Offseason Recap

Sure, there are a few big name players left in free agency, and the trading frenzy won't die down for a few more days. But let's take a look back at each team's biggest move (or non-move) of this offseason.

First, the holdovers: Pitchers Julio Morales, William Hobbes, and season 5 NL Fireman Jeremi Warden remain unsigned, as well as Earl Pritchett and this offseasons big prize, SW's career batting leader Roger Mottola.

The Atlanta City Slickers let the previously mentioned Julio Morales walk. Morales has turned into one of the more sought after FA pitchers, a turn of events almost no one saw coming.

The Charleston Rebels had a small mix up in their front office, which led to the resigning of a bunch of arbitration players that weren't wanted.

The Charlotte knights signed Raymond Sellers, a career minor leaguer with the goods to play at the big show. While his home for this season isn't yet known, he has been added to the 40 man roster, which is leading to speculation that he may show up in Charlotte sometime soon.

The Cheyenne Chillipeppers signed Felipe Soto to a contract extention, worth $20.5 million over 5 years. Upon his arrival in the majors, Soto looked like the stuff legends were made of for his first 2+ seasons. Season 5 turned into a nightmare for the pitcher, and the club hopes a new contract and sense of security can restore Soto to his old self.

The Chicago Smooth Horses resigned David Walker to a two year, $11.2 million contract. The 35 year old setupman, who has spent all but 27 games of his career in Chicago, has a 3.50 era in 350+ innings of relief.

The Cleveland Steamers traded for Ed Leonard. While not on par with some of the other aces in their own division, the Leonard gives the Steamers their first true staff ace in six seasons.

The Colorado Springs AltiDUDES signed Armando Roque to a three year, $16.8 million extention. The 32 year old has seen his whip & era drop significantly each season since joining CSP late in season 3.

The Detroit Tigers signed Raul Diaz to a 5 year, $30 million extention. The 24 year old pitcher has been a complete bust since making his big league debut a few seasons ago. But still being very young, the Tigers showed him a great deal of faith in handing him that much job security.

The Fargo Nines signed 32 year old Ernie Sutton to a 2 year free agent contract. The third baseman is slotted to start the season for the Nines, and will give their lineup a little more flexibility in its bid to finally topple Kansas City.

The Fresno Fire Dragons signed FA pitcher Felipe Durazo to a 3 year, $19.1 million deal. Durazo hopefully will give the Dragons some stability at the top of their rotation while they continue their win-now-while-rebuilding philosophy that's suited them so well.

The Hartford Defenders are rejoicing at the idea of finally having a competent management system in place. Newcomer Frog06 has successfully completed over 75 individual transactions already this season, and looks to quickly clean up the mess tiffy left behind.

The Houston Aggies, traditionally big spenders in FA, have been relatively quiet this year, adding only former Scranton ace Ralph O'Leary to a modest two year, $6 million contract with a no trade clause.

The Huntington Cousins inked former San Francisco castoff Bob Kennedy to a four year, $27 million extention. The 25 year old had 100 runs, 25 homers & 40 stolen bases in 125 games after being traded to Huntington last season, and figures to play a key role in the Cousins attempt to get out of the NL East basement.

The Iowa City Kaysons traded for 37 year old ace Willie Tapies. Tapies, who is in the final year of a two year deal, has been nothing but spectacular throughout his entire career, and the Kaysons hope he can give them the 2 or 3 great playoff starts they need to move them past Kansas City.

The Jackson Jaspers traded for young starter Fernando Estrada. Estrada, who has never quite lived up to his hype, is hoping to have finally found a home, and a GM who will allow him to grow into the pitcher he can be.

The defending World Champion Kansas City Shuffle, talked about so much because of who they're losing, quietly added an elite C, Brian Morris, to their team. Morris ranks up there as a dual threat, great at pitch calling and a good enough batter to keep up with the Nicholas Bryant & Bret Kubenka's of the world. Also this offseason, Kansas City got into a few scuffles on the message board. As sure as Nicholas Bryant steals bases, PVC gets into it with folks.

