2110 Pre-Season Preview

last season 73-89, 5th in Pacific
10th ranked farm system (RHP Bryen Beckstrom #12, 1B Carlos Ramírez #15, LHP Ray Nelson #47)
Payroll $1,034,230 - 16th
Lineup and Pitching

C 24, Czar Artemenko, Arctic Circle, .199/.275/.293, 62OPS+
1B 26, T.J. Nasta, Texas, .236/.302/.323, 22SBs, 78OPS+
2B 25, Jose Alvarez, Rocky Mountains, .286/.312/.444, 22SBs, 114OPS+
3B 28, Joel Bain, The Dakotas, 52OPS+ in 66 games
SS 27, Leland Abbott, Quebec, .267/.334/.365, 99OPS+
LF 28, Tim Brown, Georgia, .256/.335/.349, 46SBs, 95OPS+
CF 25, Oscar Solís, Florida, .306/.338/.451, 49SBs, 124OPS+
RF 26, Kyle Miller, Susquehanna, .263/.319/.360, 22SBs, 93OPS+
DH 23, Talbot Boulet, Quebec, 108OPS+ in 48 games

1 27, John Gillingham, Arctic Circle, 2-2, 3.89ERA, 106ERA+ (injury shortened)
2 25, Zane Dubos, Quebec, 12-18, 4.80ERA, 86ERA+
3 26, Angelo Vega, Puerto Rico, 10-16, 5.49ERA, 75ERA+
4 27, Ryan Hyde, 9-15, 5.78ERA, 71ERA+
5 23, Roth Reiter, Germany, 6-12, 6.39ERA, 65ERA+
CL 25, John Sweet, The Dakotas/Arctic Circle, 33 Saves, 2.44ERA, 169ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Tyler D’Orio, Dana Dorey, Jonathan Masden, and Ryan Leonard

Losing Butler fractured their offense. While they have a lot of speed threats they don’t work together very well. Their rotation is utter trash, though the bullpen is decent. Luckily, all 3 of their top prospects are likely to make debuts this season and could help them out of the gutter next year. 

last season 55-107, 7th in Pacific
13th ranked farm system (RHP Larry McCoy #11)
Payroll $1,446,790 - 13th
Lineup and Pitching

C 29, Joaquin Nuñez, Susquehanna, .197/.3077/.277, 68OPS+
1B 27, Bob Heath, Quebec, .247/.312/.412, 105OPS+, won Deshayes award
2B 23, David Stephens, Georgia, .285/.357/.399, 115OPS+
3B 26, Fred Randolph, Texas, .216/.286/.279, 62OPS+
SS 31, Kevin Jones, The Dakotas, .197/.271/.322, 69OPS+
LF 37, Antonio Garza, Dominican Republic, .250/.330/.463, 23HRs, 124OPS+
CF 24, David Westfall, Texas, .248/.276/.328, 47SBs, 72OPS+
RF 29, Dave Sharpes, Great Lakes, .243/.352/.364, 48SBs, 105OPS+
DH 40, Ray Tolbert, Cascadia, .240/.380/.384, 119OPS+

1 24, Jeremy Miron, The Dakotas, 2-7, 3.03ERA, 136ERA+
2 24, Josh Detamore, New England, 7-16, 5.06ERA, 213Ks, 81ERA+
3 23, Brad Winters, Hawaii, 3-3, 4.24ERA, 97ERA+
4 26, Claude Trouvé, Louisiana, no stats, rookie season (rule 5 pick from Chesapeake)
5 27, Jaden Ames, 6-14, 5.66ERA, 73ERA+
CL 33, Mike Kohn, Cascadia, 1.56ERA in 17 innings with Cheyenne
Other notable bullpen arms: Mitch Null, Ryan Nixon, Jorge Urrutia, and Nick Ashley

As horrible as last season was, I think this might be even worse. Redepenning was barely holding the rotation together as it was. With him gone it’s going to be a struggle to stay in games. Their best batters (Garza and Tolbert) are aging quickly and may not be able to score enough to save this team. Despite all the recent losing they still can’t build a farm system being one of the worst. With the 3 teams below them being Cheyenne and Galveston, who are both contenders, and Halifax who just became a franchise last season. 

last season 72-90, 6th in Pacifc
1st ranked farm system (RHP Dennis Echevarria #6, RHP Sergio Montes #13, RHP Mike Belcher #17, LF Juan Castillo #19)
Payroll $1,707,091 - 10th
Lineup and Pitching

C 31, Andrew Vandivier, California, .196/.265/.274, 54OPS+
1B 36, Jake Herold, California, .275/.378/.570, 41HRs, 169OPS+
2B 23, Alfredo Labrego, Brazil, no stats, rookie season. Unranked prospect
3B 24, Les Dalton, Virginia, only 38 games played last season
SS 22, Mennac Shamakani, Georgia, only 36 games played last season
LF 26, Kyle Weber, Great Lakes, .224/.303/.343, 85OPS+
CF 30, Joseph Wallacce, Rocky Mountains, .237/.333/.341, 58SBs, 93OPS+
RF 28, Milt Scovell, Great Lakes, .286/.373/.423, 47SBs, 127OPS+
DH 37, Nick Parsons, Louisiana, .241/.363/.422, 124OPS+

1 24, Ruben Cabrales, Mexico, 14-15, 3.71ERA, 111ERA+
2 36, Adam Minke, Susquehanna, 12-13, 4.35ERA, 94ERA+ with Huron
3 22, Mike Carbone, Louisiana, 5.68ERA in 50.2 innings
4 24, Daniel Ojeda, Mexico, 10-19, 3.92ERA, 105ERA+
5 26, Wayne Hamel, Arctic Circle, 6-16, 5.18ERA, 79ERA+
CL 25, Adam Gibson, Virginia, 28 Saves, 2.00ERA, 206ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Léo Marie and Jim Eustace

This is easily a make or break year for not just the rebuild, but the franchise as a whole. Fan attendance is down. Stars Jayden Royal and Ben Black have left in the past few seasons and Nick Parsons and Jake Herold are both on the last years of their contracts. Luckily prospects Cabrales, Ojeda, and Shamakani appear to be great so far with several more likely to make debuts this season (Echevarria and Montes specifically). Even if they can rally and make attendance there’s a chance the team may be sold and relocated. With their largest investor now gone and murmurs that Springfield may be building a baseball-specific stadium it could spell the beginning of the end for Baton Rouge baseball.

last season 81-81, 6th in Atlantic
9th ranked farm system (SS Rafael de la Cruz #16, CF Rainer Jacobs #36, LHP Bobby Merryman #42, 2B Alex Sandoval #46)
Payroll $1,977,459 - 7th
Lineup and Pitching

C 30, Mike Wautlet, Virginia, .237/.331/.320, 78OPS+
1B 26, Pablo Valencia, Cuba, only played 7 games last season
2B 25, Jason Gibson, Texas, .264/.338/.320, 81OPS+
3B 25, Dan Nichols, The Dakotas, .222/.327/.287, 69OPS+
SS 28, Douggie Clarke, Virginia, .320/.376/.404, 113OPS+, won Deshayes and Frey awards
LF 28, Aaron Ruggiero, Cascadia, .241/.342/.355, 91OPS+ won Deshayes award
CF 32, Gary Urbanczyk, Susquehanna, .234/.365/.513, 41HRs, 27SBs, 138OPS+, won Frey award
RF 30, Kevin Campeau, Maritimes, .233/.324/.386, 93OPS+
DH 23, Benjamin Whitford, Australia, .300/.335/.433, 109OPS+

1 27, Nick Grueneich, Virginia, 14-17, 3.96ERA, 104ERA+
2 34, Andrew Redepenning, Virginia, 5-10, 4.73ERA, 87ERA+ (in injury shortened season with Astoria)
3 27, Matt Frizzell, Cascadia, 11-11, 3.69ERA, 112ERA+
4 27, Thomas Legros, Quebec, 11-15, 3.14ERA, 132ERA+
5 25, Carlos Flores, Dominican Republic, 11-9, 4.41ERA, 94ERA+
CL 24, Chris McCready, Rocky Mountains, 30 Saves, 2.41ERA, 172ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Geoff Bolen, C.J. Clymer, Jonathan Latham, Teruo Onoda, and Jeremy Peerenboom

I feel like I say this every year, but if everything comes together Chesapeake can really shake things up in the Atlantic. While they did lose ace Keith Badey, they got native Virginian Redepenning and have several big, young arms ready to replace them. Let alone former top prospects Jake Rogers and Sosa Jouon who are currently bench-riding due to lack of open spots. So plenty of tools for them to work with, just comes down to whether skipper Trevor Brown can actually get it all to work together.

last season 98-64, 2nd in Pacific, lost Championship Series 4-3
14th ranked farm system (RF Juan Balladares #20 and RHP Humberto Trujillo #50)
Payroll $2,367,281 - 3rd
Lineup and Pitching

C 32, Eric Titus, Great Lakes, .340/.441/.481, 163OPS+, won Frey award
1B 24, Valentin Pernot, Louisiana, .304/.365/.441, 34SBs, 130OPS+
2B 29, Dan Harbin, New England, .261/.334/.357, 97OPS+
3B 28, Ryan Storch, Arctic Circle, .208/.299/.289, 68OPS+ with Alaska
SS 28, Dean Monahan, Cascadia, .214/.302/.261, 62OPS+, won Deshayes and Hernandez awards
LF 26, Eddie Sheridan, Virginia, .212/.322/.308, 81OPS+
CF 22, Bill Bonjour, Rocky Mountains, .233/.321/.305, 42SBs, 80OPS+
RF 25, Yekuno-Amlak Mshangama, Zambia, .264/.340/.398, 51SBs, 110OPS+, won Deshayes
DH 35, Paul Butler, Rocky Mountains, .256/.366/.442, 24HRs, 129OPS+ with Alaska

1 28, Matt Kenney, Rocky Mountains, 19-10, 2.52ERA, 163ERA+
2 33, Marty Hodge, Australia, 13-6, 2.87ERA, 143ERA+ with Huron
3 24, Carlos Padilla, Mexico, 20-7, 3.39ERA, 121ERA+
4 24, Chris Keon, Cascadia, 16-17, 4.54ERA, 90ERA+ (will miss 3 months due to torn labrum)
5 34, Jeffrey Simon, The Dakotas, 17-8, 3.19ERA, 129ERA+
CL 34, Mike Hilger, Rocky Mountains, 40 Saves, 0.63ERA, 655ERA+, won Gervais award
Other notable bullpen arms: Angelo Juarez, Rogelio Victoria, Jesus Ortega, Bill Mowry, and former #7 prospect Tim Cote who will start for Keon. 

They lost Kevin Meyer but were able to replace him with Paul Butler. Which will probably not make a huge difference, however Butler has more home run power which the Buffalo are severely lacking (franchise record is 22, which is Butler’s career lowest). They also got Hodge back after his “sabbatical” in Huron. They will easily make another run this year.

last season 90-72, 4th in Pacific
4th ranked farm system (LHP Suk Kim #4, 3B Rüdiger Martin, RHP Andrew Cline #23
Payroll $1,719,081 - 9th
Lineup and Pitching

C 28, Kun Niu, Cascadia, .226/.312/.350, 89OPS+
1B 25, John Davis, Louisiana, .260/.339/.494, 136OPS+
2B 28, D.W. Manning, Georgia, .326/.448/.441, 155OPS+
3B 25, Phil Butler, Florida, .259/.348/.378, 108OPS+
SS 25, René Gaultier, Louisiana, .195/.295/.268, 62OPS+
LF 24, Yin-reng Fa, Cascadia, only played 19 games, former top 10 prospect
CF 29, Savion Jones, .247/.280/.388, 22SBs, 90OPS+ with Eureka
RF 23, Nicolas Gérard, Quebec, no stats, rookie season. #88 ranked prospect
DH 35, Trevor Reardon, .274/.402/.403, 40SBs, 131OPS+ won Frey award

1 27, Fritz Bresson, Quebec, 19-10, 2.59ERA, 241Ks, 159ERA+
2 24, Scott Szczur, Cascadia, 12-11, 4.73ERA, 87ERA+
3 23, Ryan Reimann, New England, 8-8, 4.43ERA, 93ERA+
4 29, Bobby Brooks, Texas, 15-13, 4.72ERA, 87ERA+
5 28, Wiley McFadyen, Arctic Circle, 7-11, 4.90ERA, 84ERA+
CL 29, Greg Cone, The Dakotas, 31 Saves, 3.07ERA, 134ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Nick Hartle, Aaron Odle, and Pat Dow

90 wins still wasn’t enough last season. This time they come with a few top prospects ready to make their leap. Their small “rebuild” from the previous few seasons is definitely over which is great news as The Dakotas are probably the biggest baseball crazed nation in the NABF and there have been reports that several cities are gearing up for expansion bids before the next expansion has even been announced. The biggest of these comes from James Cloud (Eureka’s Dustin Cloud’s uncle) who had been bashing the Eagles front office for not being perennial contenders like Cheyenne and Trois. Mr. Cloud has been to several cities in the nation gathering support and funds for what he calls a “mega stadium”... however he currently does not have a city willing to support such an endeavor. The main candidates being Sioux City, St. Cloud, Wichita, and Missoula. However, as stated, the NABF has not made any official remarks about more expansion. But the Eagles resurgence has definitely sparked much more interest throughout the nation for more baseball.

last season 47-115, 8th in Pacific
6th ranked farm system (LHP Cy Kallner #2, RHP Scott Craig #38, LHP Jon Pascual #40)
Payroll $1,184,495 - 14th
Lineup and Pitching

C 23, Carlos Razo, Mexico, only played 40 games
1B 26, Jason Martin, Susquehanna, .252/.306/.352, 88OPS+ 
2B 28, Tom Helms, Rocky Mountains, .218/.302/.329, 80OPS+, won Deshayes award
3B 30, Jose Pera, Mexico, .216/.327/.298, 80OPS+
SS 28, Freddy Anguiano, Cuba, .229/.306/.282, 69OPS+
LF 28, Barnabas Riddle, Susquehanna, .228/.298/.272, 64OPS+
CF 29, Rey Mora, Costa Rica, only 35 games played
RF 28, Brian Ennis, Florida, 29 games played with Eureka
DH 38, Kevin Meyer, Rocky Mountains, .250/.345/.392, 32SBs, 110OPS+ with Cheyenne

1 23, Cesar Romo, Colombia, 4.77ERA in 71.2 innings (mostly as reliever)
2 27, Justin Loeser, California, 8-20, 4.80ERA, 86ERA+
3 27, Lee Kowalchuk, Maritimes, 5-15, 5.39ERA, 76ERA+
4 26, Edgar Sierra, Texas, 4 innings with Huron
5 37, Bernie Rosado, Susquehanna, 5-20, 4.96ERA, 83ERA+
CL 22, Tom Swedlove, Arctic Circle, no stats, rookie season. #66 ranked prospect
Other notable bullpen arms: Oscar Noriega

While the major league team sucks, they have a much better farm system than all the other expansion teams have had. Not just to the several Mexican players that “dodged” the draft to play for them, but also great drafting with Kallner, Craig, Swedlove, and others. But these first few seasons are going to be excruciating.

last season 96-66, 3rd in Pacific lost in Wild Card Series to Cheyenne
2nd ranked farm system (CF Bart Gallagher #14, RF Bill Sutherland #31, RHP Ron Kalb #34, LHP Jorge Peña #35, SS William García #41, and RHP Hirotoshi Iwamoto #43)
Payroll $1,817,201 - 8th
Lineup and Pitching

