Atlanta Fireballs owner: bencap
The Atlanta Fireballs are an organization loaded with top pitching prospects such as Theodore Becker , Emmanuel Goodwin , David Mercado , Rollie Florie , Howie Blake . We also have a couple of good hitting prospects in Earl Myers , Jesus Cabrera , Ryne Williams among others who should make the ML level team very good in 3-5 seasons. This franchise is setup for the long haul. At the ML level in season 1 the team will be led by players such as Mark Abbott Skeeter Bradford Jonathan Towers and Buck Meyers. Should be an interesting journey with this organization.
Tampa Bay Barracuda owner: pinotfan
The Tampa Bay Barracuda are looking forward to a challenging first season in the ULB. We are very happy with the coaching and scouting staffs we have assembled, and are already seeing benefits from our personnel.
Looking at a hefty salary that would consume over ten percent of our payroll, we decided to move slugging catcher Phil Pellow for three prospects: Chris Service, Doug McCall, and Brayan McGrady. All three were invited to Spring Training this year, and look very promising.
Spring Training batting standouts were AA League Catcher Ken Telford with 3 HR and 10 RBI and Rookie League SS P.J. Callaway who batted .375, both in extended action. Pitching stars were AAA Pitchers Joey Balester and Josias Reyes, both of whom logged double-digit innings with WHIPs under 1.00.
Unfortunately, on the last day of Spring Training top slugging first base prospect Ham Tam went down with an arm injury projected to sideline him for upwards of a year. Projected to make the jump from Rookie League to High A, Ham will instead be looking at a prolonged rehab assignment.
Star SS Valerio Ozuna will anchor the major league line-up, while the topic of many trade rumors, Ignacio Hernandez, is the team’s ace.
Charlotte Cavalry owner: mewis22
This franchise was tough to decide what my game plan would be. Mediocre offense with no real superstars in the BL offense, however my Rotation is one on the best. Anchored by two vets Wayne Vickers , Jimmie Aguilera and the Franchise Horacio Pineda . For as good as my rotation is, my bullpen is at the bottom. I predict I will be a 500 team. I'm excited for the future as I have a core of guys that I can build a nice team around. Yovani Rosado , Ruben Encarnacion and Spud Newman look to be my future stars on offense. Have some decent pitchers in the minors, Alfonso De La Vega looks to be my next star pitcher. I didn't get into the Trade frenzy like most did, but I do plan on making some deals. I'm sure there will be some teams making a push for the playoffs who need that one player to get you over the top, well I might have that guy..
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
NL West
Arizona Geckos owner: kennedrj
Arizona was blessed with a deeper farm system than major league roster. At the ML level, the Geckos have a respectable lineup, led by veterans Chip Herrera and Stew Dunston. However, the ML pitching cupboard was left bare for the Geckos, with the team having to plug pitching holes with three, count 'em, THREE rule five draft picks. The team's success this year will hinge on getting strong performances out of some uncertain pitching at the ML level.
Although not boasting any blockbuster stars-in-waiting there are several solid pitching prospects three or four years away from ML, led by Ubaldo DaSilva, Butch Pierce and Chad Murphy. There are also a stable of positional prospects, led by 3B Carmen Mitchell.
Las Vegas Daredevils owner: andersaa
The latest act on the Las Vegas Strip is the new baseball franchise the Daredevils.
They have their eyes set for the season 1 championship with future all-stars: Lou Dunn, a top notch 2B in his prime: Yeico Hernandez, a young power hitter that might take both the gold glove and Silver slugger at 3B; and Bernie Federowicz, a CF who will have fun in Vegas with 100 patience and no temper. In preliminary scouting they will surely take the NL West even with holes in pitching and the lack of a cleanup hitter. The pitching will get a lot better as soon as future ace Herb Stone is ML ready.
Oklahoma City Kingfishers owner: fishsqueeler
The Kingfishers has decided to go young. Really young. Waived most ML postion players and promote from within. They did not sign a single free agent or make a trade. Only future star in the field is 21 year-old 2B Aubrey Stottlemyre he will be an allstar in a year or two. The franchise was given the gift of pitching, and they have promoted all of that ptiching up to the ML level producing one of the best young rotations in the NL. 31 year-old Ace Alfredo Vargas will be the leader of this team, 26 year-old Jimmie Whitaker is decent but won’t get any better, 23 year-old Jimmie McGowan is ML-league ready and will get better; 25 year-old Seth Zimmermancould get really good, and 21 year-old Gus Ni will be a stud when he develops. The Kingfishers will win alot of low scoring games, and are looking forward to the 6th pick in the draft.
