Milestone: 3000 Strikeouts

Mel Wagner:
Strikeouts - 1519
Doubtful considering his age. He is 33.

Yamil Pulido:
Strikeouts - 1509
Could be close. He is 29, so if you project 7 more seasons at 225Ks per he would reach 3000.

Santiago Manto:
Strikeouts - 1466
Same as Wagner. Doubtful.

Milestone: 500 Homeruns

Roosevelt Stevenson:
HR - 475
Stevenson should be the first player to reach any of the major milestones. He is projected to reach 500 HRs around the midpoint of this season. He has an outside shot at reaching 600 HRs.

Omar Nixon:
HR - 456
Nixon should be the 2nd player to reach a major milestone. He is projected to reach 500 HRs towards the end of this season. He has a good chance at 600 HRs.

William Hernandez:
HR - 417
Hernandezs HR total dropped rather significantly last season, and his power rating is declining. Considering his age and decline in power it will be close.

Harry Delgado:
HR - 388
Delgado has a slim chance at reaching 500. His chances depend heavily on how the Deuce Droppers (Fightin Armadillos) decide to use him. Last season he only got 318 ABs with the Pork N Beans.

Can the NL South Champs Finally Get Past the NL North?

Louisville Swingers

Can the Louisville Swingers once again return to prominence and follow up with their 5th straight 100+ win season and playoff invitation? Bench Coach Lonnie Ward and his staff will once again be up to the challenge in the ever increasing NL South.

They will return the same starting 8 and will have an even deeper bench than last season with the addition of Dee O'Brien. Another question will be if they starting rotation will be able to recover from losing Cam Anderson, their number 2 in the rotation last year. They will replace him with either Donald Tanaka, Jose Crespo, Leonardo Evans or Benji Campos, all of whom who have started last year or in their past.

Starting Eight

C- Vicente Unamuno Vicente will return for his 5th Season behind the plate. He will look for another season of .300+ batting avg and .400+ Obp.

1B- Miguel Franco will return as the starting 1B while spending some time as well down the RF and LF lines. He will look for his 1st 50+ HR season. He will move to the clean-up role and provide some much needed fire power.

2B- Albert Johnson will return to 2B and hopes to return to finally hit the .400 avg barrier for the 1st time in his career as well as regaining his MVP status.

SS- Dustan Daneker returns to captain of the infield. He hope to regain his form from two years ago when he hit .300.

3B- Mandy Lowe will return to his spot on the corner bag. He looks to duplicate his same performance from last season.

RF- Shigetoshi Ramirez is looking forward to finally staying in a place for more than two seasons. Staying in one place last year led to a career season down the RF line.

CF- Edgardo Castillo will once again roam the gaps in the OF. Following a slightly down year in production, the Swingers help for a healthy productive year from their All Star CF.

LF- Clarence Mathewson is a 40 HR 140 RBI player in the last year of his contract. He will be counted on once again to lead the team in power and offense.

Replacements

C- Achilles Shannon
2B- Dee O'Brien
SS- Nick Ramirez
LF- Sammy Ayala
CF- Derek Snow

Pitchers

The Swingers look to return one of the top staff's in the league. Their starting crew will be tops in the league and look for all 10+ seasons for all. The Staff also returns top closer Santiago Mangual and a stellar set up staff. They will look to lead to another 100 win season.

Starters

SP1- Paulie Sanders will once again try for the Cy Young. As the ace of the staff, Paulie will try for 20 wins and lead the staff to the playoffs.

SP2- Pasqual Martinez will work to replace the gap from Cam Anderson. Added mid season and then injured, hopefully he will come back strong.

SP3- Stuart Post will once again provide strong quality starts for his team. If he can once again do what he did the last couple of seasons, the Swingers will once again be playoff contenders.

SP4- Jose Crespo will look to return as a strong #4 starter. He will look to step up and take control of the league.

SP5- Benji Campos will look to return to last years form. If he can keep his era in the mid 4's he will be the best #5 in the league

Bullpen

LR- Leonardo Evans
LR- Alex Figureoa
LR- Donald Tanaka
LR- Tommy Cameron

SU- Jose Benitez
SU- Carlos Seguignol

CL- Santiago Mangual

Outlook- The Swingers will once again contend for a NL playoff spot. Providing a healthy season, this team should be in position for another run at the WS. Losing a 2-0 lead in the NLCS was heart breaking but the pitching will be one season better and the position players are ready to fight. If all goes well, you may see a Louisville banner at the end of the season.

Meet The Injun Night

Injun management has been pouring over statistics all off-season trying to figure out what went wrong last season and how to fix the problems. The answers are very elusive but spring training may have shed some light on part of the problem already. The biggest problem was hitting and pitching, ok..ok.., so those problems belong to everyone. Well, may have solved the pitching problem. The answer to the home hitting woes has eluded me for three years now and will probably be another year of the same as I haven't really uncovered the answer. The move to Cleveland should have solved the hitting problem but in reality made it worse. But we believe in our intrepid endeavors that there isn't a problem to solve, just unlucky. In the meantime, meet the Injuns.

