1976 Team Previews

[TurnerONU22]

Columbus Crusaders
1975: 85-69, 2nd Place, 4.0 GB

After a 2nd straight runner-up finish behind Quad City/Chicago, Columbus is looking to capture their first RL title in their short history. However, with Hartford making some solid additions and Chicago remaining strong, Columbus has its work cut out for them.

The most notable acquisition is 1B Holden Matthews, who came in late in a trade from Atlanta. The trade, which also brought in CL Mike McBride, will help shore up a position that the Crusaders have been platooning for the past few seasons.

The pitching staff is anchored by the young veteran, 24-year old SP Gilbert Perreault. Perreault, in his 7th season with Seattle/Columbus, finished last season with a 2.23 ERA and was voted in to his first All-Star game. SP Jesus 'Three Finger' Lopez is another young arm, who is capable of an ERA in the 3's. SP Ron 'Big Kahnua' Fritz hopes to avoid a sophomore slump, after 13 W's and a 3.74 ERA. SP Ryan Wilkins joins the staff after spending his rookie season in the 'pen. Rounding out the starters is the wily veteran, SP Patrick Bentley.

CL Aaron Dailey will hope to rebound from a disappointing season with a 4.09 ERA. McBride and Edward Cummings will setup Dailey.

To the lineup, Matthews adds a huge punch to the lineup, a consistent .300, 20 HR hitter. C Anibal Ramirez might be one of the best hitters in the league, with his .336 AVG finished 2nd in the league. After some tough negotiations, CF Ruben Mendoza returns with amazing defense and a solid OBP that is usually close to .400. The other former Valdosta player, 2B Juan Reyes, is another high AVG batter. RF Jimi Belanger, a FA addition from Baltimore and LF Jose Isla are a couple of mashers, with 28 for Belanger and 31 for Isla.

Overall, I think we have improved our team, but I think that our pitching and hitting will not be strong enough to overcome both Hartford and Chicago. My prediction is 83-71, 3rd place, 8 GB.

[Alan T]

Not sure if I'll get enough time to do one of these this season, but part of me isn't sure I want to either. Big happenings in Valdosta as two long time Peanuts will not be making the major league team, we try a huge pitching experiment against my better judgement and we go with a youth movement in parts of our batting order.

Could be either the end of an era, or a way to completely jump over a rebuilt project.

[kaosfere]

Glad I refreshed the forum after taking an hour starting my own thread for this to see if anyone else had beat me to it.

Toronto Osprey 1976 Season Preview
1974: 74-80 (.481), 6th place CL
1975: 93-61 (.604), 1st place CL

Although things were looking better for the Osprey in 1975 than they had in a while, their first place finish was a complete surprise to the team. In spite of continuing to post one of the worst batting averages in the league, Toronto put together a solid late-season stretch and squeaked out a Continental League championship by two games over Valdosta.

Despite losing the Classic to Chicago in 6 games, 1975 can't be viewed as anything but a stellar success for the team. They continued to start one of the most dominant pitching staffs in the league, and finished with their best record -- and first playoff appearance -- ever.

Now, for 1976, the team needs to prove that its success was no fluke, and that they have what it takes to remain a force in the CL. This will be no easy task. Valdosta may not be what they once were, but they remain strong, and several big off-season trades have increased the strength of other CL teams.

Who have Toronto chosen to pin their hopes for a repeat performance on?

Pitching

The Osprey rotation looks like it could be even stronger this year than it has in the two years prior. In addition to Artie Wiley, who improved on his '74 performance by throwing to a 1.63 ERA and 0.84 WHIP in '75, and surprise all-star Maresuke Saito (2.71 ERA, 1.05 WHIP), the Osprey will be adding Pedro Ortiz. Ortiz was picked up in a blockbuster deal with Atlanta, and will be bringing his 100mph fastball to the rotation for the next two years.

Rounding out the bottom half of the rotation will be Sachi Yamada and Bob Bates, both returning from last year. Hirokazu Nakamura also returns, but his disappointing performance means he will only be serving for spot starts and mop-up relief.

