The Whitecaps

This is my first attempt at a blog so bear with me. The Whitecaps had a very good year,

but '09 could be a little different. The acquisitions of C.Kotchman and J.Vasquez in the last few weeks have bolstered the defense in the infield and gave WHW another solid starter.
Also the RFA rights to C.Jones has caused me to think that I am overloaded at 3B.
It will be difficult to sign Chipper to a contract given the limited money I have to offer.

I got the name of the Whitecaps from the Class A (Detroit) affiliate. The name has come to mean a great deal to me. I chose that to honor my favorite team Detroit.

Now back to talking the team, the management has desired a strong 1b and I think Kotchman fills the bill. Casey is not a power guy. He has good range and is a backwards lefty. He wont steal a base either :). And with him playing in Atlanta hes has a good
chance of hitting 25 HR's and batting 300.

West Huron also acquired J.Vasquez from the Beavers and immediately the Caps have a #2 starter and with him going to Atlanta as well,he had to get away from that moron O.Guillen he should flourish. It gives the Caps another 200 inning SP.

Also if I have time to give some predictions I will do so. Well how did I do? Let me know
so I can be a regular blogger and have fun with this.

An Early Look at Defense ...

With the range ratings coming out over the weekend, I thought it would be interesting to see what DBA defenses look like going into the final week of the bidding and the FA Auction on February 28th (mark your calendars!).  There are no error ratings calculating in these rankings, and that could change a few things.  However, I don't think any error rating will make Burmese's defense better than Altenberg's :-).  To the ratings ...

THE LINK ... http://www.strat-o-matic.com/2008rate.htm

Williams

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Altenberg (54) -- Cream of the DBA right now with 1's in Pedroia (2b), Gonzalez (1b) and Victorino (cf).  Longoria is a 2 at third and Sweeney is a 2 in RF.  All defensive backups filled.

Bloomington (59) -- Second in the division and third overall with a 1 in Rollins (ss) and 2's across the IF; Swisher, Casilla and Wright.  Outfield is a part-time mess, but should stay average at all times.  All defensive backups filled.

Fairfax (63) -- Third in the division, 5th overall with Beltre (3b) as its only 1.  2's everywhere else, except firstbase (hodge-podge of 4's) and non-existant catcher.  FFF needs two catchers and a secondbaseman.

Normandy Lake (66) -- Derrek Lee is NLL's only 1 at first.  2's across the infield and 3's everywhere else (except LF).  The Landsharks still need a backup catcher.

Denver (70) -- Hudson (2b) and Sizemore (cf) are DEN's 1's.  A-Rod is a 2 at third.  4's at catcher, first and right really hurt.  DEN needs a backup shortstop.

Burmese (93) -- Coming in at dead last, BBM's has a lone bright spot of Scott Rolen as a 1 at third.  No twos and 4's at SS (Peralta), 2B (Hall) and LF (Soriano) doom this defense.

Koufax

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Elkhart Lake (58) -- First in the division, second in the league, ELR is led by Beltran (cf) and Iwamura (2b) with 1's.  2's in LF (Blanco) and RF (Drew) along with SS (Cabrera) make the three-headed 4 at 3B not hurt as much.  All defense backups filled.

Ottawa (63) -- Russell (ca) and Kotchman (1b) are OTT's 1's.  2's at SS (Jeter) and CF (Gonzalez) make up for the 4 (Braun) in LF.  All defensive backups filled.

West Huron (68) -- With one of the shallowest offensive rosters in the DBA (only 10 players), WHW puts together a league average defense.  The Whitecaps have no 1's, but 2's at five positions (Molina, Polanco, Hardy, Crawford, Francoeur).  If a CF is signed at the Auction, Crawford becomes a 1 in LF.

Ridgecrest (73) -- Put Jack Wilson at ss (he's a 1) and this is one of the DBA's best defenses.  As it stands, its near average.  A trio of CF will man the OF, all with 2's; Upton, Gomez and Wells.  Zimmerman (3b) and Soto (ca) are RID's other 2's.  Guzman, a 3, will man the ss position most of the year.   

Y-D Screaming (79) --  Another solid OF in the Koufax.  Pence, Granderson and Gutierrez (a 1 in RF) will all be 2's.  Howard (1b) is the only 4 in the lineup.  The rest of the starters are 3's.  YDL still needs backups at 1b and ss.

Cleveland (88) -- Ruiz is this team's lone 2 at ca.  The rest of the defense is in disarray and might see a pair of 5's in the OF (Burrell and Stairs).  The best CF on the roster now is a 4.  Look for some defensive upgrades at the auction.  CLE still needs a backup at 1b.

Gibson

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Homer (59) -- Youkilis (1b), Markakis (rf) and Phillips (2b) are 1's for the DBA's third best defense.  Add in a pair of 2's in the OF (Crisp, Ellsbury) and the rest of the defense are 3's.  A nice defensive ss will elevate this team even further.

Lebanon (66) -- A very nice middle-of-the-defense on LEB with 2's at each (Utley, Escobar and Young).  Add in a part-time 2 in RF (Church) and threes everywhere else.  LEB is shallow in theOF and still needs backups at lf and cf.

Carbondale (72) -- Pujols (1b) is a 1.  Young (ss) is a 2.  Bruce (lf/rf) is also a 2.  Threes everywhere else, except a four at 3b.  Minor upgrades in the middle would help this defense out.

Lehigh Valley (76) -- Pena (1b) is LVP's lone one.  Roberts (2b), Winn (lf) and Hamilton (cf) are all twos.  Keppinger's 4 at ss is killing this defense.  The Iron Pigs still need backups at 3b and ss.

Rio Brazos (79) -- An outfield of Ross, Hunter and Rowand is a bit above average, but the infield is a mess with Uggla (a 4) at second and Theriot (a 3) at short.  RBC still needs backups at 2b, 3b  and ss.

Saint Gabriel (80) -- You would think a defense with Mauer (ca 1) and Ichiro (rf 1) would be better than this.  Ichiro moves to cf and Ludwick (rf 2) plays rf.  The rest of the defense is bad at best, with Jacobs (1b 5), Headley (3b 4), Hanley (ss 3) and Lewis (lf 3).  ILL still needs a backup at ca and 1b.

When the complete defensive ratings come out later, the order will be jumbled up a bit.  But, you can get a good idea of which pitchers will be benefiting from this listing.  

An Early Look at Bullpens

Relievers are usually picked up en masse at the auction.  However, with the bidding process and what looks like a tendency to keep contracts around longer, even in sub-par years, six bullpens seem to be "full" as of this writing.  And four more are within one arm of the same.

Gibson

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HSD -- 4 RP, 8.3M CAP, 275 IP, 1.26 whip, 3.34 ERA

Homer is in position to compile the best RP corps in the Gibson, but will need to spend a few million to target 2-3 Grade A RP.  There are 16 of those out there.  One of youngest in the DBA (28.1 age) is led by Jonathan Broxton (1.17 whip, 3.13 ERA) and Scott Downs (1.15 whip, 1.78 ERA).

RBC -- 6 RP, 13.5M CAP, 376 IP, 1.29 whip, 3.38 ERA

Rio Brazos sits at #2 in the division with its nearly completed RP staff.  Look for Don to spend RBC's money elsewhere and pick up a bit player near the end of the auction to complete the requirements of 400 ReIP.  Joe Nelson (1.19/2.00), Heath Bell (1.21/3.58) and Darren Oliver (1.15/2.88) head up this seasoned staff.  Average age, 32.6.

CDC -- 7 RP, 10.0M CAP, 429 IP, 1.32 whip, 3.94 ERA

RFA (Thompson, 65 IP, 1.39 whip, 5.15 ERA)

Carbondale holds on to #3.  Don't expect much effort exerted to retain Thompson.  This staff is Carlos Marmol and the "others".  Marmol dominates with 0.94 whip and 2.99 ERA.  CDC will make some marginal improvements at the auction.  Second youngest RP crew at 26.7.

LVP -- 2 RP, 6.0M CAP, 187 IP, 1.33 whip, 3.41 ERA

With just two RP on the roster, Lehigh Valley streaks in at #4 on the fastball of Brad Lidge.  Lidge (1.23/1.95) will close the games, but the rest is up in the air.  Big money and this staff could hit top 2.  Normal moves will keep it in the middle of the division.

ILL -- 5 RP, 19.9M CAP, 388 IP, 1.35 whip, 3.99 ERA

Illinois will rely heavily on the arms of their "Three-headed Closer", Brian-KG Rodriquez.  Brian Fuentes (1.10/2.73), Francisco Rodriguez (1.29/2.24) and Kevin Gregg (1.28/3.41) will be great in the 8th/9th, but getting there will be a problem.  With little CAP room, don't expect many improvements.  The pen is just 28.8.

LEB -- 7 RP, 19.8M CAP, 478 IP, 1.39 whip, 3.73 ERA

RFA (Nathan, 68 IP, 0.90 whip, 1.33 ERA)

Lebanon has a solid but not spectacular RP corps already.  If Nathan is kept, it will move to mid-division.  At 34, do you FrRFA Nathan at 5yrs and let him walk if it hits 41M?  8M per year for an ace closer is not uncommon in this league.  No one really stands out on this elder (33.1) staff.

