WINNEMUCCA CHOO-CHOOS 1847 PREVIEW

[Young Drachma]

A new city with familiar faces. The Winnemucca Choo-Choos prepare for what they hope will be a successful start in a revived Associated League where everyone expects a dogfight to be among the final two.

The Choo-Choos should be a formidible offensive team, but their pitching probably isn't going to be enough to get them over the hump this year.

Ramesh Chandar hopes to rebound for a 13-22 year, doing a ton of heavy lifting. Eddie Donovan comes over from Philadelphia, off a 16-win season and if this team has any shot of contending, they'll need him to pull that kind of weight again. Bobby Carter will start for the Choo-Choos after years of closing games. Another Philly refugee Arthur Lawrence won 12 games last year and could be a nice anchor in the 5th spot in the rotation. The Choo-Choos have hemmed and hawed about whether or not 21-game winner last year Bill Powell will be in the rotation, but we think you'd have to include him.

Closer Mat Adkins had 40 saves for the Americans last year and will be a key contributor for late inning games.

The team's relief core boasts a bunch of converted starters from other clubs and will be a huge X-Factor for this year.

Offensively, the Choos boast a lineup that by all accounts could be scary. Corey Sanders, a Silver Glove winner and first-class rookie for Milwaukee comes over via the dispersal draft to lead off the Choos lineup. Their own top prospect Cecil Weber gets to move down in the order, leading the way for the middle of the order that is probably missing one more bat to make it formidable. But former NL MVP Kelvin Boyd came over a as a free agent and Jay-man Yun will play shortstop and hopes to warrant his position as the team's top pick in the dispersal draft.

In the end, this is the year of the stacked ballclub. Winnemucca is surely improved from a year ago, but it seems like they'll fall short of competing with Memphis's bats or Syracuse's hurlers.