Top relievers Anthony Zijm and Logan Finley are back again, and will be joined in the bullpen by Pedro Nunes, appearing in the big leagues for the first time after posting a combined 2.23 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in two years at AAA Ottawa. Wade Bennett also returns, and will reprise his mop-up roll from last year.

Last year's closers Francisco Padilla and Pepe Urbina will do the same duties again this year.

The Lineup

Due to the late signing of Felipe Polanco, Dirk Fritz, starting catcher in '73 and '74, and underperforming backup in '75, was released after spring training to help Toronto clear the salary cap. Last year's starter Patrick Hamilton falls to backup duties.

Toronto have finally filled the gaping hole that has been their first base position, at least for one year. Aging Ben Gibbs, who was recalled in desperation from AAA last year to fill the starting role, gets sent back down for '76 to make room for Joey Higman. With a record of four Gold Gloves, four All Star selections, one MVP, and a combined VORP of 333.9 in his 7 years in the league, the Osprey hope that Higman will offset his huge salary of $17 million for this year and anchor a revitalized offense before his newly-assumed contract expires at the end of the year.

There are no changes at second and third base, where Elmer Meyer and Abraham Lujan will recap their 1975 roles for the upcoming year.

On the merit of an outstanding spring training, in which he posted a .304 batting average, Jose Diaz finally gets his chance at the starting shortstop role after three consistently solid years in AAA. He will be replacing last year's starter Doug Graves, who struggled in ST and will be filling an infield relief role.

The Osprey outfield turned in a two Gold Glove performance in 1975, but sees a small change for '76. Ron Lord and Patrick Catron return, but Lord shifts from left field to center to make room for new acquisition Alejandro Corona. This will weaken the Osprey outfield from a defensive standpoint, but Corona, who batted .322 for Chicago last year, should be a massive offensive improvement over former overpaid starter David Dunham, who was sent to Baltimore -- and then summarily released -- after posting a weak .200 AVG in each of his two seasons in Toronto.

Backup support will be provided in the infield by returners Doug Graves and Miguel Rodriguez, and in the outfield by the returning defensive specialist Emilio Perez and newcomer Francisco Barrera. Barrera is on a minor league contract, but had a solid season in AAA last year, and put in a .438 batting average in spring training -- albeit in limited at bats.

Summary and Predictions

The Osprey lost some strength in their bullpen when Jacob Singleton refused to return for '76, but they remain strong with Zijm and Finley, and gained an excellent starter in Ortiz. If the starting rotation can increase their performance accordingly, the loss of strength in the bullpen may not be felt too badly.

The major weakness the Osprey have had is their hitting. Their combined average of .235 in '75 was only marginally better than the franchise-worst score of .223 the year before, and was still the fourth worst record the team has ever had.

For 1975, only 5 of the 8 positional starters were were in the bigs in '74, and they had a combined previous-year average of .263. The three AAA callups had an AAA average of .280. This year, there are 7 starters who had big league time in '75, and together their batting average for last year was .274. The sole AAA starter, Diaz, went .292 in Ottawa last year. Hopefully, this improved potential will go a long way to improving the team's chronically bad hitting and give them a much better chance of repeating this year.

However, the CL as a whole looks tougher this year. The Travelers sport a huge pitching rotation, Baltimore looks strong as well, and one can never count out Valdosta. This will post a strong challenge to Toronto's bid to improve their offensive performance.

Will Higman earn his pay? Will Ortiz pull his weight? Will the loss of Singleton be felt too badly? These questions may be key to Toronto's performance this year.

Prediction: 84-70 (.545), 1st place CL, 1GA

[Manager's note: I am not at all confident of this prediction, and could easily see myself being anywhere from first to third. But hope springs eternal! This will be an interesting season.]

[Edit: Oops. I counted Hartford in the CL. Silly me.]

[kaosfere]

Originally Posted by TurnerONU22

SP Jesus 'Three Finger' Lopez is another young arm, who is capable of an ERA in the 3's.

Imagine what he could do if he had all ten!

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by kaosfere

Imagine what he could do if he had all ten!

Considering that "Three Finger" Mordecai Brown was a better pitcher than Antonio Alfonseca whom has 12 fingers, my next project will be to forcefully remove the fingers of all of my minor league prospects to see if it improves their play.