Koufax

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WHW -- 2 RP, 8.0M CAP, 92 IP, 1.12 whip, 3.12 ERA

RFA (Francisco, 63 IP, 1.15 whip, 3.13 ERA)

RFA (Lopez, 59 IP, 1.35 whip, 2.43 ERA)

RFA (Springer, 50 IP, 1.13 whip, 2.32 ERA)

RFA (Tejeda, 45 IP, 1.13 whip, 3.97 ERA)

West Huron defaults to the top of the division by the pure stats of his two RP on roster, Hoffman (1.04/3.77) and Saito (1.19/2.49).  If WHW can retain 3 out of 4 RFA's, it should retain the spot on the quality of the entire staff.  That will be a tricky maneuver, since the Whitecaps are severely limited by CAP.  All four should get the FrRFA tag for two years.  If bidding is heavy, each walks and WHW pockets a cool 4M to spend elsewhere.  Its a win-win.

RID -- 4 RP, 5.0M CAP, 269 IP, 1.18 whip, 2.71 ERA

Ridgecrest comes in at 1A.  The corps are led by Cory Wade (0.93/2.27) and Jim Johnson (1.19/2.23).  RID will need to pick up about 150 IP at the auction, so this rank could slip.  Expect this bullpen to stay in the top 3.

OTT -- 9 RP, 21.0M CAP, 615 IP, 1.16 whip, 3.38 ERA

The "Deepest Pen in the DBA" is indeed very deep.  It is also very, very good.  Ottawa is the only team with more than 7 RP on roster.  It starts with the absurd Billy Wagner (0.89/2.30) and Taylor Buchholz (0.95/2.17) and continues with RP "aces" of Manny Delcarmen (1.23/3.27), Rafael Perez (1.18/3.54), Yusmeiro Petit (1.05/4.31) and Jon Rauch (1.19/4.14).  Oh, and I forgot to mention 24 yr old phenom, Max Scherzer (1.23/3.05).  This staff is 28.2 and it ready to take over the "Best Pen in the DBA" mantel after the auction.

ELR -- 7 RP, 19.6M CAP, 480 IP, 1.23 whip, 3.61 ERA

Elkhart Lake would take the top prize in the Gibson, but is only 4th here.  The 9th will be manned by the best closer in the game, Mariano Rivera (0.67/1.40).  There may not be any hit chances on that card, fellas!  ELR also has specialist Brian Bruney (0.99/1.84).  ELR is out of CAP room, so this is probably as good as it gets.  

CLE -- 6 RP, 15.0M CAP, 403 IP, 1.36 whip, 3.99 ERA

Cleveland would love to move up a slot or two.  They should be able to do that with slight improvements in the back-end of the RP corps.  The front-end needs no help, with Jonathan Papelbon (0.95/2.34) and Jose Valverde (1.18/3.38) closing the door.  Versatile Ryan Rowland-Smith (1.37/3.42) makes up the bulk of the pen.  CLE should be a RP player at the auction.

YDL -- 2 RP, 7.0M CAP, 123 IP, 1.39 whip, 2.77 ERA

Y-D has the youngest RP two-some in the league with Joba and Zumaya.  However, Joba's role on the team hasn't been defined and Zumaya has just 23 IP.  This team will need to sign nearly 400 IP at the auction and will move up according to the amount spent.  Could Nolasco (200+ IP, RP rating) be in George's sights?

Williams

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FFF -- 6 RP, 10.5M CAP, 342 IP, 1.17 whip, 3.20 ERA

RFA (Thornton, 67 IP, 1.00 whip, 2.67 ERA)

Fairfax can lay claim to the "Best Pen in the DBA".  If they retain Thornton, it will be.  Joakim Soria (0.86/1.60) looks like a 24 yr old Rivera.  Jesse Carlson (1.03/2.25) looks nearly as good.  Solid perfomances out of Mike Lincoln (1.28/4.48) and Octavio Dotel (1.21/3.76) make this a well-rounded staff.

ALT -- 7 RP, 12.5M CAP, 496 IP, 1.36 whip, 3.31 ERA

RFA (Geary, 64 IP, 1.14 whip, 2.53 ERA)

RFA (Qualls, 74 IP, 1.07 whip, 2.81 ERA)

Altenberg has a complete pen right now, sitting in the #2 spot in the division.  Matching Geary and Qualls will solidify that ranking and make them a top-4 DBA staff.  ALT is lead by three lights-out rookies, Brad Ziegler (1.16/1.06), Jose Arredondo (1.05/1.62) and Justin Masterson (1.22/3.16).  The other end of the bullpen can use some improvements.  And the Aces have the CAP room to make them.

BSK -- 6 RP, 10.5M CAP, 349 IP, 1.33 whip, 3.81 ERA

RFA (Ohman, 59 IP, 1.24 whip, 3.68 ERA)

RFA (Street, 70 IP, 1.21 whip, 3.73 ERA)

Bloomington will be happy keeping Ohman and Street in the fold at the auction.  Doing this will make a very solid staff led by Grant Balfour (0.89/1.54) and his eye-popping numbers.  The rest of the staff is iffy, but retaining Ohman and Street will keep good pitchers in good situations.

NLL -- 3 RP, 7.0M CAP, 156 IP, 1.28 whip, 3.68 ERA

Normandy Lake's nearly invisible RP staff falls in at #4.  NLL will need bid on a big-time closer because I don't think Todd Jones (1.63/4.97) will cut it.  Look for them to make numerous splashes at the auction, possibly picking up 500+ ReIP.

DEN -- 4 RP, 5.0M CAP, 258 IP, 1.37 whip, 3.61 ERA

RFA (Guardado, 56 IP, 1.22 whip, 4.15 ERA)

Denver will need to make some drastic improvements in order to stay out of the Williams RP basement.  Funny, but this would be a mid-tier staff in the Gibson.  Brian Tallet (1.31/2.88) and Joe Smith (1.29/3.55) lead this closer-less staff.  Bobby Jenks, anyone?

BBM -- 2 RP, 5.5M CAP, 54 IP, 1.32 whip, 4.64 ERA

RFA (Wood, 66 IP, 1.09 whip, 3.26 ERA)

Burmese has an interesting situation.  First, the entire bullpen has to be built at the auction.  Second, Kerry Wood WILL get 8M per year.  What do you do?  I say, FrRFA Wood at 5yrs, and take the 10M plus draft pick, then sign 7 above average RP at roughly 30M total.  You've spent 20M at the auction for a solid bullpen that is only costing about 20M in cap.  And, if any of them repeat good performances, you have low-cost bargaining chips at the deadline.

Another Look at SP ... Free Agents

With all of the bidding craziness at hand, I thought a more detailed look into aspects of rosters was needed.  I've taken alot of information from various stat sources and have come up with my own ranking on how things might turn out.  This is my opinion and things can/will change.  There are quite a few SP out there that will help shape up DBA rotations.  I'm going to look at each team's top 4 FT SP and their relation to the rest of the SP out there.  With the rankings, your #1 starter should be in the top 20, #2 in the top 40, #3 in the top 60 and #4 in the top 80.

Oh what fun the auction will be this year!  We even have the bidding process to keep us interested prior to the real Free Agent Auction on February 28th (mark your calandars!).  And treasury money is flying left and right!  One area that was always interesting during the Auction was the starting pitchers.  Brad Radke 5/50?  Jake Peavy 5/80?  Those stood out, but there were more, many more.

This auction will have some interesting twists and turns for players of the SP persuasion.  First, a little information on what is needed to fill out rotations.  Currently six teams have a "hole" at the #4 slot.  What this means is that there is no clear cut SP on the team to fill in 20+ starts.  There might be part-timers, but no one that can fill it for most of the year.  Those six teams are YDL, CLE, DEN, ILL, FFF and BSK.  We also have 13 potential "upgrade" slots available.  Those are slots that are filled with an SP that falls outside the Top 80 in rankings.  Remember, this is pure number speculation.  Your mileage may differ :-).  So, that gives us 19 slots that could/should be filled.  We will start from the top.

Historically in the DBA, a #1 starter gets an average of around 10M per year.  A #2 starter gets on average 6M per, #3 gets 5M and #4 gets 4M.  If you are looking at filling in the #5 slot with an average #5 pitcher, you'll spend 2-3M per year.  There are some range variances at the top, as shown by Peavy being the first player in DBA history to get 16M per year.  He's that good :-)!

Let's take a look at what's out there.

#1 -- Duscherer -- FFF/RFA -- 31 yrs, 22 GS, 1.00 whip -- Out of the roughly 50 FT SP in the Auction/Bidding, he's the best.  If FFF doesn't FrRFA this guy, he could see a 4/52 deal.  If franchised at 5, FFF might let him walk if over 40M and just take the 10M and a pick.  FFF's staff is the best in the DBA right now.  And Duscherer WILL be overpaid.

#2 -- Harden -- RID/RFA -- 27 yrs, 25 GS, 1.06 whip -- Here's the next best SP out there, with higher upside than Justin, IMHO.  The issue with Harden is his health.  Will he start 30+ games again?  Another issue with both of these guys is that each will only get 1 start in each post season series, since less than 150 IP.  RID has a tough choice here.  FrRFA him at three years and pay 40M+ at 13M+ per year, or don't FrRFA him at all and match any deal under 4/50.  Either way, RID keeps him an solidifies an already great rotation.

#3 -- Young -- LEB/RFA -- 30 yrs, 18 GS, 1.29 whip -- Sitting at #14 would normally guarantee you a 10M deal.  I'm not sure it gets that high with Young.  He's little over half of a starter, and gives you one start in the playoffs.  He has great history on his side.  I think he needs to be FrRFA'd at 3-4 years and you match anything under 8M per.  Its just too risky not to do that.  At least you'd get 6-8M out of him if he walks.  If not, I can see 4/40.  Match?  Where's Chris Carpenter these days?

