Season 44 Power Ranking Volume #2

Teams	score	Notes
Milwaukee	3.4	Looks like the best overall team.  Had the best week too.
Jacksonville	3.45	Still ranking high because of their roster score, but that decreases in weight each week
Columbus	4.15	First in wins and expected winning percentage
Las Vegas	5.15	Slowed down a bit, but started so hot they are #4
San Francisco	6.45	Disappointing week, but still an elite team
Montgomery	7.8	Disappointing week, but still an elite team
New York	8.95	2nd best week.
Philadelphia	9	They just keep winning so they are probably good
Pawtucket	9.85	Starting to fall behind Jacksonville and Columbus
Toledo	10.2	Weirdly bad expected winning percentage so far
Los Angeles	11.6	My brother is moving to the LA area
Colorado	12.8	The expected winning percentage/actually winning percentage gap is enormous
Kansas City	13.2	Bad week for a top flight roster.
Jackson	14	I fail to understand how this team is winning so much.
San Juan	15.1	Overplaying their expected winning percentage
Honolulu	15.7	Fewest wins of any top half team
Richmond	15.9	The expected winning percentage/actually winning percentage gap is enormous
Helena	17	A middling team, but the '27 Yankees against Jacksonville
Pittsburgh	17.5	I'll soon have to concede they are actually good
Houston	17.6	The rebuild looks better every week
Montreal	20.2	I have nothing interesting to say
Boston	22.5	5 wins for the week.  Not good.
Durham	22.7	I like ham.  Not a big fan of Dur.
Florida	22.7	Stuck in neutral
Scottsdale	24.4	If this were RL, Finnski would be on the hot seat as this team is going the wrong way
Chicago	26.2	Fewest overall wins so far
Salt Lake City	26.2	I had a weirdly high number of conversations involving Salt Lake City this week
Oklahoma City	26.3	Made a lost of roster moves this week, but they still stunk
Toronto	26.4	The other 5 win team.  Worst in the league.
Oakland	26.7	Not the team they were a week ago
Cleveland	27.3	Made a lot of progress digging themselves out of a whole.
New Orleans	29.3	The team they were a week ago.

Season 44 AL North Preview

Montreal Shamrocks
jmercer77 

SEA 44 start:  12-10

The Good:  Well, the payroll has gotten down to $34MM (a good chunk of that is due Heath Dickerson - still a very good player who could be a pretty good trade chip) for a team that is starting a turnaround.  It's kind of a hodgepodge of 4A rookies and bargain FA's that has gotten  off to a pretty good start.  I thought we'd see Felix Cave (S40's #4 pick) at Game 20...no particular reason to keep him down another season and LF Brisker has just been injured.

The Bad:  With the aforementioned roster of 4A's and leftover FA's, I don't expect them to remain in contention, but let's enjoy the good start as long as it lasts.

The Ugly:  This is truly the start of a rebuild...actually, there's still some tearing down to be done and it just isn't going to be fun for awhile.

Predicted Record:  the good start helps...  67-105

Milwaukee Chedda
Zattack 
SEA 44 start: 13-9

The Good:  Elected to extend the contention window with FA signings of SS Raul Machi, P's Rymer Merced and Chad Reid, and OF Yoslan Goya.  Lots of guys with moderate power (9 with double figure homers last year, the big surprise being Bartolo Martin with 80 extra basehits).  The pro-con of the Pat Jodie trade is of course debatable, but it did bring in a good pitching prospect (Socks Jenkins, #19 in SEA 41), a good front-line starter in Stan Story, and another young SP in Chad Haynes.

The Bad:  I think they'll hold up this year but the truth is they're battling younger, more talented teams in Philly and KC, and the end of the contention window is coming.  

The Ugly:  Bartolo Martin's hitting ratings, especially for a DH (I guess contact matters after all) Amazingly, Martin OPS'd .852 last year.  His partial season in 42 (.671) and start this year (.723) are probably more suggestive of his LT output, but it's always nice to get an .852 season from a $4MM IFA.

