Saturday, March 13, 2010
Major Free Agent signing review.
The Honolulu Awesome have made a big splash in the FA market by signing Larry Hutton to a 3 year 30 million dollar deal. Lets analyze this deal shall we. Hutton was asking for 3 years 7 million. Meaning that the Awesome overpaid for the veteran Short Stop. Looking at the last several years however there has been a big whole at the SS position. The interesting note is that GM Kcatlantis plans to use Hutton in LF, hoping that current SS Carlos Nunez pans out. Kcatlantis also stated that if Nunez cannot hold the the SS position he will be sent to AAA,and Hutton will take his place causing a whole in left field. On a side note the Awesome were note to be interested in Catcher Billy Anderson. But the bidding reached 15 million a year.
New Season.
Well A new season is beginning. Teams are signing free agents. Trading players, releasing players. you name it and its happening. Lets take a look at some notable free agent signings in the last 24 hours.
Wichita Yankdawgs signed 8 different free agents
The Honolulu Awesome made a surprise move and singed Larry Hutton to a 3yr/30 million deal. Was he paying to much perhaps.
The black sox, and bulldogs made some minor free agent signings
Wichita Yankdawgs signed 8 different free agents
The Honolulu Awesome made a surprise move and singed Larry Hutton to a 3yr/30 million deal. Was he paying to much perhaps.
The black sox, and bulldogs made some minor free agent signings
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Top five AAA Position Prospects.
It's time for another top five. This time hitting prospects. Again potential is a big factor along with stats.
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Team Insight:Whalers.
Alright thanks to Mike GM of the Whalers for taking time for and interview.
1. How do you feel about these season?
With my offense coming into it's own last season, I assumed I could deal heavy hitting SS Jack Washington to acquire pitching help I will need for next season, thinking the platoon duo of Al Felix and and Javier Benitez could hit at least .240 combined (they couldn't, as they hit .158 and .195 respectively, and Felix was demoted halfway through the season). That has been the story of my season, as every player has taken a big drop in offensive numbers since last season (926 RS in S9 to 698 RS through 150 games in S10).
The pitching has held up for the most part, as Carreras has continued to show he's a future HOF'er (10-8, 2.83 ERA, .211 OAV at age 35), Jose Estrada has returned to the form he showed as S7's AL ROY (18-9, 3.30 ERA, .219 OAV), and SP5 Mo Rigdon has been a surprise (9-10, 3.65 ERA, .250 OAV). However, former anchors in the pitching staff have aged (Alcantara and Snopek), and are no longer reliable options.
With all that said, S10 seems to be a transitional season, with opportunities becoming open for upcoming prospects in the next season or two.
2. What about next season?
I think S11 will be part two of the transition, with prospects such as RP Ben Blume (2.40 ERA, 21 Sv in AAA), SP/RP Edgardo Olivares (4-3, 3.48 ERA, .234 OAV in ML), and DH Mel Milone (.318, 5 HR in 76 AB with Norfolk AAA, .330, 36 HR, 147 RBI in S9 Iowa AAA) likely making the jump to the Bigs. With Carreras' 17.5M contract off the books (and Washington and Hamilton's 8M/yr deals traded away), there will be increased flexibility to make a FA signing or to have more $$$ in the prospect coffers.
All in all, I expect Norfolk to be competitive, but with the AL East becoming increasingly competitive, and the AL North not losing any steam anytime soon, it will take some more work and creative decisions to pull off another playoff visit.
3. Where do you plan to take this team?
It's going to take a lot of luck to get past the AL North this season, as it looks now like the 2nd and 3rd places in the division will take the wild cards (and it also looks like I'll be taking the 4th seed, provided I don't lose 12 in a row). Philly as always been a thorn in my side, and Burlington is still in Dynasty form. With that said, I'm hoping to get past the first round, but it's not looking good (and there are other teams past the AL North who potentially lie in wait).
4. Where do you see you need your biggest improvements in the off-season?
Finding a solid SP2 to replace Del Carreras (who has chosen not to resign after this season). Despite his age (35), potentially losing Carreras could be very damaging to the rotation, and the remaining SPs (Doug Austin, Max Benavente, Mo Rigdon, and Edgardo Olivares starting in S11) are not the best candidates to follow ace Jose Estrada. The bullpen needs strengthening, but the closer position is in lock-down with 26 year-old Vic Guillen (141 saves, 3.47 ERA in 4 ML seasons). Norfolk also needs a legitimate leadoff hitter, and hasn't had one since Jesse Duffy left the team in S5.
5. What excites you the most about your team?
Having an ace, closer, and 3-4 spot lineup guys all under the age of 26 is really exciting. Having those two 3-4 spot lineup guys in skill positions where contact/power are harder to come by (C and 2B) is even more exciting. Not needing to find guys with bats at the skill positions takes a lot of the stress out of trying to build a championship team.
6.What worries you the most?
