Season 19 Quarter Season Power Rankings

Leon Jackson - Senior Writer - Cobbfather Post Gazette

A quarter of the season is over and it's time to update the power rankings.  There is a #1 has the defending champs Vancouver are a bit slow out of the gate, but still have a nice record.  But the new #1 is Little Rock whose stats across the board have been elite thus far.  The biggest leap up the rankings was made by Boise, who jumped from preseason #23 all the way up to #2.  Buffalo, Cleveland and Minnesota all made huge leaps as well.  Congrats on the great starts!   Here's the full ranking through the first quarter of the season.

	Team	W	L	PREV	Comments
1	Little Rock	25	15	7	Playing elite, #1 in offense and great pitching
2	Boise	25	15	23	What a jump!  Excellent start across the board!
3	Tampa Bay	24	16	2	Rock solid so far, as expected
4	Pittsburgh	25	15	4	Pitching has been incredibly solid so far
5	Buffalo	26	14	18	#1 in pitching, and offense is holding its weight
6	Durham	27	13	11	Best record, but pitching moves them down
7	Colorado Springs	26	14	3	Playing great, still amongst elite, # 3-7 is tight
8	Dover	26	14	10	Great offense, but pitching hasn't been great.
9	Vancouver	24	16	1	Not getting pitching so far, but offense is great.
10	Cleveland	23	17	21	Nice jump here, can the pitching hold up?
11	Minnesota	22	18	25	Big jump, and they may be underachieving!
12	Kansas City	24	16	5	Solid play across the board, but not elite
13	Boston	22	18	15	Decent numbers so far, can they do more?
14	Syracuse	21	19	12	Average across the board, do they have more?
15	El Paso	20	20	6	Numbers say they should improve
16	Los Angeles	22	18	9	Fantastic pitching, but offense is weak so far
17	Detroit	19	21	16	Underachieving a bit, will pitching improve?
18	St. Louis	18	22	8	Underachieving, but pitching is a good sign
19	Omaha	20	20	17	Great pitching, but offense not producing at all
20	Atlanta	17	23	22	Underachieving, but better pitching would help
21	Burlington	20	20	24	Nice start on offense, will pitching improve?
22	New York (NL)	20	20	13	Decent start, will the offense step it up?
23	Honolulu	21	19	31	Nice start, but they may be overachieving a bit
24	Arizona	14	26	20	Slugging well, but pitching is getting hammered
25	Charlotte	20	20	30	Overachieving some, but .500 start is good
26	Austin	16	24	14	Offense is slow out of the gate
27	New York (AL)	15	25	19	Underachieving a bit, could be tough sched
28	Colorado	12	28	27	Pitching is getting completely obliterated so far
29	Washington	9	31	26	In a tough division, numbers say they're better
30	Florida	15	25	32	Possibly the worst offense in the league so far
31	Texas	11	29	28	Pitching has been rough and the bats cold
32	Seattle	11	29	29	Rough start all around, particularly pitching

Season 19 Preseason Power Rankings

Leon Jackson - Senior Writer - Cobbfather Post Gazette

A new season is upon us, and we took a shot at ranking the team preseason.  Looks like it will be another great year in Cobbfather, good luck to all teams in the regular season.  Now, here's the preseason power rankings!

