Saturday, December 5, 2009

Season 7 Preview - American League

Ronny Longs the Baseball Swami

American League

Overview: The New York Pride of the Yankees have owned the American League for the past two seasons, but their precious World Series Trophy is no longer residing in New York, having been taken by Cincinnati.  You can be sure that the Pride will once again be contenders for the pennant, but they will have stiff competition as the AL is deep with quality teams, including the always tough Houston Space Cowboys, Little Rock N' Rollas, Atlanta Expos, and Tucson Tornados.  Not far behind them are a slew of up and coming teams that could force a change in the playoff picture at the end of the season.  But for Ronny's money, the AL pennant will probably go to one of the aforementioned squads.  Also it has to be mentioned that during Ronny's perusal for predictions, it became immediately apparent that the American League is currently much deeper in talent than the National League.

Projected Cy Young: Chris Pendleton - Atlanta Expos
Projected MVP: Rafael Benitez - Durham Radicals
Projected Fireman of the Year: Thumper Carpenter - Detroit Dirt Dogs
Projected Rookie of the Year: Jumbo Almanzar - Little Rock N' Rollas

Top Five Rotations in the American League
1. Atlanta Expos
2. Houston Space Cowboys
3. Boston Massacre
4. New York Pride of the Yankees
5. Little Rock N' Rollas

Top Five Lineups in the American League
1. Tucson Tornados
2. New York Pride of the Yankees
3. Little Rock N' Rollas
4. Durham Radicals
5. Houston Space Cowboys

Top Five Bullpens in the American League
1. Little Rock N' Rollas
2. New York Pride of the Yankees

3. Houston Space Cowboys

4. Detroit Dirt Dogs

5. San Francisco Hammer'd Leprechauns

Top Five Benches in the American League
1. Little Rock N' Rollas
2. Boston Massacre
3. San Francisco Hammer'd Leprechauns
4. Tucson Tornados
5. Houston Space Cowboys

Top Three Offseason Free Agent Signings
1. Rusty Warden - Boston Massacre
2. Carl Watkins - Tucson Tornados
3. Rey Pong - Burlington Huskies

Four Teams on the Rise:
1. Durham Radicals
2. Boston Massacre
3. Kansas City Tweakers
4. Detroit Dirt Dogs

Two Teams on the Decline
1. Austin Rock Stars
2. Vancouver Canucks

Five prospects who could make a difference if called up this season
1. Willy Seay - Boston Massacre
2. Dennis Gulan - Kansas City Tweakers
3. Fernando Cairo - Kansas City Tweakers
4. Marc Ogawa - Tacoma Termites
5. Miguel Lee - Tucson Tornados

Projected finishes, by division:


AL North
New York Pride of the Yankees - 98-64
Tacoma Termites - 84-78
Detroit Dirt Dogs - 84-78
Scranton Meal Ticket - 52-110

AL East
Atlanta Expos -  95-67
Boston Massacre - 88-74
Burlington Huskies - 85-77
Durham Radicals - 80-82

AL South
Little Rock N' Rollas -100-62
Houston Space Cowboys - 98-64
Austin Rock Stars - 74-88
Charlotte Bandits - 51-111

AL West
San Francisco Hammer'd Leprechauns - 90-72
Tucson Tornados - 88-74
Kansas City Tweakers - 81-81
Vancouver Canucks - 71-91

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Season 7 Preview - National League

Ronny Longs the Baseball Swami

Season seven in Cobbfather is upon us, and the question in the National League is, "Is there anybody who can possibly overtake Rochester?"  In Swami Longs opinion, the answer is a firm no.  But just to be fair he's going to preview everyone else anyways so they can see how far they are behind what is undoubtedly the top team in the league.  So without further ado, here are the Swami's predictions.

National League

Overview: The National League, which had been pretty competitive for the first five seasons of Cobbfather met a new Lord and Master last year when Rochester totally took off and owned the regular season, and several past powerhouses, notably Sacramento, took a major step backwards.  But for all their regular season prowess, the Rolling Rocks turned sour like old beer in a green bottle in the playoffs, losing to the surprise world champion Cincinnati Red Stockings.  Now the Red Stockings probably take offense to Ronny basically dismissing them and every other NL team, but unless they can get Rochester in a short series slump, on paper there is no question who's boss.

Projected Cy Young: Pepper Boyer - Rochester Rolling Rocks
Projected MVP: Bill Everhart -Rochester Rolling Rocks
Projected Fireman of the Year: Sammy Felix - Sacramento Fighting Cornish Hens
Projected Rookie of the Year: Ollie Brock -Sacramento Fighting Cornish Hens

Top Five Rotations in the National League
1. Rochester Rolling Rocks
2. Nashville Mayhem
3. Jackson Rockets
4. Sacramento Fighting Cornish Hens
5. Dover Diamond Dogs

Top Five Lineups in the National League
1. Rochester Rolling Rocks
2. Sacramento Fighting Cornish Hens
3. Jackson Rockets
4. Nashville Mayhem
5. Syracuse Sycophants

Top Five Bullpens in the National League
1. Sacramento Fighting Cornish Hens
2. Jackson Rockets
3. Charleston Chew
4. Nashville Mayhem
5. Rochester Rolling Rocks

Top Five Benches in the National League
1. Sacramento Fighting Cornish Hens
2. Dover Diamond Dogs
3. Nashville Mayhem
4. Charleston Chew
5. Rochester Rolling Rocks

Top Three Offseason Free Agent Signings
1. Moises Terrero - Syracuse Sycophants
2. Andre Moss - New York Primetimers
3. Junior Koh - Portland Beavers

Six Teams on the Rise:
1. Portland Beavers
2. Cincinnati Red Stockings
3. Honolulu Haoles
4. Sacramento Fighting Cornish Hens
5. Los Angeles Lunatics
6. Cheyenne Chiefs

Two Teams on the Decline
1. San Juan Chinchillas
2. Jackson Rockets

Five prospects who could make a difference if called up this season
1. Vasco Unamuno - Buffalo Bisons
2. Vic Costilla - Cheyenne Chiefs
3. Mark Randall - Dover Diamond Dogs
4. Joseph Hyun - Honolulu Haoles
5. Chip James - San Juan Chinchillas

Projected finishes, by division:


NL North
Rochester Rolling Rocks - 111-51
Syracuse Sycophants - 84-78
Ottawa Lineman - 74-88
Portland Beavers - 68-94

NL East
New York Primetimers -  86-76
Cincinnati Red Stockings - 84-78
Dover Diamond Dogs - 81-81
Buffalo Bisons - 80-82

NL South
Nashville Mayhem - 96-66
Jackson Rockets - 94-68
Charleston Chew - 88-74
San Juan Chinchillas - 79-83

NL West
Sacramento Fighting Cornish Hens - 97-65
Honolulu Haoles - 85-77
Los Angeles Lunatics - 81-81
Cheyenne Chiefs - 75-87