Season Preview: Norfolk Tides

Season Four Record: 80-82, Third Place, NL East. No Playoffs.

Key Departures: SP Arnold Bollea, SP Dom Hitchcock, SS Danny Wells, CF Mark Hujimoto

Important Newcomers: CF Robin Perez, SP Charley Lewis, RP Jared Wilson, RP Ralph Barrett

Could Make The Playoffs If: Offense remains in top 3 of NL; Jumbo Watkins repeats as NL MVP; Russell Leon emerges as True #1 starter; Cookie Rodriguez has a bounceback season; Jumbo Goya continues annual dominance closing games.

Will Miss the Playoffs When: Vince Haynes, Emmanuel Bonilla and Cookie Rodriguez all perform on the low end of expectations. Charley Lewis not ready to be a ML starting P. Nash Doerr withers from overutilization. Amos Hennessey has a disasterous transition from C to 1B.

Projected Finish: 83-79, 2nd place, NL East; Wild Card contender all summer long.

Team Song: "Stuck in the Middle With You"

With a four-season mark of 319-329, the Norfolk Tides are within hailing distance of the very definition of mediocrity. Though the team made few, if any, major changes to its roster in the offseason, the front office believes it has enough to contend for a playoff spot, if not a division title. The problem is, nearly everything has to break right for the Tides, who are depending on a fair number of young players to have breakthroughs at the Major League Level. It says here that, in one of the more well-paired divisions, the Tides will stay in contention throughout the season, narrowly missing out on their first playoff berth.

Still, there is reason for hope. The Jumbos - Watkins and Goya - will compete for MVP and Fireman honors, respectively, and 23-year old Russell Leon is an emerging ace.

Here's how the Tides break down positionally.

C: Former Rule V pick Jose James takes over for Hennessy, giving the team a much better presence defensively, and some occasional pop.

1B: Hennessy moves to 1B full time, coming off a season where he hit .291 with 33 HR and 89 RBI. He was rewarded in arbitration with a $4.2mm deal, but may be smarting over the lack of a long term contract.

2B: Young Andy Wiggins is in his second season with the Tides. He hit 16 HR in his rookie campaign and could probably reach the low 20s.

SS: At just 25, Alejandro Javier already has 1100 ABs. Problem is, his OPS is under .700 and he's not a deluxe defender. Still, the Tides can't shake him and he's their best defensive option. The other side of the platoon is veteran Emmanuel Morris who cooled off after a hot start last season but finished with 29 SB and 80 runs.

3B: 21-year old Taylor Sadler tore up AAA last year with a .298 average and 33 HRs before a cup of coffee with the parent club. The Tides will need him to protect Watkins and Hennessy.

LF: Just 22, Rex Butler hit 25 HR last season, his first full one in the Majors. He also added 85 RBI and 87 runs. He gets his money's worth swinging and struck out more than 100 times.

CF: Arguably Norfolk's most well rounded player, 24-year old Marc Barber had 19 HR and 65 RBI to go along with 111 runs and 31 SB. The Tides are hoping he can get on base 40% of the time from the leadoff spot. Robin Perez is a 21-year old backup that will battle for time at all the OF spots. He can rake.

RF: Watkins is the premier slugger in baseball. He hit 60 HRs with 158 RBI last season, giving him 194 career HRs in just four seasons. At 26, he's just entering his prime seasons. Rob Sweeney is an interesting backup. At 25, he has many great attributes, but has never put it together for any stretch of time. His chances are running out, though he does also play 1B. Sweeney did club 19 HRs last season.

SP: Leon is 23 and coming off a 13 win season where he led all starters with a 3.90 ERA in a workman 230+ innings. Haynes tied for the team lead with 14 wins, and a very surprising 1.33 WHIP in 200+ innings. Bonilla also won 14, but had a surprisingly high (4.54) ERA given his 1.31 WHIP. Rodriguez was a train wreck last season as his ERA ballooned nearly 2 full runs to 5.76. This is his make-or-break season. Lewis was rewarded for his 44-26 mark the last three seasons at AAA. He's been greater than the sum of his parts so far.