The Little Rock Big Rocks stayed relatively quiet this offseason, going to arbitration a slew of times, and signing two minor league players.

The Memphis Hound Dawgs signed Cameron Everett to a three year contract. The 26 year old pitcher, so often overlooked in San Antonio's loaded system, figures to be an immediate contributor to the big club.

The New Orleans Breeze, in an attempt to keep up with Texas & Memphis, signed P Timothy Christiansen to work the front of their rotation.

The New York Moon Shots signed 30 year old outfielder Jamie Yoshii to a two year contract. Often overlooked and undervalued, Yoshii hopes to help New York escape from the pack in the crowded AL North.

The Norfolk Nomads signed leadoff hitter Jackson Crosby to a three year, $24.6 million contract. The 31 year old Crosby averaged 134 runs & 40 steals over his three year stay in Rochester, and hopes to give Norfolks big bruisers someone on base to drive in.

The Pawtucket Polythene signed Christopher Ramirez to a five year, $52.5 million contract. The 26 year old Ramirez is now officially on Season 11 Free Agency watch, something the Polythene will go to great expenses to avoid. The Polythene also spent most of the offseason hiding in a corner after the bitchslapping they suffered at the hands of the Shuffle in the 8th inning of last years World Series game 7.

The Richmond Moonshiners II biggest move remains bringing ripnsnort back to the league. On the transaction wire, the Moonshiers were relatively quiet this year, with signing Dario Suzuki to a three year extension being their biggest move.

The Rochester Raging Rhinoes have made some key moves this offseason, but will only be known for what they lost. Batters Jackson Crosby & Ozzie Ma, as well as pitcher Willie Tapies. The Rhinos came within 2 games of the NL Pennant last year, and while many expect them to remain competitive, this offseason certainly doesn't help their chances of improvement.

The Salem Dodgers remained relatively quiet this year, going to arbitration with a few roleplayers. Obviously content with the present in the NL West belonging to Colorado Springs & San Francisco, the Dodgers are focused on the future right now.

The San Antonio Border Jumpers grew a year older this offseason. And with the young talent that they have, if that's all they did, it should still be enough for 5-10 extra wins. San Antonio looks to take that next step this year, and win its first division title.

The San Francisco Sourdoughs, losers of the epic 18 inning Game 5 in last years NLDS, stayed quiet this offseason, content, like many others, to just grow a year older. Their only move of significance was the FA signing of 36 year old setup man Harry Uribe to a one year contract.

The Scottsdale T's, now in their second year under the direction of jlinch, continue to make all the right small moves that help build a franchise, instead of rushing into bad decisions that cripple teams. Improvement is expected, but this is obviously a work in progress, being supervised (finally) by someone who truly understands what it takes to compete with KC in the AL West.

The Scranton Dunder-Mifflins, who missed the playoffs last year for the first time in SW history, ended an era of their own this offseason, when they traded 5 time allstar, 4 time Silver Slugger, and SW career home run leader Steve Randolph for a bunch of talented youth.

The St. Louis Birdnals were on the receiving end of that Randolph deal, and also added key FA's Morgan Strickland and Frank Douglass. Two years ago Norfolk took the NL by storm and came within an inning of the World Series, last year San Francisco improved tremendously and crashed the NL elite party... is there any reason to think St. Louis can't be that team this year?

The Texas Tittyballs, apparently not satisfied with being the best offense in the National League, added FA Ozzie Ma to their already scary lineup. But in a move that may finally help them get past Pawtucket in the playoffs, adding reliever Jung-Lee Vanguri probably goes down as their biggest move.

The Tuscon Turbocors locked up 26 year old slugger Haywood Karros to a three year, $16 million extention. Tuscon, long considered the young power in the NL to rival San Antonio in the AL, is hitting its critical years now, and needs to start stringing together some winning seasons.

Obviously, there are a few FA's left to go, and where they end up could change things, but as of right now, St. Louis has to be considered the big winner of this years offseason.

Good luck in Spring Training! (yawn)