#4 -- Dempster -- FA -- 32 yrs, 33 GS, 1.21 whip -- Just a tick under Young at #15 is our first real FT SP of the Auction.  And he's a free agent, which means BIG BUCKS!  Dempster will be sought after by those teams with holes still left after the RFA portion ... most likely YDL, CLE, DEN and ILL.  He could see a hefty 4/36 deal.  Most likely he will be the highest paid FA SP in this Auction.

#5 -- Lee -- FFF/FA -- 30 yrs, 31 GS, 1.11 whip -- Cliff Lee's rights were recently traded to FFF in a swap for Matt Cain and others.  This guy has "FrRFA me at 5 years" written all over him!  I know Lee is good, but he's left-handed and will not repeat this season.  If not FrRFA'd, he'll get a 5-6 year deal in excess of 9M per.  If FFF keeps both RFA SP's around, it will have one of the best rotations in the history of the DBA.  

#6 -- Lowe -- FA -- 36 yrs, 34 GS, 1.13 whip -- Derek is the last of the #1 starters in the Auction/Bidding process.  At 36, he shouldn't get more than 2-3 years, maybe 8M per.  But someone might try to throw out a 5/25 hoping to snag him at a low CAP value.  Anywhere from 2/18 to 5/30 is possible with this guy.  

#7 -- Nolasco -- FA -- 26 yrs, 32 GS, 1.11 whip -- One of two guys in the #2 starter tier, Ricky sits near the top.  And his numbers look like his performance could be Top 20.  He has no real history of being this good, but at 26, someone will take the chance he repeats.  Probably gets a 4/28 or something similar.  Anything higher and you'll be sorry.

#8 -- Garza -- bidding -- 25 yrs, 30 GS, 1.24 whip -- Garza's bidding is already silly at 49M. He'll be under contract at 3M per year for the next two years, so anyone will an upgrade slot could be interested.  3M is a definite steal as your #2.  Prior to the start of the bidding, I would have thought 20M would have gotten his contract.  Now, 60M might not be enough.  You have to remember that teams have more TREASURY this year and less CAP ROOM.  That makes all of these crazy bids possible.

Wakefield -- FA -- 43 yrs, 30 GS, 1.18 whip

Wellemeyer -- BSK/RFA -- 30 yrs, 32 GS, 1.25 whip

Slowey -- FA -- 24 yrs, 27 GS, 1.15 whip

Padilla -- FA -- 31 yrs, 29 GS, 1.46 whip

These are the four RFA/FA ranked as a #3 starter.  Since there are 11 potential spots for these guys, expect a few to get 4/24 type deals.  BSK definitely keeps Wellemeyer around.  I had heard that Wakefield retired, making a 2/14 deal likely for him.  Slowey doesn't get anything less than 8M per year and Padilla probably falls into the 3M range.

Saunders -- bidding -- 27 yrs, 31 GS, 1.21 whip

Rodriguez -- bidding -- 30 yrs, 25 GS, 1.31 whip

Current bidding for one year of Joe Saunders at 2M per is 15M!  And since he's a Free Agent after the contract, no rights either.  He fits in the #3 slot on most teams.  Saunders would help at team with wild card potential, but just be a good #4/#5 on division winners.  At least you'll get 10M back for making the playoffs :-).  One year at 3M of Wandy Rodriguez with RFA rights is bidding at 2M right now.  I expect to see that creep towards 10M before it ends.  He would be a solid addition for the teams with holes to fill.

Moyer -- FA -- 46 yrs, 33 GS, 1.33 whip

Cook -- RBC/RFA -- 30 yrs, 32 GS, 1.34 whip

Moehler -- FA -- 37 yrs, 26 GS, 1.35 whip

Maddux -- FA -- 43 yrs, 33 GS, 1.21 whip

Wolf -- bidding -- 32 yrs, 33 GS, 1.38 whip

Here's your #4 starters.  There are limited teams these guys would help.  Slight upgrades would cost around 4M per year.  I'm not sure Moyer or Maddux get more than a two year deal.  Cook could be a matching steal for RBC, or FrRFA'd for the TREASURY.  Wolf is locked in at 2M per year for two years; he's at a 7M bid already.

If you are tight on CAP, there are another 20+ FT SP out there.  You will be able to fill out the rotation with 2M starters.  They won't be good, but they will be starters :-).

Another Look at SP ... Williams

With all of the bidding craziness at hand, I thought a more detailed look into aspects of rosters was needed.  I've taken alot of information from various stat sources and have come up with my own ranking on how things might turn out.  This is my opinion and things can/will change.  There are quite a few SP out there that will help shape up DBA rotations.  I'm going to look at each team's top 4 FT SP and their relation to the rest of the SP out there.  My shorthand will be in the following form ... Overall Rank / Home Rank / Road Rank ... Each of those are adjusted ranks on how well the SP should overall, or with the majority of starts on the road or at home.  With the rankings, your #1 starter should be in the top 20, #2 in the top 40, #3 in the top 60 and #4 in the top 80.

Fairfax (FFF) -- Webb (3/27/9), Hamels (16/53/17), Baker (22/25/33), ????

Fairfax maintains its slight hold on #1.  With questions at #4/#5, it could slip with a bad auction.  FFF does have Cliff Lee's rights (he's a solid #1), and Duscherer's as well (he's the 2nd best SP) which would solidify its status.  Webb is the best starter in this division right now and Hamels is the best #2 SP.  Baker checks in as the best #3 as well.  If FFF keeps Lee and Duscherer, it will have five of the top 25 SP in the league.

Burmese (BBM) -- Peavy (7/22/14), Volquez (26/17/45), McGowan (56/115/48), Olsen (58/56/7)

Peavy is the second best #1 in the division and Volquez is the second best #2.  McGowan checks in as an average #3 SP and Olson is a good #4.  That puts BBM in as a solid #2, with #1 potential.

Denver (DEN) -- Kuroda (20/20/31), Oswalt (33/14/62), Litsch (57/29/84), ????

Kuroda is an average #1 and Oswalt is above average at #2.  Litsch is average at #3 as well.  A nice addition in the four slot will solidify this staff.

Altenberg (ALT) -- Marcum (28/18/49), Floyd (38/84/37), Smith (73/52/40), Lohse (78/48/72)

Marcum is slightly below average in the 1 hole, with average potential if used properly.  Floyd comes in as an average #2, with huge downside at home.  Smith is below average at #3 and Lohse is just average at #4.  ALT also has Buehrle and Lackey, but neither have earth-shattering numbers.

Normandy Lake (NLL) -- Sheets (17/11/28), Jimenez (43/34/68), Maholm (46/51/1), Meche (75/46/50)

Sheets is installed as NLL's #1.  He's average there, but has good upside.  Jimenez sits at #2 and is average.  Maholm checks in as a good #3 with monster potential against the right lineups.  Meche is just average at #4.

Bloomington (BSK) -- Billingsley (21/55/23), Hernandez (35/76/41), Gallagher (135/114/163), ????

Billingsley and Hernandez are both nearly average in their slots, while Gallagher is in the bottom 10 SP available.  BSK has no other SP on the roster right now.  They will need to make a big splash at the Auction.  If they land a quality #3 and #4, look for this staff to move to mid-division in quality.

Another Look at SP ... Gibson

With all of the bidding craziness at hand, I thought a more detailed look into aspects of rosters was needed.  I've taken alot of information from various stat sources and have come up with my own ranking on how things might turn out.  This is my opinion and things can/will change.  There are quite a few SP out there that will help shape up DBA rotations.  I'm going to look at each team's top 4 FT SP and their relation to the rest of the SP out there.  My shorthand will be in the following form ... Overall Rank / Home Rank / Road Rank ... Each of those are adjusted ranks on how well the SP should overall, or with the majority of starts on the road or at home.  With the rankings, your #1 starter should be in the top 20, #2 in the top 40, #3 in the top 60 and #4 in the top 80.

Homer (HSD) -- Galarraga (5/89/6), Maine (25/67/27), Greinke (27/81/25), Jurrjens (41/36/63)

It was a toss up between HSD and RBC on which staff would lead the division.  I chose HSD because of the depth.  Galarraga has the best set of stats for a #1 in the division, but will need to pitch carefully at home to maintain it.  Maine is a high quality #2 SP and Greinke is lights out at #3.  Jurrjens is by far the best #4 SP out there at the moment.  Jurrjens is the reason this staff is #1.

Rio Brazos (RBC) -- Halladay (6/3/21), Lincecum (9/2/22), Danks (32/19/59), Sanchez (77/54/56)

Halladay has the second best #1 SP stats in the division, but will probably outperform #1.  Lincecum is THE best #2 SP out there and would be #1 on almost any other team.  Danks is a very high quality #3 SP.  However, at #4, Sanchez is just above average, which drops RBC into the #2 slot in the division.

Lehigh Valley (LVP) -- Matsuzaka (11/49/16), Santana (13/7/26), Haren (30/12/32), Byrd (88/126/89)

Talk about getting the short end of the stick.  In the other two divisions, this staff would be #1/#2 easy.  Here, its just a solid 3.  Matsuzaka is a great #1, but only the 4th best pitcher in the division.  Santana is outstanding at #2, while Haren is a solid #2 as well.  Byrd is average at best in the #4 hole.  If LVP upgrades at all, they will challenge the top of the division.

Saint Gabriel (ILL) -- Sabathia (12/4/10), Zambrano (40/13/77), Johnson (55/38/18), ???

Sandwiched in between Dice-K and Johan is CC Sabathia, ILL's #1.  He should do remarkably well in that role.  Zambrano is merely average in the #2, but proper usage could lead to overperformance.  Johnson is an average #3 SP as well.  The #4 SP slot is up for grabs right now.  A solid hold on the 4th staff in the division.

