The Village Idiot (3.31.2041)

[Alan T]

It is a brave new (RL) world...

For the past several years, the Republic League had been locked up by the behemoths of Chico and Colorado. While other teams had limited success at times, these two teams were the ones that everyone circled on the schedules. Chico and Colorado were the two that the rest of the Republic League attempted to topple.

Last season, Colorado sent waves through the rest of the league with the trade of two long time Rancheros, Naofumi Ueda and Hou Chen. Both Ueda and Chen went on to become key contributers in the Newark Terrier championship Run of 2040. This offseason Chico follows suit, allowing several veterans to try their hands at the free agency market. The Rebels now will look to begin what appears to be a long rebuilding project.

With the vacuum left at the top of the Republic League, who will step up and fill the gap? The uncertainty led to some quite surprising results last season with an unexpected Hartford Harpooners squad returning to the postseason as well as the newest RL team, the Hyannis Patriots making a run of things. Questions now remain regarding which team will be the new dominant team in the Republic League.

Early signs has to favor the New York Heroes, the RL representatives in the past two FOOL Classics look strong to make a run for three straight. The VI also feel that Ann Arbor and Hammersmith both have strong squads even despite their shortcomings last season. If we are to learn anything from the 2040 season however, expect the unexpected!


How much for that Hou Chen in the window?

Despite winning the FOOL Championship last season, Newark had a tough time stealing fans in the Metropolitan New York area away from the beloved Heroes. Due to a financial shortfall, team management has made it absolutely clear this offseason that it is not a matter of "if" Chen will be dealt, but instead "to whom" will he be dealt. They have stated that they will absolutely be shipping Chen off to whomever offers the best deal. The question however is, is Chen worth the price, even a low one?

Last season Chen had his worst offensive output in 10 seasons and at the age of 35, some wonder if he is even worth the $11million a year that he is gurantueed for the next three seasons. After talking with several league scouts, the VI has come to the conclusion that Chen could very well be a difference maker in how this season winds up. Chen had a down year statistically last year, but he still shows the same great bat control as he did in his Tanaka award winning season of 2033. His power does not appear to be much diminished and his eye is better than ever at the plate. Chen is still an above average left fielder as well.

Adding Chen to a roster won't necessarily create a championship team out of some 60 win squad, but you could realistically count on his addition being an extra 5-7 wins on the season. For the right team, that could be very important. One question remains however... who can afford his salary under cap? Right now only Boston could easily add them, and the Settlers are a team that has no need for an extra Left fielder. One interesting possible location that VI thinks Chen could end up would be Tokyo. Left Field is a position that they currently do not have a great solution for. They could easily make salary room for Chen, and as a team that are not a lock for the playoffs, the Cyclones with Chen added could be a leading contender.


Players to watch...

Speaking of Tokyo, keep an eye out for "The Professor", Tokyo's mega-super prospect Centerfielder. Richie "Professor" Hankins absolutely dominated AAA ball last season with a .506 OBP and an OPS over 1.000. Hankins was given some time in Spring Training and although he did not impress, he did average enough that he may have won a spot on the roster.


The winners will be...

Even if they trade Chen, Newark still looks tough with the two headed monster of Lemieux and Ueda at the top of their pitching rotation. Watch for 22 year old Jasper Patterson to have a break out season this year as well for the Terriers. With those three pitchers, the Terriers have to be considered the favorites to repeat.

As for who might join them... well that is entirely up for grabs in the CL. Any of the other 6 teams could legitimately have a shot. We still like Apex to pull it off however.

Over in the Republic League, New York is as good of a choice as anyone to make the playoffs once again, but if last year taught us anything, parity has set in for the RL. The second team joining the Heroes this season will be a shocker. VI says that Hyannis will make their first playoffs this season. The Patriots had a strong run last season but came up just short. This year watch for two new rookies to join Hyannis in Catcher Elliot Ramsey and 3B Shiro Shibata. The addition of two more strong bats to the lineup will be enough to get them in.


I am the Village Idiot, and I have no clue what I'm talking about. Good luck to all in the 2041 season.

[hyde4us11]

Yah I have a chance. The VI showed little love for the Harpooners. Just a mention in a passing glance way lol.

[TimGuru]

I thank the VI for the words of encouragement. I am dubious at best. Defensively, I have the best team I have ever fielded in FOOL, with green numbers only at the corners and high blues up the middle. Offensively, I do not have any superstar players, but I think I have decent depth 1-9. Pitching is suspect, or truthfully, weak. My bullpen is decent, but my starters are an assortment of aging vets (Klassen and Moran) who shouldn't be at the front of a rotation, an unproven youngster with a huge hole in his talent (Sjoerd), and a MR who didn't fare very well as a starter, but at least the fans love him (Padno). Matsuoka, as a #4, I'm satisfied with.

We shall see. Last year's run was tremendously surprising to me, I wouldn't mind a top 4 finish again for now.

[buckinbranco]

In some ways this team is like an expansion team to me. The majority of the players on my roster did not play in Chico last year and as such it's tough to gauge how we'll perform. I think we still have a pretty good lineup, and good defense in the field. I also think that are starting pitching will still stink, but we have improved our bullpen. I expect to finish middle of the pack, but I wouldn't be surprised if we snuck in to the playoffs or ended up in last place either.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by TimGuru

Iand a MR who didn't fare very well as a starter, but at least the fans love him (Padno).

Yeah, what's that about? Padno never really showed much in his career, and certainly didn't do anything remarkable in Hammersmith, and yet the Hooligan fan base loved this guy. I never got it. Took a big hit in Fan Loyalty when I let the f---er go.

[Tasan]

Well, my laptop decided this weekend was a good time to die, so I'm gonna be a little scarce til I figure out a way to replace it. I can use my desktop, but I like hanging out in the living room with the rest of the family when I surf the web and set lineups, etc, so I'll only be setting things quickly then heading back with the fam.

Anyway, I had already exported so I'm good for now. Just an FYI.