March 26, 2008
How did the Swami do last year? The Swami correctly predicted the Endzone Animals and Newark Sugar Bears to capture their respective divisions. He got the bottom four teams right in both. Actually, the Swami got the entire Hanover Division exactly right. The thing he got wrong was the order of the Morris Division's middle teams. Considering how closely packed those teams were though, it was pretty much a tossup. We'll give the Swami (ok so I'm grading myself) an A- for last year's predictions anyway!
Morris Division
- Vancouver Iron Fist
After missing the playoffs again in 2007, the Fist plan on returning with a vengeance. Todd Helton gives them a strong OBP presense in the lineup and the continued maturity of young players like Curtis Granderson and Chase utley give the Fist one of the more feared lineups in the DMBL. Jake Peavy is one of the top pitchers in the game and has a very deep rotation around him. The bullpen, anchored by Manny Corpas and Billy Wagner, is also very deep and top notch.
Batting: A; Starting Pitching: A; Relief Pitching: A+ - Philadelphia Endzone Animals
The Animals plan to build on last year's success, coming within one game of the World Series. There is no reason to think that they can't do it again this year. Albert Pujols, Magglio Ordonez, Mark Teixeiera, Jimmy Rollins and Jorge Posada give the Animals a tough lineup. Johan Santana and Brandon Webb are one of the top starter duos in the league. And J.J. Putz is possibly the toughest closer. They'll be there again.
Batting: A; Starting Pitching: B; Relief Pitching: B+ - D.C. Bushslappers
D.C. surprised everyone by sneaking into the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Now they are looking for their first winning year. The offense is very good. With the additions of Matt Kemp and Brian McCann and the return of Derrek Lee, the Slappers should have plenty of punch. The Slappers feature one of the best 1-2 bullpen punches in the league with Papelbon and Nathan. The rotation is solid, but could be the team's Achilles Heel. Kelvim Escobar and John Maine are joined by Shawn Hill and Shaun Marcum (they could raise some Shauns of the Dead references later in the year) rounded out by Derek Lowe.
Batting: B+; Starting Pitching: B; Relief Pitching: B- - Hillsborough Hired Hitmen
The Hitmen have been very confident in their chances this season. The lineup is solid from top to bottom, even if they lack a bigtime bopper. Then again that was never a prerequisite for success. Getting Dan Haren from the Falcons will certainly help their chances though. He joins C.C. Sabathia and John Lackey to round out a good rotation. Takashi Saito and Jeremy Accardo anchor a pen mostly full of no-names. Overall this team is pretty solid, but is "solid" good enough to overcome some of the more formidable teams?
Batting: B; Starting Pitching: B+; Relief Pitching: B+ - Arkansas Golden Falcons
The Golden Falcons decided to focus more on offense this year and let their pitching cards fall where they may. The biggest move was their trade for Alex Rodriguez. With David Wright, Barry Bonds, Justin Morneau and Lance Berkman the offense is very capable. Brandon Phillips and Adam Dunn will also be important members of the offense. Of course, what's left of the pitching staff leaves much to be desired. Curt Schilling becomes the de facto ace of the staff, but after sitting out most of last season, will Schilling be able to shoulder the load? There's not much there to help him. With a mediocre pitching staff, the Falcons will be forced to rely on their bullpen a lot, but it's not clear if they will be up to the task.
Batting: A; Starting Pitching: D; Relief Pitching: B+ - Blue Ridge Bombers
The Bombers were left with a decent core of players to work with. Will it be enough to be competitive? Josh Beckett is still looking for his first quality season in the DMBL. After five subpar years, he will likely anchor this staff. Management hopes that the move away from such distracting places as Tijuana and South Boston will improve his focus. The rest of the rotation should be solid with Aaron Harang, Adam Wainwright, Ted Lilly and Dustin McGowan. Huston Street and Trevor Hoffman head a solid, if shallow, bullpen. On the offensive side, Blue Ridge should be competitive. Vlad Guerrero, Garrett Atkins, and Prince Fielder are all top players at their respective positions and the surrounding cast is capable.
Batting: B+; Starting Pitching: B; Relief Pitching: B- - Carolina Mudcats
Carolina's offense sputtered in the pre-season and it may hold the team back in 2008. With lots of young sticks in the lineup, 2009 may be more of their year. Dustin Pedroia, Troy Tulowitzki, Ryan Garko, and Delmon Young all will be playing in their first DMBL season. Pitching has always been a strength of the Mudcats, but they will be asked to carry some heavy baggage this season. The Hs and Zs rotation (Halladay, Hudson, Zito, Zambrano...and Brian Bannister) would be enough on most teams, but how many 2-1 games can a team really win? The bullpen is solid and deep, which will give the rotation a good chance to rest.