		Season 18
	Team	W	L	Comments
1	Vancouver	115	47	Look primed and ready for another title run
2	Tampa Bay	106	56	Not all about Haselman, offense is good too
3	Colorado Springs	104	58	2 time CY winner Mieses joins a great staff
4	Pittsburgh	103	59	Has reigning MVP and CY winners amongst others
5	Kansas City	95	67	This excellent roster now has an active owner!
6	El Paso	95	67	Last year's NL champs should be good again.
7	Little Rock	99	63	Well balanced team with a lot of power
8	St. Louis	78	84	Offense is great, just need pitching to step up
9	Los Angeles	88	74	Great pitching, but do they have enough on offense?
10	Dover	77	85	Improved alot through top FA Kondou and via trades
11	Durham	79	83	Spent $196 mil on 2 top SP's this offseason.
12	Syracuse	86	76	Nice power on offense, will pitching improve?
13	New York (NL)	83	79	Adding Moreno is a boost to the offense.
14	Austin	92	70	Norman LaPorta should put them in contention again
15	Boston	77	85	Signed top SP FA Almanzar, is it enough to contend?
16	Detroit	84	78	Losing Almanzar hurts, but still good pieces here
17	Omaha	89	73	Needs offense to improve, great pitching
18	Buffalo	88	74	Nice pitching, but offense is a question mark.
19	New York (AL)	84	78	Pitching is pretty solid, will the offense produce?
20	Arizona	85	77	Has a few stars, is the supporting cast good enough?
21	Cleveland	83	79	Has some great talent on offense, will pitching hold up?
22	Atlanta	70	92	Has some good minors talent, will they get the call?
23	Boise	75	87	Offense has good power, can they take the next step?
24	Burlington	56	106	Picked up some nice free agents, should be improved
25	Minnesota	73	89	Pitching is decent, offense could use a little help
26	Washington	71	91	Team is coming along, but need a few more pieces
27	Colorado	80	82	Got hit hard with departing free agents
28	Texas	62	100	Coming along, but still rebuilding
29	Seattle	57	105	Still looks to be a few players away.
30	Charlotte	50	112	Not as bad as their record last year, should improve
31	Honolulu	52	110	Rebuild still ongoing
32	Florida	56	106	Will their prospects hit the bigs anytime soon?

Season 19 Hall of Fame Candidates - Top 5

Leon Jackson
Senior Writer
Cobbfather Post Gazette

It's Hall of Fame Voting time again, and there are certainly some deserving candidates once again.  No one got in last year, let's see if we can get some players in this year.   Here are the Gazette's top 5 most deserving candidates.

Carl Sosa none none Age: 42 B/T: R/R Born: Overland Park, KS Position(s): P (T4B) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

1. Carl Sosa
4 Time Cy Young Award Winner
9 Time All-Star
238 Career Wins
2.76 Career ERA
2 World Series Rings

Comments: This should be a no-brainer.  Sosa was one of the greatest pitchers in Cobbfather history, as his numbers indicate.  It will truly be a travesty if he doesn't get in on his first try.

Dan Carter none none Age: 38 B/T: R/R Born: Richmond, TX Position(s): LF/CIF/RF/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

2. Dan Carter
2 Time MVP (one of only 2 players in Cobbfather history to win MVP in both the AL and NL)
7 Time All-Star
3 Time Silver Slugger winner
497 Career Home Runs
.936 Career OPS
2 World Series Rings

Comments: Carter was one vote shy of making it in last season.  His career stat line and the fact that he is one of only two players in World history to win the MVP in both leagues tell us he should definitely be in.  Hopefully this is the season that he finally makes it.

Buddy Poole none none Age: 38 B/T: R/R Born: Haverhill, MA Position(s): 1B/LF/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

3. Buddy Poole
MVP Winner
6 Time All-Star
4 Time Silver Slugger winner
582 Career Home Runs
9 40+ Home Run Seasons
.906 career OPS
1 World Series Ring

Comments: Poole got 13 votes last season, 4 short of getting in the Hall.  He was one of the major mashers in the early seasons of the World, emassing 582 home runs.  We feel he should be in.

Anthony Gordon none none Age: 40 B/T: R/R Born: Newkirk, OK Position(s): P (SuB) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

4. Anthony Gordon
9 Time All-Star
3 Time Fireman of the Year
464 Career Saves
3.11 Career ERA

Comments: Gordon got 12 votes last season, 5 short of induction.  His 9 time all-star status, the fact that he is amongst the all-time career save leaders with a stellar ERA indicates to us that he should be in.

Charlie Dickinson none none Age: 38 B/T: R/R Born: New Providence, NJ Position(s): 1B/LF/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

5. Charlie Dickinson 
MVP Winner
4 Time All-Star
3 Time Silver Slugger winner
508 Career Home Runs
.925 Career OPS

Comments: Dickinson got 12 votes last season, 5 votes short of getting in.  Dickinson dominated seasons 4-10 getting at least 44 HR and 121 RBI each season.  We feel his career stat line warrants consideration for the Hall.

Don't forget to vote for the Hall of Fame, every vote is important!