Santa Cruz Redwood moves to Los Angeles.

New owner is happy to join the league and has moved the Redwoods from Santa Curz to the Big City of L.A.
... Had a tough time resigning some key free agents, lost a few good ones but I think we should be competitive in the West. Looks like a tough division, I see the division coming down to Tucson and Tacoma with Colorado and our team having a strong finish. Should be fun.
We have rookies Rafael Santana ,Albert Espinoza and R.J. Cole trying to make a major impact this year. And we look forward to adding to our minor leagues with a very high pick in this years draft.

AL West's 5 Best Pitching Prospects

This spring, scouts have noted that the AL West (hey, write about your own division if you want to read about your guys) is boasting 5 of the top pitching prospects in the game. All are former first round draft picks and are still with their original franchises. Ranked in order:

#1

Hardball Dynasty's

Spike Chase

Chase was a #3 overall pick by the Iowa City Independence in season 5 out of high school, and this bonus baby has developed nicely through 3 straight seasons of sub-3 ERA in the minors. Owner carlspenard has babied Chase, with full years in Rookie, LoA, and HiA, and never exceeding 140 IP. The righty is slated for AA this year, but the pitching starved Iowa City fans want to see him in a ML uniform soon.

Strengths: Tremendous stuff, throws hard, excellent control, and if you do hit him, it's a ground ball. Stays in excellent health.

Weaknesses: Low stamina and poor makeup have led some to question if he has the mental toughness for major league ball.

Projection: Best ERA and WHIP in the league, but in the shower by the 7th inning.

#2

Hardball Dynasty's

Lance Ward

Ward was drafted #7 out of college in season 5 by the Las Vegas Dealers, two picks after Spike Chase. The lefty has twice thrown 200+ innings in the minors and won both the AA and AAA Cy Youngs. Ward will pitch in the majors this year, although Dealers owner jceffali is expected to demand a few more starts at AAA.

Strengths: Very durable with outstanding control.

Weaknesses: This soft tosser won't put up high Ks and vulnerable to the long-ball.

Projection: Solid #1 starter who can finish a game.

#3

Hardball Dynasty's

Luis Santos

Santos was the #2 overall pick by the Iowa City Independence in year 6, and even though he had just 1 year in college, carlspenard has pushed him faster than Spike Chase. The right-hander jumps to AAA this year after sporting a 2.36 ERA in HiA last year.

Strengths: Solid stuff and control, keeps the ball down, and very durable.

Weaknesses: Soft tosser whose health habits have been called into question. Santos also lacks the mustache that the other 4 have.

Projection: Great #2 after Chase--a 1-2 punch made for October baseball.

#4

Hardball Dynasty's

Hugh Incaviglia

Incaviglia was the 27th pick in season 7 out of high school by the Portland Beavers. The righty won the Rookie League Cy Young last year which earned him a promotion all the way to AA. Some scouts question the wisdom of skipping LoA and HiA at the tender age of 19, however the young Texan is well on his way to meeting projections and may have the makeup to handle it.

Strengths: Nice stuff, throws heat. Durable. Four very good pitches.

Weaknesses: Health a concern and lefties might hit well off him.

Projection: Puts up great numbers in Portland's pitcher's paradise.

#5

Hardball Dynasty's

Max White

White is very similar to Spike Chase, but the stuff isn't quite as good. White was the #9 pick by the Las Vegas Dealers in season 4 out of high school. He pitched at each level, though just 1/2 year at LoA and HiA, with an ERA of about 3.

Strengths: Throws gas, murder on righties, solid control. Stays in great health.

Weaknesses: Durability, and his managers hate when he throws that 5th pitch.

Projection: Should put up strong numbers, but has trouble pitching deep into games.

Richmond Renegades Head to San Antonio

The owners of Major League Baseball's Richmond Renegades have sold their franchise to a new ownership group in San Antonio, Texas. The former Renegades will now be known as the San Antonio Stars and will play their home games at the newly renovated Nelson Wolff Municipal Stadium in Bexar County, Texas.

Wolff Stadium is a paradise for pitchers. Singles, doubles, triples and home runs to right field are all well below the National League average and only its relatively short 310 foot left field fence placement allows home runs to that field to be near the number hit in other NL stadiums.

Making use of their stadium pitching advantage, the Stars picked up free agent starting pitcher George Reagan this season. Reagan, the best pitcher available in the latest free agent draft and third all time with 1337 career strikeouts, signed with the Stars for 5 years and $103 million dollars.

