Predicted Order of Finish
- Hamilton Redbirds (89-73)
- Madawaska Mud Hens 80-82)
- Langley Spartans (78-84)
- North Bay Trappers (61-101)
The Hamilton Redbirds
BDB 2019: 95-67 BDB 2019 Champions
Every team has a theme song. In Nassau, its “The Shark Song” — and if you haven’t heard it, we will feature it in the Nassau write-up, for Beaconsfield its “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey, and in Hamilton, as of last season season it was “Takin’ Care of Business” by BTO. The season began with Hamilton seen as the lightweight in the weakest division, but when it came time to work, they plowed over the competition on their way to their Second Ever BDB Championship.
First came the 96 win Yorkshire Moor Hens and Walker Division Title holder (formerly the Frobel Division), four games to two. For the BDB Championship Series? The 98 win Robinson Division Champs, the Bristol Wicketmen… the result? Four games to one. No sweat. In fact, certain reporters overheard owner Jordan Spoelstra simply saying’ in was no sweat’. For Hamilton, the season started with plenty of anticipation, a few roster moved here and there, and Hamilton “took care of business”. The team added players like Nelson Cruz, Zach Greinke, Freddie Freeman, Eugenio Suarez, George Springer, Marcus Semien, Arnoldis Chapman to name a few, and all went well in Steeltown. You’d think with that type of talent, the team would re-tune again.
| C | Grandal | .233-28-77 |
| 1B | Freeman | .320-33-87 |
| 2B | LeMahieu | .301-16-61 |
| 3B | Suarez | .266-27-60 |
| SS | Semien | .289-34-95 |
| OF | Kepler | .242-34-87 |
| OF | Bader | .230-14-40 |
| OF | Gallo | .188-19-43 |
| DH | Cruz | .265-36-81 |
| Greinke | 20-6 3.36 | |
| Castillo | 17-8 3.42 | |
| Minor | 13-12 4.94 | |
| Ryu | 11-5 4.54 | |
| Boyd | 4-4 5.38 |
BDB 2020: 89-73 – Walkaway winner of Division
However, seemingly, 2020 is NOT looking like 2019. Last season, Hamilton made the trades to make the difference, this season, they are making trades, well ,how shall we say it? Baffle the pundits! No really. First order of business, they got rid of their top hitter in Freddie Freeman and their top pitcher in Hyun-Jin Ryu! It’s almost as if they are saying — “Listen Guys, we guys are tough in Hamilton, and to make this season a bit more exciting for us, we are going to trade away some of our stars and see if you can do anything about it.”
The truth of the matter is, The Jenkins Division has a very soft underbelly, but that doesn’t appear to be for too long. Langley seems to be grooming a team that may win for decades, and after this season, North Bay may not be the pushover of these past two rebuilding years. Needless to say, there is plenty of baseball to play to see how the madness of Franchy Cordero works out.
| C | Grandal | .230-21-73 |
| 1B | Biggio | .251-22-75 |
| 2B | LeMahieu | .364-27-73 |
| 3B | Suarez | .202-41-103 |
| SS | Iglesias | .373-8-65 |
| OF | Grisham | .251-27-71 |
| OF | Springer | .264-38-87 |
| OF | Calhoun | .226-43-108 |
| DH | Santander | .264-29-87 |
| Castilo | 11-16 3.24 | |
| Cease | 14-11 4.00 | |
| Greinke | 8-8 4.03 | |
| Scherzer | 14-11 3.77 | |
| Valdez | 14-8 3.59 |
The team is pretty solid from top to bottom. Although they will dominate the division, there is doubt that they will be the team to beat once playoff time comes around.
Hope for the Future:
BDB 2021: 87- 75 – Still top dog in ever toughening division
Scherzer should be able to squeeze one more summer of fun in the sun, and with the growth of Walker Buehler, Luis Castillo and Franber Valdez, this rotation will work.
| Max Scherzer | 4.6 |
| Walker Bueheler | 4 |
| Luis Castillo | 3.8 |
| Zack Greinke | 3.1 |
| Framber Valdez | 3 |
| Dane Dunning | 2.2 |
| George Springer | 4.5 |
| Yasmani Grandal | 4.5 |
| DJ LeMahieu | 4.2 |
| Marcus Semien | 3.9 |
| Trent Grisham | 3.7 |
| Cavan Biggio | 3.2 |
| Max Kepler | 3.1 |
| Eugenio Suarez | 3 |
| Ke’Bryan Hayes | 2.9 |
| Jose Iglesias | 2.7 |
| Adalberto Mondesi | 2.7 |
| Joey Gallo | 2.1 |
BDB 2022: 84-78 – No longer Top Dog, Fighting to stay in Second Place. Pitching remains strong, hitters getting old in the tooth.
| Walker Buehler | 4 |
| Luis Castillo | 3.9 |
| Max Scherzer | 3.3 |
| Dylan Cease | 2.3 |
| Zack Greinke | 2.4 |
| Framber Valdez | 1.9 |
| Marcus Semien | 3.7 |
| George Springer | 3.6 |
| DJ LeMahieu | 3.5 |
| Cavan Biggio | 3.3 |
| Yasmani Grandal | 3.2 |
| Eugenio Suarez | 2.7 |
| Max Kepler | 2.5 |
| Trent Grisham | 2.5 |
| Ke’Bryan Hayes | 2.5 |
| Jose Iglesias | 2.2 |
| Adalberto Mondesi | 2.1 |
| Anthony Santander | 1.8 |
2022 the team should start to experience the need to find the Fountain of Youth to remain relevant.
Star youngsters include Ke’Bryan Hayes (7th Rated), Tarik Skubal (34th), Dane Dunning (103) Bobby Dalbec (118th) — and let’s not forget the younger players who could have a future in BDB in Caven Biggio, Frenchie Cordero, Niko Hoerner, Trent Grisham and late edition pickups Josh Naylor and Francisco Mejia – once highly touted players in years gone by. Truthfully, you never know, they may be singing “Taking Care of Business” for a few more years to come.
