February, 2013

2013 Season Preview

Llllllllllllet's get readyyyyyyy to see Tom win another trophyyyyyy!!

Okay, granted, I made that same prediction last year, but I mean it this time.  The Ridgebacks return in 2013 better than ever, thanks in part to the one-man wrecking crew known as Mike Trout.  Like last year, however, it won't be a cakewalk.  Because, just like last year, the Kansas Law Dogs will be nipping at Allentown's heels from beginning to end.  That's right, folks.  If you enjoyed the 2012 season, you're going to love 2013.

Kansas GM Chris Luhning spent the entire winter stripping his 106-win team down to its barest of bare essentials, and engaged in a $51 million shopping spree that resulted in a pitching staff capable of shattering the all-time ERA record the Ridgebacks just broke a year ago.

St. Louis GM Bobby Sylvester was even busier than Luhning, making more trades than a broker on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.  The end result of all that frantic wheeling-and-dealing is a lineup that may be the best in the BDBL.  Once again, Sylvester will have to contend with his father, who has built yet another formidable team capable of competing for the Person Division title (...if he allows them to compete.)

So we have Allentown and Kansas battling it out in the Higuera Division, and St. Louis and Southern Cal fighting for the Person crown.  Has anything changed since 2012?  Well, there's the Hrbek Division, where the defending champion Black Sox have assembled yet another power-loaded lineup, but are facing stiff competition from not only the Akron Ryche, but a revitalized Atlanta Fire Ants squad.

Over in the Ozzie League, the top three teams in the league are all crammed into the same division.  (And two of those three owners are crammed into the same house!)  The defending-champion Blazers have assembled another cartoonish team filled with pinch hitters with outrageous platoon stats, all custom-designed to take full advantage of New Milford's cartoonish ballpark factors.  The Salem Cowtippers are locked and loaded again, and looking to finally recapture a division title after settling for a wild card in two of the last three seasons.  And rising from the ashes, the Granite State Lightning are looking like contenders just a year after setting the all-time BDBL records for losses in a single season.

Which one of those three teams wins the division is a complete toss-up.  And unfortunately, one of those teams will be watching the playoffs from a distance in November.  Vying for the other two playoff spots will be the Ravenswood Infidels in the Benes Division and the Flagstaff Outlaws in the Griffin Division.  The most fortunate aspect of those two teams is that no other teams in either of their divisions appears to be making much of an effort to compete this season.

Last year on this page, I predicted that the Ridgebacks, Apostles and Ryche would win their divisions, and that the Law Dogs would win the wild card.  My prediction looked perfect early in the season, but then the Chicago Black Sox had to go and ruin it by charging into the playoffs with an historic late-season run.  The league got it right, however.  In league polling, Chicago was picked to win the Hrbek Division, St. Louis was a unanimous choice to win the Person, and Allentown and Kansas were tied atop the Higuera Division (which they nearly were.)

On the Ozzie side, I predicted New Milford, Ravenswood and Sylmar as division champs, with Salem winning the wild card.  Again, I was right about three out of four, as the Mississippi Meatballs surprised me by easily beating the Infidels in the Benes Division.  The league made the same mistake I did, and chose Ravenswood to win the division.  They also made the same mistake I did in selecting Allentown to win the BDBL championship.  Not one person voted for the eventual champ, Sylmar.  Which just goes to prove that at this point in the season, anything can happen.  (Even, perhaps, a .500 season for Jim Doyle!)

Jump to:
Butler | Benes | Griffin | Higuera | Person | Hrbek

Flagstaff Outlaws

Owner: Greg Newgard
2012 Record: 73-87 (3rd place)
Projected Rotation: Cliff Lee, Tom Milone, Chad Billingsley, Blake Beavan
Bullpen: Craig Stammen, Luis Ayala, James Russell, Matt Thornton, Sam LeCure, Neftali Feliz, Brandon Lyon, Scott Elbert
Projected Lineup: Tyler Colvin (LF), Adam Jones (CF), Paul Goldschmidt (1B), Edwin Encarnacion (3B), Jay Bruce (RF), Kelly Shoppach (C), Omar Infante (2B), Clint Barmes/Everth Cabrera (SS)

