GM of the Season

NL:

Erffdogg - Cincinnati Reds

• On pace for a 12 win improvement
• NL North champs

Wholck - Trenton Ball Hogs

• On pace for a 8 win improvement
• NL East champs

Kingjohndevi - Santa Fe Tard Parks

• On pace for a 5 win improvement
• NL South champs

Josepaco - Chicago Cubs

• On pace for a 7 win improvement
• Wild card

AL:

Cmchristians - St. Louis Barracudas

• On pace for a 16 win improvement
• AL North champs

Edham55 - Monterrey Corn Dogs

• On pace for a 7 win improvement
• AL South champs

Mal247 - Anaheim Angels

• On pace for the same record as last season
• AL West champs

Soxfan121 - Durham Bulls

• Wild card

Injuns Prepare for Next Season

The Indians have been watching their minor league rosters most of the season. Many fans thought there would be some earth shattering call-ups but management thought better of it. The reasoning was simple, post season play.

The AAA team played with a lot of enthusiasm but little in the prospect department that can help the ML club. How they accomplished a winning record is beyond me and the winning onus can only be laid on the coaching staff. Well really, maybe everyone elses AAA team is that bad.

The AA team however is loaded with offensive prospects that may see ML duty next season. They have claimed the crown and the #2 seed with 3 games to go. Deivi Silva, Trace Wallace, Albert Valenzuela and maybe Virgil Lee have more than a probable chance at starting for the ML club next year. Though the chances are very good they will all start in AAA for part of the season next year. A lot of it will depend on the off-season and Spring Training.

The High A team captured the #2 seed a long time ago but is mostly comprised of good veteran rejects. There is a couple that have a future at the ML level but a few years away.

The Low A team has captured at least the #2 seed and is mainly comprised of the best rookies from last year and Internationals signed this year.

The Rookies have captured the #1 seed and how is actually beyond me in a sense. Though I have come up with a winning combination there, it's all in the draft.

The Indians plan is simple once all the minor league playoffs are out of the way. The poor players at AAA (most of them) will get their walking papers to somewhere in the minors or released out right. All other rosters will advance 1 level. No log jams here for a change.

The ML Offense/Defense
The offense just never hit together is the best way to describe the team this year. Maybe next year with a couple additions to the roster might help their woeful run production.

The Pitching Staff
Like most teams this year, the pitching staff has been a huge disappointment. Daniel Blackwell was moved to closer because he was being over used as a setup and Kory Governale just wasn't getting the job done effectively. Boomer Thomson, Posiedon Marte and Quilvio Olivares have been surprisingly solid in the pen. Brant Brede is the only starter that is relatively consistent. The Indians more than likely will be going after big FA pitching signing in the off-season if there is one as there just isn't much in the minors to help.

The Post Season Race Is On!

It is the home stretch for the playoffs this season. This has been one of those seasons that could be best described as humiliating.

The NL
At the moment there are 6 playoff spots and 7 teams. Could an interloper suddenly make their presence known? The most frightful thing this Halloween is the fact that only 8 teams are above .500 and 4 of them are in the North.

North
Okay, The Reds lead, no surprise here as I predicted and the injuries won't cause them to lose the division but it could hurt come playoff time. The Cubs and their "woe is me attitude" are in second and a very probable wild card. The Pirates are quietly in third and a likely candidate for a wild card spot. The Brewers are bringing up the rear, but one of their patented playoff runs could be eminent.

East
The Ball Hogs are in first with no surprise and the Beans are right there as predicted. The Beans need to step it up if they are going to the playoffs as they either need to win the division or overtake the Pirates. The Indians have languished all year with no hope in sight this time around. Somehow I knew that was coming at the beginning of the year. There is no reasoning behind their lackluster play other than the fact it is the only team I have seen that can have 16 hits in a game and only score 5 runs.

South
The Tard Parks are having a great season in their Little League Stadium. We can't say they are winning because of that either as they have won more on the road than at home by a slim margin, they are just plainly good. Can they break their jinx in the playoffs this year? I figured the Marlins could have been vying for a playoff spot this season but that didn't manifest.