RP: Richie Koch is a swingman that gets paid a lot and needs to pitch better. Every Day Doerr is the big guy in the set-up role, he'll be counted on for 70+ appearances. He's flanked in the setup role by Robb Creek and Jose Valdez. Connie Osting is a cheap innings guy, while Bubba Lombard, Wilson and Barrett add depth. At the back of it all sits Goya, who is 73/77 in saves the last two seasons with a 1.02 WHIP and 2.09 ERA. If everything breaks right for the first 8 innings, he's the guy who will cement Norfolk's position in the playoffs.

Looking Forward to Season Five

The most mediocre franchise in League history, the Norfolk Tides, today declared that they are looking forward to Season Five.

"We didn't make the playoffs in Season Four, and so we're looking forward to Season Five," said the GM Dilo.

Season Five is a different season than Season Four. It takes places one season later, and all the teams begin the season with a won/lost record of 0-0.

Big Changes for Season 5

There was a huge amout of turnover after season four. Here is a list of teams being replaced, the owners joining the minor leagues, and brief synopsis of how the franchise has faired so far.

Starting the NL...

Little Rock Travelers (formerly the Montgomery Biscuits). New owner Paul16120 brings his experience from several different worlds including Branch Rickey, Greenwell, Hometown, and Bench. The franchise has underperformed in a very tough NL South, finishing fourth every year despite finishing above .450 each year. The team does a very marketable star in secondbasemen in Jorge Perez.

Salt Lake City Bees (formerly the San Jose Giants). New owner laxstang won a world series in season 7 of Greenwell. The franchise won a division title in season 2 under bret2775. But it has been a steady slide that culminated in 93 loses in season 4 for the Giants. The Bees have four players rated over 80 (Morgan Karl, Turner Rollins, Randy Mahoney, and Diego Rojas) and a good young core group of players.

The Fresno Grizzlies have learned to spell their name correctly (they were the Grizzles last year). New owner knucklebones brings a TON of experience to the minor leagues, and hopes to win his first championship soon. The Grizzlies franchise has never finished better than 3rd, but does have a good group of young pitchers (Omar Rijo, Douglas Hammond, and Gerald Barber) to start over with.

The Sacramento Rivercats return under new owner srauch. Srauch just completed his first season of HBD with an 80-82 record in Long Haul. He currently runs a whopping 10 teams. The Cats have been a consisent franchise under dmurphy104, finishing at least second every year and making the playoffs twice.

Now to the AL that had the most turnover...including the entire AL North...

The Portland Beavers return under new owner VegasBombers. VB has FOUR world series titles to his credit. All with Austin in MLB (seasons 2, 3, 4, and 5..WOW). The Beavers were inconsistent under cbriese and lost 85 games.

The Boise Hawks are now under the tutleage of the_sandman. Sandman has experience in MLB, Ford, and Dimaggio to name a few. He hopes to win his first world series title and has a serious chance to do so with Boise.

Sjr456 takes over the Helena Brewers, who have been the whipping boys of the AL since year two. This is the franchises 4th owner. There is a lot of talent on this team including future star pitcher Jeremi Webster. The young talent on this team should help them be more competetive.

Peteskin brings his experience to the Tacoma Rainiers, and hopes to build on last years division championship. The team could repeat this year.

With the loss of the incomperable gator, Pawtucket welcomes new owner dspahlinger. Ds has a 27-30 postseason record, and owns 8 division titles. The PawSox are one of the most outstanding franchises in minor leagues, and ds may be able to help them to that elusive world series title.

The Buffalo Bisons are back under new owner mfoster55. foster has a 9-11 postseason record and one divison title to his credit. Buffalo made the playoffs in it's first 3 years.

The Memphis Redbirds (formerly the Nashville Sounds) are now under the control of radek. radek is still seeking his first championship and is a charter member of Hunter. He has won 5 consecutive division championships, and has a 19-22 post season record.

The beleagured Albuquerque Isotopes are out from under bossmao, and in the hands of brand new owner jharris643. jh has yet to complete a season of HBD and has a tough task at hand with Albuquerque.

Hail the Champs!