C 24, Ismael Méndez, Puerto Rico, .316/.377/.459, 138OPS+, won Deshayes award
1B 37, Kyle Thompson, California, .284/.405/.546, 39HRs, 170OPS+, won Frey award
2B 26, Cor John, Aruba, .300/.358/.456, 27SBs, 131OPS+
3B 25, Tyler McClean, Great Lakes, .254/.324/.326, 35SBs, 86OPS+
SS 29, Jamie Tipton, California, .242/.341/.372, 47SBs, 104OPS+, won Frey award with Galveston
LF 35, Jesse Haskins, California, .270/.360/.425, 28SBs, 124OPS+
CF 30, Ken Kachmar, Maritimes, .207/.315/.291, 23SBs, 74OPS+
RF 27, Tyler Noble, New England, only 24 games due to injury
DH 22, Orlando Lazzarini, Venezuela, .278/.328/.355, 56SBs, 95OPS+

1 28, Dustin Coud, The Dakotas, 16-14, 4.16ERA, 99ERA+
2 25, Tillmam Tamayo, Brazil, 15-11, 3.87ERA, 106ERA+
3 25, Dave Valencia, Florida, 14-10, 3.58ERA, 115ERA+
4 31, Jeff Caron, 9-4, 3.65ERA, 113ERA+
5 30, Ben Mann, Susquehanna, hasn’t played in majors since 2106
CL 34, Jake Pawlowski, California, 40 Saves, 2.39ERA, 172ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Harold Sykes, Trent Pullin, and Agama Taji

During the “dynasty” of the mid-2100s they focused on star power to get them over the hill but now they rely on a more balanced and speed approach (well, besides Thompson). Along with a pretty decent rotation and easily one of the best bullpens. However, this is the last year of the contracts of Thompson and Pawlowski while Méndez is set to make a boatload in arbitration next season. While I expect all 3 to re-sign, it will cost a pretty penny.

last season 87-75, 3rd place in Atlantic, lost in Atlantic Series
3rd ranked farm system (LF Carlos Hernández #9, RHP Sean Meagher #18, RHP Ricardo Ortega #22, IF Gabe Barientos #30)
Payroll $2,203,032 - 4th
Lineup and Pitching

C 27, Tadao Aono, California, .203/.313/.261, 58OPS+
1B 28, Tom Newman, Arctic Circle, .245/.341/.328, 83OPS+
2B 34, Jason Martin, Susquehanna, .310/.379/.407, 22SBs, 114OPS+, won Deshayes award
3B 27, Jayden Royal, Florida, .311/.365/.445, 30SBs, 131OPS+, won Frey and Deshayes awards with Baton Rouge
SS 25, Nelson Cabrera, Mexico, .258/.311/.351, 82OPS+
LF 27, David Castillo, Texas, .321/.379/.503, 139OPS+ (2-way)
CF 23, Dale Toman, Australia, only played 32 games
RF 28, Adam Beyer, Florida, .328/.405/.529, 22HRs, 153OPS+
DH 26, Tyler Hammerich, Florida, .283/.333/.493, 123OPS+

1 32, Leon López, Puerto Rico, 16-14, 3.20ERA, 277Ks, 129ERA+
2 32, Rafael Santa Cruz, Florida, 13-15, 3.70ERA, 112ERA+
3 28, Cyrille Vincent, Quebec, 16-8, 3.78ERA, 236Ks, 109ERA+
4 25, Dan Miles, Texas, 13-13, 4.11ERA, 101ERA+
5 27, David Castillo, Texas, 12-11, 3.60ERA, 115ERA+ (2-way)
CL 25, Manny Julia, Florida, 38 Saves, 3.01ERA, 137ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Ted Bass

The emergence of Tyler Hammerich, Manny Julia, Cyrille Vincent, along with the additions of Dale Toman and Jayden Royal make Florida the team to beat in the Atlantic (as blasphemous against Trois as that may seem). They still have potential Hall of Famer Oscar Morales coming off the bench, plus several top prospects ready to call up. This rotation could easily rival the old Cheyenne rotation that sat at a sub 3ERA (which also featured Santa Cruz). I expect massive things from Florida this year.

last season 102-60, 1st in Pacific, lost in Pacific Series.
15th ranked farm system (RF Yehlem Barsosio #24 and 2B Thierry Charles #29)
Payroll $2,164,224 - 5th
Lineup and Pitching

C 29, John Allinger, New England, .176/.25/.230, 40OPS+
1B 38, David Moran, Texas, .331/.425/.533, 173OPS+
2B 25, Jeff Leising, New England, only 22 games last season
3B 29, Jose Orozco, Dominican Republic, .273/.321/.467, 124OPS+
SS 39, Ian Brinley, Texas, .270/.380/.474, 26HRs, 144OPS+, won Frey award
LF 28, Matt Gilroy, Quebec, .260/.356/.374, 37SBs, 109OPS+
CF 30, Katsumi Canio, Brazil, .371/.404/.513, 88SBs, 161OPS+, won Baxter, Frey, and Deshayes awards
RF 26, Melvin Navarrete, California, .291/.363/.460, 65SBs, 135OPS+, won Frey award
DH 27, Chris Caron, Texas, .239/.377/.478, 20HRs, 144OPS+ 

1 28, Nick Lambert, Georgia, 21-6, 2.69ERA, 227Ks, 153ERA+, won Taylor
2 25, Paolo Barreau, Quebec, 11-2, 2.92ERA, 141ERA+ (will miss 1st month)
3 29, Rich Platte, New England, 18-12, 3.40ERA, 121ERA+
4 26, Nelson Encarnación, Rocky Mountains, 3-3, 3.33ERA, 123ERA+ (injury shortened)
5 37, Brian Van Winkle, Texas, 16-9, 4.29ERA, 96ERA+
CL 29, Alain Thomas, Quebec, 29 Saves, 1.70ERA, 241ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Johnny Martínez and Jalen Wilson

100+ wins the last 2 seasons, winning the Pacific both times yet have absolutely nothing to show for it after getting wrecked by Cheyenne both times. It’s not due-or-die yet, but fans are growing restless as the Launch continue to struggle to win despite being one of the most loaded teams.

last season 82-80, 5th in Atlantic
5th ranked farm system (RHP Julio Then #5, RHP Fepiku Nekeare #21, IF Luis Laboy #32, C Tyler Kelly #44, RHP Adelbert Miller #49)
Payroll $2,478,632 - 1st
Lineup and Pitching

C 27, Bernward Kurtz, Susquehanna, .213/.309/.382, 91OPS+, won Frey and Deshayes
1B 26, Roger Huseinovic, Louisiana, .267/.342/.418, 110OPS+
2B 34, Ritter Ammann, Susquehanna, .258/.345/.373, 99OPS+
3B 25, Craig Lamm, Susquehanna, .279/.332/.387, 37SBs, 99OPS+
SS 32, Ben Cintron, California, .230/.281/.344, 21SBs, 73OPS+
LF 26, Zack Joyner, Florida, .262/.329/.404, 103OPS+
CF 25, Ivan Nájera, Dominican Republic, .225/.294/.293, 45SBs, 63OPS+, won Hernndez award
RF 28, Jeremy Cooper, Georgia, .268/.383/.435, 24SBs, 127OPS+
DH 32, George Powers, Quebec, .271/.394/.486, 29HRs, 143OPS+

1 30, Steven Dorsey, Susquehanna, 14-13, 3.70ERA, 110ERA+
2 23, Heath Victory, Arctic Circle, 12-15, 4.16ERA, 98ERA+
3 32, Josh Newcomer, Great Lakes, 7-8, 4.46ERA, 91ERA+
4 34, Yushi Sakamoto, Japan, 7-2, 3.58ERA, 114ERA+
5 24, Sean Gentry, 4-10, 6.35ERA, 64ERA+
CL 30, Eric Reed, 2.70ERA in 40 innings, 151ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Dale Patterson, Alex García, Josh Burford, Kevin Taylor, and Jason Walker

A lot of questions surround the Pretzels this year. After being perennial playoff contenders from 2104-2107, they have become very streaky as of late. Winning one year, losing the next year. And many of their players follow suit as they will be good one year then bad the next. Let alone how many will need new contracts within the next 2 seasons (Ammann, Newcomer, Huseinovic, Nájera, Cooper, Kurtz, and multiple bullpen members). Speaking of Kurtz, now that former top prospect Han-seung Park has been called up, there’s been pushback from the media that Park should be the starting catcher despite Kurtz’ success. Some say he should be the DH or 1B but Powers and Huseinovic seem to have those positions locked up. Kurtz recently gained a lot of weight and many assumed it would affect his fielding, instead he won his 4th straight Deshayes award. As of now, it seems to be Kurtz’ position, but it seems to be dependent on how the season shapes up.

last season 58-104, 8th in Atlantic
16th ranked farm system (RHP Rolf Hewitt #25)
Payroll $1,060,090 - 15th
Lineup and Pitching

C 29, Ryan Croston, California, .209/.304/.286, 62OPS+
1B 32, Rodolfo Valentín, Guatemala, .252/.387/.510, 32HRs, 143OPS+, won Frey and Castaneda
2B 24, Corey Shuffelt, Great Lakes, .245/.336/.358, 40SBs, 89OPS+
3B 26, Casey Collard, Great Lakes, no stats, rookie season. Unranked
SS 25, Marty McDuffie, Susquehanna, only 18 games played last season
LF 26, Cameron Coley, Georgia, no stats, rookie season. Unranked
CF 23, Ivan Andrade, Colombia, only 24 games last season. 
RF 28, Ernest Mott, Quebec, .268/.364/.400, 52SBs, 108OPS+
DH 36, Andy Rico, Venezuela, .243/.329/.431, 106OPS+

1 23, Evan Peterson, Susquehanna, 14-16, 3.24ERA, 128ERA+
2 26, Rick Lovell, Maritimes, 7-8, 4.81ERA, 86ERA+
3 23, Matt Thurston, Cascadia, 10-13, 5.64ERA, 73ERA+
4 24, Oscar Torres, Cuba, 4.03ERA in 89.1 innings
5 26, Joel Laliberte, Arctic Circle, 8-21, 6.45ERA, 64ERA+
CL 30, Roberto Cruz, Cuba, 3.76ERA in 40.2 innings
Other notable bullpen arms: Ben Keddy and Jose Guerrero

A ton of speed on the Voyageurs. Last season they had 4 players with over 30 stolen bases. This year they add more speed with Coley and Andrade. A full season from Valentín will likely also do wonders for their offense. Pitching depth is the biggest weakness. Peterson is a great story as he was a walk-on in Halifax after not getting drafted. Lovell and Thurston showed promise towards the end of the season. While Torres, Cruz, and Keddy have showcased their skills on prior teams and just need to get used to the atmosphere. Still several seasons out but they could turn things around surprisingly quick if they play their cards right.

last season 88-74, 2nd in Atlantic. Lost in Wild Card series. 
8th ranked farm system (RHP Alex Baltierrez #26, RHP Marius Thibaut #27, C Charlie Baldwin #33, LHP Mike Cervantes #37)
Payroll $1,982,490 - 6th
Lineup and Pitching

C 23, Chris Walker, California, .244/.317/.338, 81OPS+
1B 28, Jonathan Padilla, Texas, .279/.333/.357, 97OPS+ with Cheyenne
2B 34, Fernando Criado, California, .267/.365/.530, 34HRs, 144OPS+
3B 27, Philip Brawner, Arctic Circle, .294/.345/.436, 21SBs, 114OPS+
SS 29, Eddie De Leon, Nicaragua, .201/.301/.239, 50OPS+
LF 32, Matthew Wagoner, Great Lakes, .250/.319/.473, 31HRs, 116OPS+
CF 27, Jared Meyers, Susquehanna, .179/.272/.248, 55SBs, 44OPS+
RF 25, Jeremy Richey, Arctic Circle, .307/.373/.487, 47SBs, 135OPS+
DH 35, Mike McClary, Texas, .316/.406/.433, 131OPS+

1 28, Keith Badey, Great Lakes, 15-12, 3.14ERA, 132ERA+ with Chesapeake
2 25, Hao Huan, California, 13-10, 3.27ERA, 125ERA+
3 28, Brad Vedder, Great Lakes, 15-12, 3.77ERA, 215Ks, 109ERA+
4 25, Bill Clark, Arctic Circle, 7-8, 4.21ERA, 97ERA+
5 25, Marty Díaz, Venezuela, 3.43ERA in 63 innings
CL 26, Ivan Ramírez, Virginia, 35 Saves, 3.45ERA, 119ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: none

Finally made it back to the playoffs, just to fall to Florida of all teams. This will likely be the last year for McClary on the team as his contract is near its end. But like every year with Huron, things still have to go right as they are still extremely top heavy and have a worse bullpen than usual.

last season 73-89, 7th in Atlantic
11th ranked farm system (RHP Matt Zeidman #3 and 3B Joseph Bruns #45)
Payroll $1,666,521 - 11th
Lineup and Pitching

C 32, Isaac Gettingby, Australia, .236/.310/.343, 80OPS+
1B 24, Matunde Simai, Gabon, .245/.369/.454, 29HRs, 125OPS+
2B 24, Victor Cabral, Brazil, .270/.368/.352, 99OPS+
3B 29, Matt Bentz, Virginia, .294/.353/.442, 118OPS+
SS 21, Masashi Miyahara, Japan, .260/.303/.373, 85OPS+
LF 25, Justyn Cox, New England, .286/.374/.415, 117OPS+
CF 29, Jonathan Parsons, Great Lakes, .273/.349/.354, 26SBs, 94OPS+
RF 26, Russ Pettaway, Georgia, .248/.323/.420, 21HRs, 103OPS+
DH 26, Aaron Novak, The Dakotas, .356/.395/.467, 136OPS+

1 28, Mike Kulbeth, Louisiana, 20-12, 2.98ERA, 284Ks, 138ERA+, won Taylor award
2 27, Chad Reichert, Cascadia, 12-15, 3.73ERA, 110ERA+
3 23, Felike Ipo, Hawaii, 13-15, 3.41ERA, 120ERA+
4 25, Dan Richard, Quebec, (missed all of 2109, but 2.08ERA in 65 innings previous year)
5 23, Tim Troke, Arctic Circle, 5-11, 6.47ERA, 63ERA+
CL 27, Phil Palmer, New England, 8 Saves, 3.24ERA, 127ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: none

This is it. Their long rebuild of a rebuild is finally complete. All the prospects they’ve been developing for nearly a decade are all in the majors with Simai and Kulbeth being the obvious stars. But almost everyone has a valued skill set to help the team. Outside of a below-average bullpen they don’t have any holes… yet they still only won 73 games last season. Both Kulbeth and Parsons have player options after this season. With the former's option being for quite a bit less than he’d get on the open market, thus winning is the only option.

last season 86-76, 4th in Atlantic
12th ranked farm system (SS Nikolaus Wallauer #1 and 2B Kevin Robinson #39)
Payroll $1,517,503 - 12th
Lineup and Pitching

C 25, Bill Freeman, Georgia, .209/.345/.355, 90OPS+
1B 21, Jimmy Sparrowhawk, The Dakotas, .281/.322/.442, 106OPS+
2B 26, Malachi Perry, Great Lakes, .221/.398/.302, 63OPS+
3B 24, Ed Shea, New England, .219/.304/.290, 62OPS+
SS 26, Kyle Belew, Susquehanna, .295/.370/.387, 106OPS+
LF 36, Tyler Kilbarger, Susquehanna, .324/.380/.476, 20SBs, 131OPS+
CF 30, Javon Doolin, Florida, .276/.366/.385, 27SBs, 104OPS+, won Deshayes award
RF 27, Ben Black, Georgia, .342/.398/.517, 23SBs, 147OPS+, won Frey and Deshayes awards
DH 25, Jonathan Carrethers, Georgia, .271/.390/.539, 40HRs, 23SBs, 151OPS+, won Frey award

