FA Market

I thought it might be fun to see who the top 5 potential big money guys in three categories will be and dissect them a bit. Of course, we all are wondering who is going to shell out too much money for their services this year.

Starting Pitchers:

1. Dan Hitchcock, age 32, Type A, lefty, wants 7.5M for three seasons minimum. Has the control, splits, velocity and GB that would make him a great one, pitches are another story. Was on a winning power hitting team and never really had a great season, one good one. Makes me wonder if he had a catcher with PC above the intelligence of a peanut and weather it would actually help.

2. Xavier Hart, age 33, Type A, lefty, wants 6.8M for two seasons minimum. He was on some great Cubs teams and has the rings to prove it. Really only had one decent season though. Has the ratings to be really great still but was Chicago his downfall?

3. Howard Barkley, age 36, Type A, lefty, wants 6.8M for 2 seasons minimum. Had one decent season though he was always on so-so teams or less. Still has some pretty good ratings and might have a season or two left in him but at his age maybe not.

4. Chad Sanders, age 35, Type A, lefty, wants 5.8M for two seasons minimum. Right split is weak but control and pitches cover it nicely. Has had a Cy Young season and his hands are fully weighted with rings. The deterioration is taking its toll so buyer beware.

5. Mike Roberts, age 34, Type A, lefty, wants 5.4M for two years minimum. Has never had a good season and really was never on a powerhouse, always before. Ratings are decent but probably needs a catcher.

Egads!!!, those are the top 5? Glad I am sitting this FA period out. I really didn't see much else you would call great in the SP role.

The Relief Pitchers:

1. Willard Farley, age 29, Type A, righty, wants 6M for three years minimum. Has put up some good numbers and lots of innings but not as a closer. Doesn't have that real good second pitch to be a closer.

2. Doug Cambridge, age 32, Type A, righty, wants 5.6M for two seasons minimum. Has had some up and down years in different roles and has lots of rings. Still a very good closer.

3. Heath O'Brien, age 29, Type A, righty, wants 5.4M for two years minimum. Has had some decent seasons in the setup roles as he doesn't possess the second pitch of a closer but could put in a lot of quality short innings.

4. Shane Kelly, age 28, Type A, righty, wants 5M for two years minimum. Hasn't been all that successful in all reality as a closer and iffy in the short role, maybe it is those pitches.

5. Philip Nelson, age 30, Type A, lefty, wants 5M for two years minimum. Has had pretty good success in the short role and can put in some medium innings. With a stable of three pitches could make a statement at being a closer, a role he never had, but better have a catcher IMO.

I was in the market for a good closer but maybe a good thing I changed my mind.

The Position Players:

1. Lonny Waltman, age 31, Type A, lefty, wants 7.8M for four years. A pretty good hitter with 20-25 homer power. Actually strikes out more than I would expect. Capability is there for a GG in LF or 1B not RF.

2. Nigel Lennon, age 27, Type A, rughty, wants 7M for three years minimum. A decent hitter with a little pop in the bat. Fancies himself as a SS but it would be a cold day in hell for me to play him there. 2B/3B/RF and maybe some occasional CF when in need.

3. Miguel Franco, age 30, Type A, switch, wants 6.6M for four years. 3B? Really? 30 errors and 20 minus plays, maybe that is why he is in the unemployment line. I would be hard pressed to make him anything other than a 1B/LF. Does have some nice power and contact, but eye and splits are not very attractive for the price.

4. Douglas Crudale, age 31, Type A, righty, wants 6.6M for four years. Listed as a 2B/LF, guess that is why he had 18 minus plays at 2B? Ok, so I would make him a 1B, LF a maybe. Has a good eye, power and contact, right split is covered but weak. Would be a better hitter in a plus hitting park.

5. Douglas Purcell, age 29, Type B, switch, wants 6.3M for three years. Hitting wise I see him as so-so with little power though did hit well in Texas. Not a real good 3B as fielding goes but could be a very good defensive RF.

There ya go for the top five hitters, not much if you ask me.

Season 15 News

Welcome to Season 15 in MLB! Another exciting season is in store and maybe another big WS party at Erffs!

HOF - This is the first season for the Hall of Fame. As far as I know, there are automatic nominations by the AI and you can nominate up to two players that played for your team that is in the list (erff said he nominated three so not sure, the release said two). The list will be highlighted as to which players you can nominate with nominate as the action. As for Jose's HOF question: If a player is nominated to be voted into or inducted into the Hall of Fame the franchise that is represented will be the franchise that he played the most games for in his career.

Fielding Instructors - There has been a bunch of forum hoopla about this as WIS has decided there is a shortage in many Worlds. If you ask me, they made their own mistakes with this problem. We have all the way to 33 available that want to be a FI. 18 of those are on Medicare and visit the geriatric ward before each game to see if they are still alive. I was hoping my FI from last season would want to stay this season. Lo and behold he does as the Bench Coach! Herein lies the problem.