Oklahoma City RedHawks

dudejustice

Power Rankings June 24

Dropping out: Rochester

Honorable Mention: Toledo, Louisville,

#10 – Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (59-56) : Salem had an interesting 2 weeks of play, going on a 5 game winning streak at one point that included a near sweep of Pawtucket. Omar Romero has emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the AL. Romero now has 33 homeruns and 77 rbis while also leading the Volcanoes in hits at 120. Gil Tunkel now has 14 wins, and a 2.31 ERA. Opponents are only hitting .252 overall against Volcanoe pitching.
#9 – New Britain Rock Cats (63-52) : The Cats re-enter the power rankings at #9 after going 9-3 over the last 12. Flash Moore continues his MVP chase (.315/52/135), and Jeffrey Whitaker has imrpved his average to .291 after going on a 10 game hit streak. Timothy Duffy is 3-1 over his last 5 games.
#8- Tucson Sidewinders (64-51) : The Snakes stay in the 8 spot after winning 12 of their last 22. They are currently on a 3 games losing streak after being swept by Buffalo. Tyler Mills already has 40 homeruns and 93 rbis. Keith Willis currently has a 20 game hit streak. Tucson pitching has still been atrocious, but three already have 10 wins (Pittinger, Lee, Molina).

#7- Tacoma Rainiers (63-52) : The Rainiers still lead the AL north by 5 games over Portland. Tacoma has relied heavily on their outstanding pitching staff. They own a team ERA of 3.80. Gerald Huang is a serious Cy Young candidate with a 13-4 record and a 2.45 ERA. However, he hasn’t won a game since June 18^th.

#6 – Columbus Clippers (64-51) : The Clippers recently owned a six game winning streak, until they ran into the Indy Indians and got swept. Marco Merloni leads the way with 89 rbi’s and 35 homeruns. Vernon Erving continues his thiefing ways with 122 stolen bases. Pitcher Andrew Hogan is 10-10 and leads the team in wins, and strikeouts (116 k’s)
#5 – New Orleans Zephyrs (65-50) : OKC pointed out that the Z’s are the streakiest team in the MiLB. They pounded on Oak City and Iowa before getting swept by Fresno. Then followed that by getting swept at home by Columbus. Larry Sparks leads the team with 142 hits, and Greg Duncan has 39 homeruns, 96 rbi, and a .964 OPS.
#4- Nashville Sounds (69-46) : The Sounds remain in the #4 spot and continue their pursuit of the Braves in the AL South. They are currently on a six game sweep and trail Richmond by 6 games. The lineup is very balanced as four players have 20 or more homeruns, and four others have at least 10. The pitching staff still has their issues, allowing opponents to bat .270, and have a team era of 4.81. Only Rodrigo Torcato has an ERA under 4 (3.90) and currently is 13-7.
#3- Richmond Braves (75-40) : The Braves finally fall from the top spot in the power rankings after recent poor performance. They have lost 5 of their last 7 and was swept by Pawtucket. Moises Fernandez has 159 hits to lead the Braves. He also sports a .333 batting average. The pitching staff is still excellent with Alex Mercado leading the way with 15 wins. Walt Caldwell, and Yamil Blanco have 14 wins apiece.
#2- Pawtucket Red Sox (75-40) : Pawtucket has been on a tear in the last 23 games going 18-5. So, why not the top spot? Because of those 5 loses 3 were to Salem. A sweep over Richmond helped boost the PawSox, heading into tough roadtrips that will take them to Salem, Omaha and then to Helena, Portland, Tucson. Al Goya is making his case for MVP with a .339 avg, 44 homers, and 107 rbi’s. Carlos Mota is still unbeatable and owns an 18-2 record with a 1.96 ERA.
#1- Oklahoma City RedHawks (74-41) : The new #1 is Oak City. The RedHawks have beaten up on good and bad teams and went 13-9 over the last 22. They have been doing it with outstanding pitching and timely hitting. Juan Pascual has 14 wins, and a 2.87 ERA. Marvin Baker is 11-5 with a 2.69 ERA (but a 1.03 WHIP), and the team ERA is now at 2.98.

