Season 32 Power Rankings #1

We're out of the gate in Season 32, and at the point where it's time for the first power rankings of the season!  And there's a new #1!  Salem is the team out of the gate the fastest posting the best offensive numbers, as well as solid pitching to claim the top spot.  Texas is a very close #2 and off to a very good start, sporting Cobbfather's best pitching staff.  Surging up an incredible 20 spots to #3 is Pawtucket, with Cheyenne coming in at #4, and although they have the best record, Florida is #5.  No disrespect, although they probably don't want the top spot, as they have fallen prey to the #1 team jinx in the past!   Let's take a look at the biggest climbers and biggest falls since the preseason rankings.

Biggest Climbers: #3 Pawtucket (+20), #12 Trenton (+16), #11 Fargo (+11), #21 Detroit (+11), #9 Los Angeles (+10)

Biggest Falls: #27 Vancouver (-19), #15 Atlanta (-13), #20 Monterrey (-11), #23 Dover (-11), #28 Boston (-11)

Here are the complete rankings, good luck!

					Pitching	Offense
	Team	W	L	PREV	Rank	Rank
1	Salem	28	13	4	6	1
2	Texas	27	14	1	1	4
3	Pawtucket	28	13	23	4	10
4	Cheyenne	25	16	5	11	2
5	Florida	31	10	6	9	9
6	Montgomery	24	17	3	12	8
7	Cincinnati	26	15	13	14	5
8	Las Vegas	24	17	11	8	16
9	Los Angeles	21	20	19	2	19
10	Cleveland	21	20	14	7	25
11	Fargo	22	19	22	5	26
12	Trenton	23	18	28	3	31
13	San Francisco	21	20	21	28	5
14	New York (NL)	22	19	10	17	19
15	Atlanta	17	24	2	27	3
16	Buffalo	20	21	18	15	17
17	Salt Lake City	20	21	7	13	24
18	Charleston	19	22	27	22	17
19	New York (AL)	21	20	16	21	26
20	Monterrey	18	23	9	19	12
21	Detroit	18	23	32	16	23
22	Richmond	18	23	26	23	15
23	Dover	18	23	12	25	10
24	St. Louis	17	24	15	10	30
25	Milwaukee	20	21	20	24	19
26	Charlotte	20	21	25	26	22
27	Vancouver	14	27	8	29	7
28	Boston	18	23	17	30	12
29	Houston	16	25	31	20	29
30	Portland	12	29	30	18	32
31	Iowa City	18	23	24	31	28
32	Colorado Springs	9	32	29	32	14

Season 32 Preseason Power Rankings

The offseason is complete, spring training is in full swing, so it's time to check in with the Preseason Power Rankings!  At #1, it's rankings favorite Texas once again, who by far and away has the best pitching staff on paper.  At #2, it's Atlanta, who had an off year in Season 31, but their offense ranks #1 in our formula, and they have some fantastic starting pitching too.  Defending champ Montgomery checks in at #3, looking to lead the way again in the NL this season.  AL powerhouses Salem and Cheyenne round out the top 5.

It looks to be another competitive season here in Cobbfather, last season 3 different teams held the #1 ranking for the first time since Season 20.  So it looks like other teams are catching up to the usual suspects, who look strong nonetheless.  Good luck to everyone this season, here are the complete rankings!

				Starting	Relief
		Season 31		Pitching	Pitching	Hitting	Fielding
	Team	W	L	Rank	Rank	Rank	Rank
1	Texas	109	53	1	1	6	1
2	Atlanta	89	73	3	28	1	11
3	Montgomery	105	57	16	2	3	4
4	Salem	94	68	2	7	9	4
5	Cheyenne	104	58	7	19	2	4
6	Florida	104	58	4	17	5	16
7	Salt Lake City	92	70	8	4	12	4
8	Vancouver	81	81	13	6	7	19
9	Monterrey	67	95	22	22	4	27
10	New York (NL)	87	75	5	20	21	23
11	Las Vegas	86	76	23	10	10	19
12	Dover	85	77	12	5	18	23
13	Cincinnati	79	83	10	25	13	30
14	Cleveland	92	70	14	15	15	11
15	St. Louis	71	91	15	8	20	4
16	New York (AL)	90	72	19	12	16	19
17	Boston	72	90	28	18	8	23
18	Buffalo	84	78	24	27	11	23
19	Los Angeles	65	97	21	16	18	19
20	Milwaukee	74	88	25	13	17	1
21	San Francisco	68	94	27	11	14	32
22	Fargo	82	80	18	14	24	16
23	Pawtucket	92	70	6	3	29	9
24	Iowa City	70	92	9	32	26	11
25	Charlotte	60	102	20	24	25	29
26	Richmond	81	81	28	29	23	1
27	Charleston	74	88	11	23	30	16
28	Trenton	69	93	17	29	28	28
29	Colorado Springs	69	93	32	9	22	11
30	Portland	54	108	31	31	27	11
31	Houston	61	101	26	26	31	30
32	Detroit	82	80	30	21	32	9

Season 32 Offseason Free Agency Tracker

Season 32 is upon us, and the free agency signing period is in full swing!  Although it's a pretty underwhelming free agent class that lacks star power, there's still some good players to be had!  Check back here periodically to see where all the top free agents land this offseason!