HughesJR, the first year General Manager and Field Manager for the Stars, said that the team would not be shy to pick up talent needed to make a run at the playoffs. The Stars are a member of the National League's south division and missed a wildcard playoff birth by 2 games last season. "I think that the addition of George Reagan might get us over the hump this year", said HughesJR.

The Stars did have some free agent defections this season as well. The one with the biggest impact was the loss of starting pitcher Gabe Lemke to the Durham Associates. Lemke was 8-6 with 175 innings pitched and a 3.80 earned run average last season with the former Santa Cruz Redwood (now the LA Kingz) and the Richmond Renegades. HughesJR said that he was very happy to have Reagan instead of Lemke. "Gabe is a good pitcher, but his arm is not what it used to be", said HughesJR.

The fans in San Antonio are thrilled to have a major league team and the Stars' management is excited that they should be able to compete in the National League South this season. We will keep an eye on the Stars as the season progresses.

All Time Pitching Leaders

Following up on the hitting leaders, below are the all-time Jersey League leaders in several key pitching categories. Again, this is probably a preview of the Hall of Fame when WiS gets it up and running. Hard to believe our all-time Wins leader is just 29 years old!

Wins
#1, 126 Wins (can he get to 300?)

Blaine Prince Kansas City Rumpshakers Age: 29 B/T: L/L Born: Bath, ME Position(s): P (SP1) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

#2, 117 Wins

Rube Campbell Boston Royal Rooters Age: 37 B/T: L/L Born: Waverly, IA Position(s): P (SP1) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

#3, 116 wins

Tim Buehrle Trenton Patriots Age: 33 B/T: S/L Born: Douglas, AZ Position(s): P (SP5) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Strikeouts
#1, 1396 Ks

Rube Campbell Boston Royal Rooters Age: 37 B/T: L/L Born: Waverly, IA Position(s): P (SP1) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

#2, 1358 Ks

Bobby Patel Buffalo Beagles Age: 35 B/T: L/L Born: New York, NY Position(s): P (SP2) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

#3, 1337 Ks

George Reagan none none Age: 30 B/T: R/R Born: Park Rapids, MN Position(s): P (P) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

ERA (810 IP min.)
#1, 2.56 ERA

Rube Campbell Boston Royal Rooters Age: 37 B/T: L/L Born: Waverly, IA Position(s): P (SP1) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

#2, 3.10 ERA

Blaine Prince Kansas City Rumpshakers Age: 29 B/T: L/L Born: Bath, ME Position(s): P (SP1) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

#3, 3.21 ERA

Ivan Gomez none none Age: 39 B/T: R/R Born: Santo Domingo, DO Position(s): P (SP2) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Saves
#1, 268

Julian Freeman Pawtucket T's Age: 35 B/T: R/R Born: Roswell, NM Position(s): P (ClA) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

#2, 260

Carlos Prieto Helena Vigilantes Age: 36 B/T: R/R Born: Rancho Viejo, DO Position(s): P (ClA) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

#3, 240

Jose Plata Trenton Patriots Age: 38 B/T: S/R Born: Don Gregorio, DO Position(s): P (ClA) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

All Time Offensive Leaders

After 7 seasons, here are the all-time leaders in four key offensive categories. A surprising number of them are under 30 years old, so we could see them rack up big totals before retirement. Perhaps this is a preview of the future Jersey League Hall of Fame? (Pitching leaders to follow)

Home Runs

#1, 430 HRs

Bernie Gongora Houston We Have a Problem Age: 27 B/T: S/R Born: Perico, CU Position(s): RF/1B/LF/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

#2, 394 HRs

Julius Costello Montreal Expos Age: 35 B/T: S/R Born: Fairview, OK Position(s): LF/1B/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

#3, 367 HRs

Louie Hiro none Open Franchise Age: 28 B/T: R/R Born: Tokyo, JP Position(s): 1B/LF/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

RBIs

#1, 1020 RBI

Bernie Gongora Houston We Have a Problem Age: 27 B/T: S/R Born: Perico, CU Position(s): RF/1B/LF/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

#2, 964 RBI

Jimmie Bell Buffalo Beagles Age: 35 B/T: R/R Born: West Helena, AR Position(s): RF/1B/LF/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

#3, 962 RBI

Louie Hiro none Open Franchise Age: 28 B/T: R/R Born: Tokyo, JP Position(s): 1B/LF/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