West
The Royals have things pretty well wrapped up but just doesn't seem all that encompassing this year. The Durants are streaky but can still make the 70 win projection.

Still at stake: The #2 seed between the Tard Parks and Ball Hogs. The East between the Ball Hogs and Beans. The Wild Card race between the Beans, Pirates and Cubs.

1. Reds
2. Tard Parks
3. Ball Hogs
4. Royals
5. Cubs
6. Pirates
7. Pork n' Beans
8. Brewers

The AL
Like the NL, the AL could have a bigger Fright Night for Halloween. To put it bluntly, there are two teams then there is everyone else. However the race for the other four spots is on and anything can happen. This is HBD and we know anything can and will happen.

North
The Barracudas hold the top spot with only the Blue Jays nipping anywhere close to their heels. The Blue Jays are in the running for the last wild card spot. Can the Barracudas hold them off as predicted? I really thought this division would be much tighter than it is.

East
The Dung Beetles hold the top spot in this ho hum wacky division for now. The Athletics or Sycamores could suddenly get hot and make a quick run and claim the top spot.

South
This season the Corn Dogs hold the top spot as we all can hear the quiet yelling and screaming from Edham55. The Bulls are right there of course and won't give up that easily. Who will win and who will be the wild card, the race is still on.

West
The Angels have flapped into first but the Hot Pockets are closing the gap quickly all of a sudden. With the 51's still hanging around, it could be a three team race to the finish line.

Whats at stake: The North between the Barracudas and Blue Jays for the #2 seed and likely #6 seed. The East where three teams have a chance at the division title and the #4 seed. The South where the two behemoths go head to head for the #1 and #5 seed. The West where three could still battle it out for the #3 seed and #6 seed.

1. Corn Dogs
2. Barracudas
3. Angels
4. Dung Beetles
5. Bulls
6. Blue Jays
7. Hot Pockets

RoY update part 2. National League.

Part 2 of Roy race update. This is done before Simmy decides the RoY candidates at which time (part 3) will likely only deal with them.

Standouts in the NL include:

Sam Charles - Cincy - Sam was on the list last time. Sam has raised his average from .252 to .277 since our last update. He has 26 home runs and 76 rbi thru 411 at bats mainly hitting in the 7 and 8 holes for Cincy. he also has 10 stolen bases.

Greg Woods - OK - Woods average has dropped some from .272 down to .264. not a huge drop but we wanted to see it go up to warrant strong consideration. He has had 409 at bats. i picked him to be on pace for 60 hr and 120 ribs for the year and with 34 home runs currently and 81 rbi he might hit the rbi mark but the home runs seem unlikely. Still a very strong candidate he's sure to collect some votes. add 8 stolen bases to his resume too.

Richard Anderson - TEX - Richard is an addition to the list. He has had 396 at bats for Texas in which he's hit .260 with 26 home runs and 72 rbi. Very similar numbers to Sam Charles in slightly less at bats. He doesn't have the steals tho (sitting on 1) and plays a corner outfiled position instead of shortstop. Might have an influence on the voters, might not.

Domingo Jose - Cincy - Ok so this writer is obviously biased (and frequently drunk) but Domingo is my pick right now. Only 364 ab's due to a short DL stint Jose is batting .321 (down a tick from his .329 last time) and has 29 home runs (2nd to Woods among NL rookies) and an impressive 99 rbi (first among NL rookies) No steals due to his lead feet, i don't think he needs them to be leading the pack right now.

Harry Cora - Florida - One wonders why Cora was sent down to get 123 AAA at bats this year as good as he's been at the ML level. New to the list this time he only has 291 ab's due to the AAA time but in those limited ab he's hit .309 with 23 homers and 69 rbi. I'd like to see what he could be at if he spent the whole year in the bigs. probably on top right now. He'll definitly be a factor in the end and in fact i'm torn between him and woods for 2nd right now. His 20 steals are an added bonus too.

