Sunday, February 13, 2011

Season 20 Preview: AL South

Florida Villians
Season 19 Record: 76-86
Budget for players: $85m budgeted, no room left
Pitching Staff:  6 of 10
Offense:  4 of 10
Bench:  4 of 10
Defense: 6 of 10
Minor League Grade: C+
Divisional Finish:4
Notes:  The SS is a gold glove candidate but he will not be able to play every day and there is no backup.  I am not sure what Ron Orr's role is since his glove and arm limit where he can play and his bat limits his offense.  There are 5 batters I really like and 3 I do not like at all.  The onse I do not like provide more harm than the good provided by those I do like. There is no true CF on the roster.  The best pitcher got hurt in his first pitching appearance of the season.  There are some good pitchers on the team and then there is Andrew Ashby.  A couple duds at the ML level. 4 pitching prospects and 5 positional prospects show potential for major league service, 2 look to be average to above average across the board.

 Mexico City Momentum
Season 19 Record: 83-79
Budget for players: $117m budgeted, 700k cap space.
Pitching Staff:  7 of 10
Offense:  7 of 10
Bench:  6 of 10
Defense: 6 of 10
Minor League Grade: C-
Divisional Finish: 2
Notes:   Victor DeSoto's ratings are impressive.  I can imagine he has been frustrating for more than one owner.  The offense for the team is impressive.  They would be fun to watch.  Good team speed to go with the offensive skills.  The big thing with this team is there is no apparent weakness, depending who is catching.  The biggest weakness is the lack of a true top end player to pound it. Kordell Mintz is a fan favorite and the team has planned a Kordell Mintz hair night duing which every fan will be given a wig that looks like Kordell's hair.  The SP are decent the bullpen is very good.  The minors lack any real positional prospects.  Every one I thought I saw turned out to be a 27+year old DH.  There were about 4 pitchers with potential but none really worth wasting time on.

Little Rock Erratic Chows
Season 19 Record: 80-82
Budget for players: $117m budgeted, $1.5m left
Pitching Staff:  5 of 10
Offense:  5 of 10
Bench:  5 of 10
Defense: 7 of 10
Minor League Grade: C
Divisional Finish: 3
Notes:  If anyone is interested in adding Yamil Veras go ahead and make an offer.    On offense they are fine, not the best and not the worst.  They have a couple really good players, one of whom is available, if you want to take on an albatross of a contract.  Truely there are worse contracts then that one, partly because Veras is good.  The key to beating this team is throwing a lefty at them.  The pitching staff is ok, there are better ones and there are worse ones.  It is good to see Mark Lui still hanging around.  In the minors the real highlight is a few of the pitching prospects.  There is not a lot to say about the offensive ones other than that they are offensive. Felipe Gonzalez is on the WW right now and may rejoin the pitching staff or get sent to the minors.

 Charlotte Clippers
 Season 19 Record: 84-78
Budget for players: $102M budgeted, $1m left
Pitching Staff:  3 of 10
Offense:  7 of 10
Bench:  7 of 10
Defense: 7 of 10
Minor League Grade: D
Divisional Finish: 1
Notes:  Josias Cortez is closing in on the all-time HR record and he has not declined enough yet for the record to be seen as out of reach. J.D. Golub could be improved upon in CF but other than that this is a solid team with the bat and with the glove. Mario DuBose should have better numbers than he does.  Duffy Westbrook is the SP5 which shows how good the staff could be.  The bullpen looks very good too.  The pitching prospects are fewer than some other teams and those who caught my eye in my first look through were revealed to have flaws when I looked beyond my primary scan.  Not many offensive prospects either.

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