6/16 Power Rankings

Dropping out: Norfolk, New Britain, Louisville

Honorable Mention: Toledo, Iowa, Portland

#10 – Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (48-45) : I promised Mitch if he was over .500 he would be in the power rankings. But really, his team earned it over the past week. Only losing 4 games by a grand total of 6 runs. Gary Buck is on a absolute tear, and now has 31 homeruns and 84 rbi. Lou Gonzales and Chad Gardner have a combined 73 stolen bases. The biggest contributor is pitcher Gil Tunkel. Tunkel is 12-3 with a 1.05 WHIP. The team has a WHIP of 1.31.
#9 – Rochester Red Wings (51-42) : Rochester is a very impressive 28-18 at home and over the past 15 games the Red Wings swept New Orleans, took 3 of 4 from San Jose, and 2 of 3 from Fresno. Larry Corbin has been stellar with 19 homeruns, and a current 15 game hit streak. Pitcher Erubiel Martinez just returned from the DL, and should be able to solidify the starting pitching.
#8- Tucson Sidewinders (52-41) : Tucson continues to drop further in the rankings due to consistently poor play. The snakes are 8-9 in their last 17. I joked last week about their 9 game lead in the AL west…don’t look now but Salem is suddenly only FOUR games out and closing. Dropping 2 of 3 to the lowly Brewers, and 2 of 3 to Nashville. Currently on a four game slide things should be looking up soon with Omaha. And finally…a showdown with Salem that could decide who has control of the AL West.

#7- Tacoma Rainiers (51-42) : Up from #10 to #7 is the AL North leading Rainiers despite only winning 7 of their last 15. During that time they have been shut out 4 times so the offense is a concern. Gerald Huang has been the bright spot, winning his last 3 starts (12-3) and still maintaining his WHIP of 1.03.
#6 – Columbus Clippers (54-40) : The Clips still lead the NL North by 4 games. Vernon Erving has an AMAZING 96 steals to lead a team full of track stars (292 team stolen bases). No one on the team has a batting average of .300 or higher and only 2 players have double digit homeruns. A series of winnable games should help the Clippers extend their lead in the divison.
#5 – New Orleans Zephyrs (54-39) : The Z’s continue to chase down NL South Oak City and own the 3^rd best record in the NL.The Z’s just came off of a 7 game winning streak, but will soon be facing Oklahoma City and Iowa. Rabbit Brow is 4-1 in his last 6 starts and only allowed 7 runs in that time.
#4- Nashville Sounds (54-39) : The Sounds debut at #4 now that it’s clear they are the 3^rd best team in a tough AL. They are the proud owners of a 26-16 road record. That will come in handy with a huge road trip to Richmond, Charlotte, Boise, and Helena. OUCH.
#3- Pawtucket Red Sox (58-35) : Pawtucket stays at #3 after going 8-7. Stuart Bailey is on a 16 game win streak while he builds on his .321 ba, and .397 obp. The aging vet could be trade bait as the deadline approaches.
#2- Oklahoma City RedHawks (61-32) : Oak City stays at #2. The curse of the power rankings reared it’s ugly head in the past week. Cesar Lima, who had been untouchable, is suddenly human in his last 2 games. Against the River Cats Lima allowed a 3 run homerun to weak hitting BJ Peterson, only to be outdone a few games later against Iowa when a 3 run walk off homer by rookie catcher Bo O’Neil sealed a rare win for the Cubs. Despite recent woes, Oak City is still the most dominant team in the NL by a longshot.
#1- Richmond Braves (66-27) : With a team batting average of .286 and a team era of 3.56, the Braves are the model team for the MiLB. Richmond has only lost 3 games in the last 15. An 8 game winning streak, that included 3 shutouts.