I'm going to add 2 pitchers to the list this time. Diego Nunez of Florida and Ivan Johnson also of Florida.

Diego is a starter who thru 16 starts has only a 5 and 3 record but a 1.21 whip, 3.19 era and 65 K's make him stand out among other rookie SP this year. Ivan, as a set-up guy, may not garner many if any votes due to that but he has an impressive 1.12 whip, 2.62 era and also 65 K's thru 82 innings.

Erff Rankings as of now:

1. Jose Domingo
2. Greg Woods
3. Harry Cora
4. Sam Charles
5. Richard Anderson
6. Diego Nunez
7. Ivan Johnson

dropped from the list:

Spike Pellow
Curtis Farrell
Ivan Durazo
Don Cintron
J.C. Welch

Power Rankings

1) (1) Cincinnati Reds - 5 - 5 over their last 10. Come on Erff you can do better than that.

2) (2) Monterrey Corn Dogs - Recently lost 2 of 3 against the Austin Fightin' Armadillos. Edham must have cried a little after losing a series to the Armadillos.

3) (4) Santa Fe Tard Parks - Really coming on strong over the 2nd half of the season.

4) (3) Durham Bulls - Added ace Britt Swindell to a relatively mediocre staff. Nice addition.

5) (5) Trenton Ball Hogs - Other than the Reds the Ball Hogs are as good (or better) than any other team in the NL. Which doesn't bode well for my team.

6) (6) Chicago Cubs - Nice .600 record but still 12 back of the mighty Reds.

7) (7) Pittsburgh Pirates - Relatively disappointing season for the Pirates thus far. Assembled arguably the best rotation in the league, a solid lineup, but still sitting in 3rd in the NL North.

8) (10) St. Louis Barracudas - Great team that is a small step behind the CDs and Bulls in the AL. Decent rotation, but lacking a true ace.

9) (8) Atlanta Pork N Beans - Celebrating and rioting in the streets ensued in Atlanta after taking 2 of 3 from the Reds.

10) (UR) Anaheim Angels - Adding Pasqual Martinez and Doug Cambridge was a smart move. Great bullpen.

Dropped Out:
Kansas City Royals

Push/Pull Update

For the most part, the Push/Pull rating is accurate. 63% of the time, my team hits to their push/pull rating as can be figured out from the box scores. After keeping track plotting the entire team for a while which becomes quite intensive and did it only til draft time as I stopped to do the draft review and house remodeling got in the way.

The only surprising thing was Home Runs as 60% of them tend to go to Center Field regardless of a players push/pull. Well I do have one that tends to hit them opposite field off Pesky Pole.

Now here is a funny tidbit though it would be better if it was a Timbit and coffee. I bought a new TV for the living room in the remodeling quest. Everything seemed to go wrong in this aspect in a way. I had a 60" projection TV that was 10 years old, takes up a big space and can only be placed in two inconvenient places and has been worked on several times during its illustrious career. Thank goodness for maintenance contracts as the parts cost more than the original cost of the tv I think. I bought a Sony Bravia to take its place, much smaller but fits the room and budget much better. Went to set it up and the cable box wouldn't power back on. So off to the cable company for a new box. Went to hook up the 5 pin monster of a cable and the pin labeling don't exactly match up. Had to call the cable company to get the new box synced anyway and asked them and they said the color codes should match up, well guess in a way it would have if their pin bank was in a single cluster and marked right in a way you can read it. So then I go to hook up the DVD player, another mess as on the old TV I could hook it into a three pin component slot. Not this time, only one special bank would work. All well and good almost, I need that bank for the Wii. Off to Wally World for a HDMI cable. Wouldn't you know it, there has been a run on HDMI cables lately so had to go to Radio Shack who only had two left. Now I am a proud owner of a HDMI cable that cost more than the DVD player but it works fantastically. Hopefully I don't run into any problems with the Wii when I get around to it. Why a Wii, ask the wife.