1 28, Joe Jones, The Dakotas, 4-6, 5.44ERA, 76ERA+
2 26, Matt Atkinson, Georgia, 9-9, 5.51ERA, 75ERA+
3 28, Alfredo Jimenez, Cuba, 18-13, 5.26ERA, 79ERA+
4 28, Jacob Wood, New England, 6.40ERA in 108.1 innings
5 27, Mike Baker, Rocky Mountains, 4.03ERA in 67 innings
CL 26, Marshall Elkan, Cascadia, 1.14ERA in 31.2 innings, 365ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Kyle Magnani

All offense, with no pitching. They led the league in total offense last year with career years from Kilbarger, Black, Carrethers, and Doolin. Now with a full season of Sparrowhawk and Wallauer waiting in the wings, who knows how good they will be. The elephant in the room is their pitching. They didn’t do anything to address it, not even sign relievers. They truly live and die by the bat.

last season 108-54, 1st in Atlantic, won Championship Series
7th ranked farm system (C Hairama Nalanie #7, 1B Conceição Arruda #8, and RHP Nicolas Bernard #28)
Payroll $2,466,521 - 2nd
Lineup and Pitching

C 30, Josh Lemon, Great Lakes, .239/.300/.335, 74OPS+
1B 30, Joe Delli Santi, Virginia, .288/.392/.555, 26HRs, 157OPS+
2B 34, Tom Phelan, Quebec, .357/.421/.453, 139OPS+, won Frey award
3B 30, Christian Dubois, Quebec, .300/.381/.432, 122OPS+, won Frey award
SS 27, Jimmy Nickolaus, Virginia, .242/.340/.289, 30SBs, 74OPS+
LF 33, Hervé Barthélémy, Quebec, .306/.432/.672, 54HRs, 199OPS+, won Frey and Baxter awards
CF 26, Luis de Anda, Guatemala, only 40 games played
RF 27, Gary Hamilton, Quebec, .228/.323/.332, 80OPS+ (2-way)
DH 31, Ron Peterson, Arctic Circle, .294/.387/.407, 22SBs, 118OPS+

1 30, Jorge Franco, Panama, 17-15, 3.75ERA, 110ERA+
2 29, Tim Jackson, Great Lakes, 19-7, 2.82ERA, 146ERA+
3 23, Philippe Lemaître, Quebec, 16-11, 3.00ERA, 137ERA+
4 27, Gary Hamilton, Quebec, 17-8, 3.80ERA, 109ERA+ (2-way)
5 29, Warren Bourdon, Quebec, 2.14ERA in 75.2 innings (mostly in relief)
CL 24, Cameron Broome, California, 2.60ERA in 27.2 innings
Other notable bullpen arms: Julio Sánchez, Eddie Salazar, and Brian Gray

9 straight playoffs, 8 straight championship appearances, 4 titles in 6 years. Only real “loss” was closer Dale Patterson. While I don’t see Broome as their solution, they have Bourdon, Salazar, and Gray who can all close games down if the Californian doesn’t work out. Outside of that they also get a full season of Luis de Anda who was put on the map for his postseason heroics last year. Plus a great farm system to boot, though I’m not sure how Nalanie or Arruda will get playing time with Lemon and Delli Santi having long-term deals. But that’s for the future. For 2110, I expect them to control the Atlantic as usual.

2110 OOTP Pre-Season Predictions
Pacific
Cheyenne Buffalo 103-59
Galveston Launch 93-69
Dakota Eagles 90-72
Eureka Redwoods 86-76
Alaska Avalanche 75-87
Baton Rouge Cajuns 71-91
Durango Escorpiones 62-100
Astoria Osprey 58-104

Atlantic
Florida Flamingos 102-60
Trois-Rivières Harfang 94-68
Rome Gladiators 86-76
Plymouth Pilgrims 85-77
Chesapeake Admirals 84-78
Huron Gryphons 80-82
Germantown Pretzels 79-83
Halifax Voyageurs 54-108

2110 Playoffs
Pacific Wild Card Series 

 
v
Galveston enters their third straight playoffs but still look for their first series win in franchise history. They at least don’t have to face Cheyenne this time. Unfortunately, Eureka is just as good. Catcher Ismael Méndez put up a Baxter caliber season, Orlando Lazzarini dominated from DH, Jesse Haskins continues to be one of the most underrated players, Jake Pawlowski and Trent Pullin being the best 8-9 bullpen combination, and of course, Kyle Thompson who might be the greatest player in NABF history. Thompson, despite his greatness, has not been able to win a championship with his home team (he was acquired the year after Eureka won their last championship). At 37 he has slowed down, setting career lows in almost every stat but still had an 150OPS+. Galveston has possibly one of the best all around teams in the NABF. Ian Brinley and Katsumi Canio are Baxter contenders, Nick Lambert, Nelson Encarnación, and Paolo Barreau are Taylor contenders, same with Alain Thomas and the Gervais, Chris Caron led the Pacific with home runs, and not to forget Jose Orozco, Josh Peppers, Jalen Wilson, and Melvin Navarrete put up career years… the only issue is their manager Andy Manella. The tactician has meddled so much with the lineup for the playoffs that Caron (who led the league in home runs) is not in the starting lineup. Instead choosing Humphrey Grant who only has 6 games played and turning third base into a platoon between Orozco and Peppers in order for Jeff Leising to play second (he isn’t even their best 2nd base prospect on the major league team). 
Game 1: EUR Dustin Cloud (19-12, 4.08) vs GAL Paolo Barreau (13-5, 2.60)
Galveston would open scoring first with Peppers and Navarrete both scoring 2 thanks to a home run and a triple respectively. They would be up 5-3 in the 8th when they brought in closer Alain Thomas, who completely collapsed, giving up 4 runs in 2 innings to give the Redwoods the advantage. Going into the bottom of the 9th, Eureka's Jake Pawlowski would strike out the side to give the Redwoods the opening win. 
EUR 7 - 5 GAL

Game 2: EUR Agami Taji (7-2, 2.96) vs GAL Jalen Wilson (11-10, 3.46)
Neither team could score through 5 innings. But in the 6th Eureka would go off for 6 against Wilson while Galveston would score 5 against Taji that same inning. Neither would score again as the game stayed 6-5 with Eureka taking a 2-0 series lead. 
EUR 6 - 5 GAL

Game 3: GAL Nick Lambert (19-11, 3.23) vs EUR Tillmam Tamayo (11-15, 3.75)
It was expected to be a pitching duel between 2 of the best pitchers, but neither could get out of the 3rd inning as both would allow 5 runs to score early. Eureka would take a 7-6 lead in the 5th after a Méndez double scored 2. Once again in this series, Galveston would have to face Jake Pawlowski in the 9th. It appeared they were finally getting to him as he hit David Moran with a pitch. But Josh Peppers, Oscar Aguilar, and Matt Gilroy would all strikeout to end the season for Galveston as they once again fail to win a playoff series. 
GAL 6 - 7 EUR. Redwoods win the series 3-0, with catcher Ismael Méndez winning series MVP. 

Atlantic Wild Card Series

 
vs
Imagine telling someone 2 seasons ago that both Rome and Florida would be meeting in the playoffs, they’d never believe you. Rome became the first expansion team to make the playoffs after missing them by 1 game last year. They once again led the league in runs scored (5 more than the previous season). However, they did not finish last in runs given up. They were 6th in the Atlantic, thanks to Joe Jones putting up the best pitching season in Rome’s history with a 4.17ERA… also Marshall Elkan put up a potential Gervais winning season (along with Kyle Magnani being a great set-up). Both teams have notable injuries with the Gladiators missing outfielder Tyler Kilbarger while Florida is missing pitchers Dan Miles, Rafael Santa Cruz, and outfielder Adam Beyer. Rome won the season series 12-7, and with Florida’s injuries many predict the Gladiators will move onto their first Atlantic Series. 
Game 1: ROM Matt Atkinson (13-12, 4.76) vs FLA Sean Meagher (2-2, 2.97ERA)
Starting a rookie in game 1 against the best offense in the league, what could go wrong? Everything. He would give up 7 runs in the first 3 innings, though only 3 were earned. It wouldn’t end there for Florida as the Gladiators would tack on 8 more runs in the game with Nikolaus Wallauer and Ben Black tying the Atlantic record for most runs in a playoff game with 4 a piece. 
ROM 15 - 3 FLA

Game 2: ROM Joe Jones (20-11, 4.19) vs FLA Cyrille Vincent (19-10, 3.37)
Game 2 would be all about the offense for both teams as Wallauer would continue his dominance with 4 hits plus home runs from Bill Freeman and Harry Reader. While Florida’s offense was headlined by Tyler Hammerichs 3 doubles which would give Florida a 2-run lead going into the 9th with closer Manny Julia on the mound. He would walk Wallauer before getting Samuel Binns and Ben Black to each fly out. Jimmy Sparrowhawk would launch a double but not enough to score Wallauer. Carrethers would work a full count before being walked. Sean Khalfani, who is starting in Kilbarger’s absence, would also work a walk in a 10 pitch at-bat to score a run and keep a bases loaded play for catcher Bill Freeman. Down by 1, bases loaded, 2 outs. Freeman already hit a home run earlier in the game. But would strikeout on 3 pitches to barely squeeze the victory out for Florida. 
ROM 8 - 9 FLA

Game 3: FLA David Castillo (13-7, 3.47) vs ROM Alfredo Jimenez (13-15, 4.42)
Castillo would shut down the Gladiators offense, only giving up 1 run from smart baserunning by Wallauer. Jimenez would match the 2-way pitcher, giving up 0 runs on 5 hits through 8 innings. Rome would bring out their closer, Marshall Elkan for the save. He would unfortunately give up a game tying solo home run to Ezequiel Gomes who was pinch hitting. He would lock down the rest of the inning before pitching 2 more scoreless frames in extras. Flamingos closer Manny Julia would get tasked to match Elkan’s performance. But in the 11th he would walk Ben Black, who would then steal 2nd and reach 3rd from a Harry Reader single. With only 1 out it would be the perfect opportunity for a sacrifice fly from Sparrowhawk, and that’s exactly what happened. Dale Toman’s throw would not even be close as the Gladiators would walk off in extras during their first home playoff game. 
FLA 1 - 2 ROM

Game 4: FLA Ted Bass (2-4, 4.89) vs ROM Mike Baker (9-12, 5.09)
Neither Ted Bass or reliever Felipe Vargas would be able to hold the Gladiators offense as they would explode for 9 total runs in the game with everyone getting involved. It would be up to Mike Baker to just not give up more than 9 runs. And he would do just that, pitching until his literal leg broke, giving up only 2 runs through 8 innings which was more than enough for Rome to clinch their first ever playoff series win. 
FLA 2 - 9 ROM. Gladiators win the series 3-1. 3B/1B Jimmy Sparrowhawk wins series MVP. 

Pacific Series

 
v
It’s been a few years but the rivalry is renewed, this time with plenty of new faces on both squads. Cheyenne finished the season with the best offense and the best defense in the Pacific. Despite injuries to 2B Dan Harbin and SP Marty Hodge, Cheyenne still has plenty of ammunition to dominate any team. To the point where they may have too many pitchers and depth pieces. They also had one of their best seasons offensively as well, with Paul Butler breaking the franchise home run record in a season (only 30, but looks better than 22). 3 players with more than 45 steals. Led the league in basically every offensive category outside of home runs. They appear to outclass Eureka in almost every way. But we’ve seen the Redwoods overcome worse obstacles in the past. 
Game 1: EUR Dustin Cloud (19-12, 4.08) vs CHY Matt Kenney (22-12, 3.69)
Eureka would score 2 off of a Jim Rivers triple in the 4th and that’d be all they needed as Dustin Cloud threw the game of his career. 9 innings, no runs, 2 hits, with 10 Ks and no walks. 
EUR 3 - 0 CHY

Game 2: EUR Agama Taji (7-2, 2.96) vs CHY Tim Cote (9-9, 2.97)
The Redwoods would once again lock down the Buffalo offense with Taji giving up 1 run on 4 hits before passing the ball to Pawlowski who allowed no runners in the final 2 innings. Cote did well but couldn’t quite match Taji as the Redwoods would take a 2-0 lead before heading to California.
EUR 4 - 1 CHY

Game 3: CHY Carlos Padilla (16-11, 3.45) vs EUR Tillmam Tamayo (11-15, 3.75)
Cheyenne would finally get on the board thanks to a bases loaded double from Pelfrey. But the Redwoods would match it and more thanks to 2 doubles from McClean and a triple from William García. But once again, Pawlowski would be brought in for a 6 out save. He would give up a hit (first of the postseason) but it wouldn’t be enough as he locked down the rest of the lineup bringing Eureka 1 win away from going back to the championship series. 
CHY 3 - 5 EUR

Game 4: CHY Jeffrey Simon (17-8, 3.46) vs EUR Ben Ford (11-10, 4.84)
The veteran Simon would face the rookie as Cheyenne was looking to desperately take a win. But it was Ford who’d dominate the game, giving up only 1 run on 5 hits while Simon would struggle as Eureka would end up scoring 9 in a dominating series clinching game. Despite sweeping both series, they have not hit a single home run yet. Which is even more surprising since they have the home run king on the squad.  
CHY 1 - 9 EUR. The Redwoods win the series 4-0. OF Jim Rivers wins series MVP. 

Atlantic Series

v
David vs Goliath. The perennial juggernaut vs the young studs. Blue vs red. It’s always hard to put into words just how dominant Trois has been over the first 10 seasons. Only 1 season below 100 wins in the last 8 years. 4 championships in 6 years. 9 consecutive championship appearances. Only 2 seasons where they didn’t have the best record in the Atlantic. Stars after stars. While Rome? This is only their 6th season. Their first 4 seasons they had over 100 losses (one was during a shortened season). They have never had more than 90 wins in a season. This is their first playoff appearance and this is their first season with a team ERA below 5.00 (Trois’ highest is a tenth lower than Rome’s best). Despite how young and talented Rome is, especially on the heels of their dominant series win against Florida (who were championship favorites coming into the season) this is the worst odds of a playoff series in NABF history. Essentially no one expects Rome to win. Which means there's nothing to lose. 
Game 1: ROM Matt Atkinson (13-12, 4.76) vs TR Tim Jackson (14-13, 3.57)
Atkinson would go band for band with Jackson, allowing only 1 run through 8. Trois’ Cameron Broome would give up 1 in the 8th, giving Rome a sudden late lead. Elkan would come out but last year's playoff hero Luis de Anda would drive in a pinch runner to tie the game. He would do it again just 2 innings later to walk off the Gladiators in a game the local media deemed “too close”. 
ROM 2 - 3 TR

Game 2:  ROM Joe Jones (20-11, 4.19) vs TR Gary Hamilton (17-6, 3.27)
Jones would do his best to match Hamilton as he’d keep the score within 1, but they’d wait too long to substitute him and he’d give up a home run to none other than de Anda which would secure the Harfang the victory. 
ROM 3 - 6 TR

Game 3: TR Jorge Franco (18-8, 3.60) vs ROM Alfredo Jimenez (13-15, 4.42)
Joe Delli Santi would open things up with a home run in the first, followed by an RBI from Josh Lemon. Rome would find themselves down by 1 into the 6th where Jimmy Sparrowhawk and Malachi Perry would both get 2-RBI knocks to take the lead. Manager Skylar Caron would make the gutsy call to leave Jimenez in the game. Luckily, the Cuban would be able to hold on and give the Gladiators their first win of the series. 
TR 2 - 6 ROM