Batting: C-; Starting Pitching: A-; Relief Pitching: B+
Hanover Division
- Newark Sugar Bears
Once again the team to beat. Will anyone unseat the seemingly unstoppable force? It's hard to see any chinks in the armor thsi year. The pitching staff looks as formidable as ever with Chien-Ming Wang, Randy Johnson, Javier Vazquez and John Smoltz all returning from successful seasons last year. The real question is can the Sugar Bears get the same kind of ludicrous production out of their offense as last year? Chipper Jones, Manny Ramirez, and Carlos Guillen all return this year, but repeating last year's gaudy numbers is probably not going to happen.
Batting: A; Starting Pitching: A; Relief Pitching: A - Las Vegas Rat Pack
The Rats are looking to go from worst to first. After a dismal 2007 season, the team made a number of moves to get back into playoff form. Ichiro Suzuki will jumpstart an imposing lineup, consisting of heavyweights like Matt Holliday, Carlos Pena, and Jim Thome. Chris Young has been flawless in spring training and adding Erik Bedard and A.J. Burnett will not hurt. Francisco Rodriguez was a key bullpen acquisition. The Rats look like a major contender this year.
Batting: A-; Starting Pitching: A-; Relief Pitching: A- - Hoboken Cutters
The Cutters were clearly the surprise team of 2007, but can they keep the magic alive? The offense looks good with Hanley Ramirez and Miguel Cabrera at the top, but it soon starts to get hairy down the line. The rotation again looks good at the top, but falls short in the end. Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza and Jeremy Guthrie look like a solid trio, but Jon Garland and Aaron Cook don't compare to other teams' back end starters.
Batting: C+; Starting Pitching: B-; Relief Pitching: B - New Jersey Team Buddah
Team Buddah is looking to make an improvement on their inaugural season. Newly-acquired Alfonso Soriano will help the offense, but the rest of the lineup will need to scrape for runs. Things look a little better on the pitching side though as both Oliver Perez and Joe Blanton have looked good so far and Brad Penny has become a bonafide ace. George Sherrill and Bobby Jenks should see plenty of work in the pen.
Batting: D+; Starting Pitching: B+; Relief Pitching: B - Tampa Bay Plunkers
Will the first-year Plunkers keep the Sharks playoff successes alive? The club has shown some spunk early on, but they don't really have the firepower to play with the big boys. Adrian Gonzalez and James Loney look like they have longterm potential and Kenji Johjima has been great in the spring. Roy Oswalt and Jered Weaver headline a decent rotation. The Plunkers look like a team that will likely fall just short of competing this year.
Batting: C; Starting Pitching: B+; Relief Pitching: B- - Sardine City Straphangers
The Sardines are in Year Two of their longterm building plan, as evidenced by early inelligible prospecting picks in the draft. Some of their plans have borne fruit already - Ryan Braun and B.J. upton look ready for the Show and Fausto Carmona and Cole Hamels show promise. But overall this team is still a year or so away from being a top competitor.
Batting: B; Starting Pitching: C+; Relief Pitching: C+ - Matthew's Mighty Men of Marietta
It's odd that a team that came just short of a World Series win is now looking at a rebuilding year, but the Mighty Men put all their eggs in their basket and now has to hatch some new ones. That's not to say that the Mighty Men will become the Waikiki Keys, but they'll have their work cut out for them. Derek Jeter and Matt Diaz are the only remnants on offense of last year's club. Last year's ace Francisco Liriano is out for the year, so the burden falls on Gil Meche. That pretty much tells you all you need to know about the starting rotation. Mariano Rivera will have limited save opportunities, if the battered bullpen can even get that far.
Batting: C; Starting Pitching: D; Relief Pitching: D
Las Vegas could very well upset the Sugar Bears this year, but it is hard to write them off until the deed is done. The Rats though look like a real challenger to Newark and have a real good shot at the first-round bye. It looks like there are four solid locks for post-season play - Vegas and Newark, and Vancouver and Philly.
Both Tampa Bay and Blue Ridge could also do better than predicted, but the Swami threw in a slight learning curve minus for the two newest teams. Sardine City also could do better, but the Swami predicts the Straphangers will be in sell mode in the second half of the season in accordance with their rebuilding strategy.