26, Dale Patterson, Florida, 40 Saves, 2.70ERA, 159ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Bob O’Brien, Johan Mathieu, Juan Huitz, Angelo Juarez, and Johnny Martínez

The Harfang have won 100 or more games in each of the last 5 seasons, I feel like that streak will continue for another season. Absolute dominance by the Quebecois squad. While the offense is beginning to show some depth issues, manager Rob Noble says everyone on the team has a role and that all his players need to do is succeed in just that 1 thing and they will win it all again. Have I also forgotten to mention if they win this year, it will be 3 straight Championships? Obviously the first team to do so, and could be the only team as with a salary cap it will become increasingly hard.

2108 Pre-Season Predictions
Pacific:
Galveston Launch 98-64
Cheyenne Buffalo 93-69
Eureka Redwoods 85-77
Baton Rouge Cajuns 79-83
Alaska Avalanche 76-86
Astoria Osprey 70-92
Dakota Eagles 69-93

Atlantic:
Trois Rivieres Harfang 100-62
Germantown Pretzels 87-75
Florida Flamingos 82-80
Chesapeake Admirals 80-82
Huron Gryphons 78-84
Plymouth Pilgrims 74-87
Rome Gladiators 66-96