Frobel Division<\/p>\n
Sacramento Plaidsox<\/strong> (60.2 WAR) \u2013 Division Winner and possible League Championship Repeat<\/p>\n Last year, Sacramento were monsters, this year, they are monsters again, but not quite as big.\u00a0 Owner Ryan Sambrook has been fairly silent this off season \u2026 and truthfully, why shouldn\u2019t he be\u2026 there\u2019s not a lot to improve on this team \u2026 but a move here and there could only help but improve the team.<\/p>\n Sambrook builds his team on defense and this year is no exception.\u00a0 It will be interesting how much glove Sacramento wants, and will they continue to use Jose Altuve (7.5) at DH or go with aging defensive wizard, Ian Kinsler (2.4) at second.\u00a0 The team features an All-Star in Mookie Betts (5.3) and a close one with Andrelton Simmons at SS (4.9).\u00a0 Freddie Freeman (4.5) and Buster Posey (4.3) also remain top level threats in this line-up.<\/p>\n As for pitching, you have a to love a staff that ends with a 2.5 WAR in Kevin Gausman.\u00a0 Last year Sacramento added Corey Kluber (7.3) and Justin Verlander (4.1) for the playoff push \u2026 thing is, nobody expected them to help with two or even three playoff pushes.\u00a0 Youngster Aaron Nolan gets second chair on this staff with a 4.3 WAR.\u00a0 Of course the pen features many of the same cast as yesteryear with Chapman, Allen and Betances.<\/p>\n Sao Paulo Tri-Color<\/strong> — 50.3 \u2013 Wild Card Contender<\/p>\n To be honest, I wasn\u2019t sure how long Rae would be out.\u00a0 When he gave up on Verlander and Kluber, I assumed wrongly that it was game over. Through some deft dealing, he has placed his name back in the playoff discussion as a Wildcard contender.<\/p>\n Offensively, the team features two All-Stars in Charlie Blackmon (6.5) and Zach Cozart (5.0).\u00a0 JD Martinez (3.8) is one, if they keep him strictly DH\u2019ing.\u00a0 They are supported by several above average players in surprising Jonathan Schoop (4.1), Steven Souza Jr (3.7) and Carlos Santana (3.0), not to be confused with Erwin Santana.<\/p>\n Pitching wise, they are in great shape with Clayton Kershaw (4.6) and James Paxton (4.6) (finally coming around).\u00a0 Lester (2.7) and Keuchel (2.5) also round out the rest of the rotation which is average if not less..\u00a0 Look for Rae to not be done trading and add to the bullpen.\u00a0 Kenley Jensen is the resident stud and will end up being one of the elite closers in the league.<\/p>\n Rae is very much a \u201cwhat have you done for me lately\u201d kind of guy, so don\u2019t look for him to sit on rookies very long, but bring in players that will matter today, and not so much for tomorrow.<\/p>\n Yorkshire Moor-Hens <\/strong>— 37.1 — Non Contender.\u00a0 Won\u2019t finish last<\/p>\n Yorkshire looks to have a fairly quiet season.\u00a0\u00a0 Its not that the team is that bad, its just after Mike Trout 6.0), there really isn\u2019t a lot of excitement on this team.\u00a0 Gerritt Cole (3.1) is the resident stud of the staff, and no offense, that\u2019s not very studly.\u00a0 He seems to be more talk than action at this point in his career.\u00a0\u00a0 The rest of the rotation is well, blah — Lance McCullers (3) Tanner Roark (2.4), Alex Cobb (2.4) \u2026 let\u2019s just say that when they let the kids in early to watch the teams warm up, the kids are at the visitor\u2019s dug out.<\/p>\n As mentioned before, Trout is the main attraction of this team, the others, perhaps save for Manny \u201cLet me Play Short\u201d Machado (2.8).\u00a0 The rest, pedestrian at best \u2026 Ender Inciarte (3), Khris Davis (2.3)\u2026 you get the picture.\u00a0 There is some youth that Shawn Mosher is trying to incubate, so hopefully that will help them in the rebuild.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s hoping that Yorkshire has some other professional team available to pick up the slack from the Mud Hens.<\/p>\n Nassau Sharks <\/strong>— 30.4 — Contender for the #1 Pick<\/p>\n Its finally happened, Bryn MacPhail has finally embraced a rebuild and a the Youth Movement, not build around Toronto Blue Jay Players.<\/p>\n Its taken MacPhail almost two decades of mediocre ball (there have been some competitive teams in the middle) — but nothing like the early days of BDB when the Knights, Sharks and whatever they were called were always in competition.<\/p>\n MacPhail has finally gone about collecting draft picks and youth to rise once again to the status of Jaggernaut.\u00a0 Whether or not it happens, will depend on those picks.<\/p>\n Going into the season, there is not a lot of new talent on this team, but enough to bring the fans in.\u00a0 Michael Conforto (4.4), Travis Shaw (3.4) and Jean Segura (2.9) are the main hitting stars and the rest will presumably be rookies.\u00a0 There are some old guys sticking around such as Jonathan Lucroy, Mark Reynolds, Hunter Pence and Troy Tulowitski \u2026 hoping that one or two of them catch lightning in a bottle, but it won\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n Pitching wise, the team does have Michel Fullmer (3.5) and \u2026 yeah that\u2019s it.\u00a0 Marco Estrada is a hold over, and the rest are youngsters like Archie Bradley, Blake Snell, Luke Weaver, are simply hoping to find their way.<\/p>\n The draft will be all about a youth movement, and MacPhail will have his fingers crossed as he hopes for a Vladimir Guererro Jr in his future. in his future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Frobel Division Sacramento Sao Paulo Yorkshire Nassau Sacramento Plaidsox (60.2 WAR) \u2013 Division Winner and possible League Championship Repeat Last year, Sacramento were monsters, this year, they are monsters again,… 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