[kaosfere]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Considering that "Three Finger" Mordecai Brown was a better pitcher than Antonio Alfonseca whom has 12 fingers, my next project will be to forcefully remove the fingers of all of my minor league prospects to see if it improves their play.

That's it, Alan. I need a picture of you, so I can photoshop a Dr-Evil-pinky-finger to the corner of your mouth.

I'm also hereby petitioning the Commissioner to force a renaming of the Valdosta team from "Peanuts" to "Mad Scientists".

...

And turning my budget surplus into research funds on a crack squad of robotic cyborg pitchers to counter your mutilated semi-handed freak machine.

[muns]

Hartford wont be doing a preview this year. Everytime I do one where Im hoping I will be good, we shit the bed. So while im hoping we will finish in the top 3 in the RL im not expecting it this year based on past performances.

I think my team was the biggest dissapointment last season, and it actually got mentioned once like 8 seasons back in a thread. So there has been at least 2 times in the 16 seasons were we were predicted to be good, and didnt even come close. My hope is to not repeat that tonight, so no previews from me.

I am cutting a few spects that are 24-25 that you rebuilding teams should prob try to snatch up. Not great ratings like some in the 70's, but they have some potential with playing time you never know.

Just a heads up

[Young Drachma]

Hartford worries me most in the RL this year. They've reloaded like nobody's business and it's gonna be a devil for us to try to keep up with them. If they get it, muns will have earned it and that rebuild he's pulled off is clearly a masterstroke of effort.

Columbus should be strong and I think Long Island has way more talent than anyone really realizes and will be a factor. Do I expect my team to win? Yes, because that's what I've put them into position to do.

But...that doesn't mean anything at the end of the day.

[Young Drachma]

As a side note, I have the hardest time deciding between "start highest rested starter" and "strict order."

I haven't done a real assessment to figure out which works better for me, because I think it's ultimately dependent on your roster for that year and the endurance of the arms in your rotation.

[Alan T]

The last time Valdosta finished worse than 3rd place was 1966. This could very likely be the year several CL teams bypass us and gives us our worst finish since 1964 (which happens to be the year we moved from Gary to Valdosta).

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

As a side note, I have the hardest time deciding between "start highest rested starter" and "strict order."

I haven't done a real assessment to figure out which works better for me, because I think it's ultimately dependent on your roster for that year and the endurance of the arms in your rotation.

I have a pretty strong opinion on how to play this (I know.. shocking).. but I don't have any testing reason why I feel this way.. just my gut feeling.. so won't force this down everyone's throats like I do everything else!

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I have a pretty strong opinion on how to play this (I know.. shocking).. but I don't have any testing reason why I feel this way.. just my gut feeling.. so won't force this down everyone's throats like I do everything else!

This is a time where your opinion is welcomed.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

This is a time where your opinion is welcomed.

In a season long sim, where you don't have the ability to micromanage your lineup from week to week for me much of the decision on where to play people or how to play people is based around minimizing risks and not necessarily taking gambles.

I feel setting a rotation and to some extent an entire pitching staff is about trying to minimize your weaknesses to limit your exposure to just being run over. I think it is important to try to spread around pitchers with similar type of weaknesses, whether it is giving up the long ball, or having low endurance, or not pitching well vs Rightys or leftys, or giving up too many walks.. or what not...

Every team has a bit of a fingerprint from their owner, and you'll run into teams built one way for three games and then a team built completely different the next three games..

If team A has a huge lineup of guys who don't get on base a ton but crush the ball, you really don't want three pitchers in a row that will serve them batting practice.. but you can get by perhaps with three pitchers in a row that will pitch around players, not give up the long ball much but perhaps a few too many walks... Vice versa if say Team B is a bunch of OBP guys that don't necessarily hit a ton of homers.. you don't want three walk machines out there to face them.. get your guy in who might give up the long ball but won't give up walks. Ozzie Smith isn't going to hurt you with a home run...

So when I set my rotation, I try to balance out where the pitchers go so as to limit my exposures to bad series.. When you change from a fixed rotation to start highest rated starter, you might get 1 or 2 extra games out of him, but I feel you are far more exposed to new problems being introduced. Certain pitchers getting tired more than before, thus exposing a bullpen more or the like.

