The Bees are absolutely loaded again this season. They have a fine collection of young talent that hits and plays defense. One burning question is…why did this team only score 785 with this kind of talent??? Another question is how much help Greg Menechino will provide. The "Timeless One" has been around forever, and it appears that age has caught up with him. He produced over 100 runs last year, but will be hard pressed to get to 80 this year. Will the young guys step up in Salt Lake City? The late addition of Orlando Canseco didn't help them win in the playoffs...can he lead them to World Series Title for mjpals?
The Trenton franchise was purchased by new ownership, and moved cross country to become the Wichita Wingnuts. A good move, because I've heard Trenton is not exactly baseball heaven. The new owner is freddyquimby, a brand new addition to HBD. The previous owner made an interesting move with division rival SLC. Orlando Canseco, their best player, was traded for a decent minor league shortstop/3b, a solid pitcher, and RF Al Bolivar. They saved money in the long run and got a lot of production from Bolivar and the pitcher, Buddy Minor. Minor became the best pitcher on the club and almost helped them get to the playoffs. Can the new ownership get this club back to the playoffs after a 3 year hiatus? This year, it doesn't look likely. The pitching staff really isn't very good outside of Minor, and losing Jumbo Delgado's 46 saves leaves the bullpen in terrible shape.
The first thing that became immediately apparent when looking at the Redhawks was the lack of offensive production. So, I was curious to know why. Three things stood out: 1) no one walks 2) everyone is slow 3) lack of base-running skills. That's a poor recipe for success because no one likes clogged base paths. Fargo was last in the league in doubles, and the bottom half in every statistical category in the AL. Not good. When a guy like Monte Wright (.309 obp) leads your team in plate appearances (584) it's going to be tough to be taken seriously. Hector Jose and other minor league players are on the way. Until then this team will have to keep relying on pitching and defense to keep them competitive.
Syracuse is one of the most stacked offensive teams in the MiLB. They scored 842 runs, which seems like a low number considering the talent. Sjpratt has built an admirable run scoring team. To begin fixing the pitching staff, Barney Enders (79 RC) was traded to Norfolk for Arodys Gonzalez. Then they traded minor league talent to El Paso for ace Will Waters (six time all star). If Paul King can live up to expectations as a closer, and not have 11 blown saves, this team will be a championship contender. As matter of fact, I'm going on record. The Chiefs will go from last to first in this division. With a very good shot at the World Series. Surprised?
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