Sunday, February 28, 2016

AL East Season 30 Preview




Huntington Fire Blitz
steelforge
Season 29: 90--72, won Division, reached AL Play-in DS & lost to New Orleans

"Breakthrough" Means:  Making the World Series.  Huntington will win this division by 20 games and probably at least 100 games.  They have it all.

To Do That They Have To:  Show up and get a little lucky.  They match up well with any other AL team.  

This Team Is Built On:  A bushel of stars.  
B.C. Alfonzo, Lewis Gilkey, Tommy Webster, Hanley Welsh, Kurt Marte, Mark Martin, Shane Philips and Fausto Rodriguez.  The players listed in my previews aren't random.  They are above a certain number on my rating scale Huntington has the most of any team I reviewed.

Player to Watch:  Fausto Rodriguez.  No good reason except he is one of my favorite players.  If I had him he'd be closing for me that moment.

Trades traded ML SP Ramiro Lira for ML IF/CF Bobby Michaels
traded ML RP Enerio Tatis for MiL IF/CF Hanley Chase and MiL RP Wally Amaya
traded MiL C Ken Jay, MiL 2B Steve Moses, and ML SP Kevin Hong for ML RP Fausto Rodriguez
traded ML C Ismael Vidal for ML OF Hanley Welsh 

Free Agent Signings
RP Kurt Marte, 3B Oswaldo Alberro, C Jerry Nicholson, RP Mark Martin, 2B/OF Lewis Gilkey





Burlington Dark Monsters
doume
Season 29:  79-83

"Breakthrough" Means:  Making the playoffs.  My favorite line in Clueless is when Alicia Silverstone's Cher calls the late Brittney Murphy's Tai "not completely unfortunate".  The Dark Monsters are the same.  They have perhaps the league's best player and a lineup that will score some runs, but not nearly enough pitching.  I'd predict a WC #2 for the team, but what is this, Kentucky? 

To Do That They Have To:  Get pitching.  If this team goes 70-92 its because their team ERA is 5.00.  They'll score runs, but can they prevent them?

This Team Is Built On:  My not-so-secret boyfriend 
Joshua Monahan.  He's amazing.

Player to Watch:  Bernard Clifton.  Monahan will do his Superman thing, but Clifton will need to put up 800 OPS with steals to give Burlington to compete.

Free Agent Signings
SP Tony Duran







Chicago Capone's
akresser                              ** NEW OWNER **
Season 29:  76-86

"Breakthrough" Means:  AKresser comes back for a second season.  The rebuild since the surprise World Series title has been uneven and Chicago just doesn't have enough pitching. and only Addison Oropesa and Pasqual Hernandez really excite me.

To Do That They Have To:  They aren't projected to be terrible, just a little hopeless. If things go well, they stay healthy, and they get a little lucky in the draft/IFA they could have something to build on.

This Team Is Built On:  time.  I don't have a lot here. 

Player to Watch:  Addison Oropesa is fantastic.  He's going to be an all-star multiple times in his career.



Trades
traded IF/CF Freddie Suzuki for IF/CF Tony Veras
traded ML SP William Mather and ML OF Manny Saitou for SP Carter Robinson and MiL 1B Gaylord McIntosh  

Free Agent Signings
RP Alvin Timlin, OF Vlaidmir Henriquez, SP Doug Kaline, SS Yordano Mota, SS Michael Keisler, SP Groucho Donovan, SP Steve Lohse







Indianapolis Started from the Bottom
iain                                                                  ** NEW OWNER **               
Season 29:  52-110

"Breakthrough" Means:  A winning season.  This is in better shape than one might think. . .alright than I thought right off.  They lack of depth of quality players you'd like to see in a team that would make the playoffs, but 75-87 is a very reasonable expectation.

To Do That They Have To:  Their key players 
Darren Walton, Lou Donald, and Davey Rogers will really need to perform.  David Jimenez and Edgar Martin are good bats that will need to give an OPS well into the 800's.

This Team Is Built On: a foundation of losing.  16 straight losing seasons to be exact.  Eventually you put together enough draft picks to really have something.  Most of the best players on Bottoms are 25 or less.

Player to Watch:  Darren Walton is ready explode.  He could win the MVP this year with a little luck.  Superstud.


Trades
traded ML DH Vicente Rodriguez +$4.5MM for MiL SS Derek Cammack
traded MiL IF Miguel Ramirez for ML C Pablo Rosado, MiL 2B/CF Matt Buddie, and MiL 1B Bruce Klingenbeck
traded MiL IF Bucky Witt and MiL OF Alexei Megias for ML SP Shawn McIntyre
traded MiL 1B Hector Bryant, MiL C Avisail Flores, and MiL CF/2B Matt Buddie for ML SP Lariel Vazquez
traded ML OF Hanley Welsh for ML C Ismael Vidal
traded ML OF/1B Timothy Denham for MiL RP Felix Figueroa
traded MiL IF/CF Matt Hunter for ML CF Ezequiel Neruda

Free Agent Signings
RP Haywood Valdes

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