Lebanon (LEB) -- Shields (42/28/71), Carmona (87/107/98), Cueto (101/74/113), Robertson (135/124/137)

The drop-off is mighty to fifth.  Shields is an average #2 filling in the #1 hole.  Carmona is a marginal #4 filling in at #2.  Cueto is a decent #5 and there are only 5 SP worse than Robertson.

Carbondale (CDC) -- Campillo (85/63/65), Blackburn (99/61/114), Feldman (109/99/116), Martinez (121/114/125)

The basement of the division is filled with #4/#5 starters.  Campillo is the worst "best" SP on a staff and it goes downhill after that.  Blackburn has #3 potential if use correctly, while Feldman and Martinez are just no good.  Counting Martinez, CDC has four of the 9 worst SP on rosters right now.

Another Look at SP ... Koufax

With all of the bidding craziness at hand, I thought a more detailed look into aspects of rosters was needed.  I've taken alot of information from various stat sources and have come up with my own ranking on how things might turn out.  This is my opinion and things can/will change.  There are quite a few SP out there that will help shape up DBA rotations.  I'm going to look at each team's top 4 FT SP and their relation to the rest of the SP out there.  My shorthand will be in the following form ... Overall Rank / Home Rank / Road Rank ... Each of those are adjusted ranks on how well the SP should overall, or with the majority of starts on the road or at home.  With the rankings, your #1 starter should be in the top 20, #2 in the top 40, #3 in the top 60 and #4 in the top 80.

Cleveland (CLE) -- Hudson (8/37/13), Baek (49/97/46), Hochevar (66/102/66), ???

Hudson has the best overall SP numbers in the division and will be a great #1 for CLE, especially on the road.  Baek falls into a #3 SP role.  Hochevar will fit in nicely as a #4 starter.  CLE needs to fill the #2 slot with someone of high quality.  They also have very limited starts and will need to piece together a 7-9 man rotation this year.  Fourth staff in the division.

Elkhart Lake (ELR) -- Bush (29/45/39), Burnett (36/41/51), Weaver (60/31/86), Lannan (72/44/97)

Bush is the third best #1 starter, just slightly out of the 1-20 range, but will be very tough.  Burnett is the second best #2 SP in the division and will be very good results as well.  Weaver is the best #3 starter, but will have to watch his usage.  Too many road starts will spell disaster.  And Lannan clocks in as the second best #4 SP in the division.  Overall, this is the best starting staff in the division.  

Ottawa (OTT) -- Guthrie (37/23/64), Owings (62/57/80), Vazquez (69/47/90), Kazmir (70/72/5)

Guthrie checks in well below #1 standards.  Owings, while having the second best SP numbers on the team, will most likely see the bullpen, as OTT has already made moves to solidify the rotation.  Cain would slide into Owings spot at #2, upgrading.  Vazquez is a servicable #3 and Kazmir is a nice #4, especially on the road, where he turns into the ace of the staff.  OTT holds on to the third best rotation in the division.

Ridgecrest (RID) -- Pelfrey (39/91/36), Lester (53/42/12), Lilly (63/130/47), Looper (83/68/104)

This staff has the potential to dominate, or to be just average, depending on usage.  Pelfrey a below average #1 starter and has a huge home downside.  Lester is a slightly below average #2 starter with huge upside on the road.  Lilly is an above average #3 starter, with a monsterous downside at home.  Looper is an average #4 across the board.  In all, its a solid staff.  RID holds onto the #2 spot in the division, but just barely.  This rotation will take some creative thinking.

West Huron (WHW) -- Verlander (47/33/73), Contreras (61/88/69), Eveland (82/64/57), Silva (125/137/124)

Verlander checks in as a well below average #1 SP with the upside of an average SP at home.  Contreras checks in as a decent #3, Eveland a good #4 and Silva well below average.  WHW needs to upgrade with a #1/#2 SP in order to move into the top half of the division.  Otherwise, this rotation will always be one step behind.

Y-D (YDL) -- Santana (10/9/19), Beckett (34/24/60), Zito (98/87/44), ???

Santana has the second best SP numbers in the division and will be a stellar #1.  Beckett follows with the best #2 numbers, making a great 1-2 punch for Y-D.  However, Zito is a bad #5 and he's slotted in at #3 right now. The Landfish will be shopping at the SP Mart this off-season; looking for deals but paying millions.  5th staff in the divison right now; 2nd staff potential.

A Quick Recap of DBA SP

With Greinke's bidding at 25M I started looking at the state of the SP in the rest of the DBA.  Crazy money is being spent on all of the SP in the bidding so far.  And, after some research, it doesn't look like it will change.

Koufax

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Ridgecrest -- Lester, Lilly, Pelfrey, Looper and Myers man an impressive staff.  When you add in RFA rights to Harden, it will be tough for any team to match this one 1-5.

Elkhart Lake -- Burnett, Garland, Bush, Lannan and Weaver occupy the starting spots so far.  ELR has capped itself out, so don't look for any improvements.

Ottawa -- Vazquez, Guthrie and Kamir are the only knowns in the rotation at this time.  RFA rights to Cliff Lee plus another high-grade signing pushes the staff into second.

Cleveland -- Hudson is about the only FT SP on the staff.  The next spot will be occupied by a combo of Wang and Bedard.  And the third spot by Hochevar and Baek.  Look for CLE to throw some serious money at Dempster, Wellemeyer and possibly Young.

Y-D Screaming -- If Santana and Beckett could start 80 games each, this would be "THE" staff.  However, it falls off dramatically with Zito and the three-headed monster of Joba, Clay and Harrison.  This staff could jump dramatically next year, but not now.  Nolasco or Slowey would be a nice addition.

West Huron --  No Santana here.  Verlander, Eveland and Silva/Contreras will head up the bottom staff in the division.  With a little spending on say Garza, Saunders, Wolf, Dempster, Lowe or Wakefield, WHW could move nearer to OTT.  But it will take some work.

Gibson

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Lehigh Valley -- Johan, Haren, Moseley, Byrd and Dice-K make the top staff in the Gibson.  If LVP upgrades at all, it won't even be close.

Rio Brazos -- Halladay, Lincecum, Danks, Parra and Sanchez are a high quality rotation that will only get better.  Look for RBC to make some noise with Saunders, Greinke, Slowey and maybe Wainwright in order to pull closer to the top.

Saint Gabriel -- Sabathia, Big Z, Big Unit and Boof/Ballester make up the "best of the rest" in the division.  A couple of good bargains will be needed to maintain it.  RFA rights to Arroyo will help, but not much.

Homer -- Blanton, Jurrjens, Gallaraga and Maine provide a solid #1-#4.  Picking up a high quality SP will vault HSD into the #3 spot here.

Lebanon -- Shields, Cueto and Robertson/Carmona is all LEB has right now.  Look at runs at Garza, Slowey and maybe Wakefield.  The rest of the rotation will be filler as LEB looks to the future.

Carbondale -- Blackburn and the rest make up the bottom staff in the Gibson.  CDC has the money to go many different ways here.  Rebuild with Garza, Wainright and Slowey?  Pull some cards with Lowe and Wakefield?  The way to the top is long this year.  Look for Wainright and Morrow to be Dog Catchers as the season starts and the rebuilding begins.

In these two divisions alone, there are 11 SP holes and another 15 SP upgrade possibilities.  The wave of mediocre SP getting 8+ M is still with us, I fear.

Ballpark Modifications Due December 15th

We have made some changes to the Ballpark Section of the constitution this year.  I've put them here for everyone's information ...

Section 4 – BALLPARKS (Amended November 2008)

DIMENSIONS: All DBA owners will build their ballpark with any combination of dimensions allowable by SOM.

COST: Ballparks are static from year to year.  This means that ballpark dimensions used last year for that franchise will be used for the current year.  In order to change those dimensions, an owner must use treasury money.  The cost to change one (1) dimension of the ballpark by the first point is 250k.  Each point of change thereafter will cost double the previous point of change.  For example, the first point of change costs 250k, the second costs 500k, the third costs 1M, and so on. 

DEMOLITION RULE:  If the total cost of changing your ballpark dimensions would exceed 40M, that cost is capped at 40M and the park is demolished.  Any ballpark can be demolished as long as that franchise has been using that ballpark for at least three (3) years.

TAXPAYER RULE: When a franchise is taken over by a new owner, that new owner can petition the taxpayers one time for a “free demolition” of their ballpark.  That owner will get 40M added to its treasury for the purposes of demolishing the ballpark.

NOTE: This Section was amended after the 2008 season.  All current owners can get a single “free demolition” as well.

DOUBLES/TRIPLES RULE: An owner will adopt a MLB ballpark and use its BP doubles and BP triples rating. The MLB ballpark can only be changed if the ballpark is demolished. This ballpark will also be used as the BP image for that team's stadium.  Multiple teams can use the same MLB ballpark.

Current ballpark information can be found on the forum.  We have six new owners for this year.  All of those franchises are exempt from the new rules for this year only.  They will not have to pay for any dimensions to their new ballparks.  All other owners must follow these rules in creating their ballparks for the 2009 season.

Please post on the forum with your new dimensions.  They will be due December 15th.  