My biggest concern is that the sophmore slumps of 2B Jaime Valdes (.278, 22 HR, 81 RBI in S10 opposed to .295, 38 HR, 113 RBI in S9) and C Rob Cortes (.275, 30 HR, 112 RBI in S10 vs. .288, 47 HR, 138 RBI in S9) are not sophmore slumps, and that SP's Doug Austin (32 years old) and Max Benavente (29 years old) will become ineffective before the younger core hits their peak. However, what concerns me the most is the rest of my division, which are obviously becoming much stronger, and come a few years, the AL East could look much like the AL North does now.
7. Who do you think people should watch in the upcoming season from your team?
Previous trades to round out my rotation, losing high draft picks in FA signings, and being on the futher end of the draft order has made my farm system fairly sparse. However, some of the deals made this season should start paying dividends in Season 11. Ben Blume, Edgardo Olivares, and Mel Milone are all expected to contribute at the ML level in S11. With those prospects joining the younger core of Cortes, Valdes, Guillen and Estrada, we should see Norfolk still a viable team in S11, with the hopes of stronger runs in following seasons.
1. How do you feel about these season?
With my offense coming into it's own last season, I assumed I could deal heavy hitting SS Jack Washington to acquire pitching help I will need for next season, thinking the platoon duo of Al Felix and and Javier Benitez could hit at least .240 combined (they couldn't, as they hit .158 and .195 respectively, and Felix was demoted halfway through the season). That has been the story of my season, as every player has taken a big drop in offensive numbers since last season (926 RS in S9 to 698 RS through 150 games in S10).
The pitching has held up for the most part, as Carreras has continued to show he's a future HOF'er (10-8, 2.83 ERA, .211 OAV at age 35), Jose Estrada has returned to the form he showed as S7's AL ROY (18-9, 3.30 ERA, .219 OAV), and SP5 Mo Rigdon has been a surprise (9-10, 3.65 ERA, .250 OAV). However, former anchors in the pitching staff have aged (Alcantara and Snopek), and are no longer reliable options.
With all that said, S10 seems to be a transitional season, with opportunities becoming open for upcoming prospects in the next season or two.
2. What about next season?
I think S11 will be part two of the transition, with prospects such as RP Ben Blume (2.40 ERA, 21 Sv in AAA), SP/RP Edgardo Olivares (4-3, 3.48 ERA, .234 OAV in ML), and DH Mel Milone (.318, 5 HR in 76 AB with Norfolk AAA, .330, 36 HR, 147 RBI in S9 Iowa AAA) likely making the jump to the Bigs. With Carreras' 17.5M contract off the books (and Washington and Hamilton's 8M/yr deals traded away), there will be increased flexibility to make a FA signing or to have more $$$ in the prospect coffers.
All in all, I expect Norfolk to be competitive, but with the AL East becoming increasingly competitive, and the AL North not losing any steam anytime soon, it will take some more work and creative decisions to pull off another playoff visit.
3. Where do you plan to take this team?
It's going to take a lot of luck to get past the AL North this season, as it looks now like the 2nd and 3rd places in the division will take the wild cards (and it also looks like I'll be taking the 4th seed, provided I don't lose 12 in a row). Philly as always been a thorn in my side, and Burlington is still in Dynasty form. With that said, I'm hoping to get past the first round, but it's not looking good (and there are other teams past the AL North who potentially lie in wait).
4. Where do you see you need your biggest improvements in the off-season?
Finding a solid SP2 to replace Del Carreras (who has chosen not to resign after this season). Despite his age (35), potentially losing Carreras could be very damaging to the rotation, and the remaining SPs (Doug Austin, Max Benavente, Mo Rigdon, and Edgardo Olivares starting in S11) are not the best candidates to follow ace Jose Estrada. The bullpen needs strengthening, but the closer position is in lock-down with 26 year-old Vic Guillen (141 saves, 3.47 ERA in 4 ML seasons). Norfolk also needs a legitimate leadoff hitter, and hasn't had one since Jesse Duffy left the team in S5.
5. What excites you the most about your team?
Having an ace, closer, and 3-4 spot lineup guys all under the age of 26 is really exciting. Having those two 3-4 spot lineup guys in skill positions where contact/power are harder to come by (C and 2B) is even more exciting. Not needing to find guys with bats at the skill positions takes a lot of the stress out of trying to build a championship team.
6.What worries you the most?
My biggest concern is that the sophmore slumps of 2B Jaime Valdes (.278, 22 HR, 81 RBI in S10 opposed to .295, 38 HR, 113 RBI in S9) and C Rob Cortes (.275, 30 HR, 112 RBI in S10 vs. .288, 47 HR, 138 RBI in S9) are not sophmore slumps, and that SP's Doug Austin (32 years old) and Max Benavente (29 years old) will become ineffective before the younger core hits their peak. However, what concerns me the most is the rest of my division, which are obviously becoming much stronger, and come a few years, the AL East could look much like the AL North does now.
