Louisville Lions 1st A.L. East Last Season: 101-61
The Lion's franchise is under new management, fencer024, and they have big shoes to fill as the old management has won the Division title the last 4 seasons. New owner, fencer024, has been busy moving pieces around with 3 trades to date. The Lions have starting pitchers Jeremy Sierra, and Eddie Roosevelt returning to lead the rotation with their 32 Wins last season. The loss of Stone Gragg could prove costly though as he was replaced with aging SP Willis Allen. John Jackson leads a very solid offense for the Lions that scored 952 runs last season and with the addition of Kevin Jordan, they should be solid again this year. Hitting should improve this season for the Lions, since they moved to Louisville and in a hitters friendly park, but the pitching could struggle with the move and could keep the Lions from finishing on top of the Division.
Prediction: 87-75 2nd A.L. East
KEY LOSSES: Merv Hackman .289 ba, 90 R, Stone Gragg 3.55 Era, 1.17 Whip, 13 W, Nate Pratt 18 Home Runs, Alex Lee, Ross LaRocca, Ricky Newhouser
KEY ADDITIONS: Mel Eldred - Promoted, Tommy Halama - Promoted, Kevin Jordan - Trade, Posiedon Dodd - Trade, Willis Allen - FA
New Britain Nitwits 2nd A.L. East Last Season: 81-81
The Nitwits couldn't get over the hump last season playing .500 ball all the way to the end. The Nitwits are hoping to this season as they bolstered their pitching staff in the offseason. Despite losing Jumbo Chang the nitwits pitching staff got better this offseason with the aquisitions of RP Alfredo Mendoza, Kris Rushford, and Jack Eyre. The management also added more offense to an already very solid offensive ball club. The Nitwits wanted to add some guys that could get on base like they hope Julio Bonilla, and Fred Seay will be able to so the big boppers Britt York, Sal Benes, and Ismael Mesa will have someone to knock in as they are blasting their 30 Homers this season. With Ramiro Fernandez and his 2.86 Era on the rubber combined with the Nitwits bats, New Britain will look to fight Louisville for the division all season long.
Prediction: 90-72 1st A.L. East
KEY LOSSES: Luther Coleridge .275 BA, 16 HR, Charles Hart, Malcolm Lee .272 BA, Hector Bailey 4.56 Era, Javier Mairena 12 W, Stephen Connelly, Yuniesky Ortiz .280 BA, 24 HR, 97 R, Jumbo Chang
KEY ADDITIONS: Julio Bonilla - Claimed Off Waivers, Alfredo Mendoza - FA, Archie Norton - FA, Victor Rodriguez - FA, Tomas Franco - FA, Kris Rushford - FA, Fred Seay - FA, Angel Zurbaran - FA, Vance Payton - FA, Jack Eyre - FA
New York Necromancers 3rd A.L. East Last Season: 76-86
New York is looking to turn things around as they are tired of finishing at the bottom of the division but this year the fans could possibly see more of the same. Pitching wise the Necromancers could compete for the division but with no true power hitters, the Necromancers could struggle to outscore their opponents this season with the move to their new ballpark in New York. New York plans to utilize Ted Lowe in the rotation, while last owner potman44 had him coming out of the bullpen. Lowe has proven he is a quality starting pitcher and could lead the Necromancers to a surprise finish this season and a shot at the division. Vic Johnson looks to lead the offense again this season with his 34 Home runs and 135 Rbi's and if Steven Wilkerson stays healthy the Necromancers could be a dangerous team and be fighting it out with Louisville and New Britain for the division.
Prediction: 83-79 3rd A.L. East
KEY LOSSES: David Moraga, Michael Chase, Royce Langerhans .318 BA, Victor Baez, Flash Swindell .283 BA, 20 HR, Max Elarton, Weldon Tomlinson .299 BA, 18 HR, 87 Rbi, 140 R, Tony Morman, Mike Good .281 BA, 33 HR, 134 Rbi, 121 R,
KEY ADDITIONS: Ed Becker - FA, Don Baptist - FA,Collin Pearson - FA, Ellis Shaw - FA, Junior McCartney - FA, Karim Cairo - Promoted, Phillip Hynes - Promoted, Ernest Simmons - Promoted, Russell Wall - Promoted
Baltimore bullies 4th A.L. East Last Season: 38-124
It won't be hard for new owner ndrules to better last seasons record, but it won't be enough to make the Bullies competitive this season. The Bullies will look to build toward the future with the #1 pick in this years amateur draft and with the lack of Major League talent, will probably have a high draft pick next season. The bright spot for Baltimore is 2B Willie Mesa who led the Bullies with 37 Home Runs and 105 Rbi's. With Mesa being 28 years old, the Bullies may be looking to deal him to a contender for some younger talent that the Bullies will be able to benefit from in the future. The Bullies pitching staff or lack there of will struggle to keep runs off the board and keep the Bullies in games this season. Despite the struggles the Bullies ML club will go through this season, the excitement of having the #1 pick will have the fans as excited as a kid on Christmas morning to see who owner ndrules will pick to build the future around and get Baltimore back on top of the division.
Prediction: 50-112 4th A.L East
KEY LOSSES: Willis Allen, Willie Chavez, Buster Holmes, York Simmons, Ed Newson, Felix Lim, Lance Ewing, Wayne Carver, Dean Duffy
KEY ADDITIONS: Mario Wohlers - Claimed Off Waivers,
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