Frick League Midwest Division Preview ----NEW!!!!!

[aaronweiner]

The FL Midwest has been Austin’s property for the last few seasons, but with the Riverbats under new management, capped out (though this situation is easily rectified) and under new management, Austin may be due for a bit of a falloff this year. That said, it’s possible that other teams in the division haven’t done enough to make Austin nervous.

Birmingham signed two relievers and lost Brett Favre to retirement. Des Moines is one of the league’s most improved teams, but they had a lot of ground to make up after last year’s 95 loss team. New Orleans is still only at a $47 million payroll, and they're likely to play like it.

Let’s take a closer look at these teams and figure out what’s happening.


Austin Riverbats (93-69, first, FL Midwest)

Key Additions: 1B Dave Manzanillo, LF Manny Cosenza, SP/RP Andre Higa (free agents); OF Howard Domagal (trade); RPs Patrick Liggins and David Ballentine, and SS Raulo Mora (promoted from AAA)

Key Subtractions: SP Felix Pan, RP Jerry Spradlin (free agents), SP Randy Tomlin (trade)


Team outlook:

Unlike other teams in the division, Austin will start the year with no major injuries, no problems on either side of the ball and a lot of talent everywhere. There’s a real chance that this could be the year for Austin.

Adding Dave Manzanillo, one of the league’s most consistent power threats, to a team that was already consistently solid offensively might make this squad near-unbeatable. Already there’s noise about Manzanillo being the guy who’s going to put the team over the top. With depth and talent at every position, there are few flaws on this Austin team.

The pitching staff is also still solid. Led by the outstanding Allen Izatt, Austin’s rotation is solid, if unspectacular, at every other position. The loss of Felix Pan is a significant blow to the staff but the development of Lance Dickson and Matt Drews should be enough to overcome the problem. The bullpen is consistently decent and will keep the team in games and will benefit from the re-addition of Chester Palabra when and if it happens.

Team projection: Austin should again win 90 games and make the playoffs, either as the division winner or the wild card. They’re too solid to falter this season.


Birmingham Bandits (85-77, second, FL Midwest)

Key Additions: RPs Frank Phelps, Rich Garces (free agency), C Pat Larkin (promoted from AAA), Damian Bedgood (injury/ineffectiveness)

Key Subtractions: RF Brett Favre (retirement), SS Donnie Rotten (free agent), Angelo Hidalgo (demotion)

Team outlook:

Birmingham took steps to sure up their bullpen, the team’s biggest hole last year, and, wait, oops, Brett Favre retires with post-concussion syndrome in spring training. Saying that Favre’s retirement leaves a significant hole in the Bandits’ lineup is an understatement, and, sadly, unlike real life, Favre’s retirement is permanent. Birmingham has already made steps to try to sign a replacement outfielder, but, obviously, whoever they sign isn’t going to replace a .349-.392-.571 ,61.6 VORP player.

Without Favre, the team isn’t necessarily dead; they still have powerhitters at first base and last year’s RBI champion, Medric Wood. A full year of Pat Larkin should be a huge shot in the arm for the lineup, which should still be productive despite Favre’s absence. Birmingham led the league in OPS last year with a .812 mark and while Favre was obviously a big part of that number, he was hardly the only contributor.

The pitching staff has also dramatically improved. While Birmingham did send Hidalgo to AAA for the start of the season, James Randolph should take his place in the rotation admirably. Birmingham’s bullpen is significantly better than last year and the Bandits should get a full year out of Damian Bedgood. Bedgood is really the biggest question mark on this team; if he bounces back to his usual 3.30 ERA and 220+ innings, Bedgood could make up most or all of the ground that Birmingham lost.

Team projection: A winning record. Here’s the bottom line: A full year of Bedgood and an improved bullpen should overcome the loss of one player, even one as important as Favre; however, unless Birmingham makes a trade (or two) they are unlikely to make the playoffs. This may have been true anyway.