On-Base Percentage (2510 minimum plate appearances)

#1, .448 OBP

Dave Gardner Portland Beavers Age: 33 B/T: S/R Born: Middletown, IN Position(s): DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

#2, .441 OBP

Blake Price Portland Beavers Age: 34 B/T: L/L Born: Hillsboro, TX Position(s): 1B View Hardball Dynasty Profile

#3, .440 OBP

Jeremy Richard none Open Franchise Age: 32 B/T: L/R Born: Charlestown, MA Position(s): C/1B/LF/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Stolen Bases

#1, 456 SBs

Braden Bynum Houston We Have a Problem Age: 28 B/T: R/R Born: Queens Village, NY Position(s): 1B/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

#2, 357 SBs

Wayne Burba none none Age: 34 B/T: R/R Born: Asheville, NC Position(s): LF/1B/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

#3, 339 SBs

Felipe Barcelo Scranton Backyard Groove Age: 29 B/T: R/R Born: Colon, CU Position(s): 2B/3B/RF/CF View Hardball Dynasty Profile

expectations are high, no sheet music needed

The "Groove" has missed a few beats in this my first league. Flat notes early have altered our overall syncopation. However young members have joined the band, tuned up during season seven and are ready to beat me daddy eight to the bar in season eight. Two fresh faces in Fonzie Brinkley and Stubby Barnes join veterans Wilt Mouton, Pedron Ricon, and Howard Scott in our starting rotation back beat, while Donnie Monroe joins our swinging reief corp anchored by all star closer Gerald Grissom. Grissom plays chin music sweetly with his heater. Getting down with the sticks, Calvin Lee and Bruce Johnson,both 1st round picks, join Robin Durocher an origional Groover who worked his way up thru the system to add punch and defense to our lineup of heavy hitters. Veterans Hideki Miyakazi,Troy Powell, and Chris Donovan combined to hit 93 HR's and 232 RBI's. Lee added 24 Hr's and 86 RBI's and is looking to produce more this year.Two time all star Filip Barcelo played near flawless 2nd base last season, 3 errors taint his play.Our "Backyard Groove" needs a strong performance worthy of Carnigie Hall as our division has been joined by long time friendly rival Tony23 who took over the division's last place team. Tony, an excellent HBD player, will rise to the challange and have his team pushing us in 6-4 time. This is the season the Groove rises above .500 ball (our high water mark) and challanges joemac and frog man for the division title. Now; if we ould only fill our league. Feamster's Jersey League sports a high ranking among all HBD leagues. We're proud to be a member.

Potentially Available Franchises

The following franchises are still available:

NL South
Richmond Renegades. One-and-done owner TXLnghrn did a fantastic job turning this franchise around, improving last year from 49 wins to 83. He also signed the #2 overall pick Donald Ryu.

Louisville Slugs. After winning the season 1 world series, this franchise fell on hard times and has failed to win more than 77 games in any year. It has had 7 different owners in the usually-stable NL, so the organization really needs a solid new owner.

NL West
Santa Cruz Redwood. The Redwood won the West for the first 4 years, but then long-time owner kempner may have lost interest the last 3 years, as the team slipped to just 64 wins last year. If kempner does leave the new owner inherits a proud franchise and a high draft pick.

Honolulu Typhoon. This has been a consistently decent franchise and has been led by typhoon26 for all 7 years. The team typically was about .500, but spiked to win 87 games last year before crashing to just 63 this year. If typhoon26 leaves, the new owner inherits a pretty good organization and a very high draft pick.

AL East
Chicago Land Sloths. This has been a steady franchise, winning between 76 and 92 games for each of 7 years and is coming off of an 82 win season, led by owner stull.

Boston Big Sox. This once proud franchise has fallen on hard times after suffering through multiple changes in ownership over the past several years and bigjc led the squad to just 47 wins. The team signed the #1 draft pick this year and will have the #1 pick again, so its prime for a rebuild.

AL South
Charlotte Hornets. Another rebuild opportunity. One-and-done owner benfc led the team to just 65 wins, but he did sign the #5 and #30 overall picks in the draft.

AL West
Seattle Rain Dogs. wlarson held this team for 7 years and is forced to depart, leaving behind a fine franchise. The team is built on pitching and has made the playoffs three straight years; it is usually competitive at every minor league level.

San Francisco Earthquakes. This proud organization has 4 AL West titles in its past, though slipped to just 80 wins last year behind one-and-done owner scottso14.