I feel for me, it is very important to try to take as much under consideration as I can at the start of the season, and lock specific types of pitchers into specific roles on the team, and then minimize the exposure to it falling apart as much as possible. I am a diehard fan of fixed rotations in OOTP, even moreso in a fast sim league.

That said, as I mentioned before, I'm experimenting with something new this season with my pitching staff that likely will blow up on me.. so we'll see how that goes! Maybe I should listen to what I actually believe every now and then!

[muns]

Originally Posted by Alan T

In a season long sim, where you don't have the ability to micromanage your lineup from week to week for me much of the decision on where to play people or how to play people is based around minimizing risks and not necessarily taking gambles.

I feel setting a rotation and to some extent an entire pitching staff is about trying to minimize your weaknesses to limit your exposure to just being run over. I think it is important to try to spread around pitchers with similar type of weaknesses, whether it is giving up the long ball, or having low endurance, or not pitching well vs Rightys or leftys, or giving up too many walks.. or what not...

Every team has a bit of a fingerprint from their owner, and you'll run into teams built one way for three games and then a team built completely different the next three games..

If team A has a huge lineup of guys who don't get on base a ton but crush the ball, you really don't want three pitchers in a row that will serve them batting practice.. but you can get by perhaps with three pitchers in a row that will pitch around players, not give up the long ball much but perhaps a few too many walks... Vice versa if say Team B is a bunch of OBP guys that don't necessarily hit a ton of homers.. you don't want three walk machines out there to face them.. get your guy in who might give up the long ball but won't give up walks. Ozzie Smith isn't going to hurt you with a home run...

So when I set my rotation, I try to balance out where the pitchers go so as to limit my exposures to bad series.. When you change from a fixed rotation to start highest rated starter, you might get 1 or 2 extra games out of him, but I feel you are far more exposed to new problems being introduced. Certain pitchers getting tired more than before, thus exposing a bullpen more or the like.

I feel for me, it is very important to try to take as much under consideration as I can at the start of the season, and lock specific types of pitchers into specific roles on the team, and then minimize the exposure to it falling apart as much as possible. I am a diehard fan of fixed rotations in OOTP, even moreso in a fast sim league.

That said, as I mentioned before, I'm experimenting with something new this season with my pitching staff that likely will blow up on me.. so we'll see how that goes! Maybe I should listen to what I actually believe every now and then!

Very interesting take. I didnt get that deep with it. I was toying around with putting some of my stronger guys in the back of the rotation to get better pitching match ups.... and letting it go on fixed rotations that way.

Man my little experiment compared with your reason seems too simplistic

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by muns

Very interesting take. I didnt get that deep with it. I was toying around with putting some of my stronger guys in the back of the rotation to get better pitching match ups.... and letting it go on fixed rotations that way.

Man my little experiment compared with your reason seems too simplistic

Well in normal baseball where you control your lineup every day to day the most effecient approach is to allow for the best pitchers to pitch the most often. With our schedule I believe we only end up with something like 10 days off the entire year. However if you look at the schedule closer and see who would be skipped where, at most it you usually can get 3 or 4 less starts from your 5th pitcher because of it if you wanted to.

The AI however does not just slide the rotation when it uses this setting. It actually will then hop around the rotation from then on to whomever it feels the highest rated rested pitcher is at that time. So by May your rotation is out the window and very un-predictable. You may very well get more performance from it.. or you may implode.. who knows!

[Alan T]

Sorry, to clarify my last post.. what I mean is I have in my schedule plenty of places where I have my #1 pitcher scheduled to pitch, and then an off day, obviously after the off day the AI would go for you #2, #3, #4, #1, #5, #2, etc.. then next off day it will skip back to your best pitcher again.. so say if it was #4's turn to pitch on an off day, you would end up now with #2, #3, #1, #4, #2, #5, etc..

If you have a really strong bullpen and a clear difference of your top 3 pitchers vs your bottom 2, then I don't blame you for considering it. I just like knowing what to expect I guess for my team. Like I said before, nothing scientific on this one, just my gut here.

[Young Drachma]

Thanks for sharing that, Alan.