Movers and Shakers:

cmchristians moved the St. Louis Barracudas to Minnesota and named them the Twins. Not a bad move in my opinion.

mitchrapp took over the Monterrey franchise and has moved them to Kansas City and nicknamed them the Royals. We are going to miss edham and the silent Corn Dogs. Welcome to one of the best HBD worlds there is mitchrapp.

knucklebones moved from New Orleans to St Louis and named them the Cardinals. Another good move if you ask me.


yoker70 moved his Kansas City Royal club to Colorado and named them the Rockies. Oh why oh why? Colorado Springs maybe!

wholck moved his team from Trenton to Philadelphia and became the Phillies. Or is that Fillies? I hated going to Trenton to play, not sure about y'll.

We are still waiting the fate of the Oklahoma City franchise as I am not sure if he is going to move the team or not.

It is official as we are to go go go!

jsholmes did move the Oklahoma Franchise to Salem and became the Super Sequoias. Maybe the best move of them all.

I don't know about the rest of you, but most of the stadiums available in the West are a bit too dramatic one way or the other. So it is good place for all the odd ball cities and team names.

Red Sox Lose Game 7, Twice

Florida fans were at the exits twice during the Game 7 finale only to return to their seats after a two out hit extended the game. This may have been the best World Series in the 14 year history of MLB! Florida quickly jumped out to a 3-0 series lead, but just like the AL LCS the Red SOX came back. Then came the see-saw ride of Game 7. The Red Sox had a 1-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, Bubba Ross came in to get the final out, a triple to Wilfredo Oliva scoring the speedy Harry Cora to send the game into extra innings. Boston goes up by a run in the 11th only to see the antics of Harry Cora scoring on a Julian Sojo 2-out single again. Then came the fateful 12th, Ramon Ishida scoring from 2B on J.C. Welch's single to right field. Ishida who was off before the crack of the bat attempting to steal 3B and never saw the late stop sign put up by Third Base Coach Will Cornelius. Replays show the play at the plate wasn't all that close as Ishida's hand found the plate when the perfectly thrown single bounce arrived and the tag was oh so close but clearly late.

Congrats to the Florida Marlins who can proudly play "WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS". Boston fans are proud of their team even though the players are dejected.

Red Sox Veronica Bulls

The Red Sox had their backs against the barrera (cowering even) when they went down 3-0 to the Bulls. "Pass da Bota the Matador is Cornada!" was the cry of the Bulls fans, oh the shame of it all now. The Bulls offense seemingly unstoppable in the first three games suddenly went cold as the Ohio weather. The Red Sox pitching came to life and saw a flicker of a chance after winning game 4, 5-1. Game 5 saw a 31 total hit barrage by both teams but getting runs across the plate proved difficult as the Red Sox snuck the winning run across the plate in the bottom of the 10th for a 6-5 win. Game 6 was the total opposite as there was 7 total hits by both teams as Boston plated 2 in their timely 3 hit attack in the 6th inning which provided enough offense to win, 2-1. Game 7 had everyone on pins and needles or would that be "Espada y Vara"? The Red Sox offense mustered an early 3-1 lead which the pitching staff would not relinquish. OLE OLE OLE OLE!!!!!!

This is first time a team has come back from a 0-3 start to win a LCS as far as I can recall. Not since seasons 8 and 9 had a heavy underdog upset the prohibitive favorite in the AL. The Bulls do not get a chance to threepeat or twopeat for that matter.

On to the World Series which matches first time entrants, the Boston Red Sox and Florida Marlins. Pizza, Popcorn and Beer at Erff's for the World Series everyone!!! Oh, forgot to mention, Beer, more Beer and um, yeah, Dancin Girls!!!!

Pirates Get Swashbuckled By Marlins

#2 Florida split with #1 Pittsburgh in the opening two games of the series and that was key. Florida pulled out a 10 inning squeaker in game 3 but Pittsburgh came back to tie the series in game4. Pittsburgh bats fell silent in game 5 as the Marlins went up by a game. Decisive Game 6 saw the series switch back to the Pirates den. The bats were singing once again early but just couldn't get timely hits to score runs as Florida came back from an early 3 run deficit to quickly turn the tide.

Could we have two WS noobs? Boston is putting on a valiant comeback effort to prove they do belong!

Florida Brims Mad Hatters

Florida shuts out New Orleans in game 4. "New Orleans was just plainly gassed!" exclaimed GM Knukle. This is also Florida's first playoff and series win! Congrats

Florida now travels to Pittsburgh to face the Pirates.

Pirates Plunder Royals

Two late runs by Pittsburgh ended Kansas City's hope for a 5th game. All four games was hard fought but the 5-0 shutout and yesterdays 1-run affair seem to have sapped the KC attack. This is the 3rd time the Pirates have made it this far.

The Pirates fly home to await the Florida Marlins. This is the third time in MLB history that the top 4 teams will go to the LCS and the first since season 10.