				Old	New	Contract
Rank	Player	Pos	Age	Team	Team	Amount	Years
1	Thomas Lyon	SP	31	BUF	MIL	$47.5 M	5
	Comments: Very reliable workhorse, but not a typical #1 FA staff ace
2	Paul Burroughs	SP	31	NY1	CLE	$20.0 M	3
	Comments: Lacks stamina, and splits are just ok, but rest of his ratings are great
3	Walker Houston	LF	28	CHY	ATL	$11.7 M	3
	Comments: Great splits, elite batting eye and speed with some power, and only 28
4	Enrique Garces	LF	34	ATL	STL	$19.4 M	4
	Comments: He's aging, but still outstanding all-around, so he's still a very good asset
5	Ed Flair	RP	27	NY1	PAW	$50.5 M	5
	Comments: Elite control and RH split, and nice stamina for a RP, and age is a plus
6	Skip Martin	3B	31	DOV	MIL	$22.3 M	3
	Comments: Gold Glove caliber 3B with nice power, but low RH split and batting eye
7	Jesus Sanchez	SP	31	DET	TRE	$61.1 M	5
	Comments: Another reliable, but not ace starter, great control with mediocre splits
8	Michael Mancuso	C	30	TRE	MTY	$26.1 M	4
	Comments: Good bat and serviceable as a C with a nice track record of past success
9	Erubiel Sosa	LF	33	RIC	CLE	$5.8 M	2
	Comments: Great speed/BR combo with nice splits, but lacks power for a LF type
10	Danny McPherson	RP	30	BOS	BOS	$1.0 M	1
	Comments: Seems to be underperforming his ratings, so there could be some upside
11	Harvey Talbot	3B	32	STL	ATL	$8.8 M	2
	Comments: Passable as a 3B and a solid hitter with nice career numbers at the plate
12	Kevin Thurman	RP	28	BUF	BUF	$1.2 M	1
	Comments: Extremely durable reliever, weak RH split hasn't hurt his numbers so far
13	Stan Ford	LF	31	LV	LV	$1.8 M	1
	Comments: Solid all-around hitter who should put up decent numbers and a good LF
14	Willie Guerrero	SP	34	CHR	SAL	$3.8 M	1
	Comments: Pretty good ratings across the board, although low stamina will limit IP
15	Alex Alfonzo	RP	38	LV	LV	$13.0 M	2
	Comments: The ageless wonder still looks strong and could be a top setup guy again
16	Alving Henriquez	2B	28	TEX	BOS	$2.5 M	1
	Comments: Was mostly a bench player for a loaded TEX squad, but could start
17	Sid Townsend	RP	34	SLC	LV	$13.8 M	3
	Comments: Ratings are good across the board, could be a good closer type
18	Doc Kramer	RP	30	CLE	MTY	$22.5 M	3
	Comments: Plus ratings and splits, throws hard, although pitches don't rate high
19	Jiggs Schwartz	2B	30	CSP	CSP	$19.4 M	4
	Comments: Excellent fielding 2B with a good batting eye and decent speed
20	Zephyr Field	3B	28	MTY	ATL	$6.8 M	2
	Comments: Decent hitting ratings across the board, and looks to be solid in the field.
21	Al Albaladejo	RF	30	NY2	FAR	$1.0 M	1
	Comments: Elite batting eye, but lacking power for a corner OF, still solid though
22	Larry Sisco	RP	27	LA	CLE	$4.8 M	2
	Comments: Could be a useful RP, weak RH split is a concern, but solid otherwise
23	Dario Priest	RF	29	LV	SAL	$3.8 M	2
	Comments: Speedy RF with great range, but questionable glove for CF
24	Santiago Arroyo	C	33	FLA	ATL	$3.2 M	2
	Comments: Pretty solid defensively as a catcher and a plus-plus batting eye as well
25	Matty Gonzales	SP	30	IA	CHA	$16.2 M	3
	Comments: Interesting SP that keeps the ball down, but weak control is a concern

Season 31 Wrap Up - Montgomery Takes it All!

Montgomery Mayhem (NL) jake72 View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Montgomery is your Season 31 Champion!

Montgomery, who emerged as the dominant team in the NL this season, capped off a fantastic regular season with a 5 game series win over Texas to take the Season 31 crown.  Montgomery won the final four games of the series, giving the franchise their 1st World title.  Montgomery sported a well-balanced attack all season, finishing in the top 5 in both pitching and offense.  That certainly continued in the postseason, as they belted 26 Home Runs in 13 games, good for a .860 team OPS and also posted a 3.54 ERA.  It was a truly impressive run as Montgomery went 11-2 this postseason after winning 105 regular season games.

Runner-up Texas posted similar impressive offensive numbers in the postseason, but the pitching fell off in the World Series after an impressive run through the AL playoffs against some tough competition.  Still a great season for them, nonetheless.

That does it for Season 31, see you back for Season 32 after we fill a few openings!