I haven't been very good about managing my rotations since the days of St. Louis, in part because I've always been stringing together talent -- as I'm sure all of us have at one time or another -- but in FOOL, it seems the tactic is generally "find the best damn 5 pitchers you can" to go out to fight for you and that if you have it, it can often cover up a bullpen and hitting that doesn't get it done.

But it's not the most effective way to go about it.

Looking at my pitching staff right now, I'm debating the way I'm gonna approach it this year.

[Anthony]

the only reason why i don't like "pitch next highest rated rested pitcher" is cuz if you want to go back to "strict order" it takes too long cuz like Alan pointed out since the AI cherry picks who it wants to start regardless of where they are in the order once you want to get back to something more organized it's chaos.

[Young Drachma]

Detroit has a new owner. It's Ramzavail and he'll export tonight, so we're back to 16. Welcome him aboard.

P.S. To the ghost of Jimmy: I'm going to upload a file in an hour or so, that has his name in it, so he can export. Not cheeting, just being helpful. Just FYI.

[kaosfere]

Aloha, Ramzavail!

[muns]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Detroit has a new owner. It's Ramzavail and he'll export tonight, so we're back to 16. Welcome him aboard.

P.S. To the ghost of Jimmy: I'm going to upload a file in an hour or so, that has his name in it, so he can export. Not cheeting, just being helpful. Just FYI.

Welcome to the league Ramzavail. Glad to have you aboard!!!!

[Cringer]

ok, this one will be short....for reals yo....

Rio Grande Roadrunners
1975, 80-74, 3rd place in CL


Short and sweet, the Roadrunners haven't even been the bride's maid for a long time now. We finished 2nd in the CL in 1970, since then it has been 4th place with a 5th and 3rd mixed in. Well, one of those 4ths was really a tie for 3rd but the game gives me the shaft on that. With that said, and with my pitching staff looking potentially worse then it has been because of the coming decline of Sparks' ratings we are going crazy in Rio Grande. A lot of the same old guys are still there, along with some of the newer talent who I like that has been added over the last few years but has not changed our place in the standings. You know the guys, Tanaka at C, Payton at 3B, O'Cleary in LF, Sparks as the #1 SP, and Mockly at CL. This is going to focus on the changes though.

Coming up from the minors are four key pieces to the final standing of the Rio Grande Roadrunners this year:

SP Pablo Guerrero - This 20 year old SP has less experience pitching then Todd Sparks' left testicle (we all know Sparks is right nutted). Pablo was drafted just last year and spent the season in Single A ball. He was 15-3 with a 1.52 ERA. In five spring starts the kid went 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA. It was good enough for the Roadrunners, lets make him the #4 SP in the rotation.

SP Tynan Johnson - At 23 years old this right-hander has spent three years in the minors, going from Single A to AAA and impressing each step of the way as he got better with each level. He went from 0-6 and 26 saves as a CL in A ball, moved to AA were he converted to a SP adn went 10-12 with a 2.64 ERA. In AAA last year he went 13-7 with an ERA of 2.01. Tynan, like Pablo, doesn't have a lot of hype around him (low stars baby!) but has been effective in the minors and deserves the shot to be our #5 SP.

(In a hard call, these two moves above has meant that longtime, much loved, SP Jose 'Chunky' Medina is finally being moved to the bullpen)

OF Stanley Patterson - This kid has been being watched for a couple seasons now, and it is do or die time for his career. He has great potential and we will see if he lives up to it. Patterson came to us a few years ago in the draft and started in AA right away. He spent the last two years in AAA were his stats improved slightly each year. He is good on the bases, and good in the field. Very good contact hitter, but needs major work on that eye/discipline at the plate. He is 23 years old now and it is time to show he is the real deal or go play in an Indy league. He hit .274 in the spring, so I hope he continues it.

SS George Stewart - George has the same history as Stanley up above. Started in AA right away and spent the last two years in AAA with mixed results (crappy year last year). George, unlike Stanley, has power potential and smacked 3 HRs in spring while hitting the same .274 as Stanley. He his a pretty good fielder but needs to improve the hitting like Stanley. Two peas in a pod are these guys.

