Fair Play Committee Members

Bulls7210, Jweatherman, Rds_lsu, Ttnorm and Quebec.

Commissioner: Harkov

Thursday, May 29, 2008

AL West Preview

Kansas City Grillers
Last Season: (1st Place)
Manager: drsnell (1st season)

Key Acquisitions: C Dave Carson (FA – DC); P Rock Clayton (FA – LOU)
Key Losses: P Keith Hardtke (FA – SA); P Jayson Harrison; P Victor Canseco (FA – CHI); C Duke Thompson (FA – PHI)

Synopsis:
In Season 7, Kansas City continued to reign supreme over the AL West winning their 4th consecutive division title under 2 managers. They look to continue their dominance under new manager drsnell.

A powerful lineup returns almost completely intact and showcases powerful bats top to bottom. Einar Candelaria (.296, 42, 132), Charles Regan (.320, 43, 144), Lariel Martin (.294, 33, 118) are one of the league’s most productive infields. Outfielers Alfredo Woolf (.346, 11, 70, 55 SB), Javier Rosado (.262, 15, 56), and Javier Macias (.299, 13, 69) supply even more pop.

On the mound Russ Jerchower leads the starters, while the Grillers hope Billy Daniels can regain his past form. Jerome Peterson is still one of the top closers in the American League.

Proj. Lineup:
C: Dave Carson
1B: Einar Candelaria
2B: Ben Darwin
3B: Charles Regan
SS: Lariel Martin
LF: Alfredo Woolf
CF: Javier Macias
RF: Javier Rosado
DH: Lyle Beck

5 Key Pitchers:
SP Russ Jerchower
SP Keith Bennett
SP Billy Daniels
RP Jerome Peterson
RP/SP Aaron Glass

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Honolulu Dashboard Hula Dolls
Last Season: 78-84 (2nd Place)
Manager: jweatherman (7th season overall, 2nd with team)

Key Acquisitions: RF Rob Sweeney (Trade – POR)
Key Losses: DH Rickey Baez (Trade – POR); CF David Chang; RF Norm Aldridge; 1B Octavio Infante; SP Rod Bennett (FA-SC); RP Eddie Waltman (FA – DOV)

Synopsis:
Fresh off their best record in 4 seasons, the Dashboard Hula Dolls look to continue building momentum in Season 8.

Success this season will begin and end on the mound. Unfortunately, that’s where a bulk of the question marks also lie. The rotation is anchored by Eddie Baker, who entrenched himself as one of the AL’s top starting pitchers last season (13-12, 10 CG, 3.72 ERA, 1.26 WHIP). Behind Baker is crafty lefthander Bruce Wells, who pitched well after being acquired mid-season from St. Louis. The bullpen stabilized itself near the end of the season with a back-end of Donald Choi, Dave Griffith, Jimmie Mateo and Matt Mullaney all stepping into their own.

Offensively, Honolulu’s biggest weakness is inconsistency so management brought in RF Rob Sweeney (.272, 26, 89) from Portland and claimed 1B Adrian Parker (.262, 11, 45) off late-season waivers in hopes of generating regular run production. Rookies Darrin Beam, Fernando Matos, Nicholas Lemon and Jimmie Flores are ones to watch.

Proj. Lineup
C: Fernando Matos
1B: Adrian Parker
2B: Pascual Guzman
3B: Alex Woo
SS: Chris Peterson
LF: Darrin Beam/Jimmie Flores
CF: Nicholas Lemon
RF: Rob Sweeney
DH: James O’Connor

5 Key Pitchers:
SP Eddie Baker
SP Bruce Wells
RP Jimmie Mateo
RP Dave Griffith
RP Matt Mullaney

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Arizona Rattlers
Last Season: 71-91 (3rd Place)
Manager: Fantasy Frea (2nd season)

Key Acquisitions:
Key Losses: P Raul Polanco

Synopsis:
The Rattlers look to bounce back from a disappointing second half of Season 7, which saw them go from division contenders to a 3rd place finish. They took great steps to improve their lineup and power potential by adding free agents Jason Nunnally, Will Lansing and Kevin Martin (.272, 34, 95).

The key to Arizona’s season is oft-injured Ronnie Field. When he’s healthy, he’s a great arm at the top of the rotation. If manager Fantasy Frea can find a solid bullpen rotation to compliment Field and his fellow starters Arizona should be a team to watch in the division race.

Proj. Lineup:
C: Benny Knoblauch
1B: Jason Nunnally
2B: Carl Cornelius
3B: Archie Lyons
SS: Jimmie Wilfredo
LF: Kevin Martin
CF: Will Lansing
RF: Bob Flores/Troy Shelley
DH: Lou Washington

5 Key Pitchers:
SP Ronnie Field
SP Carlos Valdes
SP/RP Jamey Jackson
RP Luis Prieto
RP Gregory Hart

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Salt Lake City Sea Monkeys
Last Season: 55-107 as Seattle Sentinels (4th Place)
Manager: psanders84 (2nd season overall, first season since #)

Key Acquisitions: 2B Ismael Iglesias (FA-BUR)
Key Losses: P Ron Tucker (FA – SC); OF Peter Allen (FA – BOS)

Synopsis:
Psanders84 returns for a second stint with the franchise currently in Salt Lake City. Even though they are coming off a 4th place finish, the cupboard is far from bare. SP Rafael Morales (7-10, 5.14 ERA, 1.42 WHIP) is one of the best young arms in the game and Pascual Frias (31/37 save opps) has been a consistently solid reliever for several seasons.

A young lineup should be able to score regularly, even with rumors that veteran slugger Louis McCartin (.282, 29, 119) may be on the trade block. The trick for this squad is to improve pitching depth, that means Javier Trevino and Rich Bell need to earn their salaries.

Proj. Lineup:
C: Pascual Viriato/Jimmy Ramsey
1B: Al Tavarez
2B: Felipe Andujar
3B: Richard Little
SS: Raul Cedeno
LF: Ismael IglesiasCF: Jerry Carter
RF: Louis McCartin
DH: Joe Simon


5 Key Pitchers
SP Rafael Morales
SP Javier Trevino
RP Pascual Frias
RP Frank Rapp
SP/RP Rich Bell

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