Season 19 Midseason Power Rankings

Leon Jackson - Senior Writer - Cobbfather Post Gazette

We're at the halfway point of Season 19, and it's time for another update to the power rankings.  There seems to be a lot of parity this season, no one team has stood out thus far.  The top 4 in this edition of the power rankings were neck and neck, and then there was a bit of a drop off.  Little Rock was the top team in the previous power rankings.  While their offense remains extremely dominant, they only went 22-19 since the quarter season rankings, which isn't enough to hold on to the top spot.  For the top spot, pitching has overtaken offense, and Pittsburgh and their dominant pitching staff is your new top team!  Here are the full rankings at the halfway point of Season 19.

	Team	W	L	PREV	Comments
1	Pittsburgh	49	32	4	Pitching is dominant, and offense is holding their own
2	Kansas City	50	31	12	Best record in the world in the last quarter
3	Little Rock	47	34	1	Best offense by far, but fell off a bit the last quarter
4	Colorado Springs	49	32	7	Good balance of pitching and offense
5	Boise	48	33	2	Still doing well, but pitching fell off a bit
6	Dover	48	33	8	Holding steady, hasn't been able to break out yet
7	El Paso	43	38	15	Pitching has really stepped it up in the last quarter
8	Boston	46	35	13	Nice run as of late, if pitching gets it together, look out
9	Burlington	43	38	21	Big jump here, numbers have greatly improved overall
10	Buffalo	47	34	5	Offense fell off a bit, but pitching is still dominant
11	Cleveland	46	35	10	Holding steady, great offense but pitching not good
12	Vancouver	45	36	9	Fantastic offense, but pitching not coming through
13	Minnesota	42	39	11	Fell off a bit, but numbers look good
14	Detroit	41	40	17	Pitching has been better as of late
15	Austin	41	40	26	Hugh improvement in pitching and offense is better too
16	Durham	45	36	6	Pitching actually held steady, offense dropped a bit
17	Omaha	42	39	19	Tremendous pitching, but offense is not producing
18	Tampa Bay	39	42	3	Horrible since last rankings, offense really took a dive
19	Arizona	38	43	24	Playing well in last 41, pitching really improved
20	Los Angeles	42	39	16	Strong pitching, but offense is pretty weak
21	New York (AL)	38	43	27	Nice improvement across the board since last rankings
22	Syracuse	38	43	14	Numbers steady, but bad last 41, tough luck?
23	Texas	36	45	31	Tremendous improvement, numbers improved massively
24	St. Louis	37	44	18	Pitching took a bit of a downturn since last rankings
25	Atlanta	34	47	20	Offense hasn't been producing as of late
26	Honolulu	42	39	23	Getting it done, but numbers seem low for the record
27	Charlotte	37	44	25	Improvement in pitching is a good sign
28	Seattle	31	50	32	Showing signs of life after horrendous start
29	New York (NL)	35	46	22	Really struggling as of late, especially pitching
30	Washington	24	57	29	Still underperfoming a bit, but pitching took a hit
31	Colorado	23	58	28	Their pitching is getting absolutely crushed
32	Florida	30	51	30	Numbers on offense are totally horrendous

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!