Salt Lake City Miners owner: zbinder
The initial prognosis for this team was "Cellar Dweller" so I immediately started trading off assets to cut payroll and build for the future. At some point, I started to feel like I could compete so I took on a contract and signed 2 free agents. The big problem the franchise faced was in the low minors. No talent was in the pipeline, so I've been working to trade AAA players and above for LowA and HighA players to ensure that a few years from now I'll have a few players to promote to the bigs.
Key Loss: Chien-Ming Meng - Trading him to CIN may turn out to be a huge mistake.
Key Additions: RF Willie Lopez
SS- Rob Melhuse
2B- Bobby Puffer
The additions of Lopez, Melhuse, and Puffer will allow the Miners to keep a few prospects in the minors for another season, giving the franchise control over the players for another year. These defensive additions hopefully will help shore up our pitching staff until our minor league talent gets promoted to the Bigs.
Outlook - If the cards fall right, we could be a few games over .500 and could possibly contend for a wild-card. But that's going to take some luck. Our goal is to play .500 baseball this year.
The Future - The following prospects are expecting promotion:
Lawrence Walker - (Season 2)
Arnold Papelbon - (Season 3)
Reagan Weiland - (Season 4)
Tony Epstein - (Season 5)
Arizona was blessed with a deeper farm system than major league roster. At the ML level, the Geckos have a respectable lineup, led by veterans Chip Herrera and Stew Dunston. However, the ML pitching cupboard was left bare for the Geckos, with the team having to plug pitching holes with three, count 'em, THREE rule five draft picks. The team's success this year will hinge on getting strong performances out of some uncertain pitching at the ML level.
Although not boasting any blockbuster stars-in-waiting there are several solid pitching prospects three or four years away from ML, led by Ubaldo DaSilva, Butch Pierce and Chad Murphy. There are also a stable of positional prospects, led by 3B Carmen Mitchell.
Las Vegas Daredevils owner: andersaa
The latest act on the Las Vegas Strip is the new baseball franchise the Daredevils.
They have their eyes set for the season 1 championship with future all-stars: Lou Dunn, a top notch 2B in his prime: Yeico Hernandez, a young power hitter that might take both the gold glove and Silver slugger at 3B; and Bernie Federowicz, a CF who will have fun in Vegas with 100 patience and no temper. In preliminary scouting they will surely take the NL West even with holes in pitching and the lack of a cleanup hitter. The pitching will get a lot better as soon as future ace Herb Stone is ML ready.
Oklahoma City Kingfishers owner: fishsqueeler
The Kingfishers has decided to go young. Really young. Waived most ML postion players and promote from within. They did not sign a single free agent or make a trade. Only future star in the field is 21 year-old 2B Aubrey Stottlemyre he will be an allstar in a year or two. The franchise was given the gift of pitching, and they have promoted all of that ptiching up to the ML level producing one of the best young rotations in the NL. 31 year-old Ace Alfredo Vargas will be the leader of this team, 26 year-old Jimmie Whitaker is decent but won’t get any better, 23 year-old Jimmie McGowan is ML-league ready and will get better; 25 year-old Seth Zimmermancould get really good, and 21 year-old Gus Ni will be a stud when he develops. The Kingfishers will win alot of low scoring games, and are looking forward to the 6th pick in the draft.
Salt Lake City Miners owner: zbinder
The initial prognosis for this team was "Cellar Dweller" so I immediately started trading off assets to cut payroll and build for the future. At some point, I started to feel like I could compete so I took on a contract and signed 2 free agents. The big problem the franchise faced was in the low minors. No talent was in the pipeline, so I've been working to trade AAA players and above for LowA and HighA players to ensure that a few years from now I'll have a few players to promote to the bigs.
Key Loss: Chien-Ming Meng - Trading him to CIN may turn out to be a huge mistake.
Key Additions: RF Willie Lopez
SS- Rob Melhuse
2B- Bobby Puffer
The additions of Lopez, Melhuse, and Puffer will allow the Miners to keep a few prospects in the minors for another season, giving the franchise control over the players for another year. These defensive additions hopefully will help shore up our pitching staff until our minor league talent gets promoted to the Bigs.
Outlook - If the cards fall right, we could be a few games over .500 and could possibly contend for a wild-card. But that's going to take some luck. Our goal is to play .500 baseball this year.
The Future - The following prospects are expecting promotion:
Lawrence Walker - (Season 2)
Arnold Papelbon - (Season 3)
Reagan Weiland - (Season 4)
Tony Epstein - (Season 5)
AL SOUTH
Houston Vultures owner: rebelt
Key Acquisitions:
3B Joakim Pescado (FA Signing)
OF Kevin Randolph (Trade)
Top prospects:
SS Dan Morgan C Brett Flair
RP Tony Hudson
Season outlook: Looking to contend, should be one of the better defenses in the league, pitching staff is a little weak at the bottom, not a ton of pop in the bats but hopefully enough!
