Season 4 Draft Recap - NL North

Leon Jackson - Cobbfather Post Gazette

It's time to look back at this season's draft and dish out the grades. This season, we'll go by division. The NL North is up first. Let's see how the NL North teams did in this season's draft!

Detroit Shooters

Detroit gave up their first round pick by signing a Type A Free Agent, so their first pick was in the supplemental round. Top pick, pitcher Preston Lee, has great control, great velocity, and solid RH split, GB/FB ratio and has 2 decent pitches; however, he has a major liability in that he has extremely limited durability. Perhaps that is why Detroit hasn’t signed him. And we’re not going to attempt to explain why they haven’t signed any of their other early draft picks either. It looks like this draft was a total waste for Detroit.

Final Analysis: Not good at all.

Grade: F

Ottawa Renegades

Clarence Fleming Ottawa Renegades Age: 21 B/T: R/R Born: Logan, UT Position(s): P (SP1) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Top pick Clarence Fleming looks to be a workhorse starting pitcher with great durability, control and he can keep the ball on the ground. His splits are good, but not great. And he has 3 good pitches, but lacks a dominating one. All in all, he looks great, but not quite an ace. The rest of their picks early on featured pitchers who are borderline major leaguers, at best.

Final Analysis: Fleming is extremely solid, but they could have done more with their picks after the first round.

Grade: C+

Rochester Rolling Rocks

Arthur Camilli Rochester Rolling Rocks Age: 18 B/T: R/R Born: Guyton, GA Position(s): P (ClA) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

First rounder Arthur Camilli projects to be a lights out closer with tremendous control, splits, velocity, and also has 2 great pitches. He pretty much has no weaknesses. 2^nd rounder Curtis Jacquez looks to be a good value pick, as he is a solid hitter with major league potential. 5^th rounder Derek Gonzalez projects to be a defensive wonder at SS, although doesn’t have much of a bat.

Final Analysis: Camilli is a future stud closer, and they got a couple of other players with Major League potential as well.

Grade: B+

Syracuse Sycophants

Zeus Dixon Syracuse Sycophants Age: 19 B/T: L/L Born: Garden City, MI Position(s): P (SP1) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

First rounder lefty hurler Zeus Dixon looks like he could be a god-like SP. His ratings project out strongly across the board. His best assets are superb control and a killer 4-seam fastball. Only weakness is slight concern of injury. 2^nd rounder Eddie Ruth was a nice value pick, and should be a solid major league reliever. They got a couple of more good relievers, and a very nice 3B in round 4.

Final Analysis: A very deep draft for Syracuse this season, well done.

Grade: A

Season 4 Power Rankings - Regular Season #6

Chuckles McGee - Cobbfather Post Gazette

It's time for the 6th edition of the Power Rankings! Florida cemented their place in #1 with another great stretch going 10-5 since the last rankings. It looks as if Sacramento is also cementing their place as #2 in the rankings, as they also went 10-5 since the last rankings. Burlington and Memphis each move up a spot to #3 and #4, while New York Pride drop to #5 with a mediocre stretch.

Other notables for this past rankings period are #7 Chicago (11-4) and #15 Hartford (10-5). The biggest jumpers in the rankings this week all moved up 4 spots. They were #15 Hartford, #19 St. Louis and #23 Durham.

Now the standard teams on the rise and teams on the decline section:

Teams on the rise: Chicago, Hartford, St. Louis, Durham

Teams on the decline: Ottawa, Sioux Falls, Texas, Cheyenne

Here is the sixth edition of the Regular Season Power Rankings!!

Rank	Team	Record	Prev
1	Florida	63-27	1
2	Sacramento	59-31	2
3	Burlington	56-34	4
4	Memphis	54-36	5
5	New York (AL)	53-37	3
6	Jackson	52-38	7
7	Chicago	52-38	10
8	Rochester	50-40	6
9	New York (NL)	50-40	9
10	Vancouver	49-41	11
11	Austin	49-41	8
12	Fargo	46-44	13
13	Honolulu	46-44	14
14	Charleston	47-43	16
15	Hartford	46-44	19
16	Boston	46-44	12
17	Syracuse	45-45	17
18	Huntington	44-46	18
19	St. Louis	42-48	23
20	Oakland	42-48	20
21	Dover	41-49	22
22	Detroit	41-49	24
23	Durham	40-50	27
24	Ottawa	42-48	15
25	Buffalo	39-51	26
26	Sioux Falls	40-50	21
27	Colorado Springs	37-53	28
28	Texas	38-52	25
29	Atlanta	35-55	30
30	Kansas City	33-57	31
31	Cheyenne	32-58	29
32	Los Angeles	31-59	32

Check back for the next edition of the rankings after game 105!