SP Scott Baker, 33M, FFF

11/24/2008 18:59:50 : Fairfax offered $33,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/24/2008 18:42:41 : Altenberg offered $31,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/24/2008 17:22:11 : Lehigh Valley offered $30,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/24/2008 17:19:52 : Lehigh Valley offered $29,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/24/2008 17:16:30 : Normandy Lake (LAS) offered $28,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/24/2008 16:57:10 : Fairfax offered $27,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/24/2008 15:15:55 : Lehigh Valley offered $26,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/24/2008 07:18:45 : Homer (SJS) offered $25,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/23/2008 19:46:12 : Denver (BAY) offered $24,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/23/2008 19:19:36 : Carbondale offered $22,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/23/2008 19:07:22 : Lehigh Valley offered $20,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/23/2008 19:06:18 : Carbondale offered $16,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/20/2008 16:48:13 : Lehigh Valley offered $15,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/19/2008 22:21:28 : Homer (SJS) offered $10,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/16/2008 08:35:40 : Carbondale offered $9,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/15/2008 21:43:14 : Lehigh Valley offered $8,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/15/2008 20:04:25 : Homer (SJS) offered $7,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/15/2008 07:50:40 : Lehigh Valley offered $6,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/14/2008 11:59:45 : Carbondale offered $4,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/14/2008 10:47:12 : Saint Gabriel offered $3,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/13/2008 19:17:22 : Carbondale offered $1,000,000 per year for 1 year.

Eight different teams put in bids for Baker's services.  For three years of service, Baker received a 33M bid from FFF.  His numbers suggest potential #1/#2 starter and the going rate last year was around 10M per year.  To get him at a 6.75M cap figure looks like a steal.

With that addition, Fairfax edged ahead of a solild Altenberg staff to lead the newly formed Williams Division.

Fairfax has Hamels, Webb, Cain and Baker in the mix.  Look for heavy bidding on Greinke, Saunders and maybe even Garza.  With Duchscherer as a RFA, look for FFF to maintain its #1 staff rating throughout the Auction as well.

Altenberg has Buehrle, Floyd, Lohse, Greg Smith and Lackey as its starting five.  ALT is a very close second in the division and will give Fairfax a run for its money if it can improve with the likes of Cliff Lee, Garza, Greinke or Saunders.

Burmese comes in a solid third in the division with Olsen, Volquez, Perez, Peavy and Marquis, plus other spot starters.  BBM has always prided itself on a deep rotation and this year won't be any different.  If the price is right, look at a possible Lowe or Wakefield pick-up at the Auction to further solidify its #3 ranking.

Normandy Lake, aka LAS, comes out in fourth place with solid seasons from Meche, Maholm, Jimenez, Sheets and Francis.  LAS/NLS has a long way to go to challenge the top spot in the divison.  With the change in ownership, maybe the pockets will be a bit deeper for the likes of Garza, Wolf, Saunders, Wellemeyer or Nolasco?  A few upgrades could move the staff into the upper-half.

Denver, aka BAY, settles into fifth place at this time.  However, its rotation is anything but settled.  Oswalt, Kuroda and Litsch are the only starters on the staff.  Those three have the makings of a #2/#3 staff in the division, with the right pieces.  Already active in the bidding, will DEN continue to spend picking up a Garza, Grienke, Rodriguez or Wolf now?  Or will waiting on a Dempster or Slowey be the better bet?

Bloomington rounds out the division mainly because of the same reason as DEN, not much on the staff right now.  King Felix, Billingsley and Gallagher lead quite a few part-timers.  I'm guessing a few are thrust into a reliever role after the Auction in February.  BSK has rights to Wellemeyer, and I expect them to match any reasonable offer.  I don't see much action from them in the bidding, but do expect heavy play on Dempster, Slowey, Morrow, Lowe and maybe even Wakefield.  Depending on how much money is off the board prior to the Auction, any of those SP could help BSK steal its way back into the upper-half.

Tidbits on Auction 2008

Last year, 159 RFA/FA were selected at the Auction.  2.275B was spent on 159 free agents.  We had 11 players make 10M+, 49 players make 5M+ and 53 players make 2M or less.

Using those percentages, it looks like we will have only around 100, which will make for a much shorter day for everyone.

Only seven players should top 10M+ and only 40 should top 5M+.  Another 40 should make league minimum.  There is only 500M left in cap room on rosters right now, which is much lower than the over 700M last year.  However, with the contraction the total treasuries are up 500M.

What this might mean is the superstars get shorter contracts, but more CAP.  Instead of getting a 9/90 deal, expect a 7/75 deal instead.

It will be interesting to see how the rest of the bidding shapes up.  We have 27 left and some just might get 20M+ in bids.  If that happens, the bargains could be had come auction day!

Two OF Over the Weekend ...

OF Torii Hunter, 15M, RBC

11/21/2008 23:10:14 : Rio Brazos offered $15,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/19/2008 19:06:13 : Rio Brazos offered $12,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/18/2008 20:49:05 : Denver (BAY) offered $11,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/15/2008 07:46:54 : Burmese offered $9,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/15/2008 06:54:44 : West Huron offered $7,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/14/2008 19:06:51 : Burmese offered $5,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/14/2008 12:11:57 : Lehigh Valley offered $1,000,000 per year for 1 year.

OF Vlad Guerrero, 16M, CDC

11/23/2008 18:36:33 : Carbondale offered $16,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/23/2008 18:30:55 : Denver (BAY) offered $15,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/23/2008 18:26:26 : Lehigh Valley offered $13,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/23/2008 18:21:30 : Carbondale offered $12,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/23/2008 18:12:01 : Burmese offered $11,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/23/2008 13:23:46 : Carbondale offered $10,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/23/2008 00:01:11 : Burmese offered $9,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/22/2008 16:42:58 : Ridgecrest offered $8,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/18/2008 20:47:26 : Denver (BAY) offered $7,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/14/2008 15:30:50 : Lehigh Valley offered $2,000,000 per year for 1 year.

A pair of 33 year old OF were taken over the weekend, one for 15M, the other 16M.  As you can see, Vlad's bidding was very heavy the final day, especially the final hour.

Torii will be making 7M per year until 2012.  Vlad will be making 7M per year until 2010.  What will be out there in that price range come Auction Day?

Matt Holliday (LEB): 29 yrs, 613 PA, 900+ OPS -- LEB has been shopping Matt's rights since this off-season began, but nothing has come of it so far.  I expect Holliday to be franchised at 5 years, and most likely walk away when the bidding reaches 41M+.  He's #1A.

Manny Ramirez (OTT): 37 yrs, 639 PA, 1000+ OPS -- Rumor has it Manny is asking for a mega-deal from the World Champion Beavers.  Look for OTT to slap a 7 year franchise tag on M-Ram and watch him walk with the first bid.  He's #1B.

Adam Dunn (FFF): 29 yrs, 639 PA, 900+ OPS -- Homer-machine Dunn was nearly #1C, but his "hit-or-miss" mentality won't play in some parks.  Dunn's one reason Fairfax is seeking financial assistance to hastily build a new stadium this winter :-).  FFF will let Dunn hit the market and use the home town discount to keep him in the fold at below-market for a superstar OF.

Milton Bradley (FA): 31 yrs, 494 PA, 1000+ OPS -- This screams a two-year, 22M contract!  Bradley put up a career year and will reap a nice short-term bounty, unless someone sneaks in a 5/25 as the second bid.

Shin-Soo Choo (FA): 26 yrs, 361 PA, 900+ OPS -- A relatively unknown compared to the other guys on this list, but Choo is the real deal.  His numbers alone will get him 5M per year; his talent should get him a 5/35 deal in any economy.

There are 10 more including Vlad and Torii that fall into the above-average OF range.  Each should get 5M+ per year.  

 

DH Travis Hafner becomes FA in February ...

Our first player with no bid!  Hafner will become available in the FA portion of the February Auction.

SS Khalil Greene, 1M, SJS/HSD

In a surprise move, HSD put a token bid out on Greene only to see it take the SS.  As posted earlier, I thought Greene's contract was just too much to take on, especially with the rest of the SS crop out there.  I was wrong.

Look for HSD to resign their SS as a two-headed platoon and remain out of the Reyes/Bartlett/Tejada bidding.  Before this, mid-tier SS were going to see 6-7M per year bids.  Now, I don't expect them getting more than 5M.  Reyes will still get his 6/62 deal, but Barlett will now be matched by LEB at 4/20 and Tejada will be lucky to see a 3/15 deal.

SP Jeremy Bonderman, 1M, CDC

11/14/2008 14:39:12 : Carbondale offered $1,000,000 per year for 1 year.

Bonderman is under contract until 2012 at 8.17M per year.  When healty, he's a potential ace, which is what CDC is betting on by taking a 1M gamble.  I didn't expect Jeremy to get a bid at all.  In the February Auction, there are 4 more potential "aces" up for grabs.

Duchscherer (FFF): 22 GS, 1.00 whip, 31 yrs old

Cliff Lee (OTT): 31 GS, 1.11 whip, 30 yrs old

Rich Harden (RID): 25 GS, 1.06 whip, 27 yrs old

Kuo (FA): 3 GS {80 IP}, 1.01 whip, 27 yrs old

I wouldn't be surprised to see all of these players getting 4+ year deals in excess of 9M per year.

15 starters fall into the #1/#2 slot on most teams ...

Wellemeyer (BSK): 32 GS, 1.25, 30

Young (LEB): 18 GS, 1.29, 29

Baker (bidding): 28 GS, 1.18, 27

Garza (bidding): 30 GS, 1.24, 25

Greinke (bidding): 32 GS, 1.28, 25

Marshall (bidding): 7 GS, 1.27, 26

Wandy Rodriguez (bidding): 25 GS, 1.31, 30

Saunders (bidding): 31 GS, 1.21, 27

Wainwright (bidding): 20 GS, 1.18, 27

Dempster (FA): 33 GS, 1.21, 32

Lowe (FA): 34 GS, 1.13, 36

Morrow (FA): 5 GS, 1.14, 24

Nolasco (FA): 32 GS, 1.11, 26

Slowey (FA): 27 GS, 1.15, 24

Wakefield (FA): 30 GS, 1.18, 42

These FA/RFA should get 3+ year deals in excess of 7M per year.  I can see why the SP in the bidding process are getting 20+ M bids!

