Next up is the National League North Division. Well Rochester has dominated the division in the past season, and this year will be no different. Rochester made a few trades this off season. They gave up Tony Suh (C) , Franciso Baez OF, J.R. Haas IF/OF, Hideo Kwon IF/OF, Joey Gilkey P. In exchange they got 2 studs...Bill Everhart and Dan Carter. They also got Barry Carew(P) and journeyman Nick Burnett. Rochester made their line-up even that much more potent with the additions of Dan Carter and Bill Everhart. There is no doubt they will dominate their division, the only question is : How much will they win it by?
Ottawa did little to widen the gap between Rochester and the rest of the division. They did acquire a couple bullpen arms from Boise. I see no difference in this season than last for Ottawa. They are in for another long, frustrating year in the N.L. North.
Wichita is in the same boat as Ottawa this season. They did little to help that in the off season. I think they will finish ahead of Ottawa, but way behind Rochester in the division. They as well will be in for a long season this year.
Syracuse did the most in the off season to try and compete with Rochester. They did manage to sign 6 Free Agents, 2 of them pitchers. They signed Lorraine,James,Deleon, and Durbin to help their ML roster. They also signed starter Velendia and reliever Tamura to help the out in the pitching department. As a reward, they will probably come finish second in the division. Here are the predictions
Rochester 106-56
Syracuse 68-94
Wichita 61-101
Ottawa 54-108