Des Moines Kernels (67-95, last, FL Midwest)

Key additions: 1B Larry Wilkes, C Matias Ferrero, RP Horatio Mustard, IF Wings Hauser (trade), SS O’Shea Jackson, CL Trevor Heath, RP Daniel Kinard, CF Ed Roseman (free agency), RP Masaki Yamauchi (Rule 5)

Key subtractions: C Mario Cascio, 1B Akira Matsumoto (trade), JP Morgan, Roy Nicoletti (free agency)

Team outlook:

No team has improved more than the Des Moines Kernels, and, boy, did they have a long way back. Des Moines wasn’t as bad as their record indicated last year, but it’s what matters in the win column that matters, and their record was the third worst in the MBBA. That doesn’t mean that they’re contenders (more later), but they’re certainly on the right track and adding some very smart pieces.

The Kernels now have a lineup that’s more than just top-heavy. C Matias Ferrero is a clear upgrade over Mario Cascio at catcher, and Cascio was pretty good. Larry Wilkes]Larry Wilkes[/url] might not be much better than 1B Akira Matsumoto, but he might be. Lloyd Levin, Wings Hauser and O’Shea Jackson]O’Shea Jackson[/url] make up one of the best-hitting infields anywhere. Only Levin was with the team last year, as a rookie. The outfield can all hit, too; this is one of the better 1-8 lineups in the league.

The pitching staff doesn’t have the star power that the starting lineup does, but Eddie Harris is still around, and the team got outstanding an outstanding performance from Tom Mayes last year. There isn’t a lot of star power on their staff or their pen, but the staff should keep the strong offense in a lot of games.

Team projection: Winning record, probably second place and a possible playoff berth. Des Moines has all kinds of cap flexibility, tons of talent offensively and decent pitching. If Des Moines peels off a prospect or two – and they have the #3 minor league system – they’ve got a potential championship contender. What’s better: they’ll have even more flexibility and strength next year, even if they don’t.

New Orleans Crawdads (69-93, third, FL Midwest)

Key Additions: Vince Valiant (trade, AAA), George Oelkers (promoted)

Key Subtractions: Matias Ferrero (trade), Eric Davis (released)

Team outlook:

Oh boy. This is a bad team in a good division, which can only mean one thing: last place. They’re better than they’ve been in recent seasons, but New Orleans still isn’t good enough to win anything.

New Orleans DOES have some excellent young players, as you’d expect from the team with the fourth-best farm in the MBBA. Rogelio Morales, Tipper Kengos and Lindsey Jacinto are all outstanding young players with the ability to get even better. Champ Kind is still an excellent cleanup hitter. However, the offense doesn’t rate with the other teams in their own division.

As for the pitching staff…well, Lee Dedeaux, likely their best starter, is out until August. Robert Grove is still healthy and Shawn Boskie has been relatively consistent, but that’s most of the good news.

Team projection: 90+ losses. New Orleans lost 93 games last year, and there’s absolutely no reason to believe that they’re going to do better this season, especially as Des Moines improves; they’ll probably be worse. However, the rebuilding project in New Orleans will continue on schedule.

Projected Records for the FL Midwest:

Austin 92-70
Des Moines 89-73
Birmingham 82-80
New Orleans 65-97

[LambeauLeap]

Cool write-up Aaron. I'm not sure how long they'll stay on top. I love to tear teams apart and build them again. Maybe run it as-is for a year and then explode things.

[scottsdale_joe]

Good job.
Bad luck about Favre.

[aaronweiner]

Don't know about Austin either, Brad, but I think that at least for this year, it's yours to lose; Des Moines looks awfully good though.

So did I with Favre...

By the way, there won't be a FL Pacific writeup because I value my sleep more than my PPT...but I'll project the records.

[aaronweiner]

[lynchy34]

Great stuff, Aaron. I hope you're right about my jump. I feel like my offense is in much better shape. But I have a lot of question marks in the pitching staff. I have a ton of prospects I can trade to acquire pitching when it becomes available, though.

[felipe]

I hope des Moines does awful with Hauser and Jackson suffering career ending injuries...

[lynchy34]

I hope des Moines does awful with Hauser and Jackson suffering career ending injuries...

That's just plain mean!

[recte44]

Manzanillo was supposed to put Las Vegas over the top the last two years and didnt.

[cramsey51]

Contrary to Recte's belief, I think this is the toughest division in the MBBA.

[LambeauLeap]

Manzanillo was supposed to put Las Vegas over the top the last two years and didnt.

Had I been in control I wouldn't have signed him (it wasn't Joel either, it was the AI). Would have gone SP and perhaps some defensive help.