Troy Tulowitzki, 60M, ELR

On November 18th, Troy Tulowitzki's 7 year, 9.25M per year contract was purchased by ELR for 60M.  It was an interesting bidding process ...

11/18/2008 18:59:02 : Elkhart Lake offered $60,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/18/2008 18:55:24 : Altenberg offered $53,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/16/2008 12:24:55 : Elkhart Lake offered $50,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/14/2008 11:59:10 : Carbondale offered $31,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/14/2008 09:30:41 : Elkhart Lake offered $30,000,000 per year for 1 year.
11/13/2008 19:16:33 : Carbondale offered $26,000,000 per year for 1 year.

It looked like ELR would get a "steal" at 50M as late as 6:55pm, but ALT jumped in with 53M.  ELR then locked it away with a 60M offer.

After seeing Tulo go, I was wondering what the Auction would look like at the SS position for this year.  Right now, four teams (BAY/DEN, LVP, SJS/HSD, YDL) don't have a FT SS on the roster.  The other 14 do, but of varying quality.  Here's what's available ...

Khalil Greene, bidding process, 7.5M per year until 2011: 411 PA, 213/255/339 ... Can you say ouch?  He's 29 and plays average defense.  Will there be a bid?  Should there?  There's much better out there to be sure.

Jose Reyes, QUI RFA: 753 PA, 295/357/475 ... The cream of the SS crop, if not the entire Auction process.  QUI/CLE signed Aviles in the rookie draft.  I'm guessing that is insurance in case Jose walks.  But, I'm not sure that will happen.  Slap a FrRFA tag on him for 6 years and either resign a Top 5 SS for below market value or cash in on the 12M and 1st rounder.  Look for LVP to be heavy into the Reyes bidding.

Jason Bartlett, LEB RFA: 476 PA, 286/319/361 ... A solid, but not spectacular SS.  He'll get some bidding because of the PA, as only two other SS (Tejada and Lopez) have more.  Defense should be above average.  Look for DEN or HSD to make a play for this guy, but LEB to match.

Juan Uribe, SJS RFA: 346 PA, 247/295/386 ... Shouldn't get any bidding whatsover with those numbers.  If HSD doesn't pry Bartlett away from LEB, he might get a 1/2 as insurance.

Miguel Tejada, FA: 656 PA, 283/309/415 ... Bidding should be short-term and fairly heavy.  After the RFA portion, Miggy will get heavy bidding from HSD and YDL; possibly LVP.  If its a three-way, look for him to make some serious money.  If its two, I think a 2/8 or 3/14 gets him.  The loser will walk away with ...

Felipe Lopez, FA: 524 PA, 283/342/387 ... Should be decent offensively, but horrible defensively.  Lopez will fill one of the vacant FT SS holes in the league at a nearly FA minimum of 1/2.  Look for a MAX of 3/9.

Clint Barmes, FA: 410 PA, 290/320/468 ... He's basically Lopez with more power.  Bidding could be split on them both.  And he ends the FT SS class.  If you need one of these guys, you could get a 2M steal if you just wait it out.

Backups that might see some bidding are ... Ronny Cedeno, Alex Cintron, David Eckstein, Julio Lugo, Ramon Santiago and Ben Zobrist.  In this market, the backups shouldn't get more than a 2/5 deal.

Short stops currently manning FT positions are ... Yu-Bet (ALT), Peralta (BBM), Rollins (BSK), Young (CDC), Cabrera/Tulo (ELR), Renteria (FFF), H-Ram (ILL), Crosby/Drew (LAS), Escobar (LEB), Jeter (OTT), Aviles (QUI), Theriot (RBC), Guzman (RID), Hardy (WHW)

If any of those teams decide they need to add another short stop to their mix, the end result could be some pretty high salaries for the FT FA SS.

2009 Rookie Draft Underway ...

Now with the draft underway, you should find more posts on this blog.  The last month has been crazy at home, at work, and in the DBA.  I just couldn't find time to blog.

LOTTERY

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The lottery picks went exactly as I had planned.  I had Longoria, Bruce, Soto, Volquez, Joba and Kershaw going in the lottery.  That's where they all went, just not in the order I had projected.  The top three went in order, Longoria, Soto and Volquez.  Then, CDC passed on Joba, taking Bruce instead.  YDL jumped all over Joba at #5, and Homer traded away #6 to OTT, who promptly took Kershaw.

SURPRISES SO FAR

---------------------

We are already to pick 26, which is a great pace.  Odds are we will be finished by Thanksgiving, which was an internal goal.  The clock will be reduced to 12 hours tomorrow.  It should have been reduced yesterday, but I had issues with how to set that up.  Those issues have been resolved.

#1) Aviles at 19 -- I'm not as high on this guy as it looks like most other owners are.  I had him lasting into the 4th round, pick 79.  To me, this looks like the worst pick so far.  However, the blogs have Aviles' defense as underrated.  If he sneaks in a 2, this could be right on the money.  He's 28, so don't expect him to repeat his 325 BA. -- MISSED BY 60!!!

#2) Davis at 14 -- I like Chris Davis, especially is power display.  He slugged 549 in 315 PA for Texas last year.  He's just 22, so I expect even better numbers in the years to come.  But I projected him as a late 2nd, early 3rd pick at 50.  I don't see this as too far of a stretch.  I would have liked to see another year before slapping down a multi-year commitment. -- MISSED BY 36!

#3) Blackburn at 25 -- I like Blackburn as well.  He looked like one of the starters that would be there in the third round when I made my selection :-).  Alas, he's not.  His upside is limited as he doesn't miss many bats, but he is only 27.  He will need to be extra careful next year if he wants to repeat his 1.36 WHIP.  --- MISSED BY 35!

#4) Sandoval at 18 -- This San Fran catcher has come out of nowhere to post an awesome season in MLB.  At 22, he has a bright future ahead of him.  I just didn't see it as a first round future.  Like Davis, I would have liked to see another season before giving him a multi-year deal.  But a 3/9 isn't that big of a risk, since he should see a ton of PA next season and his card will be top-notch this year.  I predicted Sandoval at 52.  But it seems he was on everyone's radar, not just mine :-) --- MISSED BY 34!

I still have five "first-round talent" picks on my lists.  I'll be incredibly happy if any one of them fall to my pick at 45.

All That Remains ...

The season is winding down. We still have four races up for grabs!

FFF needs to win two of eight to clinch the BR-Williams.
QUI needs to win four of eight to clinch the BR-Mays.
LEB needs to win two of four to clinch the CY-Gibson.
WHW needs to win five of seven to clinch the CY-Wild Card. If WHW wins four, a one-game playoff with BDD.

BBM and SJS still have five to play.
ALT and BSK still have seven to play.

Along with the divisional and wild card races, we have quite the race for the Lottery.

LAS has locked in #1 with 40 wins and no games remaining.
EAT has locked in #2 with 56 wins and four games remaining.
ELR has locked in #3/#4 with 64 wins and five games remaining.
RID has locked in #3/#4 with 69 wins and no games remaining.

Those are your top 4 lottery teams. The last two have six teams within three wins of each other.

BBM has 72 wins and five games. Lose all five, and they're in.
ALT has 72 wins and seven games. Lose all seven, and they're in.

ARK has 73 wins and four games.
CDC has 74 wins and four games.
ILL has 75 wins and no games.
LEB has 75 wins and four games.

If CDC wins two, ARK wins three, and either of BBM/ALT win four, ILL is lottery :-).

Apostles 10, Squad 51 2

Poor Tom Glavine! A depleted Squad 51 bullpen + Apostles left with good PA = Yikes! At least Jones had a 1/3 of an inning left to bail him out in the 9th.

Strat-O-Matic Report

---

BOXSCORE: 2008 Saint Gabriel Apostles At 2008 Los Angeles Squad 51 10/15/2008
 
  Apostles           AB  R  H RBI AVG     Squad 51           AB  R  H RBI AVG
  I.Suzuki CF         3  2  3  0 .340     M.Izturis 2B        1  0  0  0 .255  
A-J.Lopez PH,2B       1  0  0  1 .223     J.Jones CF          4  0  2  1 .276  
C-C.Zambrano PH       1  0  1  0 .111     A.Huff 3B           3  0  0  1 .258  
E-D.Eckstein 2B       0  0  0  0 .295     D.Lee 1B            3  0  1  0 .281  
  H.Ramirez SS        6  2  2  0 .316     R.Ibanez LF         4  0  0  0 .299  
  M.Cabrera 3B        5  1  2  2 .305     S.Drew SS           4  0  0  0 .199  
  C.Lee DH            5  1  3  1 .288     B.Crosby DH         4  1  1  0 .228  
D-J.Mauer PH          1  0  1  0 .277     J.Larue C           4  0  0  0 .200  
  M.Jacobs 1B         6  0  3  2 .262     E.Brown RF          3  1  1  0 .223  
  A.Lind LF           4  2  1  0 .243                                          
  A.Jones RF,CF       3  1  1  0 .260                                          
  C.Coste C           5  1  4  3 .349                                          
  D.Murphy 2B         3  0  1  0 .247                                          
B-W.Betemit RF        2  0  1  1 .213                                          
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      45 10 23 10                 Totals      30  2  5  2
 
A-Pinch Hit For Suzuki In 5th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (RF) For Murphy In 5th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Lopez In 9th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Lee In 9th Inning
E-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Zambrano In 9th Inning
 
Apostles........ 2 0 2  2 0 0  2 1 1  - 10 23  1
Squad 51........ 0 0 1  0 0 0  0 1 0  -  2  5  0
 
