Season 23 Power Rankings #2

We're half way through Season 23, and it is time to weigh in with another edition of the power rankings.  It has been quite an interesting season, with no clear cut #1 team, yet someone has to take that top spot, and it is Dover.  Although not a dominant #1 as in the past few seasons, they have been playing solid ball lately and are leading the way in the NL.  Atlanta drops to #2, as they have fallen off slightly since the last rankings, but still a force to be reckoned with.   The hottest team in the world, Charlotte, comes in at #3 and if they keep this up, could be headed to the top spot in the next rankings.   It will certainly be interesting to see how it all plays out, here are the complete rankings!

	Team	W	L	PREV	Comments
1	Dover	51	30	2	Numbers are up all around since the last rankings
2	Atlanta	51	30	1	Stats are down overall, but still one of the best
3	Charlotte	52	29	13	Killing it since the last rankings, can they keep it up?
4	Boston	50	31	4	Offense is crushing it, with bullpen help on the way
5	Helena	48	33	9	Playing very well, and look to be a legit contender
6	Pawtucket	47	34	7	Top team in pitching right now and offense is good
7	Louisville	48	33	8	Pitching looks questionable, but they are winning
8	Houston	44	37	16	Bouncing back after a very slow start, look tough
9	San Juan	45	36	12	Very nice offense, and the pitching is holding its own
10	Los Angeles	44	37	15	Pitching is lights out, but offense is a question mark
11	Ottawa	44	37	17	Getting great pitching, and are in the thick of things
12	Tampa Bay	43	38	3	Rough stretch as of late, but capable of bouncing back
13	Buffalo	42	39	6	Not playing well lately, but still a very good squad
14	Pittsburgh	41	40	11	Hanging in, and certainly capable of a strong finish
15	Florida	43	38	19	Really playing well, considering their recent history
16	Rochester	41	40	14	Struggling a bit as of late with numbers down overall
17	St. Louis	40	41	23	Huge improvement in pitching has them playing better
18	Salt Lake City	41	40	10	Pitching is down as of late, but offense improving
19	Texas	40	41	22	Pitching has been better recently, which is a good sign
20	Little Rock	39	42	5	Not playing well since last rankings, really fell off
21	Las Vegas	35	46	26	Showing significant improvement after horrific start
22	Syracuse	40	41	28	Also have shown major improvement over last 40
23	Trenton	36	45	24	Holding their own lately, but offense is a bit down lately
24	Seattle	38	43	27	Showed all around improvement, progress is in motion
25	New York	39	42	21	Not playing terrible, but offense has been down lately
26	Austin	35	46	20	Not playing well as of late, as all numbers are down
27	Colorado Springs	35	46	18	Horrible over the last 40, but yet still lead the division
28	San Francisco	33	48	25	Could still win division, good offense, horrible pitching
29	Durham	31	50	31	Major improvement, but bad start holds them down
30	Albuquerque	29	52	29	Pitching has been absolutely rocked this season
31	Philadelphia	26	55	32	Pitching has improved, but offense has really struggled
32	Salem	25	56	30	Um, yeah, they're just not good this season

Season 23 Power Rankings # 1

We're about a quarter of the way through Season 23, so it's time to check in with the power rankings!  Dover, the # 1 team for an amazing 14 consecutive rankings, spanning close to 3 seasons, is off to a great start at 27-14.   With a start like that, it would be hard to imagine taking the top spot away from them.  Nonetheless, a team has put up an even better start that warrants being awarded the # 1 ranking.  Atlanta is your new top team, as it can no longer be argued with their impressive start that they don't deserve it.  A still excellent Dover team is # 2.  A very good Tampa Bay squad comes in at number 3, although they are battling in a tough division where everyone is over .500.  In other news, new ownership in Florida has the squad over .500 to start with a team that didn't top 57 wins over the past 4 seasons.  Truly an impressive feat, they jump from 31 to 19. 

Some favorites are off to slow starts.  Houston hasn't lived up to their preseason hype being ranked # 2, but are certainly capable of bouncing back.  Pittsburgh and Los Angeles are off to slow starts as well, but it's a good bet they'll be a factor in the races to make the postseason.  

An interesting first quarter of the season, here are the complete power rankings!

