86 wins and a wild card, plus a Cy Young for Jumbo Morris (18-6, 2.77 in 237 IP), a Silver Slugger for RF Royce Jordan (.302/44/108) and a Gold Glove for SS Don Coffey (.988 fielding %, 25-0 good/bad plays).
Offseason
Mostly budget bullpen-building (Ronald Hoover, Enerio Otanez and others), although they did step up a little to sign Glynn Howard. Acquired RP William Lui from Jackson for S46 IFA Miguel Melo ($500K) and RP Gil Clemens.
Outlook/Forecast
With hot starts by several pitchers, the St. Pats staff is leading the NL in ERA through 26 games. The lineup is also faring better than last year - 6th in runs compared to 8th last year. They've been a little unlucky with a .462 winning percentage versus an expected lofty .599. But they just lost Jordan for 60 games or so and are breaking out the white flag by advertising Morris, Chris Houston, and Bud Robbins. Don't do it, bluebaran! It's still a contending team that's performing well with only Robbins reaching age-declines. Robbins will be back later this year with just a couple of points off speed and range...go for it!
Offseason
6 offseason trades headlined by the acquisition of 1B Francisco Guerrero and 3B Chip Puffer from San Francisco. These moves combined with last year's promotions of Livan Lee and Jose Encarnacion have vaulted the Mounties into contention. Also shored up the lineup and defense with the FA signing of Darren Haren.
Outlook/Forecast
You have to like what they've done in the last year. The lineup was pretty good last year - 5th in runs - and added a top OBP man in Guerrero and solid bats in Puffer and Haren (and they're 3rd in runs so far this year). Pairing Encarnacion with Audry Rojas at the top of the rotation gives them perhaps the best 1-2 in the division (in a division where everybody's 1-2 is pretty good). But the rest of the staff is dreadful and will probably keep them out of the playoffs. Avery May and Jeffrey Anderson both appear to have some potential but have yet to put it together
Offseason
Looks like the biggest move was a defensive realignment. Chen moves to LF, where he's now a Silver Slugger + Gold Glove threat. Alex Kennedy move the 3B (where he's a plus defender and hitter) from SS (where he had 43 errors and bad plays last year), and Jose Rios (a true SS and not a bad hitter) takes over at SS. 3 defensive upgrades. RP Sam Teagarden moved on to Trenton on a mega-FA deal.
Outlook/Forecast
Will the defensive shifts make the pitching better? 3.79 ERA so far this year versus last year's 4.39, so the early trend looks good (with no apparent effect on the 3rd-ranked offense). The big question for New York is how the bullpen will hold up without Teagarden. So far the likes of Bradley, Rivera and Nixon are getting away with it. If they can keep it up they'll be formidable competition.
Offseason
Signed oft-injured but still dangerous Hong-Chih Park for a backup role and Rodney Roberts for very short relief. Not many changes needed nor made to a winning formula.
Outlook/Forecast
Stairs has opened the season among the league leaders in HR's and RBI's and is getting plenty of help from CF Harry Mota (.425 OBP), RF Chick Rosenthal (.306/8/12), and C Odrisamer Cortez (8 HR, 16 RBI). The pitchers, led by 1/2 starters Ryan Blackley ( 2-2, 2.93 ERA) and Jerad Jones (3-0, 2.87 ERA) are actually a little ahead of last year's pace (3.41 ERA vs. last year's 3.88).
Division Race
This may be our best bet for a real 4-team race...hence the admonitions for Toronto to hang in. Vancouver has to be considered the favorite, but I think New York's new defense will keep them battling for the top spot all year. Toronto and it's roster decisions are the wild card...I think they're capable of winning it if they hang in. Ottawa has the exciting youngsters and is on the ascent, but is another offseason of fixing the staff away from seriously contending.
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