Apostles (75-87)         IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
Y.Petit WIN(4-2)          5       3   1   0   1   3   0  74   4.53
P.Neshek SAVE(3rd)        4       2   1   1   4   3   0  72   2.37
Totals                    9       5   2   1   5   6   0
 
Squad 51 (40-122)        IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
T.Glavine LOSS(5-22)      8 2/3  23  10  10   3   4   0 190   6.93
T.Jones                   0 1/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   4   4.92
Totals                    9      23  10  10   3   5   0
 
ATTENDANCE- 7,284 DATE- Wednesday, October 15th 2008 TIME- Day 
T- 3:26
LEFT ON BASE- Apostles:14  Squad 51: 6
DOUBLE PLAYS- Apostles: 3  Squad 51: 2
ERRORS- H.Ramirez
DOUBLES- C.Lee(48th), D.Murphy(11th)
STOLEN BASES- H.Ramirez(63rd)
SACRIFICE FLIES- J.Lopez, M.Cabrera
WALKS- A.Lind, A.Jones-2, M.Izturis-3, A.Huff, D.Lee
HIT BY PITCH- A.Lind
STRIKE OUTS- M.Cabrera-3, A.Lind, A.Jones, J.Jones, D.Lee, S.Drew, B.Crosby,
             J.Larue-2
GIDP- M.Jacobs, J.Jones, A.Huff, S.Drew
WILD PITCHES- T.Glavine
 
Catcher Chris Coste had 4 hits and 3 RBI as the Saint Gabriel Apostles
defeated the Los Angeles Squad 51 by a score of 10 to 2 at Station 51.
 
Saint Gabriel wasted no time and took the lead in the first inning scoring 2
runners on 3 hits.  Saint Gabriel provided plenty of action in the 1st inning
with 2 runs on 3 hits, the 3rd inning plating 2 runs, the 4th inning with 2
runs on 5 hits and the 7th inning with 2 runs on 3 hits.  Saint Gabriel kept
the pressure on throughout the contest as they scored in 6 different innings.
 
The win was credited to Yusmeiro Petit(4-2) who went 5 innings allowing 1 run.
Pat Neshek earned the save, his 3rd.  Tom Glavine(5-22) was hit with the
loss.  He allowed a few too many baserunners giving up 23 hits and 3 walks in
8 and 2/3 innings.  
 

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Squad 51 5, Apostles 4 (11)

That was interesting.

Strat-O-Matic Report

---

BOXSCORE: 2008 Saint Gabriel Apostles At 2008 Los Angeles Squad 51 10/14/2008
 
  Apostles           AB  R  H RBI AVG     Squad 51           AB  R  H RBI AVG
  A.Jones CF          6  1  1  0 .259     J.Jones CF          5  1  2  1 .274  
  H.Ramirez SS        5  1  2  0 .316   E-M.Kotsay CF         0  1  0  0 .182  
  M.Cabrera 3B        5  0  3  1 .304     M.Izturis 2B        5  0  2  0 .256  
  M.Jacobs 1B         5  0  1  0 .258   C-T.Iguchi 2B         0  0  0  0 .273  
  C.Lee DH            4  0  0  1 .285     A.Huff 3B           6  1  2  1 .260  
  C.Coste C           3  0  0  0 .321     D.Lee 1B            5  1  3  1 .281  
D-J.Mauer PH,C        1  1  1  0 .275     E.Brown RF          5  0  1  0 .221  
  J.Lopez 2B          1  0  1  0 .224     S.Drew SS           5  0  2  2 .202  
A-I.Suzuki PR         0  0  0  0 .338     R.Ibanez LF         4  0  1  0 .302  
B-D.Murphy 2B         2  0  1  0 .245     B.Crosby DH         3  1  1  0 .228  
F-D.Eckstein PH,2B    2  0  0  0 .295     J.Larue C           5  0  1  0 .208  
  A.Lind RF           5  1  2  2 .243                                          
  W.Betemit LF        5  0  0  0 .210                                          
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      44  4 12  4                 Totals      43  5 15  5
 
A-Pinch Ran For Lopez In 3rd Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Suzuki In 3rd Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Izturis In 9th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Coste In 9th Inning
E-Subbed Defensively (CF) For Jones In 9th Inning
F-Pinch Hit For Murphy In 9th Inning
 
Apostles........ 0 0 0  2 1 0  0 0 1  0 0 -  4 12  1
Squad 51........ 0 0 0  0 0 0  3 1 0  0 1 -  5 15  1
 
Apostles (74-87)         IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
M.Bacsik                  5       8   0   0   0   3   0  78   5.77
S.Green HOLD(2nd)         0 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   5   5.47
B.Fuentes HOLD(8th)       0 2/3   1   1   1   1   1   0  19   3.35
C.Meredith HOLD(5th)      0 1/3   1   2   2   1   0   0  12   6.61
R.Johnson BS(2nd)         0 2/3   1   0   0   0   2   0  11   1.26
C.Condrey                 0 1/3   2   1   1   0   1   0  13   6.14
K.Gregg LOSS(6-9)         3 1/3   2   1   1   2   3   0  39   4.50
Totals                   10 2/3  15   5   5   4  10   0
 
Squad 51 (40-121)        IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
G.Meche                   8      10   4   3   1   8   1 112   5.29
B.Shouse BS(2nd)          1       1   0   0   0   1   0  15   3.19
J.Romero                  1 1/3   1   0   0   1   0   0  18   6.75
T.Jones                   0 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   6   4.95
D.Marte WIN(2-2)          0 1/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   5   5.60
Totals                   11      12   4   3   2  10   1
 
ATTENDANCE- 7,304 DATE- Tuesday, October 14th 2008 TIME- Day 
T- 3:48
LEFT ON BASE- Apostles: 9  Squad 51:11
DOUBLE PLAYS- Apostles: 2  Squad 51: 0
ERRORS- C.Coste, S.Drew
DOUBLES- M.Cabrera(22nd), D.Murphy(10th), J.Jones(23rd), M.Izturis(12th),
         R.Ibanez(34th), B.Crosby(12th)
HOME RUNS- A.Lind(3rd)
CAUGHT STEALING- H.Ramirez, I.Suzuki
WALKS- C.Lee, J.Mauer, M.Kotsay, T.Iguchi, D.Lee, R.Ibanez
HIT BY PITCH- B.Crosby
STRIKE OUTS- A.Jones-2, M.Cabrera, M.Jacobs, C.Coste, D.Murphy, A.Lind,
             W.Betemit-3, D.Lee, E.Brown, S.Drew-3, R.Ibanez, B.Crosby,
             J.Larue-3
GIDP- A.Huff, D.Lee
CATCHERS INTERFERENCE- B.Crosby
WILD PITCHES- C.Meredith
 
The Los Angeles Squad 51 edged the Saint Gabriel Apostles in 11 innings at
Station 51 by the score of 5 to 4.
 
The score was knotted at 4 after nine innings.  Los Angeles won the game in
the 11th inning.  Mark Kotsay drew a walk.  Tadahito Iguchi followed and he
drew a walk.  Aubrey Huff then grounded into a double play.  Derrek Lee came
up and he lined a one-base hit giving Los Angeles the win and sending the
home town fans into a frenzy.  Los Angeles ended up with 15 hits for the game
while Saint Gabriel had 12.  
 
The win was credited to Damaso Marte(2-2) who went 1/3 of an inning allowing
no runs. Kevin Gregg(6-9) was the losing pitcher in relief.  
 

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Apostles 5, Squad 51 4

Nice comeback victory, using the last few PA/IP of many ILL players. K-Rod gets his final save of the season.

Strat-O-Matic Report

---

BOXSCORE: 2008 Saint Gabriel Apostles At 2008 Los Angeles Squad 51 10/13/2008
 
  Apostles           AB  R  H RBI AVG     Squad 51           AB  R  H RBI AVG
  I.Suzuki CF         5  0  2  0 .338     M.Izturis 2B        5  1  3  0 .253  
  H.Ramirez SS        5  1  2  1 .315     J.Jones CF          5  0  1  1 .273  
  M.Cabrera 3B        2  1  0  0 .301     A.Huff 3B           5  0  0  0 .259  
  M.Jacobs 1B         4  0  1  0 .259     D.Lee 1B            3  1  1  0 .278  
  C.Lee DH            4  1  1  0 .287     R.Ibanez LF         4  0  3  2 .302  
  J.Mauer C           4  1  2  0 .274     S.Drew SS           4  0  0  0 .199  
  A.Ethier RF         2  0  0  0 .287     B.Crosby DH         4  1  1  1 .227  
A-F.Lewis PH,LF       2  0  2  3 .401     J.Larue C           3  0  0  0 .208  
  J.Lopez 2B          4  0  0  0 .222   C-M.Kotsay PH         1  0  1  0 .182  
  A.Lind LF           2  0  1  0 .235     E.Brown RF          4  1  1  0 .222  
B-A.Jones RF          2  1  1  1 .261                                          
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      36  5 12  5                 Totals      38  4 11  4
 
A-Pinch Hit For Ethier In 6th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (RF) For Lind In 6th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Larue In 9th Inning
 
Apostles........ 1 0 0  0 0 3  1 0 0  -  5 12  0
Squad 51........ 2 2 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  4 11  0
 
Apostles (74-86)         IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
B.Arroyo                  4       8   4   4   0   4   1  77   5.26
K.Gregg WIN(6-8)          3 2/3   1   0   0   1   4   0  53   4.57
P.Neshek HOLD(10th)       0 1/3   1   0   0   0   0   0   7   2.38
F.Rodriguez SAVE(13th)    1       1   0   0   0   2   0  17   4.59
Totals                    9      11   4   4   1  10   1
 
Squad 51 (39-121)        IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
C.Schilling LOSS(7-13)    9      12   5   5   1   5   2 116   5.67
Totals                    9      12   5   5   1   5   2
 
ATTENDANCE- 11,062 DATE- Monday, October 13th 2008 TIME- Night 
T- 2:34
LEFT ON BASE- Apostles: 6  Squad 51: 8
DOUBLE PLAYS- Apostles: 0  Squad 51: 1
DOUBLES- M.Jacobs(19th), F.Lewis(11th), M.Izturis(11th), D.Lee(38th)
HOME RUNS- H.Ramirez(17th), A.Jones(9th), B.Crosby(7th)
STOLEN BASES- M.Kotsay(1st)
WALKS- M.Cabrera, D.Lee
HIT BY PITCH- M.Cabrera
STRIKE OUTS- M.Cabrera, M.Jacobs, A.Ethier, J.Lopez, A.Lind, M.Izturis, A.Huff,
             D.Lee-2, R.Ibanez, B.Crosby, J.Larue-3, E.Brown
GIDP- M.Jacobs
 
Fred Lewis had 2 base hits and 3 RBI at Station 51 as the Saint Gabriel
Apostles beat the Los Angeles Squad 51 5 to 4.
 