Game 4: TR Philippe Lemaître (13-8, 4.08) vs ROM Mike Baker (9-12, 5.09)
Baker would be back on the mound after tweaking his knee in the wild card series clinching game. He would only last 2.2 innings, however the story isn’t that simple. Rome would actually get off to a 4-0 lead after a big first inning with back-to-back lead off doubles from Wallauer and Binns capped off by a 2-run home run from Khalfani. In the third Trois would take the lead with big doubles from Phelan and Peterson. Delli Santi would also drive in a run in the 5th to make it 7-5. The score would remain until the bottom of the 9th. Cameron Broome would be asked to close it out. Javon Doolin would beat out an infield hit to lead off the inning. Wallauer would hit a double before Binns would score Doolin but Wallauer would get thrown out by a perfect throw from de Anda. Black would then fly out to make it 2 outs. Carrethers would work a walk during a long at-bat. Then Jimmy Sparrowhawk would absolutely torch a ball into the centerfield gap and de Anda would dive but miss the ball allowing Binns to score and the sneakily quick Carrethers would be able to go from 1st to home easily as the Gladiators would walk-off game 4!
TR 7 - 8 ROM

Game 5: TR Tim Jackson (14-13, 3.57) vs ROM Matt Atkinson (13-12, 4.76)
Game 5 would turn back into a surprise pitching duel as Atkinson would limit the damage from the Harfang offense to only 2 runs. The score would be 2-1 in the 8th when Trois would bring in reliever Kyle McMurphy instead of Cameron Broome. McMurphy gave up a lead-off hit to Ben Black, but recovered by getting Carrethers to hit into a double play. Sparrowhawk would get a hit following by Khalfani to get 2 runners on with 2 outs. Catcher Bill Freeman would hit it to 3B Christian Dubois who couldn’t quite make the play after diving for the ball which would end up being ruled an error. With the bases loaded, McMurphy would get Perry to ground a dribbler to Dubois who’d make up for his error by ending the inning. In the 9th, McMurphy would give Quebec a heart attack by hitting Black with a pitch to once again have 2 runners on with 2 outs. Luckily, he would strike out Carrethers leaving Trois 1 out away from their 9th consecutive championship appearance. 
TR 2 - 1 ROM

Game 6: ROM Joe Jones (20-11, 4.19) vs TR Gary Hamilton (17-6, 3.27)
A rematch from game 2, this time Rome would get the upperhand early thanks to a home run from Sparrowhawk. Barthélémy would score 2 in the 7th to cut the lead in half as Rome would be up 4-2. Trois would swap Hamilton for reliever Brian Gray, who’d give up 3 runs from a Bill Freeman home run. They’d try Anton Latorre who’d also give up 3 thanks to a Ben Black double and a Wallauer triple. All while Joe Jones pitched a gem, giving up only 2 runs in 8 innings. Forcing a game 7, something many Quebecois and Georgians thought would be impossible going into the series. 
ROM 10 - 2 TR

Game 7: ROM Alfredo Jimenez (13-15, 4.42) vs TR Jorge Franco (18-8, 3.60)
The 2 best words in sports, Game 7. And this would go down as one of the greatest games in NABF history. Wallauer and Binns would once again hit back-to-back lead-off doubles to start the game. Trois would answer back immediately, scoring 2 of their own to tie it. In the 4th, Hamilton would hit a 2-run home run. Rome would answer back with a 2-run single from Black and a sac fly from Khalfani. Josh Lemon would tie the game in the 8th which would bring about extra innings. By this time, Elkan had already pitched 2 innings of relief and would go for 3 more, he’d end up with 5 while Broome would go 6.2 innings himself. Throughout the next 6 innings, both teams would strand over 10 runners on base without anyone scoring. At one point a fan passed out from the stress and the game had to be delayed temporarily. In the 15th, Anton Latorre would be on the bump for Trois. He’d get Sparrowhawk and Carrethers out easily, possibly the toughest outs in the lineup. But then he’d walk Khalfani and hit Freeman before giving up a double to Dominguez and a single from Doolin which would score 3 runs in total. He would get Wallauer out to limit it to three. Which could easily be done in a single swing. In the bottom of the 15th Rome would send Magnani back out, who had pitched the previous inning. He got Lemon to fly out but gave up a double to Mooney which prompted a switch to Mark Ray, a rookie who had gotten kicked out of the rotation during the season. Dubois would single. Phelan would single (scoring Mooney). Then Ray would hit Delli Santi leaving the bases loaded with only 1 out, down by 2 with 3-time Baxter winner Hervé Barthélémy up. Fortunately, ol’ Barthy was looking to hit a grand slam and a slow change-up fooled him to strike him out. This left Ricky Morales up to bat, who was a defensive substitution earlier for Buckley who himself was a pinch runner. Morales would turn on the first pitch and sent it right at Sparrowhawk who’d get the force out at third to win the series for the Gladiators! An unbelievable turn of events led to the toppling of a dynasty!
ROM 8 - 6 TR in 15 innings. Rome wins the series 4-3. 3B/1B Jimmy Sparrowhawk wins series MVP

2110 NABF Championship Series

vs
Both teams entered the playoffs as the 2nd wild cards. Eureka has not lost a single game yet this postseason while Rome has barely trudged forward winning multiple do-or-die games. Both are seen as more offensively oriented teams which likely will give a spectacle for the fans. Gladiators would also see the return of SS Kyle Belew, though many want and expect that rookie Nikolaus Wallauer to be the starting short-stop. It’s likely that Belew will transfer to 2B from now on. As previously stated, Eureka has the all-time home run king in Kyle Thompson on the squad. He’s a native of California and has been with the Redwoods since 2106 but has yet to win the championship with them (he actually only has 1 despite being on Trois-Rivières for 5 seasons). His jersey is worn all throughout the stadium with many fans bringing signs to cheer on the living legend. 
Game 1: ROM Matt Atkinson (13-12, 4.76) vs EUR Dustin Cloud (19-12, 4.08)
Cloud would dominate, giving up no runs on 4 hits in a complete game shutout. The Gladiator offense could barely muster anything. 
ROM 0 - 4 EUR

Game 2: ROM Mike Baker (9-12, 5.09) vs EUR Tillmam Tamayo (11-15, 3.75)
Rome would score first thanks to Sparrowhawk and Carrethers, however, Méndez and McClean would both hit 3-run home runs, knocking Baker out by the third inning. Relievers Pereda and Ray would combine to only give up 1 run, but the offense could not get anything going against Tamayo and later Pullin. 
ROM 2 - 7 EUR

Game 3: EUR Agama Taji (7-2, 2.96) vs ROM Joe Jones (20-11, 4.19)
The game would stay surprisingly low-scoring until Carrethers would give the Gladiators the lead thanks to a 2-run home run in the 6th. Rome would bring in Elkan hoping to finally win a game. But Kachmar would hit a double to score a pinch runner to tie the game. The Redwoods would bring in Pawlowski who would put up 4 scoreless, hitless innings to bring it to the 13th. Wherein Kyle Magnani would give up a solo homerun to Jesse Haskins to bring Eureka 1 win away. 
EUR 4 - 3 ROM

Game 4: EUR Ben Ford (11-10, 4.84) vs ROM Alfredo Jimenez (13-15, 4.42)
Jimenez would be needed to pitch the game of his career in order to give Rome a chance. And he did just that as Sparrowhawk and Black would combine to give Rome a 3-0 lead into the 7th. Jimenez would give up runs to Rivers and Méndez to tie the game but yelled at manager Skylar Caron when he came to remove him from the game. Somehow Caron relented and let Jimenez pitch the 9th and the 10th. He’d be able to not allow anymore runs while Eureka was forced to use Pullin as Pawlowski was still tired. Pullin is easily one of the best set-up men in baseball but today he would get rocked as Harry Reader would get a pinch-hit walk-off home run in the 10th to give Eureka their first loss of the postseason. In interviews after the game Jimenez was quoted saying “we only need 3 more, easy” which was plastered over every newspaper in California and Georgia ahead of game 5, with multiple fans from both sides bringing signs to the game. 
EUR 3 - 5 ROM

Game 5: EUR Dustin Cloud (19-12, 4.08) vs ROM Matt Atkinson (13-12, 4.76)
Cloud would be back on the mound, he threw a complete game shutout in game 1. Luckily, Rome would get to him early as Malachi Perry hit a 2-run home run in the second. Atkinson would get into some trouble in the 5th when he loaded the bases. But got rookie William García to ground into a double play. A Thompson 2-run single in the 7th would bring the game within 1. For the 8th, Rome would call upon closer Marshall Elkan. He’d get the first 2 outs easily. But Kachmar, García, and Lazzarini would each get singles but fail to score with veteran Jesse Haskins up to the plate. He’d fly a ball out to deep RF but Black was able to get it on the warning track ending the inning. Méndez would start the 9th with a hit in the left-center gap but would be thrown out by Khalfani as he tried to reach second. Thompson would strike out. Cor John would also hit a single to the gap, but this time didn’t try to extend it. Finally, Jim Rivers would strike out, giving Rome their second win of the series. 
EUR 3 - 4 ROM

Game 6: ROM Mike Baker (9-12, 5.09) vs EUR Tillmam Tamayo (11-15, 3.75)
Baker would hold out as Rome was able to tie the game in the 5th, but a 4-run 6th inning from the bottom of Eureka’s lineup would be too much for Rome to make a comeback from as Pawlowski would get a 4-run cushion to easily lock up the series for Eureka. Kyle Thompson was finally able to win a championship for his home nation. This would be the 3rd championship in Eureka’s history, putting them in 2nd for all-time championship. 
ROM 2 - 6 EUR. Redwoods win the Championship Series 4-2. 3B/DH Orlando Lazzarini wins series MVP.

2111 Pre-Season Preview

last year 71-91, 5th in Pacific. 
16th ranked farm system (CF Jason Hibbard #40)
Payroll $1,202,510 - 15th
Lineup and Pitching

C 25, Czar Artemenko, Arctic Circle, .228/.287/.314, 70OPS+
1B 27, Ben Jackson, Florida, .286/.334/.458, 123OPS+
2B 28, Raul Rangel, Puero Rico, .289/.344/.468, 129OPS+
3B 29, Joel Bain, only 33 games in the majors last season
SS 28, Leland Abbot, Quebec, .286/.340/.377, 103OPS+
LF 24, Talbot Boulet, Quebec, .311/.367/.432, 126OPS+
CF 29, Tim Brown, Georgia, .243/.322/.332, 49SBs, 95OPS+
RF 27, Kyle Miller, Susquehanna, .278/.331/.403, 27SBs, 107OPS+
DH 22, Carlos Ramírez, Puerto Rico, .309/.377/.488, 144OPS+ 

1 27, Angelo Vega, Puerto Rico, 13-17, 4.09ERA, 100ERA+
2 26, Zane Dubos, Quebec, 11-18, 5.53ERA, 74ERA+
3 24, Roth Reiter, Germany, 11-12, 5.29ERA, 77ERA+
4 28, John Gillingham, Arctic Circle, 4.44ERA in 52.2 innings, 92ERA+
5 24, Bryen Beckstrom, Arctic Circle, 8.57ERA in 48.1 innings, 48ERA+
CL 26, John Sweet, The Dakotas/Arctic Circle, 31 Saves, 1.12ERA, 363ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Tyler D’Orio, Dana Dorey, and Rogelio Victoria

Despite another less than spectacular year. They managed to put together a decent young core with only Artemenko and Brown posting below average OPS+ (with the latter stealing 49 bases to make up for it). Boulet even received some down ballot Baxter votes for his performance. The main issue still stands to be their pitching. Dubos, Gillingham, and Beckstrom were all top 5 prospects at one point and neither has really put anything together. Which is becoming problematic as they’ve used up basically their entire farm system to get this point and still haven’t finished above .500. Unless they suddenly develop they may have to begin another rebuild. 

last season 67-95, 6th in Pacific
10th ranked farm system (RHP Kevin Potter #6, RHP Larry McCoy #13, LHP Kelan McPherson #49)
Payroll $1,116,346 - 16th
Lineup and Pitching

C 30, Joaquin Nuñez, Susquehanna, .211/.293/.328, 76OPS+
1B 28, Bob Heath, Quebec, .306/.356/.440, 125OPS+, won Deshayes award
2B 24, David Stephens, Georgia, .295/.355/.404, 115OPS+
3B 27, Fred Randolph, Texas, .240/.300/.331, 79OPS+, won Deshayes award
SS 29, Eric Gilbo, Cascadia, .160/.218/.228, 24SBs, 22OPS+ with Halifax
LF 24, Andy Koester, Rocky Mountains, .253/.367/.442, 129OPS+
CF 25, David Westfall, Texas, .316/.339/.397, 42SBs, 108OPS+
RF 30, Dave Sharpes, Great Lakes, .271/.356/.342, 47SBs, 98OPS+
DH Justin Driscoll, California, played 30 games between Durango and Huron last season

1 22, Kevin Potter, Rocky Mountains, no stats, rookie season. #6 ranked prospect and was the 4th pick in the draft
2 25, Jeremy Miron, The Dakotas, 12-18, 4.90ERA, 83ERA+
3 24, Brad Winters, Hawaii, 11-16, 5.24ERA, 78ERA+
4 25, Josh Detamore, New England, 14-15, 4.43ERA, 228Ks, 92ERA+
5 32, Charlie Symmonds, Susquehanna, 5.00ERA in 95.1 innings with Plymouth
CL 25, Mitch Null, The Dakotas, 23 Saves, 2.30ERA, 177ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Mike Kohn

David Stephens and Andy Koester were surprise breakouts last year after I previous bashed Astoria’s drafting record. Bob Heath also continues to be one of my favorite players (I’ve always enjoyed Keith Hernandez/John Olerud style players). But when their best pitcher is a player who was just drafted? I expect another rough season for the Osprey. 

last season 66-96, 7th in Pacific
1st ranked farm system (LHP Oliver Yonker #4, RHP Dennis Echevarria #14, LF Juan Castillo #18, LHP Igone Sánchez #27)
Payroll $1,212,743 - 14th
Lineup and Pitching

C 28, Arvin Bernardo, California, .185/.250/.246, 41OS+
1B 25, Bobby Schwartz, The Dakotas, only played 20 games last season
2B 23, Mennac Shamakani, Georgia, .272/.324/.370, 30SBs, 97OPS+
3B 25, Les Dalton, .229/.328/.358, 95OPS+
SS 28, Freddy Harrington, The Dakotas, only played 10 games last season
LF 27, Kyle Weber, Great Lakes, .241/.283/.394, 91OPS+
CF 31, Joseph Wallace, Rocky Mountains, .251/.352/.361, 67SBs, 103OPS+
RF 29, Milt Scovell, Great Lakes, .214/.307/.358, 38SBs, 89OPS+
DH 38, Nick Parsons, Louisiana, .275/.390/.414, 129OPS+

1 23, Mike Carbone, Louisiana, 13-14, 3.65ERA, 111ERA+
2 25, Ruben Cabrales, Mexico, 11-18, 4.64ERA, 87ERA+
3 22, Sergio Montes, Rocky Mountains, 8-19, 4.94ERA, 82ERA+
4 37, Adam Minke, Susquehanna, 4.14ERA in 37 innings in injury shortened season
5 25, Lionel Barret, Quebec, 5.40ERA in 35 innings
CL 26, Adam Gibson, 25 Saves, 3.14ERA, 129ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Jonathan Masden and Jim Eustace
Likely their last season with Joseph Wallace, who has surprisingly stuck with the Cajuns this long. But this will also likely be the last season for the club. As it was announced that the team is officially for sale with expectations of relocation. As previously stated, the candidates include Springfield and Little Rock as well as Sioux City in The Dakotas. Regardless of where they go, that team will likely be better off as they have the #1 ranked farm system as well as several major league players who have shown great potential to lead a new squad forward.

last season 77-85, 6th in Atlantic. 
6th ranked farm system (SS Rafael de la Cruz #11, RHP Shawn Galewski #15, CF Rainer Jacobs #32, 2B Alex Sandoval #41, CF Jordan Barquín #48)
Payroll $1,794,841 - 9th
Lineup and Pitching

