Wholck and his flock of Hens won their 3rd division title last year, and did so with only a $45 million dollar player salary. The victory was short lived since the Muddy bastards got bounced in the first round. Boasting one of the better pitching staffs in the game last season it was easy to see why Wholck's guys led the league in FIP. Returning all five starters should ensure continued success despite having some turnover in their bullpen (nothing that hurts them).
Offensively, the team had a tough time scoring runs consistently. The Hens are mostly built on defense, and lost some production on the offensive side. With a higher salary ($76 million) it didn't happen this year. It could cost them the division.
The Monsters missed the playoffs by one game. Despite having a very high payroll, they didn’t get many wins per million spent (20th) in the league. Definitely not your usual Pak led team. The consensuses from others in the league are that the Monsters are a force to be reckoned with. It’s not quite that chiseled in stone. They tried to improve their pitching by bolstering their bullpen, and going after starter Stan Palmer. Palmer is now down with an injury for most of the year. Outside of Palmer there are no upgrades, and the starting rotation is in shambles.
On offense, the team got a MAJOR upgrade in Chris Cummings. He is worth about 50 runs, even in a hitting depressant park. The rest of the group is still solid, but aging. The window is closing on this group, and it may have already closed due to the lack of pitching.
Mal made his move this year after barely missing out last year. The Bison traded some fairly weak pieces offensively, for a bumper crop of free agents. By gaining Ramirez, Calderone, Halter, and Cabeza the team picked up roughly 120 runs of production. The pitching staff took a minor hit in the process, but made up for it defensively. Without any reservation, the NL North can expect a stampede this season. And the best part is…no one saw them coming until now since everyone is still looking at the Monsters as the team to beat.
The Yankees (formerly the Cyclones) were left for dead at the end of the year. A new owner..check that BRAND NEW owner with no previous HBD experience takes over the team. I do have to say that usually the learning curve for new owners is very sharp.
But this is a team I am very impressed with. They spent money fairly wisely to upgrade their offense and pitching. Part of the learning curve is figuring out what works defensively, and there are a few places where a defensive upgrade could save the pitching staff. Overall, remarkable job by Brian to begin rebuilding the franchise.
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