Los Angeles was unable to claim the lead after Saint Gabriel went ahead in the
7th inning scoring one runner using 2 hits.  Los Angeles had a chance to come
back in the 9th but they came up short.  
 
Kevin Gregg(6-8) got the win allowing no runs in 3 and 2/3 innings. Gregg got
help from Francisco Rodriguez who was credited with his 13th save.  Curt
Schilling(7-13) was given the loss.  
 

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Squad 51 6, Apostles 3

The Squad jumped all over Z, virtually ending any shot at a division title for ILL.

Strat-O-Matic Report

---

BOXSCORE: 2008 Saint Gabriel Apostles At 2008 Los Angeles Squad 51 10/12/2008
 
  Apostles           AB  R  H RBI AVG     Squad 51           AB  R  H RBI AVG
  A.Jones CF,RF       4  1  1  0 .259     M.Izturis 2B        5  1  3  0 .244  
  M.Cabrera 3B        3  0  1  0 .302     J.Jones CF          4  1  1  0 .273  
B-I.Suzuki PR,CF      1  1  1  0 .337     A.Huff 3B           4  1  1  0 .262  
  M.Jacobs 1B         4  0  0  1 .259     D.Lee 1B            4  2  2  1 .278  
  C.Lee DH            3  0  0  0 .288     R.Ibanez LF         4  1  2  3 .299  
  H.Ramirez SS        4  0  1  0 .315     S.Drew SS           4  0  2  0 .201  
  A.Lind LF           2  0  0  0 .230     B.Crosby DH         4  0  1  1 .226  
C-D.Murphy 3B         1  1  0  0 .239     J.Larue C           3  0  1  1 .214  
  J.Lopez 2B          3  0  0  0 .224     E.Brown RF          4  0  1  0 .221  
  J.Mauer C           1  0  0  0 .271                                          
A-C.Coste PH,C        1  0  1  1 .333                                          
  A.Ethier RF,LF      3  0  0  0 .289                                          
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      30  3  5  2                 Totals      36  6 14  6
 
A-Pinch Hit For Mauer In 6th Inning
B-Pinch Ran For Cabrera In 7th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (3B) For Lind In 7th Inning
 
Apostles........ 0 0 0  0 0 0  1 1 1  -  3  5  0
Squad 51........ 4 0 0  0 2 0  0 0    -  6 14  1
 
Apostles (73-86)         IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
C.Zambrano LOSS(10-11)    5 2/3  11   6   6   1   3   0 104   4.61
R.Johnson                 0       1   0   0   0   0   0   4   1.28
B.Fuentes                 1 1/3   2   0   0   1   0   0  30   3.23
P.Neshek                  1       0   0   0   0   3   0  10   2.39
Totals                    8      14   6   6   2   6   0
 
Squad 51 (39-120)        IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
B.Sheets WIN(1-14)        8       4   3   2   0   8   0 118   5.63
B.Shouse                  0 2/3   1   0   0   1   0   0  12   3.26
T.Jones SAVE(10th)        0 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   5   4.98
Totals                    9       5   3   2   1   8   0
 
ATTENDANCE- 17,064 DATE- Sunday, October 12th 2008 TIME- Night 
T- 2:43
LEFT ON BASE- Apostles: 2  Squad 51: 9
DOUBLE PLAYS- Apostles: 2  Squad 51: 1
ERRORS- R.Ibanez
DOUBLES- C.Coste(6th), M.Izturis(10th), D.Lee(37th), S.Drew(10th)
STOLEN BASES- I.Suzuki-2(62nd), H.Ramirez-2(62nd)
SACRIFICE FLIES- C.Coste
WALKS- C.Lee, A.Huff, J.Larue
HIT BY PITCH- J.Jones
STRIKE OUTS- A.Jones, M.Cabrera-2, H.Ramirez-2, A.Lind, J.Lopez, A.Ethier,
             M.Izturis, J.Jones-3, A.Huff, E.Brown
GIDP- M.Jacobs, E.Brown
 
Ben Sheets went 8 strong innings and Raul Ibanez had 2 base hits and 3 RBI as
the Los Angeles Squad 51 topped the Saint Gabriel Apostles by a score of 6 to
3 at Station 51.
 
Sheets(1-14) gave Los Angeles a solid outing.  He allowed just 4 hits and no
walks in 8 innings.  Los Angeles finished with 14 hits while Saint Gabriel
ended up with 5.  
 
Sheets got help from Todd Jones who earned his 10th save.  Carlos
Zambrano(10-11) was the losing pitcher.  He gave up 6 runs in 5 and 2/3
innings of work.  
 

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Apostles 3, Squad 51 1

ILL takes Game 1. Speed and some light hitting did in the Squad.

Strat-O-Matic Report

---

BOXSCORE: 2008 Saint Gabriel Apostles At 2008 Los Angeles Squad 51 10/11/2008
 
  Apostles           AB  R  H RBI AVG     Squad 51           AB  R  H RBI AVG
  I.Suzuki CF         3  2  1  0 .336     J.Jones CF          5  0  2  1 .274  
  D.Eckstein SS       3  0  2  1 .296     M.Izturis 2B        3  0  0  0 .234  
  M.Cabrera 3B        3  0  2  1 .302     A.Huff 3B           4  0  1  0 .262  
  M.Jacobs 1B         4  0  0  0 .262     D.Lee 1B            4  0  0  0 .276  
  C.Lee DH            4  0  1  0 .289     E.Brown RF          3  0  1  0 .221  
  J.Mauer C           3  0  0  0 .272     S.Drew SS           4  0  0  0 .197  
A-W.Betemit PH        1  0  0  0 .216     R.Ibanez LF         4  0  0  0 .297  
B-C.Coste C           0  0  0  0 .324     B.Crosby DH         2  1  1  0 .226  
  A.Jones RF          4  1  1  1 .259   C-M.Thames PH         1  0  0  0 .197  
  J.Lopez 2B          3  0  0  0 .225     J.Larue C           3  0  2  0 .211  
  A.Lind LF           3  0  0  0 .235   D-M.Scutaro PH        1  0  0  0 .234  
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      31  3  7  3                 Totals      34  1  7  1
 
A-Pinch Hit For Mauer In 9th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Betemit In 9th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Crosby In 9th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Larue In 9th Inning
 
Apostles........ 1 1 0  0 0 0  0 1 0  -  3  7  1
Squad 51........ 0 1 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  1  7  0
 
Apostles (73-85)         IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
C.Sabathia WIN(16-10)     7 1/3   7   1   1   3   7   0 122   3.59
B.Fuentes SAVE(9th)       1 2/3   0   0   0   0   4   0  16   3.31
Totals                    9       7   1   1   3  11   0
 
Squad 51 (38-120)        IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
U.Jimenez LOSS(2-7)       9       7   3   3   2   6   1 131   3.66
Totals                    9       7   3   3   2   6   1
 
ATTENDANCE- 17,308 DATE- Saturday, October 11th 2008 TIME- Night 
T- 2:50
LEFT ON BASE- Apostles: 4  Squad 51: 9
DOUBLE PLAYS- Apostles: 1  Squad 51: 0
ERRORS- D.Eckstein
HOME RUNS- A.Jones(8th)
STOLEN BASES- I.Suzuki-3(60th), D.Eckstein(4th), M.Cabrera(5th)
CAUGHT STEALING- M.Cabrera, C.Lee
SACRIFICE HITS- D.Eckstein
WALKS- I.Suzuki, M.Cabrera, M.Izturis, E.Brown, B.Crosby
STRIKE OUTS- M.Cabrera, J.Mauer, W.Betemit, A.Jones, J.Lopez, A.Lind, J.Jones,
             M.Izturis, A.Huff-3, D.Lee, E.Brown, S.Drew-2, M.Thames, M.Scutaro
GIDP- J.Jones
 
At Station 51, the Los Angeles fans witnessed a great pitcher's duel.  C.C.
Sabathia(16-10) finally bested his Los Angeles opposite, Ubaldo Jimenez(2-7),
by the score of 3 to 1.
 
The game started off with Saint Gabriel taking the lead in the first plating
an isolated run.  Both teams finished the game with 7 hits.  
 
Brian Fuentes recorded his 9th save.  Jimenez was charged with the loss.  He
allowed 3 runs and 7 hits in 9 innings.

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