Season 4 Power Rankings - Regular Season #5

Chuckles McGee - Cobbfather Post Gazette

It's time for the 5th edition of the Power Rankings! This past rankings period was highlighted by Florida solidifying their hold on the top spot with a stellar 12-2 record. After no one was able to hold down the top ranking for more than one period, Florida now seems firmly entrenched. Sacramento surged back to their preseason #2 ranking by going 11-4 during the period, while New York Pride held on to the number 3 spot going 9-5.

The biggest jumper in the rankings goes to #17 Syracuse, perhaps inspired by their NCAA hoops counterpart rallying for a 6 OT win and a strong Big East Tournament. Da 'Cuse rose 9 spots after going 10-4 this rankings period. #15 Ottawa and #16 Charleston both did well this period also, going 9-5.

Now the standard teams on the rise and teams on the decline section:

Teams on the rise: Florida, Sacramento, Charleston, Ottawa, Syracuse

Teams on the decline: Memphis, Rochester, Dover, St. Louis, Los Angeles

Here is the fifth edition of the Regular Season Power Rankings!!

Rank	Team	Record	Prev
1	Florida	53-22	1
2	Sacramento	49-26	6
3	New York (AL)	47-28	3
4	Burlington	46-29	5
5	Memphis	45-30	2
6	Rochester	44-31	4
7	Jackson	44-31	7
8	Austin	42-33	8
9	New York (NL)	41-34	9
10	Chicago	41-34	10
11	Vancouver	40-35	12
12	Boston	40-35	11
13	Fargo	37-38	13
14	Honolulu	37-38	14
15	Ottawa	39-36	19
16	Charleston	38-37	21
17	Syracuse	36-39	26
18	Huntington	36-39	17
19	Hartford	36-39	18
20	Oakland	36-39	23
21	Sioux Falls	36-39	20
22	Dover	34-41	15
23	St.Louis	34-41	16
24	Detroit	35-40	22
25	Texas	34-41	24
26	Buffalo	32-43	25
27	Durham	31-44	27
28	Colorado Springs	30-45	29
29	Cheyenne	28-47	28
30	Atlanta	28-47	30
31	Kansas City	26-49	32
32	Los Angeles	25-50	31

Check back for the next edition of the rankings after game 90!

Season 4 Power Rankings - Regular Season #4

Chuckles McGee - Cobbfather Post Gazette

It's time for another edition of the Power Rankings! And once again the trend continues that the #1 team suffers a fall from grace, as Burlington is out of the top spot with a mediocre stretch. Another trend is emerging and that is Florida being #1 every other edition of the rankings. Florida reclaimed the top spot with an 11-5 run since the last rankings. A trio of teams had huge weeks to vault into the top 5, reaching their highest point in the rankings this season. Those teams were #2 Memphis (12-4), #3 New York (AL) (13-3), and #4 Rochester (12-4). The biggest jump in the poll, however, was made by #20 Sioux Falls who jumped 7 spots in the rankings with an impressive 11-5 record since the last rankings. Let's see who else is on the rise, and who else is on the decline.

Teams on the rise: Florida, Memphis, New York (AL), Rochester, Fargo, Honolulu, Sioux Falls, Detroit, Durham

Teams on the decline: Chicago, Dover, St. Louis, Huntington, Charleston, Colorado Springs, Los Angeles, Kansas City

Here is the fourth edition of the Regular Season Power Rankings!!

Rank	Team	Record	Prev
1	Florida	41-20	2
2	Memphis	40-21	8
3	New York (AL)	38-23	9
4	Rochester	38-23	10
5	Burlington	39-21	1
6	Sacramento	38-22	3
7	Jackson	36-25	5
8	Austin	37-24	6
9	New York (NL)	34-26	7
10	Chicago	33-27	4
11	Boston	32-28	13
12	Vancouver	31-29	14
13	Fargo	31-30	18
14	Honolulu	30-30	21
15	Dover	29-31	11
16	St. Louis	29-32	12
17	Huntington	29-32	15
18	Hartford	29-31	16
19	Ottawa	30-31	22
20	Sioux Falls	30-31	27
21	Charleston	29-32	17
22	Detroit	28-33	26
23	Oakland	27-33	19
24	Texas	28-33	20
25	Buffalo	26-34	23
26	Syracuse	26-35	24
27	Durham	23-37	32
28	Cheyenne	23-37	28
29	Colorado Springs	22-38	25
30	Atlanta	22-39	31
31	Los Angeles	20-40	30
32	Kansas City	20-40	29

Can one of the surging teams catch Florida for #1? Check back for the next edition of the rankings after game 75!