(The above moves meant two guys had to be moved out right? Aguilera was moved to CF for the first time in his career so Stanley could play RF, while 33 year old Luke Parker finally takes a seat on the bench to hopefully play an important roll from there. To make way for George though is probably the biggest/dumbest move I am taking here. Mike Jones has started at SS for us for 4 years, hitting over .300 each season. Jones will still get some starts at SS once in a while, along with at 2B for Connor Daniels.)


So that is the big news from Rio Grande. I fully expect to finish 5th or 6th at best this year, but I need to make these moves to see what these guys have. Otherwise I may start to make some moves next season to bring in some young guys.....Payton could bring me some young SPs I would hope.

[Young Drachma]

CHICAGO THUNDERSTORMS
89-65, FOOL Classic Champions

After bringing the Windy City its first title in FOOL history and DC winning his first Classic title since 1964, the T-Storms are trying to repeat their winning ways. But a tidal wave from the east threatens their short reign over the league.

Hartford has locked and loaded, arranging the best pitching staff that the league might have ever seen, Boston got new life after moving south to Long Island and hope to be the first RL team from NYC to represent the team in the Classic and Columbus -- fresh off two RL Shields -- is looking for the whole shebang this year.

So what will the T-Storms do? They're gonna raise the win flag, that's what.

Gone is Floyd Yarbrough, whose family issues sent him back to Texas and the CL in '76. Arriving is SP Victor Gonzalez from Colorado, a 26-year old hurler who looks to fill the missing link in the Chicago rotation. Going to battle with him are returnees: Godbout, Mason, McKeane and Riggs.

Kevin King will step in as the new closer.

The team's pitching is probably a hair worse than it was last year, but it's deeper -- Benny Myers is back and will be in the bullpen, as is Doug Proctor -- and so, DC hopes the team can handle itself in games where it should win, but seems to fall flat.

Offensively, the T-Storms are poised to make A LOT of noise with their bats. Added to the lineup is veteran outfielder Raleigh Wildridge who had 22 HRs last for Ann Arbor. He will duke it out with Fernando Herrera a rookie who came over from Texas in the Yarbrough deal for playing time, with the latter possibly getting the nod over Wildridge to start the year. It hasn't been decided at press time.

The 3-4-5 of the order for the T-Storms is likely the best in the league in Mac Rasmussen, Luis Mendoza and Marcos Montoya. The three combined for 195.2 VORP last year. Only three TEAMS (other than Chicago) in FOOL had a higher BVORP than those three players last year (Rio Grande, Valdosta and Boston (now Long Island)

The addition of C Stanford Jones, who began his career in Chicago should only help things, along with the team's deep bench of younger players who are apprenticing in the hopes of someday taking over for legends like Christian Larsen.

IF Jeremy Rigsby who was acquired in the trade that sent Alejandro Corona to Toronto in the off-season is the heir apparent to Larsen at second.

When you do a top-down analysis of the T-Storms, the names don't necessarily "jump out" at you as they may have before, but there is no doubt that if these guys aren't going down without a fight. The real question won't so much be if they can beat the rest of the league -- they've proven their mettle before -- it'll be how much the other teams in the Republic League have caught up with them.

Next year is almost here.

[Chief Rum]

Wish I had time to do a preview tonight. I was on my way home when I got a flat. Since I need the car tomorrow to drive into LA to pick my brother up from LAX, I needed to take care of any car issues tonight. So I was hanging out in a restaurant outside of an auto shop for two or three hours.

Good reads above. Maybe I'll try to do a quick preview before reading the season thread, so I will get instant gratification (or disappointment) from my predictions.

[fairly]

NEW ORLEANS WRENS
REPUBLIC LEAGUE TRADITIONAL DOORMAT

Not much will change this season. I signed a bunch of guys so maybe we won't stink. Wrens fans should be used to it.

Player to watch: Sandro Gonzales. 22 year old rookie holds down the #1 starter spot. With 100 stuff, he should set some strikeout records.