Power Rankings 6/10

Dropping out: Nashville

Honorable Mention: Toledo, Iowa, Rochester, Portland

#10 – Tacoma Rainiers (44-34) : Tacoma is one of the better teams in the MiLB, but continue to have bad luck. They are 3-12 in 1 run games. They have allowed a league low 305 runs. The weakest link appears to be veteran reliever Rod Glanville who’s skills have slowly deteriorated during the year and who now owns 4 of the Rainiers losses. Gerald Huang has been outstanding going 9-3 with a 1.00 WHIP.
#9 – Columbus Clippers (44-34) : NL North leading Columbus stays in the 9 spot. Marco Merloni and Harry McCartney have combined for 36 homeruns and 104 rbi’s. Pitcher Walter Davis is 6-2 and hasn’t lost a game since 5/22 vs San Jose. During this streak he is 5-0 with wins over Norfolk, Louisville, Sacramento, Helena, and Boise.
#8- New Britain Rock Cats (44-34) : The Cats have dropped from the 6 spot in the rankings. The Cats are all about power hitting Flash Moore who has 36 homeruns and 95 rbi’s while batting .339. Timothy Duffy has a whip of 1.25, but has dropped his last 3 decisions after 7-0 to start the season.
#7- New Orleans Zephyrs (44-34) : The Z’s have really turned it on over the past 17 by going 12-5. A recent sweep of San Jose was proceeded by splitting with Toledo and almost sweeping Nashville. The Z’s have 5 players with double digit homerun totals, but none better than Gregg Duncan. Duncan has 31 homeruns but only 65 rbi’s. New Orleans also has two pitchers with more than 10 wins. Roy Gonzalez is 11-4, and Rabbit Brow is 10-2.
#6 – Norfolk Tides (45-33) : The Tides are up two spots from the #8 ranking due to an impressive streak (over weak teams). The Tides have only lost one of their last 9. With a 4 game sweep over Sacramento, and a heartbreaking 1 run loss vs the Biscuits, the Tides have been coming in. Jumbo Watkins has 32 homeruns and an OPS of 1.076. Pitcher Russell Leon is 9-4 with 4 complete games and a WHIP of 1.18.
#5 – Tucson Sidewinders (46-32) : The Sidewinders have slowly watched their AL West lead dwindle all the way to 9 games over the fast moving Volcanoes (haha). Seriously, the Snakes have had mild struggles which is why they dropped from #2 to #5. But with a four game streak they might be able to climb back before next week. Tyler Mills is leading Tucson with 27 homeruns and 7 other players have 10 or more homeruns leading the Snakes to the most runs scored in the MiLB this season at 478. No pitcher has a whip under 1.20 and four pitchers have WHIPs of 1.60 or higher. Team ERA is 5.26. Must suck to play in a hitters ball park….
#4- Louisville Bats (47-31) : The Bats don’t move from the 4 spot this week. News that commissioner Erffdog will not be continuing in his dual role has rocked the league. A replacement has yet to be announced. In a past power ranking I predicted a 10 to 15 game streak. That almost happened with Louisville winning 9 in a row recently. They were just blanked by Oak City after taking the first 2 games. Harry Ramirez and Cy Todd continue to lead the way for the Bats with a combined 49 homeruns and 115 rbi’s. Freddy Abernathy and Hensley Lowery have both won 10 games apiece.
#3- Pawtucket Red Sox (50-28) : Moving up from 5 to 3 is the PawSox. Injuries had slowed the PawSox for a bit. But they went on a tear winning 9 games after losing 10 in a row. The Pawsox are one of the better pitching teams only allowing 306 runs, owning a 1.29 team WHIP and 3.80 ERA. Future hall of famer Carlos Mota is 14-1 with 135 K’s in 120 innings. Al Goya is owning the offense for Pawtucket by hitting 30 homers with a .337 ba and .411 obp.
#2- Oklahoma City RedHawks (52-26) : The best team in the NL for the past several seasons is Oak City. They continue to build on the legend by holding a .667 winning percentage. They have, by far, the best pitching staff in the MiLB. Only allowing 239 runs. A whip of 1.14, an era of 2.98, and an opponents allowed average of .229 are amazing totals. reliever Cesar Lima has YET TO ALLOW A RUN in 30 2/3 innings. In that time, 31 saves. The RedHawks pitching has a little help from their friends in the field. Only 15 errors with a .995 fielding percentage and 20 + plays. Wow.
#1- Richmond Braves (54-24) : By a hair Richmond remains the #1 team this week. Moises Fernandez is outstanding with 108 hits, 19 homers, and a .331 ba. John Nakajima has 19 homeruns and Harry Lopez has 21 homeruns. The team has a .359 OBP and OPS of .846. The pitching staff has a 1.23 WHIP, lead by relievers Fausto Belliard, and Trent Cromer. That’s one helluva 1-2 punch in the bullpen. Belliard just recently lost a game to Montgomery by allowing a double then a walk off single. And, the only team they have struggled with this year…Oak City. The Braves dropped 2 of 3 to OKC.