This is edition #20! During the first 19 years I have projected 76% of the playoff teams. So I miss about 2 a year ... usually the bubble teams are tough to judge. Last season I would have been perfect had I not violated rules #3 and 4 ... which are never project KK or IL to make the playoffs because every time I do I'm wrong. If you leave them out my hit rate is about 80%.
Projected Finish
Overview: ....click here to see projected team details for the National League AMERICAN LEAGUE Projected Finish
Overview: Last season Milford had one of the greatest teams ever and rolled to the championship. Certainly, Glen has the assets to improve the 2021 Dogfish but starting the season they are no where close to last year. The SPing is still excellent but the offense is way down. Still a very good team and my favorite to come out of the AL. I'd expect some in-season tweaking. ....click here to see projected team details for the American League ....click here to see Ed's write up in PDF format. I had to alter it slightly to display in html. Have fun everyone! Be safe and hope this MLB season is a normal one.
1) Wall Street
2) Taxachusets
3) Allyn Street
4) Maine
5) Foggymountain
6) Hazardville
7) Connecticut
8) Illinois
9) US
10) Klee's
11) Burlington
12) Norwich
The NL is much better this year and very interesting.
I think the top five teams are somewhat interchangeable except for Wall Street. All good but aside from Wall Street they all have some holes. That said, I still think any of them could come out on top in a short series. Over the long season it should be a good time on Wall Street.
A lot of the Chiefs power is LH which won't play as well in their home park. Also, Semien sucks at SS which is a big hole. I expect some 2023 picks will be spent to fix that.
Wall Street probably has the most balanced team. The pen is not that deep, but Joe should be able to work around that. How many HR's will Voit hit?
The 89ers have a poor defense; particularly in the OF. Rob mentioned using Reddick in RF, but he's only a 3 so the D upgrade may not be enough to make up for his lack of offense. Otherwise a very good team.
Maine will crush the ball ... Ozuna is an absolute monster ... but their rotation is not great after Giolito.
The Angels also have issues with their rotation, and I don't see a good backup at SS, which could be an issue since Simmons has limited usage.
So I have to go with Wall Street to win the NL. Fantastic rotation, solid D. The pen is a little shallow, but that can be remedied as the season progresses. Cronenworth was a nice pickup. Joe has had some bad injury luck that past several years, so I'm happy to see him get some breaks this year.
Hazardville will score a lot of runs, but the rotation is not great after Gallen. I do think that the Kegs could make a run at the playoffs.
Connecticut is the next team. Good offense ... Freeman is scary ... but this is not the year to have mediocre left handed starting pitching. I can't see them overcoming the rotation but do like a bullpen with no BP HR's vs RHP.
Let's see ... Jarheads will crush the ball ... no surprise there ... but the pitching is horrid.
Illinois is solid, but honestly will always underachieve because of the handwritten road instructions. They should have made the playoffs last year ... My suggestion is to do net play
The Klubbers and the Bucs can't klub ....not good in this year of offense.
Don's Navigators are obviously rebuilding.
1)Milford
2) Lake Wobegon
3) Louisville
4) Hotlanta
5) California
6) Atlanta
7) Blue Grass
8) York Town
9) Alpharetta
10) Urpaign
11) Arsenal
12) New Hampshire
Total flip from last year where the AL was much better than the NL. I'm not sure if it's a one-year aberration or if this is the new trend. We'll have to wait until next year to see.
The top five teams from last year are all significantly down, and four are still projected to make the playoffs so that should tell you where the AL is.
After Milford, anyone of LW, LV, CD or HT could come next. They are all solid but have more holes than the Dogfish.
The Whippets have a good offense despite an off year by Yelich. The loss of Strasberg also hurts, but the rotation is good enough.
The River Bandits are next. Solid, but down seasons for Chapman and Altuve reduce their fire power. Bieber is great though and will be a force.
Hotlanta has a deep offense put their pen is a little shallow and the starting pitching is not great.
The Dreamers D is not good ... Iglesias falling to a 3 is big. The hitting is also a little spotty though they will hit a lot of HR's. Two great SPers in Ryu and Maeta but the pitching is shaky after that.
Assuming there are no major trades that shift the talent, I feel the top five is solid.
The next tier includes up and coming teams Atlanta and Blue Grass. Both teams have a lot of good young talent but not enough to make the playoffs. Atlanta is interesting as Dante has two stud old SPers in Darvish and Kershaw but the rest of the rotation is not good. I would have kept Senzetela and then had a real chance.
Yorktown doesn't hit RH pitching enough their pen is weak.
Alpharetta is the AL version of the Jarheads without the two championships. They will probably score 900 runs and lose 90 games. Two really good SPers and then a dumpster fire.
Urpaign doesn't have enough firepower or SPing ... but will not be as bad as Bruce claims. Drafting a bullpen always helps reduce the losses.
Arsenal still have very little starting pitching. Why they still have 50 year old Oliver Perez is beyond me.
Then there is my team and the Pillage and Burn 8.0. As is typical the Hogs have sold off just about everything thing that has value this year. If the Hogs don't have the first pick in next year's draft, there will need to be an investigation.
Ed