C 31, Mike Wautlet, Virginia, .218/.304/.297, 66OPS+
1B 27, Pablo Valencia, Cuba, .270/.338/.342, 88OPS+
2B 26, Jason Gibson, Texas, .246/.350/.291, 79OPS+
3B 25, Dan Nichols, The Dakotas, .217/.306/.284, 64OPS+
SS 29, Douggie Clarke, Virginia, .267/.308/.346, 81OPS+, won Deshayes award
LF 33, Gary Urbanczyk, Susquehanna, .237/.355/.533, 42HRs, 21SBs, 143OPS+, won Frey award
CF 23, Jake Rogers, Virginia, .302/.362/.400, 23SBs, 110OPS+
RF 24, Benjamin Whitford, Australia, .267/.333/.393, 100OPS+
DH 21, Sosa Jouon, Japan, .265/.373/.328, 95OPS+

1 28, Nick Grueneich, Virginia, 11-20, 3.51ERA, 116ERA+
2 35, Andrew Redepenning, Virginia, 12-8, 3.28ERA, 124ERA+
3 28, Thomas Legros, Quebec, 8-15, 4.31ERA, 95ERA+
4 26, Carlos Flores, Dominican Republic, 11-12, 5.32ERA, 77ERA+
5 24, Teruo Onoda, Japan, 4.70ERA in 84.1 innings, 87ERA+
(Matt Frizzell, arguably the team's best pitcher, will be out all season with a rotator cuff injury)
CL 25, Chris McCready, Rocky Mountains, 15 Saves, 1.36ERA, 300ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms; Jeremy Peerenboom and Rodolfo Rodríquez

The Admirals are perennial disappointments. They either have a great season but miss the playoffs by a few games or fail so miserably despite having what seems to be a solid squad. This year will likely be a failure with the injury to Frizzell and the lack of depth. Luckily, Jouon, Rogers, and Whitford finally all get starting gigs after being mostly bench players the last few seasons. All were previously highly ranked prospects.

last season 100-62, 1st in Pacific. Lost Pacific Series to Eureka
13th ranked farm system (LF Juan Balladares #17 and RHP Humberto Trujillo #47)
Payroll $2,573,663 - 1st
Lineup and Pitching

C 33, Eric Titus, Great Lakes, .308/.421/.503, 162OPS+
1B 25, Valentin Pernot, Louisiana, .306/.367/.384, 45SBs, 114OPS+
2B 30, Dan Harbin, New England, .307/.365/.430, 125OPS+
3B 26, Maru Kalamka, Georgia, .282/.354/.384, 110OPS+
SS 29, Dean Monahan, Cascadia, .211/.301/.295, 70OPS+, won Deshayes and Hernandez award
LF 28, Jonathan Pelfrey, Great Lakes, .275/.361/.415, 120OPS+
CF 23, Bill Bonjour, Rocky Mountains, .252/.343/.360, 66SBs, 100OPS+
RF 26, Yekuno-Amlak Mshangama, Zambia, .270/.377/.394, 68SBs, 119OPS+, won Deshayes and Frey awards
DH 36, Paul Butler, Rocky Mountains, .310/.396/.556, 30HRs, 168OPS+, won Frey award

1 29, Matt Kenney, Rocky Mountains, 22-12, 3.69ERA, 201Ks, 110ERA+
2 25, Carlos Padilla, Mexico, 16-11, 3.45ERA, 117ERA+
3 24, Tim Cote, Maritimes, 9-9, 2.97ERA, 137ERA+
4 34, Marty Hodge, Australia, 18-5, 2.88ERA, 141ERA+
5 25, Chris Keon, Cascadia, 1.65ERA in 27.1 innings due to injury. 
CL 35, Mike Hilger, Rocky Mountains, 34 Saves, 1.67ERA, 242ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Angelo Juarez, Jeffrey Simon, Bill Mowry, Jesus Ortega, and Mike Tijerina. 

Cheyenne comes back with probably the best overall pitching staff ever assembled, rotation and bullpen in all. While still having a very solid offense, their only below league-average hitter is just the greatest defensive player of all time… This truly is a win or bust season for the Buffalo. Despite their overwhelming success this decade they’ve only been able to win 2 championships, something that ownership argues shouldn’t be the case. Manager Roland Griffin says to expect “the next Buffalo dynasty” to start, as if they weren’t already one.

last season 79-83, 4th in Pacific
3rd ranked farm system (LHP Suk Kim #5, 3B Rüdiger Martin #12, LF Travis Carr #24, and RHP Randy Roberson #33)
Payroll $1,708,548 - 10th
Lineup and Pitching

C 29, Kun Niu, Cascadia, .255/.351/.380, 108OPS+
1B 26, John Davis, Louisiana, .280/.369/.473, 22HRs, 138OPS+
2B 29, D.W. Manning, Georgia, .294/.411/.383, 127OPS+, won Frey award
3B 26, Phil Butler, Florida, .294/.350/.366, 104OPS+
SS 26, René Gaultier, Louisiana, .204/.284/.393, 64OPS+
LF 25, Yin-reng Fa, Cascadia, played 1 game in majors last season
CF 23, Adam Jackson, California, no stats, rookie season. Unranked prospect
RF 24, Nicolas Gérard, Quebec, .247/.358/.457, 24HRs, 131OPS+, won Frey and Castaneda awards
DH 36, Trevor Reardon, The Dakotas, .229/.370/.345, 33SBs, 104OPS+

1 28, Fritz Bresson, Quebec, 16-13, 3.50ERA, 228Ks, 116ERA+
2 24, Ryan Reimann, New England, 16-14, 3.76ERA, 207Ks, 108ERA+
3 25, Scott Szczur, Cascadia, 12-18, 5.36ERA, 76ERA+
4 30, Jason Weatherford, Great Lakes, last season in NABF was 2106 with Astoria
5 24, John Lacoste, Maritimes, no stats, rookie season. #83 ranked prospect
CL 34, Nick Hartle, The Dakotas, 1.08ERA in 33.1 innings, 375ERA+ as set-up man
Other notable bullpen arms: Greg Cone, Aaron Odle, and Pat Dow

Dakota has been surprisingly good at drafting, but specifically in the second round. As Davis, Butler, Fa, Jackson, Lacoste, and Dow have all been 2nd or later round picks. Compared to first rounders like Reimann and Szczur show that maybe they should avoid the first round. Either way, they are still the “best of the worst” in the Pacific and are now going on 8 years without a playoff appearance, despite a winning record in that timeframe. I don’t expect much from them this year, but both Martin and Carr are personal favorite prospects of mine and could easily see this team competing in a 2 or 3 years.

last season 66-96, 8th in Pacific
5th ranked farm system (RHP Greg Dryer #1, LHP Jon Pascual #29, RHP Trent Bender #37, RHP Scott Craig #38)
Payroll $1,277,739 - 12th 
Lineup and Pitching

C 24, Carlos Razo, Mexico, .191/.299/.280, 65OPS+
1B 27, Jason Martin, Susquehanna, .269/322/.378, 98OPS+
2B 29, Tom Helms, Rocky Mountains, .210/.279/.275, 58OPS+, won Deshayes award
3B 26, Julio Manzo, Dominican Republic, .254/.297/.350, 30SBs, 82OPS+ (half the season with Huron)
SS 29, Freddy Anguiana, Cuba, .214/.272/.252, 50OPS+
LF 29, D.J. McDougal, Georgia, only 34 games played last year
CF 30, Rey Mora, Costa Rica, .260/.353/.406, 115OPS+
RF 39, Kevin Meyer, Rocky Mountains, .297/.385/.502, 20HRs, 151OPS+
DH 40, Ian Brinley, Texas, .288/.381/.467, 21HRs, 141OPS+, won Frey award with Galveston

1 24, Cesar Romo, Colombia, 5-12, 4.99ERA, 81ERA+
2 23, Cy Kallner, Cascadia, 5-9, 4.47ERA, 91ERA+
3 28, Ryan Hyde, Great Lakes, 12-13, 4.49ERA, 91ERA+ with Alaska
4 27, Edgar Sierra, Texas, 10-18, 5.14ERA, 79ERA+
5 28, Lee Kowalchuk, Maritimes, 8-21, 4.96ERA, 82ERA+
CL 23, Tom Swedlove, Arctic Circle, 23 Saves, 1.94ERA, 209ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Anton Latorre, Mel Leiva, and Oscar Noriega

On the pitching side they are honestly quite surprising. Kallner and Romo were top prospects, Hyde did really well in Alaska last season, Swedlove nearly won the Gervais in his rookie season (and should’ve won the Castaneda too), Latorre and Leiva are veteran relievers that could easily be swapped at the trade deadline. And of course, all those pitching prospects (plus several just outside the top 50). But then you look at their offense. Sure, Brinley and Meyer are likely Hall of Famers, but they are both 40. Mora and Martin are interesting but likely won’t be able to provide enough to make the playoffs yet. I’m still looking forward to what they can become in the future.

last season 91-71, 3rd in Pacific. Won Championship Series
2nd ranked farm system (CF Bart Gallagher #16, RF Bill Sutherland #19, RHP John Allard #22, RHP Ron Kalb #34, SS William García #43)
Payroll $2,091,170 - 6th
Lineup and Pitching

C 25, Ismael Méndez, Puerto Rico, .370/.431/.514, 168OPS+, won Deshayes and Frey awards
1B 26, Amador Navo, California, only 38 games played last year
2B 27, Cor John, Aruba, .273/.326/.384, 20SBs, 101OPS+
3B 27, Nick Fraser, Susquehanna, .231/.321/.274, 66OPS+ with Florida
SS 30, Jamie Tipton, California, .245/.311/.316, 22SBs, 78OPS+
LF 36, Jesse Haskins, California, .245/.346/.400, 111OPS+
CF 26, Jim Rivers, Susquehanna, .267/.329/.377, 100OPS+
RF 37, Jake Herold, California, .260/.362/.474, 27HRs, 137OPS+ with Baton Rouge
DH 23, Orlando Lazzarini, Venezuela, .304/.354/.365, 67SBs, 104OPS+

1 29, Dustin Cloud, The Dakotas, 19-12, 4.08ERA, 229Ks, 99ERA+
2 26, Tillmam Tamayo, Brazil, 11-15, 3.75ERA, 108ERA+
3 25, Agama Taji, Gabon, 7-2, 2.96ERA, 137ERA+
4 27, Greg Hicks, Susquehanna, 3.92ERA in 85 innings
5 24, Ben Ford, Great Lakes, 11-10, 4.84ERA, 84ERA+
CL 28, Trent Pullin, Florida, 1.53ERA in 35.1 innings (was set-up man for Pawlowski, not sure why they switched)
Other notable bullpen arms: Jake Pawlowski, Harold Sykes, and Jayden Flynn

The Redwoods look to become only the second team to win consecutive titles. Though, without Kyle Thompson. His departure was extremely surprising, even if he was getting up there in age. Owner Noah Daniels was recorded calling Thompson “greedy” and a “ball-hog”. This made front page news all over North America especially as it had been reported that Daniels never even sent Thompson a contract offer. Either way, Herold was signed to make up for Thompson which should propel them towards a successful title defense.

last season 95-75, 2nd in Atlantic. Lost Wild Card Series to Rome
8th ranked farm system (LF Carlos Hernández #9, 2B Gabe Barientos #23, and RHP Ricardo Ortega #25)
Payroll $2,194,732 - 5th
Lineup and Pitching

C 24, Greg Lloyd, Quebec, .260/.324/.411, 102OPS+
1B 29, Tom Newman, Arctic Circle, .220/.361/.283, 80OPS+
2B 35, Jason Martin, Susquehanna, .296/.364/.454, 124OPS+
3B 28, Jayden Royal, Florida, .306/.384/.452, 26SBs, 130OPS+, won Deshayes and Frey awards
SS 26, Nelson Cabrera, Mexico, .267/.318/.406, 99OPS+
LF 28, David Castillo, Texas, .309/.393/.464, 136OPS+ (2-way, only played 90 games)
CF 24, Dale Toman, Australia, .258/.319/.435, 21SBs, 107OPS+, won Castaneda award
RF 29, Adam Beyer, Florida, .288/.363/.486, 133OPS+
DH 27, Tyler Hammerich, Florida, .268/.339/.560, 48HRs, 145OPS+, won Frey award

1 29, Cyrille Vincent, Quebec, 19-10, 3.37ERA, 205Ks, 121ERA+
2 33, Rafael Santa Cruz, Florida, 19-6, 3.15ERA, 130ERA+
3 28, David Castillo, Texas, 13-7, 3.47ERA, 118ERA+ (2-way)
4 24, Sean Meagher, Maritimes, 2.97ERA in 36.1 innings
5 27, Ted Bass, Virginia, 4.89ERA in 70 innings
(starter Dan Miles who finished 2nd in the Taylor despite only pitching 22 games will miss the whole season due to injury)
CL 26, Manny Julia, Florida, 31 Saves, 1.99ERA, 205ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: none

They are so close, I can feel it all coming together. The López cutting may not have been the best decision since Miles is out basically the whole season. Maybe it only looks so bad since they didn’t land Kulbeth or Frizzell. Either way, they will easily compete for a championship. Also to note that Jayden Royal has an option year after this season, I expect him to take the option but could be something to remember after the season.

last season 99-63, 2nd in Pacific. Swept by Eureka in the Wild Card Series
11th ranked farm system (SS Hai-liang Guao #8, RF Yehlem Barsosio #30, and 1B Humphrey Grant #50)
Payroll $2,415,691 - 4th
Lineup and Pitching

C 25, Darius Simon, Georgia, .177/.307/.323, 79OPS+
1B 28, Chris Caron, Texas, .264/.389/.499, 31HRs, 151OPS+
2B 26, Jeff Leising, New England, .252/.338/.363, 20SBs, 100OPS+
3B 30, Josh Peppers, Great Lakes, .262/.350/.495, 23HRs, 139OPS+, won Frey award
SS 36, Mike McClary, Texas, .280/.359/.364, 102OPS+
LF 29, Matt Gilroy, Quebec, .241/.313/.317, 35SBs, 80OPS+, won Deshayes award
CF 31, Katsumi Canio, Japan/Brazil, .351/.397/.482, 88SBs, 149OPS+, won Deshayes, Frey, and Baxter awards
RF 27, Melvin Navarrete, California, .267/.325/.393, 56SBs, 104OPS+
DH 39, David Moran, Texas, .295/.358/.428, 123OPS+

1 29, Nick Lambert, 19-11, 3.23ERA, 282Ks, 125ERA+, won Taylor award for third consecutive year
2 26, Paolo Barreau, Quebec, 13-5, 2.60ERA, 155ERA+
3 27, Nelson Encarnación, Rocky Mountains, 18-11, 2.71ERA, 149ERA+
4 25, Jalen Wilson, Susquehanna, 11-10, 3.46ERA, 117ERA+
5 30, Rich Platte, New England, 13-12, 4.26ERA, 95ERA+
CL 30, Alain Thomas, Quebec, 30 Saves, 1.38ERA, 292ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Brian Van Winkle, Bobby Brooks, and Jim Bonnar

I’d argue that this is the best Launch team they’ve fielded. But OOTP begs to argue saying that they’ll finish below .500, which I just don’t see happening. They have arguably the best rotation, last year’s Baxter winner, last year’s Pacific home run leader, and a load of depth. They will look to win a playoff series for the first time.

last season 68-94, 7th in Atlantic
4th ranked farm system (RHP Julio Then #3, RHP Fepiku Nekeare #20, IF Jose Rueda #31, 3B Luis Laboy #36)
Payroll $2,482,579 - 2nd
Lineup and Pitching