	Team	W	L	PREV	Comments
1	Atlanta	29	12	5	It can no longer be denied that they are the top team
2	Dover	27	14	1	Still a very good team, but pitching is down a notch
3	Tampa Bay	24	17	3	Nice numbers, but division is tougher this season
4	Boston	26	15	7	Offense rolling, pitching not bad even with injuries
5	Little Rock	25	16	13	Looks like they're back, pitching is a slight concern
6	Buffalo	24	17	10	Great pitching, and offense has been good enough
7	Pawtucket	24	17	18	League's top pitching so far, and getting offense too
8	Louisville	24	17	19	Offense is crushing it so far, pitching is a bit shaky
9	Helena	23	18	11	Playing well, with good numbers across the board
10	Salt Lake City	24	17	21	Pitching has carried them, definitely a nice start
11	Pittsburgh	20	21	4	Starting slow again, but always turn it up at the end
12	San Juan	23	18	12	Back in the thick of it, although pitching not great
13	Charlotte	23	18	15	Good start, but pitching is a bit of a concern
14	Rochester	23	18	26	Nice start, proving preseason ranking was too low
15	Los Angeles	20	21	6	Out of the gate slow, but always seem to find a way
16	Houston	18	23	2	This is a surprise, but they should get back in it
17	Ottawa	21	20	17	Excellent pitching so far, but offense is fairly weak
18	Colorado Springs	21	20	20	Why a winning record?  73 should win division again
19	Florida	23	18	31	This start is amazing, considering the team's past
20	Austin	19	22	16	Numbers not terrible, could use a little more offense
21	New York	21	20	24	Pitching not great, but winning games with offense
22	Texas	21	20	27	Numbers almost identical to New York, same story
23	St. Louis	17	24	8	A bit of a surprise, pitching has been rocked so far
24	Trenton	16	25	29	Numbers aren't bad, record may be a bit of bad luck
25	San Francisco	16	25	32	Pitching is still a major problem, but nice offense
26	Las Vegas	14	27	9	Horrid start, but not as bad as the record indicates
27	Seattle	18	23	22	Offense really struggling, pitching has not been bad
28	Syracuse	18	23	25	In a bit of a slump all around, but could pick it up
29	Albuquerque	16	25	23	Pitching has been rocked, but offense is doing ok
30	Salem	13	28	28	Looks like rebuild mode, as they are just not good
31	Durham	12	29	14	A bit shocking, they are majorly struggling all around
32	Philadelphia	13	28	30	Rebuild continues as the majors team struggles

Season 23 Preseason Power Rankings

Season 23 is the brink, which means it's time for the preseason power rankings!  There were some interesting off-season events, including a change in ownership for the back-to-back champs Dover, who still come into the season as the #1 team, although they should be heavily challenged for that spot throughout the season.  Coming in at #2 is Houston, who has broken into the ranks of the elite by adding 3-time Cy Young Award winner Norman LaPorta and 2-time MVP Dustan Jackson to an already solid squad.  Tampa Bay comes in at #3, as they should have another great year, along with #4 Pittsburgh who has won 100 games 3 out of the last 4 seasons.  World Series runner-up Atlanta comes in at #5, despite being the undisputed, unchallenged #1 in their owner's mind.  Jokes aside, it wouldn't be shocking to see them a top the rankings at some point this season.   Here are the complete rankings, good luck to all the teams in Season 23!

	Team	W	L	Comments
1	Dover	109	53	Hard to drop the back-to-back champs at this point
2	Houston	94	68	Adding LaPorta and Jackson should make them elite
3	Tampa Bay	109	53	Some argue they are aging, but should be solid again
4	Pittsburgh	105	57	Looking like a contender again with great pitching
5	Atlanta	96	66	World series runner-up should have a great season
6	Los Angeles	92	70	Always in the thick of it, and should be this season
7	Boston	105	57	Not sure if they can repeat last season, but still good
8	St. Louis	89	73	Solid across the board, so should be in it this season
9	Las Vegas	86	76	NL West is tough, but they should be up for the fight
10	Buffalo	88	74	Great pitching, but how will the offense produce?
11	Helena	87	75	If the pitching improves, they could be on the rise
12	San Juan	83	79	Made some moves in FA, and have solid core of youth
13	Little Rock	86	76	Coming off a down season, have the talent to rebound
14	Durham	88	74	This team is up and down, what will this season hold?
15	Charlotte	82	80	Pretty solid club here, and could be headed higher
16	Austin	84	78	Offense needs to improve for them to contend
17	Ottawa	81	81	Offense was an issue for them, can they improve?
18	Pawtucket	80	82	Have some potential here, and city move should help
19	Louisville	77	85	Losing Jackson hurts, but pitching is the main issue
20	Colorado Springs	73	89	AL West contenders, but not because of team talent
21	Salt Lake City	80	82	Fell apart at the end last season, and lost some FA's
22	Seattle	61	101	Have good prospects, can the offense get it down?
23	Albuquerque	70	92	Lost a few FA's, as the new owner makes it their own
24	New York	72	90	We'll see if they're able to take a step forward
25	Syracuse	75	87	Pitching needs to improve for them to get better
26	Rochester	74	88	Pitching got rocked last season, will it improve?
27	Texas	67	95	Surprisingly bad offense last season needs to improve
28	Salem	71	91	At least you can't count them out of the AL West race
29	Trenton	69	93	Lost some FA's, so they're a bit of a question mark
30	Philadelphia	51	111	Not really sure where they're at with the rebuild
31	Florida	53	109	This is a rebuild for sure, but new owner is solid
32	San Francisco	55	107	Can they finally get it together this season?  Not sure.