Predicted Record: 90-72

Kansas City Jayhawks
dakar
SEA 44 start: 12-10

The Good:  Well, this team has arrived as a contender for the next decade.  Best catcher duo in Hobbs (Guerrier/Osuna).  Pretty good to excellent hitters at just about every position (especially where RF Harry Estrada will rebound from a mild sophomore slump).  Grade A defense overall, and especially at the really important positions (SS, 2B, 3B).  The staff was already pretty good, and will get a huge boost from James Haney and rookie Nicky Glaus (Season 40's #2 overall).  Happy Cepeda showed us what his career will look like last season with a 0.9 WHIP (!).

The Bad:  I guess you can find some if you really nit-pick.  Carlos Vincente is a nice pitcher but $12MM seems a little excessive for him.  Man, solid pitching staff.  Underwhelming start, as Haney and Vincente in particular have been terrible.

The Ugly:  What they're going to do to a lot of AL teams this year, although there are 3 really good teams in the North.

Predicted Record:  95-67

 
Philadelphia Erffdoggs
wholck 
SEA 43:  91-71

The Good: tied with Vegas for the best start in the AL at 15-7.  I love the young hitters Shea, Hughes and Urbina, although as a group they haven't started fast.  They'll improve as the season wears on.  The pitching staff, on the other hand, has started red-hot.

The Bad:  Thomas Alcantera is off to a shaky start (4.68 ERA) but when he gets it going it'll be bad news for the rest of the AL.  I've liked Alcantera and his four + pitches since he popped up on the IFA list in Season 38.

The Ugly: Even with Alcantera improving, this pitching staff will come back to earth.

Predicted Record:  Their hot start will make it a race with KC - 95-67

Season 44 Power Rankings

			Teams Rank win Ex rank score San Francisco 3 5 8 4.75 The defending NL Champ stands in poll position. Jacksonville 1 8 9 4.75 Not playing to their talent level.  Will drop fast of this continues Las Vegas 8 2 2 5 The best team so far, victim of the formula for now. Montgomery 2 5 13 5.5 Their expected winning percentage is a little concerning Milwaukee 4 8 11 6.75 Solid start Pawtucket 5 8 10 7 What Dakar said they would be so far. Columbus 12 1 4 7.25 First in wins so far Los Angeles 14 5 6 9.75 Solid start Philadelphia 21 2 1 11.25 Excellent so far.  Will rise to top 5 with another week like this one. Richmond 18 8 3 11.75 Their expected winning percentage says to expect the record to improve Kansas City 6 19 18 12.25 The delayed previews clearly was a distraction to the team Toledo 10 8 24 13 Weird start.  Not sure which direction they are going Colorado 11 25 5 13 Their expected winning percentage says they should be better Honolulu 13 8 19 13.25 Same as Toledo New York 7 24 15 13.25 Solid roster, crappy start Jackson 20 2 12 13.5 2nd in wins despite middling roster and expected winning percentage San Juan 9 15 22 13.75 I think they improve Boston 17 19 14 16.75 Boy he's fun even if his team stinks Pittsburgh 27 8 7 17.25 My spreadsheet hates their roster, but they  are Helena 19 21 16 18.75 The only thing hot is the team name Durham 16 25 26 20.75 I think they improve Montreal 23 15 24 21.25 Clearly into the rebuild Florida 22 21 20 21.25 They have a lot of players I like Toronto 25 15 21 21.5 I don't understand their team name Houston 28 15 17 22 They rebuild is starting to show fruit Chicago 15 30 30 22.5 They should be better Scottsdale 24 21 23 23 Its going to be a long season Oklahoma City 26 29 28 27.25 Blanch is one of the 10 best HBD players.  I can't figure why he can't turn around OKC Cleveland 30 27 29 29 Really bad in a great division Salt Lake City 32 27 27 29.5 Bad across the board New Orleans 29 31 31 30 Things are not looking good so far Oakland 31 32 32 31.5 0-20