C 28, Bernward Kurtz, Susquehanna, .215/.289/.428, 23HRs, 99OPS+, won Deshayes award
1B 24, Jimmy Tellman, Arctic Circle, .220/.345/.280, 77OPS+
2B 35, Ritter Ammann, Susquehanna, .266/.346/.384, 105OPS+
3B 26, Craig Lamm, Susquehanna, .292/.327/.404, 104OPS+
SS 33, Ben Cintron, California, .220/.270/.348, 71OPS+
LF 29, Jeremy Cooper, Georgia, .274/.357/.479, 37SBs, 133OPS+
CF 26, Ivan Nájera, Dominican Republic, .207/.294/.259, 60SBs, 56OPS+
RF 24, Phil Propst, Rocky Mountains, .279/.341/.423, 54SBs, 114OPS+
DH 33, George Powers, Quebec, .241/.371/.439, 25HRs, 127OPS+

1 24, Heath Victory, Arctic Circle, 15-15, 3.99ERA, 101ERA+
2 31, Steven Dorsey, Susquehanna, 10-21, 5.15ERA, 78ERA+
3 26, Adelbert Miller, Susquehanna, 10-12, 4.52ERA, 89ERA+
4 35, Yushi Sakamoto, Japan, 8-21, 5.23ERA, 77ERA+
5 25, Sean Gentry, Louisiana, 6-13, 5.16ERA, 78ERA+
CL 29, Dale Patterson, Florida, 1.95ERA in 32.1 innings
Other notable bullpen arms: Geoff Bole, Josh Burford, Eric Reed, and Kevin Taylor

You can’t get much worse than last season’s disaster. Their pitching absolutely collapsed and nobody could score on the bases. Luckily their strong farm system should be helping soon. But they have some of the worst contracts and managerial decisions. While Kurtz is one of the best catchers in the NABF, his backup is just as good (Han-seung Park) but can’t get any playing time. The easy answer would be to move one of them to first base which should be easy as neither Tellman or Huseinovic are that great. Let alone the awful contracts to Cintron and Dorsey (arguably Ammann as well). This is Kurtz last season and he has shown visible frustration with the franchise. Luckily they have a great farm system with several top prospects looking to make debuts soon.

last season 55-107, 8th in Atlantic
12th ranked farm system (LHP Cameron Whitehead #2)
Payroll $1,214,499 - 13th
Lineup and Pitching

C 28, Ross Edwards, Virginia, .190/.249/.312, 54OPS+
1B 25, Lou van der Vegt, Netherlands, .256/.312/.401, 43SBs, 96OPS+
2B 28, Bryan Morris, New England, no stats, rookie season. Unranked prospect
3B 24, Logan Inglis, Maritimes, only 8 games last season. 
SS 28, Ernest Weingarten, Germany, only 17 games last season. 
LF 27, David Ruíz, Venezuela, .236/.302/.368, 90OPS+ with Eureka
CF 24, Ivan Andrade, Colombia, .209/.296/.362, 66SBs, 81OPS+
RF 29, Ernest Mott, Quebec, .269/.380/.386, 42SBs, 112OPS+, won Deshayes award
DH 33, Rodolfo Valentín, Guatemala, .243/.368/.447, 27HRs, 124OPS+

1 24, Evan Peterson, Susquehanna, 5-13, 3.74ERA, 109ERA+
2 26, Jake Beem, Hawaii, 3.49ERA in 56.2 innings as reliever
3 24, Rolf Hewitt, Maritimes, 12-18, 6.19ERA, 66ERA+
4 24, Matt Thurston, Cascadia, 6-18, 6.00ERA, 68ERA+
5 27, Rick Lovell, Maritimes, 1-18, 5.17ERA, 79ERA+ 
CL 31, Roberto Cruz, Cuba, 24 Saves, 3.95ERA, 104ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: none

I like several aspects of this team, but I see them losing 100+ games again this season. Peterson has been a nice surprise, but they clearly rushed Hewitt which may has stunted his growth. Somehow despite all their losing they only have 1 top 50 prospect. Thankfully, they are keeping him in the minors for now. The main thing on the docket this year is whether they extend or trade Mott. He’s been one of their best players but may fetch a decent deal at the deadline.

last season 86-76, 4th in Atlantic
9th ranked farm system (RHP Alex Baltiérrez #21, RHP Marius Thibaut #28, C Charlie Baldwin #39, and CL Leonardo Sánchez #46)
Payroll $1,907,312 - 7th
Lineup and Pitching

C 24, Chris Walker, California, .299/.381/.447, 130OPS+, won Frey award
1B 24, Danny Thomas, Great Lakes, .290/.344/.508, 135OPS+, won Deshayes award
2B 35, Fernando Criado, California, .276/.383/.429, 126OPS+, won Frey award
3B 28, Philip Brawner, Arctic Circle, .278/.318/.389, 96OPS+
SS 30, Eddie De Leon, Nicaragua, .213/.277/.264, 51OPS+
LF 33, Matthew Wagoner, Great Lakes, .251/.323/.441, 22HRs, 111OPS+
CF 28, Jared Meyers, Susquehanna, .194/.270/.249, 71SBs, 45OPS+
RF 26, Jeremy Richey, Arctic Circle, .345/.393/.559, 63SBs, 163OPS+, won Frey award
DH 27, Gary Fisher, Georgia, .280/.360/.431, 120OPS+

1 29, Keith Badey, Great Lakes, 15-11, 4.78ERA, 85ERA+
2 26, Hao Huan, California, 13-14, 4.18ERA, 97ERA+
3 26, Marty Díaz, Venezuela, 7-9, 3.39ERA, 119ERA+
4 26, Bill Clark, Arctic Circle, 11-10, 4.33ERA, 93ERA+
5 29, Brad Veder, Great Lakes, 14-5, 4.11ERA, 211Ks, 98ERA+
CL 33, Ricky McDonald, Great Lakes, 22 Saves, 3.24ERA, 125ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Ryan Hoskins, Antonio Madrigal, and prospect Kirk Morgan

My main critique of Huron for the past several seasons has been their weak bullpen, often being bottom 3 in the league. Their saving grace was Ivan Ramírez, who is still battling with injuries from last year but will likely be healthy in a month or so. Outside of that fiasco, the Gryphons did a surprisingly good job at rebuilding their bullpen. While Hoskins and Madrigal aren’t the biggest names, they added a few more lesser pitchers that help round them out. As well as prospect Kirk Morgan who will start the season in the majors and Leonardo Sánchez waiting in the wings make for a well rebuilt bullpen. They also finally have a lot of cap space to make something happen now if they feel the need to buy big.

last season 84-78, 5th in Atlantic
14th ranked farm system (CF Daryl Haydon #44 and RHP Nick Chenevert #45)
Payroll $1,624,441 - 11th
Lineup and PItching

C 29, Ed Ward, Louisiana, only 43 games last season
1B 38, Kyle Thompson, California, .257/.389/.505, 29HRs, 153OPS+, won Frey award with Eureka
2B 25, Victor Cabral, Brazil, .252/.329/.335, 25SBs, 85OPS+
3B 30, Matt Bentz, Virginia, .284/.371/.419, 120OPS+
SS 22, Masashi Miyahara, Japan, .275/.338/.382, 28SBs, 100OPS+, won Frey award
LF 26, Justyn Cox, New England, .316/.410/.425, 31SBs, 133OPS+
CF 25, Pete Ranes, Louisiana, only 41 games last season. 
RF 29, Javier Del Fierro, Curaçao, no stats, rookie season. Unranked
DH 25, Matunde Simai, Gabon, .230/.345/.374, 100OPS+

1 24, Felike Ipo, Hawaii, 15-12, 3.56ERA, 114ERA+
2 24, Tim Troke, Arctic Circle, 8-5, 3.71ERA, 109ERA+
3 28, Chad Reichert, Cascadia, 15-10, 4.06ERA, 100ERA+
4 24, Matt Zeidman, New England, 8-15, 4.10ERA, 99ERA+
5 26, Dan Richard, Quebec, 2.22ERA in 52.2 innings as reliever
CL 28, Phil Palmer, New England, 31 Saves, 2.37ERA, 171ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Nick Christiana

Plymouth fans are hoping that Thompson’s veteran presence will wake up Simai as after he won the Castaneda and finished 2nd in the Baxter in his rookie season he has been basically average and seemingly getting worse. Outside of that, this is a season of change as Jonathan Parsons, Russ Pettaway, and Mike Kulbeth all left in free agency. Many are wondering if they can replicate their “success” from the past few seasons. Personally, I think it’s possible. They have a lot of pitching depth and this may allow them to grow more easily plus a very underrated lineup. Underrated is the key term for the Pilgrims.

 last season 89-73, lost Championship Series to Eureka
15th ranked farm system (2B Kevin Robinson #35 and CF Matt Henry #42)
Payroll $1,847,601 - 8th
Lineup and Pitching

C 26, Bill Freeman, .220/.339/.390, 100OPS+
1B 26, Jonathan Carrethers, Georgia, .296/.417/.539, 28HRs, 161OPS+, won Frey award
2B a 3-way platoon between Malachi Perry (defensive specialist), Carlos Dominguez (129OPS+), and Kyle Belew (96OPS+ and former #1 pick)
3B 22, Jimmy Sparrowhawk, The Dakotas, .276/.326/.424, 105OPS+
SS 21, Nikolaus Wallauer, Susquehanna, .284/.357/.358, 97OPS+ in half a season
LF 22, Sean Khalfani, Georgia, .251/.352/.383, 102OPS+
CF 31, Javon Doolin, Florida, .253/.342/.329, 31SBs, 85OPS+, won Deshayes and Hernandez awards
RF 28, Ben Black, Georgia, .314/.383/.478, 23SBs, 136OPS+
DH 27, Russ Pettaway, Georgia, .246/.352/.404, 110OPS+, with Plymouth

1 29, Mike Kulbeth, Louisiana, 20-11, 2.30ERA, 371Ks, 176ERA+, won Taylor award (3rd straight, 4th total) with Plymouth
2 30, Roberto Corral, Curaçao, 4.11ERA in 46 innings as reliever with Trois-Rivières
3 29, Alfredo Jimenez, Cuba, 13-15, 4.42ERA, 93ERA+
4 26, Jordan Denis, Quebec, 3.91ERA in 53 innings as reliever
5 29, Jacob Wood, New England, 4-4, 5.52ERA, 74ERA+
CL 27, Marshall Elkan, Cascadia, 37 Saves, 1.71ERA, 239ERA+, won Gervais award
Other notable bullpen arms: Kyle Magnani

To clarify the second base situation. It appears that both Belew and Dominguez will take on ‘Ben Zobrist’ style roles with both also taking on some time at DH. The Atlantic champs come back with the biggest signing in Mike Kulbeth, but also Corral and Pettaway are notable as well. Easily the greatest lineup assembled. Along with Kulbeth that makes 5 1st overall picks on the Gladiators (Kulbeth ‘03, Carrethers ‘05, Belew ‘06, Sparrowhawk ‘07, and Wallauer ‘08) I guess there’s proof that tanking can help. (Ben Black and Russ Pettaway were top 5 picks as well). Their success due to their failures became controversial when Astoria owner Cory Zink stated that they were gifted stars for their failures while he “always does good” for his team (even though they’ve only made the playoffs once). This prompted some calls for a potential “draft lottery” from the media. Though no official statement from the NABF.

last season 103-59, 1st in Atlantic, lost Atlantic Series to Rome
7th ranked farm system (C Hairama Nalanie #7, 1B Conceiçao Arruda #10, and RHP Nicolas Bernard #26)
Payroll $2,460,383 - 3rd
Lineup and Pitching

C 31, Josh Lemon, Great Lakes, .279/.337/370, 96OPS+
1B 27, Pierce Mooney, Susquehanna, .278/.385/.375, 111OPS+ in 50 games
2B 35, Tom Phelan, Quebec, .314/.369/.406, 115OPS+
3B 31, Christian Dubois, Quebec, .304/.380/.428, 124OPS+
SS 28, Jimmy Nickolaus, Virginia, .205/.300/.272, 59OPS+
LF 34, Hervé Barthélémy, Quebec, .281/.396/.574, 44HRs, 166OPS+, won Frey and Baxter awards
CF 27, Luis de Anda, Guatemala, .274/.338/.359, 93OPS+
RF 28, Gary Hamilton, Quebec, .181/.281/.264, 52OPS+ (2-way, will platoon with Ron Peterson who will miss 2-3 months due to injury)
DH 31, Joe Delli Santi, Virginia, .269/.364/.564, 47HRs, 154OPS+

1 28, Gary Hamilton, Quebec, 17-6, 3.27ERA, 124ERA+ (2-way)
2 31, Jorge Franco, Panama, 18-8, 3.60ERA, 113ERA+
3 30, Tim Jackson, Great Lakes, 14-13, 3.57ERA, 114ERA+
4 26, Tony Padía, Dominican Republic, no stats, rookie season. Signed from Caribbean League
5 24, Philippe Lemaître, Quebec, 13-8, 4.08ERA, 100ERA+
CL 25, Cameron Broome, California, 38 Saves, 163ERA+
Other notable bullpen arms: Warren Bourdon, Brian Gray, Eddie Salazar, and #26 prospect Nicolas Bernard

The Harfang enter their “revenge tour” after not making the Championship Series for the first time since the inaugural 2101 season. This time they will face some trouble with Ron Peterson injured long term, as well as Barthélémy and pitcher Warren Bourdon out for the first few weeks. They always start the season slow and they have all the pieces to go far once again. This will also be the christening of their brand new stadium, Colisée du Nord. Which becomes the highest rated stadium in the league and the Harfang go from one of the lowest capacities to the second largest.

OOTP Pre-Season Predictions
Pacific
Cheyenne Buffalo 104-58
Eureka Redwoods 87-75
Galveston Launch 79-83
Astoria Osprey 77-85
Alaska Avalanche 75-87
Dakota Eagles 75-87
Baton Rouge Cajuns 74-88
Durango Escorpiones 67-95

Atlantic
Rome Gladiators 94-68
Florida Flamingos 92-70
Plymouth Pilgrims 88-74
Chesapeake Admirals 84-78
Trois-Rivières Harfang 83-79
Germantown Pretzels 79-83
Huron Gryphons 77-85
Halifax Voyageurs 64-98

2111 Playoffs
Pacific Wild Card Series

vs  
It’s rare to see a 100-win team in the Wild Card Series, but that’s just how this season went. The Buffalo won 100 games with a combination of great pitching, elite speed, and a killer bullpen. C Eric Titus and DH Paul Butler had career years and either could win the Baxter. RF Mshangama, 3B Kalamka, and LF Sheridan all put up great seasons as well. All 5 starters did fantastic with Padilla posting the highest ERA at 3.67. None of their bullpen arms had an ERA above 3 with Hilger and Juarez continuing to be a great tandem. They won the season series against the Redwoods 12-7. But we’ve seen Eureka succeed from this spot before as last year they won the Championship Series from a similar position. Eureka tends to focus on a balanced approach but a rough season from their staff has them leaning heavily on the best offense in the Pacific (even better than the 110-win Launch). Each of their 1-5 batters could have an argument for the Baxter this year. In order, DH Lazzarini, 1B Navo, 2B John, RF Herold, and C Méndez. Their starters have been rather unremarkable this season. But their bullpen is set with their acquisition of Dale Patterson who slots in perfectly with Jake Pawlowski and Trent Pullin who is the front runner for the Gervais award this year. 
Game 1: EUR Agami Taji (8-6, 3.74ERA) vs CHY Matt Kenney (18-14, 3.51)
The opening game would be high scoring as both teams traded 2 run innings through 6. In the 7th Eureka would rally 5 runs to take an 11-8 lead which they’d ride to the end. 
EUR 11 - 9 CHY

Game 2: EUR Dustin Cloud (16-15, 4.91) vs CHY Carlos Padilla (13-16, 3.67)
Cloud would pitch the game of his career, only allowing 1 run in a complete game. While the offense would once again explode with Navo, John, and Herold each having 3 hits. The Buffalo continue to struggle as Eric Titus still has not recorded a hit this series. 
EUR 9 - 1

Game 3: CHY Marty Hodge (19-9, 2.80) vs EUR Tillmam Tamayo (14-16, 4.55)
A classic pitching duel for the ages. Pitchers allowed a combined 10 hits throughout the game. Mshangama would hit a solo home run in the second to put the Buffalo on top. It would be the only run of the game by the 9th. The Buffalo would call upon future Hall of Famer closer Mike Hilger to finish the game. Méndez would hit a lead off single. But he’d bounce back to strike out Haskins and McClean. Rivers would get walked leaving contact hitting 3B William García to bat. He’d strike out as the Buffalo finally take a game to avoid elimination. 
CHY 1 - 0 EUR

Game 4: CHY Tim Cote (17-11, 3.21) vs EUR David Stone (9-8, 4.81)
The inexperienced Stone would be forced to face the monster lineup of Cheyenne. He’d give up 8 runs in only 1 inning of work. As 1B Pernot and DH Butler would score multiple runs while SS Monahan would hit for 5RBIs on the day. Cote would give up a homerun to Navo, but would get an easy complete game to send the series to a final game 5. 
CHY 11 - 3 EUR

Game 5: EUR Agama Taji (8-6, 3.74) vs CHY Matt Kenney (18-14, 3.51)
Cheyenne’s Bonjour would hit a lead off home run. Eureka’s Tipton would tie it up in the second with a triple. Cheyenne’s LF Sheridan and 2B Harbin would hit solo home runs in the 3rd and 7th. But Eureka could not get anymore runs as Matt Kenney gave up only 5 hits while Hilger cleaned up the 9th to easily complete the reverse sweep of the Redwoods. 
EUR 1 - 4 CHY. The Buffalo win the series 3-2. Eureka’s Amador Navo would win series MVP despite the loss. 

