Power Rankings 3/12

1.      New Britain

The RockCats have the most wins in the MiLB, and have earned the top spot in the rankings. They have scored the 4^th most runs by hitting the most homeruns in the league. Their pitching has also been great as they have the #3 Whip, and are 3^rd in saves. Keith Carver is leading the way for the offense, but six players already have double digits in homers. Dewey Halter and Delanor Estes are setting the table with .370+ obp. This team is hot right now.

2.      Scranton

The little Yankees really on their excellent pitching staff. The starters are led by Julio Guillen, whom despite his 4-2 record has 64 k’s in 63 innings, only given up 1 homer, and holds a whip of 1.07. Jorge Espinoza has also been solid with a 1.10 whip. The team is 3^rd in runs allowed, and 4^th in WHIP. Their offense is also very good, being 8^th in runs scored. Pedro Montanez has been one of the many valuable Yankees, but perennial all-star Mo Glanville has 15 stolen bases to go with 9 homers, and 40 runs scored.

3.      Syracuse

The Chiefs have the best offense in the entire MilB, and a big part of that is that rate at which they are slapping doubles into the gap. It seems as if they are taking walks or taking two bases. Then they steal bases (64, and only caught 15). They have the #3 overall OPS. James Bates is having an MVP type season with a .325/.409/.651 slash with 17 homers. Ben Mayne has already scored 52 runs despite only a .310 obp, but he has 17 stolen bases. Wow. The pitching staff has given up 266 runs (compared to Louisville who’s number one at 179). They have to make a move before the post season to clear that up.

4.      Vancouver

A lot of people feel Vancouver should be higher being the NL team with the most wins at 33. They have the third ranked offense in the league, 5^th in homeruns, and 4^th in OPS. Speaking of MVP candidates, Bobby Joe Owings is in the discussion with his .336/.407/.768 slash and 15 homers. RJ Lira isn’t far behind with .365/.433/.572 with 10 homers. If anything, they need bullpen help to solidify the pitching staff.

5.      Salem

Another team that could make a case as being the top team, is Salem. Led by MVP candidate Jackson Wagner (I drafted him), who holds a .304/.382/.660 with 19 homers. Salem has the number five OPS, but their pitching has set them apart being 5^th in runs allowed, and 5^th in WHIP. Three of the four starters are on fire…but the other two (Martin and Buchanan) have been garbage. The Volcanoes haven’t blown a save all season.

6.      Salt Lake City

The Bees are off to a good start this season. They sport the 2^nd best Run scoring team in the MiLB. They got there by being 5^th in doubles, 3^rd in homers, and number ONE overall in OPS. No one member is over 1.0, but nearly everyone with regular playing time is over .800 or better OPS. This is a slugging team (.476 overall) and they hit a ton of homeruns (84, six with 10+, 3^rd in MiLB). They would probably score more runs if they would stop trying to steal (24 sb vs 22 cs). The pitching staff hasn’t been good outside of Del Flier (6-0, 1.02 whip, 2.45 era). The bullpen is a serious strength.

7.      Louisville

Don’t expect the Bats to stay this far down for long. They are 6^th in runs scored, and FIRST in runs allowed with the best WHIP. They also have the third best fielding. They are due for a big run, soon.

8.      New Orleans

New Orleans probably shouldn’t be ranked this high since they have a negative runs scored to runs allowed. But they do lead their division and have a team that can score at will. The only problem is the pitching which has been horrific.

9.      Iowa

My little Cubs from Iowa are exceeding expectations yet again. With the best fielding team in the league, they help a mediocre pitching staff. There has been a lot of turnover trying to find the right balance on this team and they are dangling Esteban Cedeno to get a right handed reliever.

10.  Charleston/Dover

This is kind of a cop out to have a tie, but I just couldn’t leave one out. These teams both have high expectations, and have yet to produce. Dovers pitching has let them down, while the offense has been solid. Charleston is just the reverse having good pitching but struggling on offense. Maybe they should discuss a trade? Just saying…

Honorable mentions:

Wichita 26-25 257/229, #5 RS, #4 sb

Durham 26-25 245/243, #10 RS, 4^th doubles

El Paso 26-25 215/249, #1 sb, #2 fielding

Little Rock 28-23 213/196, #8 RA

Toledo 26-25 200/188 , #4 RA

AL West Previews

Salem was looking to grab one more starter in Free Agency, but whiffed. Now, they have money available to make more moves, which they definitely will at some point. This team has been very good under 40-dog, and he has the players available to make another run in the playoffs. If they can get just a little more help (one or two bats, one or two pitchers) this team could win it all. Look out.