Season 22 Wrap Up - Dover goes back to back!

Dover Diamond Dogs (NL) jiml60 View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Dover wins it all again in Season 22! 

In one of the most talked about World Series in recent Cobbfather history, Dover beat Atlanta 4 games to 2 to take the title.  When Dover jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the series, many were predicting a sweep, but Atlanta battled back to take the next two games.   Atlanta couldn't keep the momentum going when the series headed back to Dover, losing a tight 4-3 game 6.  It looks like the power rankings had it right, as Dover was ranked #1 all season from wire to wire.  After their own boisterously predicted a World Series title preseason, Atlanta started the regular season slowly, but became hot near the end, and carried that momentum into the playoffs, almost fulfilling their prediction.  Both teams look to be solid for next season, and a potential rematch certainly isn't out of the realm of possibilities, but there will be a lot of hungry teams gunning for them.   Congrats to both teams on excellent seasons!

In addition to the World Series trophy, other hardware was handed out as well.  Let's review the individual award winners for Season 22!

Most Valuable Player
American League - Albert Cruz, Detroit - .303 AVG 48 HR 110 RBI
The young 22 year-old Detroit slugger took home the AL MVP in a tight race amongst many worth candidates.  In the end, his combination of solid average, high OBP and great power numbers appeared to give him the slight edge.  He also won a Silver Slugger award this season.  He looks pretty flawless at the plate, so expect him to compete for MVP awards for years to come. 

National League - Felipe James, Los Angeles - .327 AVG 35 HR 110 RBI 21 SB
This is one free agent acquisition that paid off, as offseason signee Felipe James took the NL MVP award for Los Angeles.  His already impressive numbers are even better when you consider the park he played in.    James started in the All Star game and won a Silver Slugger award as well.  Fun fact, James is the 16th different NL MVP winner in the past 16 seasons, wow!

Cy Young Award
American League - James Haselman, Tampa Bay - 21-4 2.11 ERA 202 K
Chalk up another Cy Young for Haselman, who won the award by a significant margin.   Haselman did it all again for Tampa this season, with impressive all around numbers.  This is his staggering 6th Cy Young award for the 34 year old hurler, who made his 11th All Star appearance in 11 seasons as well.  With a great deal of young pitching talent in the AL, and the effects of age, it may be difficult to ring up #7, but you can never count out Haselman. 

National League - Lewis Peterson, Pittsburgh - 19-9 2.41 ERA 215 K
Peterson won a closer race for the NL Cy Young Award with an impressive ERA, and a solid 19-9 record over 40 starts.  Peterson joins the ranks of multiple time winners, as he also won the Cy Young in Season 18.   He made his 2nd All Star appearance this season as well.  At 31, Peterson has the potential to be a Cy Young contender for a handful more of seasons. 

Rookie of the Year
American League - Vladimir Troncoso, San Juan -.298 AVG 33 HR 108 RBI
Offense won out over pitching in the AL Rookie of the year race, barely, by just one vote in fact.  Troncoso has amazing power, with great splits and batting eye that should lead to many more years of impressive stats.   His numbers this year were definitely legit. 

National League -  
Paul Burroughs, Austin - 16-7 3.04 ERA 128 K,                                              
Ryan Martin, Seattle -.299 AVG 25 HR 93 RBI 31 SB
NL Rookie of the Year voters couldn't decide between pitching and offense, as the vote ended up in a tie, and we have Co-Rookies of the Year.   Burroughs is a 21 year old hard throwing righty, who has plus ratings across the board, except for splits.  He is so high everywhere else, that shouldn't limit his future success.  Martin is a five tool player, whose out put was extremely impressive given his home park.  It will be interesting to see if he can maintain those numbers in that park, but he will still be a valuable asset either way. 

Fireman of the Year
American League - Walt White, Charlotte - 3.56 ERA, 48 SV, 2nd win
National League -  Manuel Estrada, Houston - 1.72 ERA, 43 SV, 2nd win

That wraps up Season 22, hoping for a quick turnaround to Season 23, don't forget to renew!   See you next season!