A.L. SOUTH PREDICTIONS

Santa Fe Techocrats 1st A.L. South Last Season: 107-55

You can't say the word consistent without thinking about the Technocrats as they are 16 time A.L. South Division winners and hope to continue the tradition again this season. Santa Fe led the league in runs scored and that won't change this year with the additions of Daniel Carroll , Phil Suzuki, Felipe James. Despite the hitter friendly park, Santa Fe's pitching staff combined for a 4.31 Era last season. The loss of Horace Mullaney shouldn't affect the Technocrats as they are still solid with Eugene Plant and Julio Nunez. Santa Fe looks solid in every aspect of the game and are once again favorites to win the A.L. South and represent the AL in the World Series.

Prediction: 103-59 1st A.L. South

KEY LOSSES: Nate Soriano .344 BA, Clay Cone 4.31 Era, Horace Mullaney 14 W, Frank Ono .349 BA, 20 HR, Ryan Cormier

KEY ADDITIONS: Daniel Carroll - Aquired Via Trade, Felipe James - Aquired Via Trade, Phil Suzuki - FA, Cesar Abreu - FA, Rick McCarthy - Rule 5

El Paso Sidewinders 2nd A.L. South Last Season: 103-59

The Sidewinders rode their pitching staff last season finishing 2nd in the majors in Era and it will be no different this season. El Paso lost Garrett Duff and Matthew Strange but upgraded with Horace Mullaney and Ricky Newhouser. Offensively, the Sidewinders are led by Rolando Montanez and Hugh Stein who belted over 30 Homers apiece and combined for 219 runs knocked in. New comer Tony Torres hopes to help El Paso compete for the division and his arm could be what the Sidewinders need to take the top spot. If the offense can muster enough runs, look for El Paso to be a factor again for the division.

Prediction: 93-69 2nd A.L. South

KEY LOSSES: Garrett Duff 3.32 Era, 16 W, Matthew Strange, Bill Hammond 2.39 Era, Joaquin Mesa 21 HR, 95 R, 90 Rbi


KEY ADDITIONS: Bobby Ramirez - Promoted, Tony Torres - Promoted, Horace Mullaney - FA, Joe Patterson - FA, Stevie Fleming - FA, Ricky Newhouser - Aquired Via Trade

Texas Cow Tippers 3rd A.L. South Last Season: 86-76

The Cow Tippers won 86 games last season, but with losing their 2 best hitters Bartolo Sardinha and Benji Rosado and no solid starting pitching, Texas could be looking at a long season. Texas still have some big boppers in Charles Painter and Dallas Hendricksen but with Hendricksen 36 and low durability added with the loss of Sardinha, the offense of the Cow Tippers could see a slump this season. The pitching looks to be in worse shape than last year and with still no true #1 pitcher, the Cow Tippers will be giving up a lot of runs this season. Texas will hope to score a ton of runs to win games this season as the lack of pitching talent will not be keeping too many opponents from scoring and scoring often.

Prediction: 68-94 4th A.L. South

KEY LOSSES: Mike Osting, Bobby White, Livan Mendoza, Bartolo Sardinha 57 HR, 154 Rbi, .320 BA, 143 R, Matthew Holden, Benji Rosado 43 HR, 131 Rbi, .334 BA, 128 R

KEY ADDITIONS:Herm Cortes - Claimed Off Waivers, Don Chang - Claimed Off Waivers, Ignacio Ordonez - Claimed Off Waivers, Adam Linebrink - Promoted, Luis Guerrero - Promoted, Lance Ewing - FA, Alex Johnstone - FA, Malcolm Lee - FA, Tony Tavarez - FA, Jiggs Clontz - FA, Royce Langerhans - FA

Iowa City Tornadoes 4th A.L. South Last Season: 73-89

Iowa is still in rebuild mode and while they won't be a threat for the A.L. South this season, they will when their young stud pitchers Joel Smith and Chuck Simpkins hit the majors. Until then, they are stuck with a below average offense and a decent pitching staff. The Tornadoes didn't have any players knock in 100 runs last season, but they are hoping Joe Brown will accomplish that feat this season. Iowa have just enough offense and pitching to be a nuisance to other teams, but they are still a year or 2 away from really making an impact on the division race and playoff berth.

Prediction: 71-91 3rd A.L. South

KEY LOSSES: Clarence Allen 4.03 Era, 14 W, Jack Eyre 4.87 Era,Miguel Mercado 3.38 Era, Albert Alvarez .297 BA, 32 HR, 91 Rbi, Andres Moya, Alex Guerrero .303 BA, 27 HR, 95 Rbi, 93 R, Arthur Jensen 4.84 Era,

KEY ADDITIONS: Max Elarton - FA, Ronnie Washington - FA, Royce Barrett - FA, Tony Morman - FA, Chad Davis - Rule 5