The season just started and Boise knows it's time for big changes. Quite a few players are on the block and ready to be moved. The team can definitely hit the ball and are solid offensively (828 runs scored). But the pitching is Horrible (yes…capital H). The pickup of Roosevelt Watson was a move in the right direction. If Boise can balance out the offense and pitching they might improve more than anyone thinks. We will have to see if anyone is willing to make a move with them in order to do so. (And I can think of a few teams with money and prospects that could trade young pitching for offense. Just sayin.)

Don't be fooled by this teams record last year. They are a team on the upswing, and are focused on young pitching. It won't happen right away, but when you have a young stud like Kurt Pride to build a staff around baseball becomes really fun. Another thing to be aware of is that Omaha has an $81 payroll, but only spent $63. They don't have a lot spent on Intl Scouting and only $10 spent on prospects so it makes you wonder a little bit what they have in store. My guess is they will be buyers and a big deal could come to pass at some point. Omaha made a ton of trades last year. Keep an eye out for category 5 storm...

Owner McAndrews became concerned after hearing talking of teams "tanking". It is a serious charge and one that is not taken lightly. I'll admit, there had been some questionable moves (look at the trades last year, as well as the transactions this year, and draw your own conclusions). The plan is obvious that Oak City is rebuilding. They purged salary, picked up some decent young guys, and came into this season knowing that they gave up 942 runs (which is a LOT). Young guys that should be in the minors are making starts this year, but they are being surrounded by other youngsters a. I'm not going to let Oak City off the hook. Tanking is tanking. If a team is not actively being improved to be competitive in the league, I don't know what else to call it. McAndrews seems like a nice enough guy and seems genuinely worried about being labeled. If this league had a minimum win expectation we would be seeing more of an effort not to allow another 100 loss season.

NL West Preview

Vancouver has had a long run of success, and that will not change this year. Although some of the stars are starting to age, there is a nice pipeline of younger players entering their primes to pick up the slack. The Canadians are a powerful offensive team, but rely just as much on a strong and adept pitching staff. Overall, I can easily see this team winning another World Series this season and will be surprised if they don't at least get close again.

The Las Vegas franchise changed owners, and changed names, but stayed in place. Aaronbrown is a relatively new owner (10 seasons), but looks to be a good addition to the world. It looks like he will be a player in the Intl market by leaving $20 mil in player payroll, and having a max prospect budget. Vegas did allow one starter, and several key bullpen arms to bolt. They made a couple key trades, one of which replaced the starter and another to bring a solid defensive catcher into the fold. Great young players were promoted and will contribute as they grow into their roles. Overall, I'm excited to see how much this team can accomplish this year. They won't challenge Vancouver for the division, but should be the top wild card team.

 Last year was a rough one for Fresno. The pitching staff was in shambles, but the rebuilding process is starting to take shape. Somehow they snagged super reliever William Masato off Rule V (I guess Richmond couldn't use him?). Brad Park and Pep Kim have been promoted and start to help. The defense won't help very much (Sisler is a far below avg SS). The offense should be a little better, but not much. Overall, Fresno should be marginally better than my prediction as cazanski rebuilds.

The Isotopes struggled horribly at the plate last season, only scoring 572 runs. The pitching was mediocre, but should have been better due to the talent available. The Topes budgeted $95 but only spent $54. They have already dabbled in the Intl market picking up a relief pitcher. Could they be planning something bigger? The starting staff didn't get any better as they relegated Tabaka to the pen and Mujica was allowed to walk. The bullpen is mostly castaways. Overall, I can't help but think this team could be better if it had spent the money to upgrade. Instead, they will just continue to lose and get the draft picks/internationals. It is what it is.

AL South Preview

The AL South is the home of the Richmond Braves, the defending Wold Series Champions. The Braves have been the most consistent franchise in the entire MiLB. This year they lost starting pitcher Woody Buchanan and reliever Andrew Buchanan (no relation). They added Adrian Bowen for $6.7 million, but that was an iffy acquisition. What helps their subpar pitching is the excellent defense. But the team is getting ready to go into another transition. They are ageing, and starting to lose a little skill. Richmond is still great, but now more vulnerable than they have been in awhile. Although their will not be competition from anyone in this division any time soon.

