Tuesday, April 23, 2013

AL-E Season 24 preview part 2 - Wichita Wolves

Its been nearly 2 weeks since I did part 1, I hope to do the next 3 parts a little quicker.

The Wolves have had an easy time of it the past 4 seasons finishing 1st in the AL-E each season, averaging nearly 90 wins per season.  Unfortunately the lions share of their players are 30 or older.  Looks to be a make it or break it season for Awilley.  So far Awilley has made no ML free agent signings and picked up 2 rule 5ers.  But with his good college scouting hopefully he can pick up a good prospect or 2 this draft.

One of the first things that springs out at you with this team is the overwhelming NL style offense, the team stole a total of 448 bases last season!  With one guy taking over 100 by himself!  Pretty impressive I must say.  With future hall of famer 2 time MVP 7 time all star Dan Blank reaching his twilight years but still a potent force the Wolves are possibly in a transition year, the question is does Awilley trade Dan for some serious prospects, or does he reload for a deeper run in the playoffs?  Either possibility is there with this team.

For the future we have an interesting 2b by the name of Kent Stewart, a prototypical Wolf with awesome speed and good baserunning, I can see this dude coming up this season and adding to those steal totals.  Yet another future stealer extraordinaire in Greg Volstad, this dude has wheels, alas his baserunning isnt the best, but he will be ready for prime-time this or next season for sure.  Another good-un is Lou Millar hes young at 22 with 2 pro years, no big surprise this guy is going to be eating up bases too, maybe not as well as the aforementioned Kent and Greg, but this guy has pop in his bat, and should hit for average too.  Pitching wise the Wolves have some hit or miss prospects but also this diamond coming up Heath Williams, this guy is going to be an unstoppable closer, a perennial fireman contender no doubt.  Philip Murphy is going to be a lights out LRA in a couple seasons too.

In conclusion this team has some bright spots in its future, but is Willey going to go into rebuild or go for the fences?  Either is a possibility, one needs to be decided as far as I can tell. 

Good luck Awilley!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

AL-E S24 preview part 1 - Pittsburgh Sluggers

AL-E Preview:

Pittsburgh Sluggers:
With 16 full seasons at the helm Larr100 has had some ups and some downs, with a massive upswing this past season.  From 51 wins in 22 to 79 in 23 I dont know if I have ever seen that before.  Not when the team hasnt changed hands anyways.  The question is whas it a fluke, or a harbinger of a serious contender coming out of the AL-E?  It looks as though this team is a season or 2 away from serious contender status.  Good thing is its pretty young, and with some key acquisitions the Sluggers could be in the thick of it. 

For the future we have an exciting prospect by the name of Russell Kemp, looks like he could possibly be a C with some serious power, he knocked in 23 HRs in less then 250 ABs.  Definately a guy to look out for.  Next up we have Phillip Bottenfield, another 1st rounder from a couple seasons back,  this guy has some real heat on his sinker, and should be pretty good at keeping balls from going yard.  This SP hopes to break into the bigs in 2 or 3 seasons.  A couple seasons ago Larr picked up a pretty decent IFA by the name of Carlos Olivo, this 2b/LFer should end up being a solid ballplayer in a couple seasons he wont wow you in any one way, but hes got no flaws. 

This reporter caught up with the wildly popular SS Fukudome and heres how our conversation went:
Greeny9; "So, can I call you Fucku?"
Michael exasperates; "ugh. whatever floats your boat"
"Great!, so Fucku you have had 3 seasons with the big club, do you feel as though this is your breakout year?"
"Absolutely, I think Lars is going to see my worth this year and give me the lions share of SS IP"
"Heres hoping Fucku!  I love your name, Fucku!"
"My names not Fucku! its Fukudome, its a common name in the Rhode Island Japanese community"
"Great, ok, well it was good talking to you Fucku, and have a good season!"

Was that a riveting interview?  I hope so!

Well, I think thats about enough for this preview.  Lets all wish Larr100 good luck with season 24!