[Chief Rum]

Atlanta Firecrackers

1975 Results: 75-79, 18 GB (4th in CL)

Just two years removed from a trip to the FOOL Classic, the Firecrackers entered a troubled offseason. The rumors started early that greygoose, the respected GM who had built up the Classic team, was going to have to take a personal leave of absence. With the team seemingly sliding back to mediocrity and shilling out a lot of dough for a squad that did not look like it was going to contend for the Classic again, this was a critical time to lose a personnel man of the quality of greygoose. Management was quick to find an answer from an unlikely spot, though: they went to erstwhile estranged former Colorado Rancheros GM Chief Rum and made him an offer he couldn't refuse. And so Chief Rum returned to FOOL. With five RL titles and two FOOL championship rings, Chief gets a lot of nods from others for the work he has done. But the task before him has never been so monumental.

"Building up the Rancheros was a labor of love," Chief said. "But it wasn't as hard as it seems, because everyone was still getting used to things. I had an edge simply because I took a strong team from the start and stayed with the club. I kept them strong, but I made as many poor decisions as wise ones."

"This rebuild job--in a new FOOL filled with brilliant, tested personnel minds, where the loopholes and the advantages are far more difficult to mine--is going to be extremely difficult," Chief said.

Chief Rum traded away Firecracker stars Pedro Ortiz, David Barajas, Holden Matthews, Corey Templeton and Mike McBride, and rumors were he tried to move Edgardo Reyes, too. The rebuild is on. Only time will tell if Chief can work his magic in the Deep South.

STARTING PITCHING

With Ortiz and Barajas, two of the best pitchers in FOOL leaving the team, Chief was desperate to bring back some good young arms. He may have gotten that in the Barajas deal with Hartford, taking back 'Pooners' star pitcher Doyle Adams (10-15, 4.38), coming off his worst year but only 24 years old, and well-regarded prospect Miguel Vazquez (21-10, 2.66, 247 K in AAA). Wilbur Scott (12-9, 3.97) had a solid season in his rookie year with the Firecrackers, but some scouts believe he may have overachieved a little. He is the only returning member of last year's rotation. Former Texas pitcher Alfonso Torres (10-12, 3.88) was signed to fill the #4 spot, and former Compton farmhand Martin Austin (12-9, 2.72 in AAA) is being counted on to provide adequate backend support in the rotation. This is a young rotation--no one is over the age of 27--but there is some talent here.

RELIEF PITCHING

Chief Rum is famous for his emphasis--some say "overemphasis"--on relief pitching, and there were sure signs he was working to get this part of the pen up to the standards of his Colorado pens, which went on to produce some of FOOL's top current closers in John Mockly, Andrew Snyder, Pedro Castillo, Walt Withecombe, Kevin King and Dale Hawkins.

One of Chief's first decisions was to settle something previous management was leaning against doing--he resigned firearm Stan Miller (1.48 ERA, 9.25 K/9 and an amazing 8.33 K/BB ratio in 24 IP). Originally pinned to be the top setup man, the young Miller was elevated to the closer role when Templeton and McBride were shipped out in trades. Former Ranchero (and reportedly a GM favorite) Stan Osborne (3.21 ERA, 9.51 K/9) moves into Miller's top setup spot, where the gunslinging southpaw gives the Firecrackers two powerful arms at the end of games. The steady Paul Skuse (4.22, .238 oavg) will handle setup duties from the right side. If reports are to be believed, the final piece to make the Barajas deal happen was another live arm reliever in Maximo Lopez (3.31, 10.25 K/9 in AAA), who will be a primary middle reliever. Rookie arms Ramon Fernandez (1.69 in AAA) and Andres Cruz (1.69 in AA) fill out the middle relief spots.

The always respected and future Hall of Famer 40-year-old Gabriel Prado (10-16, 4.55) is dropping to a long relief role for the first time in his career. His veteran leadership should help a lot on a staff with a ton of kids.

CATCHING

Right from the start, Chief Rum saw issues at this position, such that he even went ahead and resigned veteran to be Ralph Nicholson, last year's starter, as an insurance clause. Nicholson did not end up making the team. Instead, the duties will be handled in a platoon between last year's backup Matt O'Corran (.258, 4, 13, .721 ops) and offseason signing Mark Shepherd (.179, 6, 15, .581 ops), who served as Baltimore's backup last year.

INFIELD

When Matthews was dealt to Columbus, the only real sure thing in the infield was now gone from Atlanta. Fans might despair, but Chief Rum insists it's an opportunity.