Jacksonville Sharks owner: kp55
The Jacksonville Sharks team is what would of been the result if Rachel Phelps would have been successful in the movie Major League. She wanted to field a team so bad that it could move to Florida.
Well this is where we begin in Jacksonville. The baseball gods have dealt us a bad hand at the ML level. There is help coming, but the poor coaching staff will need to reach the 55 win mark to stay afloat until said help arrives.
Ace Royce Tannehill tested the free agent market forcing the Sharks to hand out the largest contract in the league. Hopefully he can anchor the pitching staff and team until the minor league help is ready for the show.
On second thought there isn't much help in the minors. This franchise we need to be built through the draft and free agency.
There were some head scratching trades early on, but team brass was shedding the larger contracts to be able to sign Royce Tannehill and to have a little flexibility in future years to add more free agent talent.
Kansas City Bolts owner: aaronwayne
Like everyone else, the KC Bolts really don't know what to expect in this first season of the ULB. They have some pieces that, at least on paper, appear to be very good ones, but also what they believe will be weaknesses.
Starting pitching depth at the ML and upper minors seems to be a key positive. Most of the ML rotation was arb. eligible types. Some were re-signed, others dealt to satisfy team needs. Most likely, 3 SP's that began the season in the minors, will join the rotation.
That rotation will be led by a very talented, but also a rookie, Jose Vazquez. Vazquez appears to have the potential that could anchor the rotation for the next 10 years. Alas, that's all it is at this point.
Wiley vet Quinton Leonard will be the #2 starter. While not doing any one thing great, Leonard does many things very well and should compliment the others starters. He is the elder statesmen of the rotation.
The others who will start, how many times depends on their effectiveness, are Markus Webb , Orber Aguilera , and Felipe Osoria or rookie Ron Mateo , who may start the year in AAA. Alex Masao is probably the top young arm in the minors, but he's a most likely a year or two away from joining the ML rotation.
While the rotation is young, most of the bullpen will be made up of veterans. Management isn't really high on most of these pitchers, but hope they hold together. Marvin Griffin is the best of the young arms in the minors and could find himself pitching in KC at some point during the season.
The lineup contains some really nice players that should be able to hit a bit, and play solid defense. Emilio Lee appears like a solid all around RF, and he'll be joined by Tommie Walker, picked up in a deal involving one of the young pitchers, and probably Scott Vaughn in CF. Vaughn's got the range, but his glove could prove to be an adventure in KC's spacious outfield. All 3 primary OF's have good range and can run a bit, so that should help.
The IF will be led by SS Virgil Guerrero. His defense won't be very good at SS, but hopefully his bat will pick up the slack. If he's really brutal at SS, a move to 2B or 3B could be in order. At 3B, vet Ernie Munson will provide very good defense w/ok hitting. He may end up at SS, despite the arm, but we'll see.
Japan's own all-star CF Dante Sasaki will bring his talents to the ULB and try to play 2B. His defense should be really good, but he'll have to hit in order to stay in the lineup...that could prove problematic. Rob Patrick gets to play first, but will be on a fairly short leash.
The Bolt's are going with a 22 year old rookie at C. Luis Siqueiros will be the primary C and he'll get rest by taking days off against lefties. So Taguchi's brother Eric: Eric Taguchi will be the DH.
The bench has a mix of speed and defense. Some interesting bat's in the minors that we'll see down the road are Hamish Simpson and Billy McNamara .
Bolt's fans think this team will be capable of putting together a good season, especially for KC standard's, but no one really knows. Management is cautiously optimistic, but is afraid the bullpen and lack of a really big power bat might sink the ship into the Missouri River.
The goal as we stand right now is about 85 wins...
Louisville Thoroughbreds owner: purplehaze54
Top ML players: Oswaldo Osoria - only 24yo, I think he's gonna be one of the premier pitchers for several years. Brian Rhodes - probably the mvp of this team; excellent fielder......not much of a hitter but with this team, he will be invaluable. Top prospects: Maverick Dunston - this guy is gonna score a lot of runs and steal a lot of bases. He may up in the bigs sooner than I want. Bobby Bechler - my team has no power, I think this guy will deliver along with my next pick. Lloyd Wells - another needed power hitter. These last 3 are probably my key additions and my losses are the prospects I had to trade to get some power and speed. All in all, I don't think I have a very good team, however; it's hard to tell with a new league start up. My initial plan was to trade for the future but when I was unable to "dump" some of my existing MLer's, I may use my prospects this year. I don't expect much - I just hope to be competitive - I think I'm looking at below .500 ball.