Atlantic Wild Card Series

vs
A rematch of the 2107 Atlantic Series. This time Plymouth appears to have the upperhand as they scored more runs and allowed less than the Harfang. Led by a core of young pitchers as well as having the home run king, Kyle Thompson who hit his 500th career home run earlier this year. Surrounding him on offense were LF Justyn Cox, 3B Matt Bentz, SS Masashi Miyahara, and rookie CF Daryl Haydon who all put up good seasons. However, they will be missing reliever Oscar Barrera as well as RF Javier del Fierro will miss the first several games of the series. But that would still be better than Trois who are missing: RF Ron Peterson, CF Luis de Anda, and pitchers Jorge Franco, Warren Bourdon, and Eddie Salazar. However, they don’t make 11 straight playoffs just to be threatened by some injuries. Their 1-4 hitters are all future hall of famers (3B Dubois, 2B Phelan, LF Barthélémy, and DH Delli Santi). Plus great role players in IF Deramos, C Lemon, and SS Nickolaus. They also have SP Tony Padia who will likely win the Castaneda award this year. Tim Jackson and Philippe Lemaître also return with decent seasons. They also slightly reinvented their bullpen with Juan Huitz, Dennis Quintal, C.J. Clymer, and rookie Nicolas Bernard with their closers Brian Gray and Cameron Broome. While they didn’t make as many headlines this season, it’s still one darn good Trois team. 
Game 1: TR Philippe Lemaître (15-10, 3.86) vs PLY Felike Ipo (20-11, 3.34ERA)
The Hawaiian would take this opportunity to put himself out to the international stage, allowing just 3 hits in a complete game. All 3 runs he gave up would be due to a solo and 2-run homer from Delli Santi. As for the Pilgrims offense, Matunde Simai would hit a home run in the first while Thompson would get 2 RBIs on 2 hits to help win game 1. 
TR 3 - 5 PLY

Game 2: TR Tony Padia (14-11, 3.31) vs PLY Tim Troke (17-5, 3.29)
A 2-run double and a 2-run homer in the 3rd would put Plymouth up early and Troke would be able to cruise to an easy win to put the Pilgrims 1 win away from the Atlantic Series. 
TR 2 - 6 PLY

Game 3: PLY Matt Zeidman (13-13, 3.99) vs TR Tim Jackson (16-9, 3.75)
The score would be 4-3, Plymouth, going into the 8th. Barthélémy would hit an RBI double to get runners on the corners with 2 outs. But Deramos would fly out to end the inning. In the 9th, Cameron Broome would come in to keep the game close. But hits from Ward, Bentz, Cox, and Thompson would give the Pilgrims a 3-run lead for Geoff Bolen to close the series out. CF Aku would get on base with a single. Mooney would fly out while C Lemon would hit into a series ending double play as the Pilgrims win their first ever playoff series and move onto the Atlantic Series to face the Rome Gladiators. 
PLY 7 - 4 TR. The Pilgrims win the series 3-0. 3B Matt Bentz wins series MVP. 

Pacific Series

vs
Cheyenne comes off their reverse sweep of the Redwoods to face what is potentially the greatest team assembled. The Launch won a staggering 110 games led by All-Stars 1B Chris Caron, 3B Josh Peppers, SS Mike McClary, CF Katsumi Canio, and RF Melvin Navarrete who helped the team score over 800 runs, good for second in the Pacific (only 5 less than Eureka). On the pitching side they’re just as dominant. Nick Lambert, Jalen Wilson, and Nelson Encarnación are all Taylor candidates. Along with Paolo Barreau they each won over 17 games.  Their bullpen is anchored by likely Gervais winner Alain Thomas as well as Clive Kavanagh and rookie Jim Bonnar. They combined for a team ERA of 3.12. That’s not even getting into their depth pieces like LF Matt Gilroy, 1B Humphrey Grant, and future Hall of Famer David Moran. 
Game 1: CHY Marty Hodge (19-9, 2.80) vs GAL Nick Lambert (22-6, 2.70)
A pitching duel as both starters would only give up 1 run through 7. In the 8th, Hodge would get pulled. Launch SS Mike McClary would hit a 2-run single to take the lead. The Launch would put in closer Alain Thomas who would get an easy inning due to the weak end of the Buffalo lineup to clinch game 1. 
CHY 1 - 3 GAL

Game 2: CHY Tim Cote (17-11, 3.21) vs GAL Jalen Wilson (18-5, 2.34)
Cote and Hilger would combine to only give up 2 hits the entire game. This would give the Launch a 1-0 lead until the Buffalo bats finally woke up in the 6th as they’d go on to score 6 runs in the final few innings to tie the series. 
CHY 6 - 1 GAL

Game 3: GAL Paolo Barreau (18-5, 3.79) vs CHY Matt Kenney (18-14, 3.51)
Galveston would score 4 early thanks to 3B Peppers and 2B Leising. Barreau would keep the Buffalo to just 1 run. But would give up 2 hits in the 9th before getting taken out for CL Thomas. Thomas would give up hits to CF Bonjour, 1B Pernot, and DH Butler which would score 3. The bases would remain loaded with 2 outs while the Launch would continue to have a 1-run lead. The Buffalo would pinch hit for RF Mshangama to avoid the lefty-lefty matchup. But the Buffalo were out of their main options. They’d use rookie infielder Avery White. He’d work a 3-1 count but would get too far under one, flying out to end the game. 
GAL 5 - 4 CHY

Game 4: GAL Nelson Encarnación (17-10, 3.38) vs CHY Carlos Padilla (13-16, 3.67)
Encarnación would dominate, only giving up 1 run in 7 innings. While Padilla would do well, only allowing 3 runs through 8, but would somehow be put back out in the 9th and would end up being responsible for a 5-run 9th which would be too much for the Cheyenne offense to overcome. Leaving the Launch 1-win away from their first playoff series win and Championship appearance. 
GAL 8 - 1 CHY

Game 5: GAL Nick Lambert (22-6, 2.70) vs CHY Marty Hodge (19-9, 2.80)
Hodge would give up 4 runs in 4 innings. While Lambert opened up the game with only allowing 3 hits up to the 7th. In said inning, 1B Pernot would get on-base via error from 3B Peppers to extend the inning and load the bases for C Titus who has struggled the entire postseason thus far. But he’d rock a bases clearing double to take the lead for Cheyenne. They’d add on a few more in the inning to end up with a 3-run lead which with Juarez and Hilger might as well be 10. 
GAL 4 - 7 CHY

Game 6: CHY Tim Cote (17-11, 3.21) vs GAL Jalen Wilson (18-5, 2.34)
Cote would once again dominate, allowing only 1 run in a complete game. Cheyenne would score 4 thanks to small ball and patient hitting. Forcing a game 7 after being down 3-1 in the series. Would Galveston choke again?

Game 7: CHY Matt Kenney (18-14, 3.51) vs GAL Paolo Barreau (18-5, 3.79)
Both pitchers would dominate, allowing a combined 9 hits through 8 innings. The Launch would have a 2-1 lead thanks to a 2-RBI single from 2B Leising. The Launch would bring in closer Alain Thomas. He’d get DH Butler to fly out at the warning track. Pinch-hitter Larcher would get walked. Jonathan Pelfrey would come up, he was a defensive replacement for an earlier pinch hitter. Pelfrey would smack a homerun that barely snuck in behind the left-field pole on the first pitch to give the Buffalo the lead! They’d score 2 more runs thanks to a 1B Pernot single. CL Hilger would be brought out with a 3-run lead. RF Navarrete would strike out. Thierry Charles would pinch hit, but would hit into an out. 1B Grant would get a hit leaving DH Caron to get intentionally walked. Bringing the tying run to the plate. 3B Josh Peppers who made the crucial error that sparked the Buffalo’s series comeback. He’d hit a ball out to center… but it’d be caught easily as the Buffalo come back to beat the Launch and go to their 4th Championship Series in 5 years!
CHY 5 - 2 GAL. The Buffalo win the series 4-3. 1B Valentin Pernot wins series MVP. 

Atlantic Series

vs
The Mike Kulbeth Series. The ace took his opt-out of his contract with the Pilgrims last year stating that he wanted to be on a winning ballclub. Well, now they’re both standing here, 4 wins away from the Championship. Plymouth comes with an overall great pitching team with a balanced offense. While Rome is set up exclusively for offense. Scoring a NABF record 909 runs. Their 1-8 is full of absolute studs. SS Wallauer, RF Black, and 1B Carrethers are all Baxter favorites. 3B Sparrowhawk, DH Pettaway, 2B Belew, and LF Khalfani have had career seasons. While C Freeman hit 26 home runs, the most by a catcher in NABF history. Pitching is where the team struggles. Kulbeth is their only good starter, though rookie Frederick Pugner put up surprising numbers in just 7 starts this season. Their bullpen has holes but the combination of Magnani and Elkan can shut down any offense in the 9th. 
Game 1: PLY Felike Ipo (20-11, 3.34) vs ROM Mike Kulbeth (22-9, 2.46)
Ipo would match Kulbeth throughout the entire game. Giving up only 3 runs to Kulbeth’s 2. Kulbeth would get substituted in the 8th after he gave up a 2-out single. Reliever Kyle Magnani would come in and give up a single that would put a runner on third with Kyle Thompson up to bat. Despite the righty-lefty matchup, Magnani would get Thompson to strike out looking. Elkan would be brought in for the 9th and close out the game for Rome. 
PLY 2 - 3 ROM

Game 2: PLY Tim Troke (17-5, 3.29) vs ROM Frederick Pugner (6-2, 2.89)
The rookie would hold out for 7 innings of 1 run ball, giving up only 5 hits. However, Rome could only muster 1 run until the 9th. With Geoff Bolen on the mound, he’d get Carrethers and Pettaway to hit into easy outs. Rookie Matt Henry would pinch hit and get a single which would be followed up by another single from LF Khalfani. C Freeman would but hit by a pitch to load the bases with 9 hitter CF Javon Doolin. He wouldn’t even need to swing the bat as Bolen lost all control and threw 4 straight balls to walk in the walk-off run. 
PLY 1 - 2 ROM

Game 3: ROM Alfredo Jimenez (14-11, 5.03) vs PLY Matt Zeidman (13-13, 3.99)
Plymouth would score 2 as Jimenez would load the bases but get out within a ton of damage. Wallauer would score a game-tying run in the 7th. In the 8th, reliever Magnani would walk Simai and Thompson, before a Bentz single would load the bases with 1 out. RF Cox would hit into a fielder’s choice at home to keep the game tied. LF Lamar would be up and hit a shot towards the infield gap and 2B Perry, who entered the game after Belew was pinch hit for, would dive to just barely make the grab on a bounce. He’d go to shovel it to Wallauer at third but his throw would be just wide as the go-ahead run was scored. Rome would bounce back in the 9th by getting 2 runners on with 2 outs. But RF Black would hit a weak pop-fly to first to end the game. 
ROM 2 - 3 PLY

Game 4: ROM Mark Ray (9-7, 4.26) vs PLY Chad Reichert (13-15, 3.87)
The Gladiator offense finally woke up with a huge 5-run 1st inning. They’d continue scoring as they’d get 17 hits on the day. Plymouth would attempt a comeback in the 8th with DH Simai and PH Novak would help put up 6. But it wouldn’t be enough as Elkan would come in to close out the game with a 4-out save. 
ROM 9 - 6 PLY

Game 5: ROM Mike Kulbeth (22-9, 2.46) vs PLY Felike Ipo (20-11, 3.36)
Despite being seen talking to former teammates, Kulbeth would be booed relentlessly by the Plymouth fans. He wouldn’t let it bother him as he’d go 9.2 innings with 13Ks in this extra-inning affair. Both pitchers would dominate, with a score of 1-2, Plymouth, going into the 9th. Rome SS Wallauer would hit a 2-run triple in the top of the 9th to take the lead before 2B Morales would tie the game in the bottom of the 9th to send the game to extras. In the 11th, Rome would set Magnani on the mound. He’d get Cox and Lamar out. But Morales would get a single before walking C Ward. Rookie CF Daryl Hayden would then hit a single to left and Morales would try for home and the throw from LF Khalfani would be just short as the rookie walked the game off!
ROM 3 - 4 PLY. 

Game 6: PLY Tim Troke (17-5, 3.29ERA) vs ROM Frederick Pugner (6-2, 2.89)
3B Sparrowhawk would get RBIs on the day while RF Black would double in a run as Rome would get 5 runs. Leaving the rookie Pugner to keep the Pilgrims below that mark. He’d go 6 innings allowing only 2 runs. Relievers Jordan Denis and Marshall Elkan would combine for 1 hit over 3 innings to close out the series for Rome. The Gladiators move on to their 2nd straight Championship Series!
PLY 2 - 5 ROM. Gladiators win the series 4-2. DH Russ Pettaway wins series MVP.