"We have some talented players here, and more on the way," he said. "This will not be a bad infield this year, especially at the plate." Pessimists said the GM's plate comment was more of a steer from what could be an atrocious infield defense, at least when veteran John Bruce (.233, 1, 10) gets out there. Bruce still has pop, but he would play poorly defensively as a designated hitter at this stage of his career. Bruce will backup first and second, and is probably the only "name" left inside the edge of the outfield grass.

Filling Matthews' big shoes at first is touted rookie prospect Eric Cherry (.263, 24, 84, .805 ops in AAA), who some say could contend for batting titles one day. Another former Ranchero, Rich Haas (.324, 4, 49 in AAA), was brought in as part of the Ortiz deal, and will play second. He, too, is a respected player with the stick, although he doesn't have Cherry's power. Young up and comer 3B Bartolo Guzman (.289, 14, 59, .768 ops) is coming off of his best season and is expected to get better. The unspectacular but versatile Salvador Sandoval (.230, 22, 61) displayed surprising pop last year, and slides over to short. Japanese import Okakura Suzuki (.261, 10, 58 in AAA) was brought in for depth and a decent bat off of the bench.

OUTFIELD

This is where even fans of other teams will still be able to recognize the players on the Firecracker roster. All three starters return here, and all five outfielders on the 25-man have the ability to put a dent on the ball.

Edgardo Reyes (.308, 8, 48, .874 ops, 52 sb) is clearly the most well-known and respected player remaining on the team who still has most of the skills he displayed in his youth. He wil handle LF from now until he gets traded, which most view as inevitable.

Carlos Vazquez (.290, 27, 98, .889 ops) perhaps should be the most respected, and maybe now he will be. Vazquez signed a huge extension in the offseason, and management seems committed to rebuilding the lineup around the 24-year-old star CF.

Jorge Aguirre (.289, 8, 52, .796 ops, 31 sb) is another young hitter who makes nice contact. He is also a scary good basestealer, and should combine with Reyes to absolutely devastate catchers in the CL.

Christian Williams (.280, 6, 49 in AAA) will play against lefties and serve as the primary defensive backup. He has some talent and still plenty of room to grow. Veteran backup Mark Nelson (.245, 10, 38) can pack a punch with his bat, and will be another nice bat off of the bench.

OVERVIEW

Let's face it. It's going to be a long season. It's not that there isn't talent here; there is. But it's young talent that still needs to develop. And older guys on their way out. It's a team in transition that still needs some more kids to come up to take this team back to the level it was under greygoose. In particular, this team needs more young, dominant pitching. This happens to be Chief Rum's specialty and focus--but one offseason isn't usually enough to complete the makeover needed in Atlanta.

Expect some strides and some good stretches, but if this team has a .500 record--or even matches last year's 75 wins--it would have to be considered an astounding success.

PREDICTION: 8th (Last in the CL)

[Alan T]

Nice Preview Chief. You may be just starting on that rebuild, but I know I'll be scared of you in a few seasons!

[Young Drachma]

Man, sure missed those previews. It's great that you are back. And especially in that other league. Wait 'till you see what your team did....

[muns]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Man, sure missed those previews. It's great that you are back. And especially in that other league. Wait 'till you see what your team did....

ya he hosed me in the Barajas deal

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by muns

ya he hosed me in the Barajas deal

Now that the season is over, I tried hard to get Barajas.. Well as hard as I try to go after someone. I usually never overpay what I feel is a good price though.. but Barajas is special. He's an all time great.

[muns]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Now that the season is over, I tried hard to get Barajas.. Well as hard as I try to go after someone. I usually never overpay what I feel is a good price though.. but Barajas is special. He's an all time great.

Adams is a guy that plays above his ratings..... They both made the all star game this year, but adding vazquez to it gives him the advantage I think. I gotta see what Harmon did as my leadoff hitter, to evaluate it even more.

I thought you were going after Ortiz actually alan, with your cap situation you had

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Man, sure missed those previews. It's great that you are back. And especially in that other league. Wait 'till you see what your team did....

Heh, you would say that. You and all these other winkin' wankers, since you all know, having read the thread. I am going over there now.