Key Acquisitions:
3B Joakim Pescado (FA Signing)
OF Kevin Randolph (Trade)
Top prospects:
SS Dan Morgan C Brett Flair
RP Tony Hudson
Season outlook: Looking to contend, should be one of the better defenses in the league, pitching staff is a little weak at the bottom, not a ton of pop in the bats but hopefully enough!
Jacksonville Sharks owner: kp55
The Jacksonville Sharks team is what would of been the result if Rachel Phelps would have been successful in the movie Major League. She wanted to field a team so bad that it could move to Florida.
Well this is where we begin in Jacksonville. The baseball gods have dealt us a bad hand at the ML level. There is help coming, but the poor coaching staff will need to reach the 55 win mark to stay afloat until said help arrives.
Ace Royce Tannehill tested the free agent market forcing the Sharks to hand out the largest contract in the league. Hopefully he can anchor the pitching staff and team until the minor league help is ready for the show.
On second thought there isn't much help in the minors. This franchise we need to be built through the draft and free agency.
There were some head scratching trades early on, but team brass was shedding the larger contracts to be able to sign Royce Tannehill and to have a little flexibility in future years to add more free agent talent.
Kansas City Bolts owner: aaronwayne
Like everyone else, the KC Bolts really don't know what to expect in this first season of the ULB. They have some pieces that, at least on paper, appear to be very good ones, but also what they believe will be weaknesses.
Starting pitching depth at the ML and upper minors seems to be a key positive. Most of the ML rotation was arb. eligible types. Some were re-signed, others dealt to satisfy team needs. Most likely, 3 SP's that began the season in the minors, will join the rotation.
That rotation will be led by a very talented, but also a rookie, Jose Vazquez. Vazquez appears to have the potential that could anchor the rotation for the next 10 years. Alas, that's all it is at this point.
Wiley vet Quinton Leonard will be the #2 starter. While not doing any one thing great, Leonard does many things very well and should compliment the others starters. He is the elder statesmen of the rotation.
The others who will start, how many times depends on their effectiveness, are Markus Webb , Orber Aguilera , and Felipe Osoria or rookie Ron Mateo , who may start the year in AAA. Alex Masao is probably the top young arm in the minors, but he's a most likely a year or two away from joining the ML rotation.
While the rotation is young, most of the bullpen will be made up of veterans. Management isn't really high on most of these pitchers, but hope they hold together. Marvin Griffin is the best of the young arms in the minors and could find himself pitching in KC at some point during the season.
The lineup contains some really nice players that should be able to hit a bit, and play solid defense. Emilio Lee appears like a solid all around RF, and he'll be joined by Tommie Walker, picked up in a deal involving one of the young pitchers, and probably Scott Vaughn in CF. Vaughn's got the range, but his glove could prove to be an adventure in KC's spacious outfield. All 3 primary OF's have good range and can run a bit, so that should help.
The IF will be led by SS Virgil Guerrero. His defense won't be very good at SS, but hopefully his bat will pick up the slack. If he's really brutal at SS, a move to 2B or 3B could be in order. At 3B, vet Ernie Munson will provide very good defense w/ok hitting. He may end up at SS, despite the arm, but we'll see.
Japan's own all-star CF Dante Sasaki will bring his talents to the ULB and try to play 2B. His defense should be really good, but he'll have to hit in order to stay in the lineup...that could prove problematic. Rob Patrick gets to play first, but will be on a fairly short leash.
The Bolt's are going with a 22 year old rookie at C. Luis Siqueiros will be the primary C and he'll get rest by taking days off against lefties. So Taguchi's brother Eric: Eric Taguchi will be the DH.
The bench has a mix of speed and defense. Some interesting bat's in the minors that we'll see down the road are Hamish Simpson and Billy McNamara .
Bolt's fans think this team will be capable of putting together a good season, especially for KC standard's, but no one really knows. Management is cautiously optimistic, but is afraid the bullpen and lack of a really big power bat might sink the ship into the Missouri River.
The goal as we stand right now is about 85 wins...
Louisville Thoroughbreds owner: purplehaze54
Top ML players: Oswaldo Osoria - only 24yo, I think he's gonna be one of the premier pitchers for several years. Brian Rhodes - probably the mvp of this team; excellent fielder......not much of a hitter but with this team, he will be invaluable. Top prospects: Maverick Dunston - this guy is gonna score a lot of runs and steal a lot of bases. He may up in the bigs sooner than I want. Bobby Bechler - my team has no power, I think this guy will deliver along with my next pick. Lloyd Wells - another needed power hitter. These last 3 are probably my key additions and my losses are the prospects I had to trade to get some power and speed. All in all, I don't think I have a very good team, however; it's hard to tell with a new league start up. My initial plan was to trade for the future but when I was unable to "dump" some of my existing MLer's, I may use my prospects this year. I don't expect much - I just hope to be competitive - I think I'm looking at below .500 ball.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)