2111 NABF Championship Series

vs 
An unstoppable object meets an unmovable wall. Rome’s historic offense meets Cheyenne’s historic pitching. Though, the Buffalo offense is pretty solid while Rome really only has Kulbeth and Elkan for their pitching. They’d be relying on them heavily in the matchup of giants. 
Game 1: ROM Mike Kulbeth (22-9, 2.46) vs CHY Marty Hodge (19-9, 2.80)
Rome DH Russ Pettaway would get a single in the 2nd, and then they’d get no other hits. A complete game 1-hitter from Hodge in game 1 would go down as one of the greatest Championship performances. While the Buffalo would hit 4 home runs to get an impressive game 1 win. 
ROM 0 - 10 CHY

Game 2: ROM Alfredo Jimenez (14-11, 5.03) vs CHY Carlos Padilla (13-16, 3.67)
The Gladiators would get 8 hits this game, capped by a C Freeman home run. But a 2-run complete game from Padilla would be enough for the offense as they’d hit 3 more home runs this game. The Buffalo have 7 home runs in 2 games, while Rome only has 9 hits total. 
ROM 1 - 7 CHY

Game 3: CHY Matt Kenney (18-14, 3.51) vs ROM Frederick Pugner (6-2, 2.89)
The series turns to Georgia as the Gladiators look to get some kind of offense going. Which they would thanks to a huge 6-run innings capped by a 3-run home run from 1B Carrethers. Pugner would once again throw a gem, allowing 3 runs, on 5 hits through 7. Now if only they can replicate this. 
CHY 3 - 8 ROM

Game 4: CHY Tim Cote (17-11, 3.21) vs ROM Mark Ray (9-7, 4.26)
The Gladiators would not be able to put a rally together, but got enough 1-run innings to barely capture a 4-2 lead heading into the 9th. CL Elkan would be brought out, SS Monahan would hit a lead off double. But 2B Harbin, PH White, and CF Bonjour would all make weak contact for easy outs to tie the series. 
CHY 2 - 4 ROM

Game 5: CHY Marty Hodge (19-9, 2.80) vs ROM Mike Kulbeth (22-9, 2.46)
Rome would get revenge for game 1 as Kulbeth would absolutely dominate. A complete game shutout, giving up only 3 hits with 9 strikeouts while the Gladiator offense would explode for 10 runs, with two 3-run home runs (CF Doolin and C Freeman). 
CHY 0 - 10 ROM

Game 6: ROM Alfredo Jimenez (14-11, 5.03) vs CHY Carlos Padilla (13-16, 3.67)
Rome would hit 3 solo home runs (RF Black, CF Doolin, and DH Pettaway). While Cheyenne would get an 8th inning go-ahead bases loaded walk to just barely squeeze out a win to force a game 7. 
ROM 3 - 4 CHY

Game 7: ROM Frederick Pugner (6-2, 2.89) vs CHY Matt Kenney (18-14, 3.51)
The rookie would once again be tasked to save the season for Rome in a must-win game for both teams. However, he’d give up 5 in the 5th thanks to homeruns from SS Monahan and CF Bonjour. While Kenney would toss a shutout through 8. He’d enter the 99th with a 5-run cushion. 2B Belew would hit a leadoff single. LF MacDougall would ground into a fielder’s choice. C Freeman would hit a single. Pinch Hitter Giuseppe Nana would strike out. Leaving CF Javon Doolin up with 2 on, 2 outs. He’d single to load the bases as RF Black steps up. Black would get walked, scoring 1. Cheyenne would finally swap Kenney for closer Mike Hilger. 3B Jimmy Sparrowhawk would step up as the tying run with the bases loaded, 2 outs. Hilger would challenge him with fastballs before a knee-buckling slider would strike him out, winning the series for Cheyenne!
ROM 1 - 5 CHY. The Buffalo win the series 4-3. 2B Dan Harbin wins series MVP.

2112 World Cup teams

The roster of teams would stay at 20 this season as I’m still trying to find the best way to include other nations. However, Japan will replace Cuba to change it up a bit. I added the jersey plates I had made but didn't post last World Cup. I do intend to update the WC jerseys fairly often but decided to keep every nations the same to showcase the jersey plates. I may start including them in the pre-season previews as well, but still undecided. 

Group A:

Susquehanna

Current NABF teams: Germantown Pretzels
Last tournament, lost in the Semi-Finals
The dream infield with Gladiators’ Wallauer and Belew along with Germantown’s Kurtz and Lamm. Plus veteran stars like Tyler Kilbarger, Gary Urbanczyk, and Ritter Ammann. Together form one of the best lineups in the tournament. Pitching is anchored by Jalen Wilson and reliever’s Josh Burford and Eric Reed. The rest of their rotation isn’t bad, but not great. They should be easily able to advance past the group stages.
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 ‘clash’ uniforms (which I don’t think are needed) are gray sleeveless pullovers with blue pinstripes (mimicking the Pretzels alternate jersey, but with different colors).

Maritimes

Current NABF teams: Halifax Voyageurs
Last tournament, 3-6 in the group stage
The Maritimes are still a developing baseball nation. However, Ross Whitehead’s pitching development camps are clearly already showing signs of promise. With Tim Cote, Geoff Bolen, Jim Bonnar, and Brian Gray all having great years while Rolf Hewitt, Sean Meagher, and Ross’ son, Cameron Whitehead are top prospects still developing. However, on the offensive side there isn’t a lot. Ken Kachmar and Kevin Campeau are the only notable stars, both of whom lost their starting roles this season. However, they do have top prospects C Charlie Baldwin, 2B Kevin Robinson, and UT Joe Brewer.
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.

Arctic Circle

Current Teams: Alaska Avalanche
Last Tournament, 4-5
A similar comparison to the Maritimes. They have a good amount of pitchers and pitching prospects, such as Heath Victory, Tim Troke, Tom Swedlove, Ray Nelson, and Bill Clark. But offensively it’s a struggle. Huron’s duo of Jeremy Richey and Philip Brawner are the biggest names. As well as last year’s Castaneda winner, Daryl Haydon. 
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.

Japan

No NABF teams, but have their own domestic league
Were not in previous tournament
In this world Japan isn’t nearly as baseball crazed as they are in ours due to there not being a United States. They’d still very much be a top nation, but not #1. Their team is focussed heavily on contact with Masashi Miyahara, Katsumi Canio, Sosa Jouon, and Avalanche prospect Kazuki Miyahara. Their pitching comes mostly from their own league as only Yushi Sakamoto and Teruo Onoda play in the NABF. Their “ace” being Yukihito Hirota. With the relatively weak group they could make a run past Maritimes and Arctic Circle but it will be a test in their first World Cup. 
Jerseys: Fairly simple for this World Cup. Home with blue piping and red player names. Clash is blue with white and red piping. Both feature white pants and a blue hat. 
 

Group B, the “Group of Death” 

The Dakotas

Current NABF Teams, Dakota Eagles and the Sioux City Spiders who are in the process of relocating from Baton Rouge. 
Last tournament made a surprise run to beat California and lost in the Semi-Finals
Historically The Dakotas are a baseball powerhouse, but they haven’t really owned up to that in the NABF. Their road to the top will be tough in the “group of death” but if anyone can do it. The offense is pillared by Jimmy Sparrowhawk and Aaron Novak but features a plethora of defensive players. Pitching is their main game as they have multiple great relievers that will be starting for the national team: John Sweet, Greg Cone, Nick Hartle, and Mitch Null. The only regular starter is Dustin Cloud. That means their bullpen is full of all the young talent that’s been emerging from the nation recently like: Nick Christiana, Jeremy Miron, Jan Lillegård, Oliver Yonker, Joe Jones, as well as veteran and future Hall of Famer, Jeffrey Simon. 
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. 

Georgia

Current NABF teams: Rome Gladiators
Last tournament, 2-7
Last tournament was awful for Georgia. But since then the Gladiators have turned into juggernauts and it’s seemingly rubbing off on the nation. Their offense features stars such as: Jeremy Cooper, Ben Black, Jonathan Carrethers, D.W. Manning, Russ Pettaway, Maru Kalamka, Mennac Shamakani, and Bill Freeman. Let alone several top players off the bench. Pitching is decent as well with 4x Taylor winner, Nick Lambert. Plus longtime Rome pitcher Kyle Magnani. The bullpen is rough as Jeremy Peerenboom is the only recognizable name, but with that offense it may not matter. 
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. 

Quebec

Current NABF teams: Trois-Rivières Harfang
Last tournament, 9-0 in group stage and won the whole tournament
The defending champs look better than ever. Since the previous tournament Christian Dubois has turned into an all-star, along with Ernest Mott and Bob Heath. They still have legends Tom Phelan and Hervé Barthélémy. Pitching-wise they feature Alain Thomas and Fritz Bresson who are both award candidates. Along with strikeout masters Paolo Barreau and Cyrille Vincent. Plus youth talent like Thomas Legros, Luc Villain, Philippe Lemaître, Zane Dubos, and Dan Richard. They could honestly repeat again easily, but will have to compete in the hardest group to do so.
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. 

Puerto Rico

Current NABF teams: none, but has several in the Caribbean League
Last tournament, 0-9
Much better than last tournament. Méndez has become arguably the best catcher in the NABF while Raul Rangel, Enrique Deramos, and Luis Laboy have been sneakily good. While pitching they have future Hall of Famer Leon López and Caribbean League star Frank Hernández, who just signed with Sioux City. The rest of the team is made up of either Caribbean League talent or developing talent. Easily the worst team in the group, but that doesn’t mean they will just sit back and lose.
Jerseys: 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. 

Group C:

Cascadia

Current NABF teams: Astoria Osprey
Last tournament, 6-3 lost in Quarter-Finals
A complete lack of offense. Their best batter is Dean Monahan, who while he is the greatest defender of all-time, his highest OPS+ for a whole season is 70. Their pitching isn’t bad with Matt Frizzell, Chad Reichert, Chris Keon, Cy Kallner, and Marshall Elkan. But I don’t see them being good enough to carry them as far as last tournament. 
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.

Texas

Current NABF teams: Galveston Launch
Last tournament 5-4, did not advance past group stage
After just barely not advancing last tournament the Texas Republic come back loaded. Future Hall of Famers Mike McClary, David Moran, and Ian Brinley highlight the team. But they’re full of young talent such as Chris Caron, David Westfall, and Jason Hibbard. As for pitchers, the story of the tournament may be Dan Miles. Miles tore his UCL towards the end of 2110 and has not pitched a single game since, which coincides with Florida’s downfall. But he’s back for the tournament and in 2 exhibition games he threw a combined 7 no-hit innings. Outside of Miles, they also feature prospects Dennis Echevarria and Leonardo Sánchez. 
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).

Rocky Mountains

Current NABF teams: Cheyenne Buffalo
Last tournament, 5-4, did not advance past group stage
Similar to Texas, they were not able to advance in last tournament due to tie-breakers. However, their strength is their pitching with star closers Mike Hilger and Chris McCready in the rotation along with Castaneda winner Kevin Potter and stars Matt Kenney and Nelson Encarnación. Offensively they feature veterans Paul Butler, Kevin Meyer, and Joseph Wallace along with young studs Phil Propst and Andy Koester. With how tight this group is they will likely struggle but put up amazing games.
Jerseys: Blue with sublimated mountain tops at the bottom of the jersey similar to the flag (and Colorado Rockies city-connect 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.

Louisiana

Current NABF teams:  none, Baton Rouge Cajuns relocated to Sioux City this off-season
Last tournament, 6-3, lost in Quarter-Finals
Lineup and Pitching
After losing the Cajuns, all of Louisiana has come out to support the national team. With the host nation being Florida, many Lou’s have travelled to their games to sell them out to show the NABF that they still want baseball. But the team? Despite advancing last tournament, I don’t see them repeating that performance. Offensively they have Valentin Pernot, Carlos Dominguez, and Roger Huseinovic who are all good but have struggled the last season. Their only “great” batter is Nick Parsons who is a 39-year old free agent. Pitching is not much better. Prospect Shawn Galewski gets to show his stuff but other than him it’s just Mike Kulbeth. While he may be the greatest pitcher of all time, he can’t win 6 games to help them advance. 
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 (similar to Baton Rouge). ‘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.

Group E

New England

Current NABF teams: Plymouth Pilgrims
Last tournament, 3-6
Definitely better than last tournament. But still behind the juggernauts of baseball. Justyn Cox, Travis Carr, and Matt Zeidman make their international debuts. With veteran Dan Harbin being possibly the most known player on the squad. Pitching depth is their strength this time around as Zeidman, Reimann, Detamore, Platt, and Kavanagh make up a good rotation, but none of them are “aces” which may limit them past the group stage.
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.

Virginia

Current NABF teams: Chesapeake Admirals
Last tournament, 5-4 lost in Quarter-Finals
The top 4 of Virginia’s lineup is possibly the best in the tournament. Jake Rogers, Douggie Clarke, Matt Bentz, and Joe Delli Santi. While the rest of the lineup aren’t as well known they’re all underrated players like Jimmy Dolan and Eddie Sheridan. Pitching is great with relievers Adam Gibson, Kevin Taylor, and Aaron Odle being added to the rotation with Nick Grueneich at the top. Andrew Redepenning will be coming from the bullpen along with C.J. Clymer and 2111 30th Overall Pick, Ethan Fagan.
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. 

Mexico

Current NABF teams: Durango Escorpiones
Last tournament, 3-6
Possibly the most improved team in the tournament. Mainly due to the emergence of pitchers Carlos Padilla, Ruben Cabrales, and Daniel Ojeda. SS Nelson Cabrera continues to develop into a force in Florida as well. With several top prospects headlined by likely future first overall pick in the 2112 draft, Alberto Cuestas who will put his stuff on display for the whole world.
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. 

Florida

Current NABF teams: Florida Flamingos
Last tournament, 5-4 lost in Quarter-Finals
The story of the tournament for Florida would be 3B Jayden Royal as in the off-season he executed his opt-out with the Flamingos to sign a massive deal with Sioux City. Many suspected he might not play in the tournament as Florida was set to host. But he decided to play despite the heckles from fans. Outside of Royal, there’s also Adam Beyer, Tyler Hammerich, Javon Doolin, and Phil Butler who make up a solid offensive core. Pitching would be Rafael Santa Cruz and reliever Trent Pullin and Dale Patterson adding to the rotation. The Flamingos are well represented with more players on their respective national team than any other nation. But said Flamingos have not done well the past few seasons so that may not be the greatest thing.
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. 

Group D

California

Current NABF teams: Eureka Redwoods
Last tournament, 4-5
Last tournament was an embarrassment for California. They were the hosts and the favorites yet couldn’t get out of the group stage. Their current lineup hasn’t changed much outside of the emergence of Melvin Navarrete and Chris Walker as premiums for their positions. As well as closer Cameron Broome. But many old faces remain such as Kyle Thompson, Jake Herold, Fernando Criado, Jesse Haskins, Pat Dow, and Jake Pawlowski. They are still considered to be top contenders but many have their doubts after the last tournament. 
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 piping. Player names and numbers are written in black. Both utilize the same red hat with a simplified bear from the flag on it.

Great Lakes

Current NABF teams: Huron Gryphons
Last tournament, 7-2 lost in the World’s Series to Quebec
It’s boom or bust for the Lakers. Filled with old faces Eric Titus, Matthew Wagoner, Milt Scovell, and Josh Newcomer plus new faces like Danny Thomas, Keith Badey, Ben Ford, and 2111 #3 overall pick, Josh Pickup. Their biggest issue is their depth as there really isn’t that much. But Titus has dragged them to the finals before and could easily do it again.
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.

Venezuela

Current NABF teams: none, but have teams in the South American League
Last tournament, 5-4 but did not advance due to tie-breakers
They almost had a miracle run last tournament. And this year they have a ton more notable players. Orlando Lazzarini, William García, Oscar Aguilar, and Marty Díaz. With their most notable veteran being pitcher Juan Huitz. Who will be in the rotation leaving the bullpen to be amongst the worst in the tournament. They likely can’t go on another run due to California and Great Lakes but as the sole representative of South America there are lots of hopes put on this team.
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.

Dominican Republic

Current NABF teams: none, but have teams in the Caribbean League
Last tournament, 4-5. 
Their biggest stars in Antonio Garza and Felix Hernández retired leaving the team kind of desperate for talent. While they still have it, they’re probably the worst of the Latin American teams. Ivan Nájera, Julio Manzo, and Jose Orozco are their best hitters. While Tony Padia, Angelo Juarez, rookie Julio Then, and the other Jose Orozco make up a decent pitching rotation.
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.

My personal picks to win it all don’t change a lot from last tournament, with Susquehanna, Quebec, and California being the top dogs. But my surprise pick is Virginia.