C - Dean Hill, Rule 5 pickup
1B - Rodrigo Gonzales, 3rd full season.
2B - Jae Dong, 2nd full season.
3B - Hideki Huang, 3rd full season.
SS - Howard Washington, 2nd full season.
RF - Karim Quevedo, rookie.
CF - Giovanni Jackson, 4th full season.
LF - Albert Tapies, 6th full season.

Bench:
Hunter Tomlinson, all purpose vet who will retire at the end of the season.
Harry Brock, all purpose OF and may start over Quevedo.
Hawk Bates or Thomas Baxter as backup catcher, management has yet to decide and it could be neither and could be traded.
Rookies, Tony Brown, Don Webster and veteran Max Crede are also fighting for a spot.

SP: As for the pitchers one or more may not make the opening day roster.
Ray Luke
Ozzie Chang
Garry Magnusson
Hub Strange
Victor Guerrero
Elston Bush
Wilson House
Randy Halladay

Relievers:
Kenneth Buckley
Quilvio Olivares
Lawrence Dawkins
Tomas Saez
Max Lee

Closer:
Kory Governale

Fighting for spot:
Daniel Blackwell

No Matter Where You Go, There You Are: Cubs Season 10 Preview

Old school Gammons style

Season 9 Finish: 101-61, second place (-12), defeated Salem in Div., play in series (3-0), lost to WS Champ Cincinnati in NL Div. Champ. Series (3-2)

Offseason Transactions: Made several cost cutting moves to pare payroll, get younger and bolster a depleted farm system. Traded Mendy Hughes for Davey Valdes, Don Bell for Julio Alvarez, Cooper Benes for Mule Hernandez, Posiedon Warden and cash for Donne Garland and Dan Leary. Made no major FA acquisitions.

Rookies and Other Strangers: Rookie RP Luis Bonilla, SP Alex Ayala, and 2B Pedro Amaral should all see significant time in season 10. LRP Turner Hughes, Cubs all-time leader in wins, has been brought in for an extended look in spring training.

Major Spring Training Questions: The Cubs enter spring training with something to prove. Questions linger about windows closing, but that mostly has to do with other teams getting better, while the Cus jettisoned some of their older vets to get younger. The cubs lineup remains formidable, as stalwarts Tony Suarez, Joey Tracy, Juan Castro are once again leaned on to provide 120-140 HR and close 400 RBI. IF the Cubs get anything resembling the MVP performance submitted last year by Brett Kinney, and IF Jacob Yoshii can build on his rookie campaign and replace Warden's OBP, the Cubs will score runs in bunches. Defensively, the Cubs remain near the top of the NL.

Major questions revolve around the pitching staff. At 35 and entering a contract year, does Dwight Johnson have anything left? Can Xavier Hart make the leap from good to great? Will Douglas Baker make the most of his first real opportunity in the rotation? The answer will have to be yes to all three if the Cubs expect to contend.

The bullpen is thinner than previous years, but expectations are high on rookie Bonilla to help contribute right away. The Cubs expect Jorge Padilla to bounce back from an off year, and re-signed Vicente Lopez, who has pitched big innings that past 2 season and submitted a sub 2 ERA, to anchor the pen. Expect either rookie Ayala or Garland to start the year in the pen to add depth. If they struggle, look for the Cubs to make a move to add a few pieces mid-season.

This is an interesting year for the Cubs - the team still relatively young, but the NL should be the strongest its ever been. The Cubs believe they can compete and still win another WS with the team constructed the way it is, but that may change as the year goes on.

Season 10 Team Song: "What If?" (Creed)

Season 10 Prediction: 100 - 62, second place

The Royals fans are excited after the Royals had their first winning season since season 2 and their best record since the 117 win team in season 1. After a disappointing loss in the wild card round last season the Royals are looking to take it to the next level. Anything less than a playoff series victory would come as a disappointment after adding Sanders, Dong, & Bunch from the Austin Franchise at the cost of some highly touted prospects. With the pressure on and the element of surprise gone, the Royals expect to make the playoffs with 90-95 wins and probably as a wild card again. Here is your season 10 Kansas City Royals by position.

C - Wascar Sanchez will man the tools of ignorance again this season. He was an All Star at the position last season and should be in the running for years to come. Hector Campbell is the backup. He is good enough where there was some thought to letting him start. Sanchez' bat said no.

1B - Dallas Payton will move from leftfield to man firstbase. He had MVP like numbers last season and we can expect more of the same from him.

2B - Spud Hoyt will start at secondbase. Spud had an off year last season and the team hopes that he will return to form this year. If it wasn't for the great season the team had I would be more concerned about his production. I believe spud will see an All Star game or two before his career is done.

