With many big name players shifting from the NL to the AL, it should be interesting to watch how this league plays out this year. Last year’s champion, Rochester won despite finishing the regular season just two games over .500. But the Raging Rhinos lost some key players, most notably Jonathan Cummings who bolted for Salt Lake City through free agency and Max Hernandez, who was traded away. Pawtucket, winners of three of the last six NL titles also lost some key pieces, trading away its top two pitchers, Christopher Ramirez and Henry Mackowiak. A look at how each team is projected to finish in its division.
NL North
Cleveland Steamers – Cleveland hasn’t been to the postseason since season 1, but the Steamers were very active this offseason. New additions to the team include J.R. Lankford, Footsie Burnett and Luis Pulido. Cleveland also has four rookies on its ML roster, all of whom are expected to play big roles in their first season in the bigs.
Rochester Raging Rhinos – The lost of Cummings is going to hurt. It will be hard for Rochester to replace 58 home runs, but the Rhinos have still won six of the last seven division titles. They still have enough pieces to contend for the title again, but Cleveland’s improvement will make it hard for another title in upstate New York.
St. Louis Birdnals – According to sources inside the Birdnal organization, the team has received some trade offers for Joshua Nixon. But with or without Nixon, it will be tough for St. Louis to compete in this division, which is truly better than last season’s record would indicate.
New York Thunder – This franchise will benefit from having an owner with previous experience who appears committed to sticking around. However, it will be a tough rebuilding job that will take a couple of seasons.
NL East
Pawtucket Polythene – Pawtucket has won the last eight division titles, most of them without much of a challenge from any of the other three teams. Losing Ramirez and Mackowiak will even the field a little bit, but Pawtucket is still head and shoulders above everyone else
Norfolk Nomads – This could have been Norfolk’s best chance to finally get over the hump and win this division, but a big free agent or two would have helped the Nomads’ cause. They did, however, get some solid players for a decent price this offseason and should still compete for a wild card spot, and could potentially top Pawtucket in a seven-game series. But over 162 games Pawtucket will still reign king.
Huntington Cousins – The Cousins were ravaged by free agency this year, and seem to be rebuilding through the Rule 5 draft, selecting nine players in that field. It’s an interesting approach, but this season will tell whether or not its an effective strategy.
Scranton Dunder-Mifflins – Fans in northeast Pennsylvania should expect an improvement over last season’s 54-108 disaster. This is a team which has improved this offseason through free agency, but most of their talent is still growing in the minors. One prospect, Howard Green could be on the ML roster by the end of the season. The rest are still a year or two away.
NL South
New Orleans Breeze – A year off its first ever division crown, the Breeze once again have their eyes on the title. New Orleans boosted its already strong lineup with free agent signings of Donaldo Baez, Orlando Rosa and Del Cortez, along with rookie Richard Kim. The South may be the toughest division in the NL, but a repeat for New Orleans should be a Breeze.
Texas Tittyballs – Make no mistake about it, even without Billy Hernandez, this is still a VERY good team. But in this division the All-Time Career home run leader could have come in handy. Texas has also put Sean O’Toole on the block. If they get rid of him that will be a lot of power that needs to be replaced.
Richmond Moonshiners II – This team was quite possibly the best 4th place team in the history of this world last season. The Moonshiners have a nice young team which should be even better than last season, and escape from the division basement.
Memphis Hound Dogs – Probably the only thing that can help the Hound Dogs is a division realignment. Since that appears very unlikely that leaves Memphis with a chance to challenge last year’s Richmond team for the title of best 4th place team ever.
NL West
Salt Lake City Dodgers – The Dodgers are far and away the most improved team in the NL this season. In addition the Cummings, they picked up superstar closer Martin Baek. Baek has averaged 46 saves per season in his career, which is more saves than any other closer has had in a single season in franchise history. Add in rookie Brian Adcock who hit 20-of-50 after being called up last season and the Dodgers have their eyes on their first postseason appearance since season 3
Colorado Springs AltiDUDES – The addition of Mackowiak should solidify the pitching rotation in Colorado Springs. But the AltiDUDES are a bunch of aging Dudes, with their average age just on the wrong side of 30. Colorado Springs will still be a tough team, but many of their players are living on borrowed time.
Tucson Turbocors – While much of the division spent this offseason trying to improve, Tuscson only signed one free agent, Ricky Ellis, a 40-year old setup man. Eric Harris will give the Turbocors some power in his first full season in the ML. In 82 games last season, he hit 27 home runs.
San Francisco Sourdoughs – Much like Scranton, all the talent in the Sourdough organization lies in its minor league system. It may be another last place finish for San Francisco, but this could be the final year.
Sharkey's World was created in February 2007 by a group of fans on the OAR Message board. Through some hard work and a lot of luck, the original 5 owners have created a league full of fun, active, and long-term dedicated owners who are all trying to be better than pvc. Check out Hardball Dynasty!
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