7. Who do you think people should watch in the upcoming season from your team?
Previous trades to round out my rotation, losing high draft picks in FA signings, and being on the futher end of the draft order has made my farm system fairly sparse. However, some of the deals made this season should start paying dividends in Season 11. Ben Blume, Edgardo Olivares, and Mel Milone are all expected to contribute at the ML level in S11. With those prospects joining the younger core of Cortes, Valdes, Guillen and Estrada, we should see Norfolk still a viable team in S11, with the hopes of stronger runs in following seasons.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Team Insight: Black Sox.
These are the questions answered by the team insight.
1. How do you feel about these season?
I am happy with this season so far, I spent a fortune for SS Jung Hasagawa in the offseason and after the 1st quarter of the season if you had asked me I would have said it was a disaster,but now he has rebounded from a slow start and looks like he should win the NL silver slugger at SS .
2. What about next season?
next season should be another good one , all my pitching will return, but I have 2 decisions to make on offense veterns Kiki Rosario and Floyd Sinclair are free agents who I am really not sure I want to bring back,
both are looking for 2 year deals, but I am leaning towards letting them go and getting a couple draft picks ( hopefully)
3. Where do you plan to take this team?
I have no prospects, so my plan is to keep this team afloat as long as possible through free agency. I don't have any bad contracts at the moment and as long as I keep it that way, I should be ok since I have gotten most of my scouting budgets as low as I have been able to, and will soon get them zeroed out.
4. Where do you see you need your biggest improvements in the off-season?
I need to get younger, but I don't see that happening.
I would love to get my hands on a speed guy off the bench, I tried to get all time SB leader Vin Hume, but New Orleans didn't want to deal him. by looking at next season's free agent class I don't see much I am interested in, so the biggest
improvement I can probably make is to improve my long term flexabilty by front loading Ernest Cashman 's contract as much as possible to give my self some extra money to throw at a free agent in 2 years when there is a better crop comming up
5. What excites you the most about your team?
the most exiting thing about this team is it's pitching I think we match up favorably with any other pitching staff in this world and come playoff time the depth of the staff should help get back to the world series after a 2 year absence after going to the series 6 of the first 7 years
6.What worries you the most?
age and engine changes worry me the most WIS keeps changing the sim engine and with a vetern (expensive team ) a couple engine tweaks could change everything and I would be stuck with long term expensive contracts that no one would want
7. Who do you think people should watch in the upcoming season from your team?
Slim Davis after hitting 51 HR's last season he has struggled this season a strong last couple weeks has brought his numbers into respectability, but he had been hovering around .220 for most of the season. I fully expected him to compete for NL MVP this season, with sinclair and rosario most likely moving on , he is going to be counted on to carry the load
1. How do you feel about these season?
I am happy with this season so far, I spent a fortune for SS Jung Hasagawa in the offseason and after the 1st quarter of the season if you had asked me I would have said it was a disaster,but now he has rebounded from a slow start and looks like he should win the NL silver slugger at SS .
2. What about next season?
next season should be another good one , all my pitching will return, but I have 2 decisions to make on offense veterns Kiki Rosario and Floyd Sinclair are free agents who I am really not sure I want to bring back,
both are looking for 2 year deals, but I am leaning towards letting them go and getting a couple draft picks ( hopefully)
3. Where do you plan to take this team?
I have no prospects, so my plan is to keep this team afloat as long as possible through free agency. I don't have any bad contracts at the moment and as long as I keep it that way, I should be ok since I have gotten most of my scouting budgets as low as I have been able to, and will soon get them zeroed out.
4. Where do you see you need your biggest improvements in the off-season?
I need to get younger, but I don't see that happening.
I would love to get my hands on a speed guy off the bench, I tried to get all time SB leader Vin Hume, but New Orleans didn't want to deal him. by looking at next season's free agent class I don't see much I am interested in, so the biggest
improvement I can probably make is to improve my long term flexabilty by front loading Ernest Cashman 's contract as much as possible to give my self some extra money to throw at a free agent in 2 years when there is a better crop comming up
5. What excites you the most about your team?
the most exiting thing about this team is it's pitching I think we match up favorably with any other pitching staff in this world and come playoff time the depth of the staff should help get back to the world series after a 2 year absence after going to the series 6 of the first 7 years
6.What worries you the most?
age and engine changes worry me the most WIS keeps changing the sim engine and with a vetern (expensive team ) a couple engine tweaks could change everything and I would be stuck with long term expensive contracts that no one would want
7. Who do you think people should watch in the upcoming season from your team?
Slim Davis after hitting 51 HR's last season he has struggled this season a strong last couple weeks has brought his numbers into respectability, but he had been hovering around .220 for most of the season. I fully expected him to compete for NL MVP this season, with sinclair and rosario most likely moving on , he is going to be counted on to carry the load
Friday, February 12, 2010
Top five AAA Pitching Prospects.
These are based off a few things, Potential rating. And overall Rating. Along with Stats of course.
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Feel free to share what people think below.
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Feel free to share what people think below.
Team Insight
First up this weekend MikeG740 of the Northfork Whalers has agreed to a team insight interview. A quick preview for the Whalers. They are
They are currently sitting at 79-65 in first place by 9.5 games in the AL east.
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They are currently sitting at 79-65 in first place by 9.5 games in the AL east.
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