3B - Charlie Stone will start at thirdbase. He was an All Star last season at the position and management had intended to move him to SS this season. Since Fernandez also made the All Star team he will remain at 3rd for now. There may not be enough room on the guys mantle for all his awards when his career is through.

SS - Oswaldo Fernandez will start at shortstop. He was an All Star last season after being only expected to warm the spot for Stone. The Royals expect a solid contribution from him again, but I think an All Star repeat is a stretch.

LF - Ramon Dong will start in leftfield. The Royals expect what Dong has done pretty much all his career. He will be an on-base machine and could approach 50 doubles in Kansas City. Management think hes a perfect fit.

CF - Sidney Kotsay is the starting centerfielder. He was an All Star last season and the Royals expect he will be in the running at the position once again. After signing a 2 year contract, pressure is on management to sign him to an extension.

RF - Kyle Forster will start in rightfield. He was aquired late last season from St.Louis and may be an All Star or at least in the running with a full season this year.

DH - John Bang/Art Peters will share the DH spot this season. Either could start full time and probably post All Star numbers. Bang will get lefties and Peters will get the righthanders. The two combined for 22hrs 136rbis & 350.+ avg. last season. The Royals expect more of the same this year.

SPs - Rico Dali, Victor Guzman,Chad Sanders, & Frank Kim form a solid and young rotation anchored by the vet Sanders. The Royals are expecting 12-15 wins out of each.

LR/Spot Starters - Fernando Gonzalez & Orlando Delgado will be the long relievers and get a start now and then. Delgado may have an all star game in his future and Gonzalez is consistent.

Bullpen - Louis Bunch & Bill Roth will be the setup men. Both are solid, durable, veteran relievers. Miguel Owen will return as closer and hopes to duplicate the season he had last year. (He was an All-Star)

Bench - Duke Crawford, Ruben Reyes, Francis Guerrero, & Thomas Schmidt form a useful and great hitting bench. Guerrero & Schmidt could probably start somewhere and it'll be tough to see them have to ride the pine.

The Royals are excited about the upcoming season but are prepared for a battle. With strong teams like New York, Toronto, Monterrerey, and Vegas in the way and still the teams to beat, the Royals will have their work cut out for them. Kansas City expects to return as a wild card and hopes to advance beyond that first series.

Pirates Season 10

Season 10 began with the Pirates Management wanting to address a couple of weaknesses from Season 9. The first was the bullpen. Season 9 started off well right up to the all star break, the team was with 5 games of the final wild card spot.

Then the wheels fell off, the bullpen blew up and management was forced to

overwork their starting pitching and draw straws to see if anybody could do a decent job in the set

up role in the bullpen. Although missing out on 2 big name free agents this year: Cam Anderson

and Bryan McDowell, the Pirates managed to add a few pieces, that will hopefully strengthen the

bullpen and in turn the rotation. Still have holes at 3B, CF, and 2B. This season will just try and

piece it together. Anyway here is the Pirates starting lineup by position for season 10:

C: Raymond Strong will try to get him 145 games this year. Tony Castilla will backup

1B: Hong-Jin Perez acquired from Detroit. Willie Lopez will fill in when necessary.

2B: Jamie Xaio veteran FA signing. Ricardo Cela will see some time at 2B and CF.

SS: Matt Wise had a nice season 10.

3B: Felipe Ontiveros another veteran FA signing.

LF: Juan Carrasquel will bat 4th.

CF: Efrain Yoshii future SS for the Pirates. Oswaldo Guillen will see some time in CF and in the infield.

RF: Paul Rushford was a major disappointment in season 9.

Pirates Pitching rotation for season 10:

SP1: Kent Heredia a workhorse counting on a big season

SP2: Byung-Hyun Pan had a nice season after coming over from St. Louis

SP3: Tim Loewer will get try to 25 to 30 starts out of him

SP4: Jimmie Torres would like to give him one more season in the minors

SP5: Patrick Counsell got his feet wet in season 9, season 10 hopefully will see some gains.

Mop: Jeff Dalesandro mop up, long relief and maybe the odd start.

LR: Darin Berry long relief, the odd start

LR: Jared Hampton Long relief and possibly starting

SU: Geraldo Rosa This seasons rule 5 draft pick.

SU: Matty Guardado came over in a trade with Philadelphia along with Efrain Yoshii.

SU: Albert Villafuerte FA signing will set up and close when Corranodo needs rest.

CL: Andres Coronado had a great rookie season

Still undecided about the final two roster spots should be sorted out by the end of spring training.

Bullpen should be a lot stronger in season 10. Still have some holes but, overall team depth has

improved each year since taking over this team. Pirates Management will be on the lookout for

another frontline SP as teams fall out of the race and decide to dump contracts later in the season.

Pirates management hopes to stay within 5 games of a wildcard spot this season and if this happens

will add players through trade for a final push.