Memphis moved to El Paso when the new owner (zsiegri) took over. Z brings a wealth of experience to the MiLB with 126 season, 29 division titles, 104 playoffs, and 10 world series titles. That's impressive and it will be fun to watch him and cyclone go head to head year in and year out. To start, the Sun Kings turned over their pitching staff. Out of 14 pitchers, only four returned, and only 1 of those was a starter. This was a team that allowed 676 runs, which is very good. But it didn't stop there. Out of the players that had 400 PA's or more (9) only 3 remain on the team. Tex Varitek, Johan Sellers, and Max Ordaz had WAR's ranging from 4 to 5.8...all gone. 527 Runs created...gone. The players obtained in all trades, are a mix of AAA, AA, and High A stars. A good haul, but none will be ready for a few years or more. SO, who does El Paso have playing baseball for them? It's the scrap heap all-stars. After FA ended, they offered contracts to players that had dropped their prices and were able to put together a team. They spent $61 of their $89, so they will probably be transferring to go after a big international or swooping in on deadline deals. Overall, this team is hard to figure out. All I can do is guess. My guess is they do better than I think, which isn't much.

The Suns had the opportunity to improve their pitching, but must have whiffed in the FA market. They didn't make ANY moves to improve. Out of the $98 million, they have only used $79. They could be waiting for an international to drop to them, or some deadline deals. But right now it's wasted money. You would think with young players more money would be spent on coaches, scouting, and training to get the young guys to improve faster. But there was no changes made. I honestly have to wonder how invested Jacksonville is in their club and if owner mytitan is even interested.

Not sure if I'm missing something, but I could find no record of a minor league team with the nickname Azul. So…I did the best I could with the logo. This team was just plain awful last year, and firesign saw the writing on the wall and bailed. The new owner, factorganize, has a good track record, but has taken on three new teams all starting about the same time. At this point the pitching staff has been completely turned over. By attacking the Rule V draft, and waiver wire the Azul found replacements (if you can call them that).  One oddity was the amount of players signed and then released back on the market. Maybe a trick I'm not aware of to increase salary for the next few years? Not sure. But it's happening. Overall, this team will be worse than last year and may actually be the most futile offensive team in the MiLB. In all of my time doing previews on various blogs I've never seen a team like this. Only $31 in salaries with a $61 player payroll means international buyer. This team is tanking big time which is something I personally do not enjoy seeing.

NL South Preview

New Orleans barely held on to win the South despite having the most potent offense in the National League. With an extravagant payroll, they had to allow LF Angel Molina walk (he got a max deal from Buffalo). His 153 runs created will be hard to replace which is why I predict a drop off in overall runs scored. Defensively, the Zephyrs are better, and with a strong core of pitchers returning we should see them get better in that department. Cory Dodd is now the starter at 2b full time, and he was stellar in a platoon role (12 + plays, 3 errors). Overall, New Orleans is still a top tier team and should do better than the 89 wins predicted.

The Cubs made a surprise run into the playoffs as the wild-card and gave the Zephyrs a scare. The Cubs made a big move last year to grab Pedro Fernandez to play their weakest spot (3b), and he led the team in runs created (116), and won plenty of awards (all-star, silver slugger, gold glove). Tony Wells was a surprise and produced well above expectations. This year Esteban Cedeno finds himself on the bench as Alex Velazquez takes over at first. Mel Knowles takes over at catcher (how much will his pitch calling hurt him and the staff?), and Bill Malone solidifies left field. Overall, the Cubs are a terrific defensive team with a mediocre pitching staff and can hit a little bit. Don't expect a similar run due to the youth, but you never know when this team will go on a 10 or 15 game winning streak. The commissioner of the league (SLC's MJ) said that it was pure luck. The numbers say otherwise. They were good in one run games (that could be lucky), but most importantly they had the best defense in all of the MiLB and play in a pitchers park.

The Generals had an interesting season. Despite having a negative runs scored to runs allowed, they managed to win 89 games. How? First off 33-16 in one run games helps a LOT. But their defense wasn't good, the offense was poor, and it's simply baffling how maddyjack pulled it off. With no real solid additions (except the perplexing Melky Bonilla and Matty Jimenez), the Generals might have to face reality this season. But don't bet against them. They did it once, and can probably do it again despite what the numbers say. I think they win more than 72 games.

The Travelers had a solid season, and were just stuck in a division that placed the three other teams in the playoffs. With a solid group of young core players, the Travelers look like a good team on paper. They didn't lose anyone on offense so production should improve. Their downfall might be that their pitching staff was gutted. 2/5 of the rotation is gone (Izzy Cammack, Alex Gong), and they are short a contributor from the pen (Jumbo Romano). The replacements are okay, but won't help much. Overall, Little Rock should have an easier time with the South, but not enough to win the division or make a playoff run.