Strengths: With a lineup that boasts three players who hit 30+ homers in MLB last season, the Outlaws are going to need to double up on their order of game balls for the summer.  Colvin (858), Jones (839), Goldschmidt (850), Encarnacion (941) and Bruce (841) all sport OPS's over 800, and I pity any team that throws a left-hander against Goldschmidt (1.068 OPS vs. LH) and Encarnacion (1.086).  Lee is a rotation workhorse, and should make an appearance on the Cy Young ballot at year's end.  Lee, Beavan, Ayala and Milone all excel at putting the ball over the plate, so opposing hitters will have to earn their way on base.

Weaknesses: The off-season acquisition of Lee left little room under the salary cap for the Outlaws to fill out their starting rotation.  Once Cutdown Day came and went, the team was left with only $1.1 million and seven open roster spots.  As a result, Flagstaff is left with a starting rotation that consists of Lee and a bunch of guys who would be back-of-the-rotation inning-fillers for most teams.  There are a couple of holes in the lineup as well, as Shoppach is only a part-time catcher, leaving the ill-equipped Martin Maldonado (612/766 splits) to pick up the slack.  At second base, Omar Infante (and his $7.5 million salary) owns an OPS of just 656 against righties.  And the bullpen lacks a dominant closer.  I'm not even sure who the closer is on this team.  Of the 8 relievers listed above, no pitcher owns an opponents' OPS below 600, leaving Feliz (623/623 splits as a starter in 42+ IP) and LeCure (613/640 in 57+ IP) as the two best options in late innings.

Outlook: The Outlaws were supposed to contend for a division title last year, but instead fell behind the eventual league champions early, and began the rebuilding process by the all-star break.  On paper, this year's team looks as though they have a much better offense than last year's squad, but their pitching staff isn't nearly as good.  Luckily for Flagstaff fans, there isn't much competition in the Griffin Division this season.  This may be one of those years where a team can win a division with 85-90 wins, and the Outlaws are just the team to accomplish such a feat.

Prediction: 1st place.  Maybe this is finally the year that Greg Newgard and the Flagstaff Outlaws franchise wins a division title.  Newgard has had to settle for the wild card three times in his career, and this franchise won two other wild cards prior to that.  Flagstaff has several factors in their favor, but the greatest is the fact there is simply no competition in this division.  The Undertakers are still in the process of building their next superteam, the Jamboree are praying that A-Rod remains injured so that they'll have a chance to compete, and Dieppe is just beginning to dust away the rubble under which John Duel left that franchise.  The door is wide open for Newgard, who should have no trouble taking that ball and running with it.

Los Altos Undertakers

Owner: Jeff Paulson
2012 Record: 75-85 (2nd place)
Projected Rotation: Matt Cain, Jon Lester, Miguel Gonzalez, Brandon Beachy, Johan Santana
Bullpen: Ryan Cook, Craig Breslow, Ernesto Frieri, Steve Cishek, Sean Doolittle, Steve Delabar, Jordan Norberto
Projected Lineup: Ian Desmond (SS), Brett Lawrie/Pedro Ciriaco (3B), Drew Stubbs/Jason Heyward (CF), Johnny Gomes/Raul Ibanez (RF), Ike Davis/Martin Prado (1B), Brian McCann (C), Jamey Carroll/Chris Nelson (2B), Bryan LaHair/Martin Prado (LF)

Strengths: In six full BDBL seasons, Cain owns a career BDBL ERA of 3.90 with a record of 84-67.  He's won 15 or more games four times, including each of the last three seasons.  Given his stellar MLB performance last year (2.57 CERA, 711/563 splits), he should be good for another 15+ wins this year.  As always, the Los Altos bullpen is filled with capable relievers, led by closer Cook (73+ IP, 1.68 CERA, 568/473 splits).  Desmond (902 OPS), Gomes (974), Prado (864), Carroll (839) and Lawrie (811) all pound left-handed pitching, and Heyward (934), Davis (868), LaHair (865), Desmond (828) and Ibanez (812) are all capable righty-mashers.

Weaknesses: There are a few holes in the lineup; notably, behind the plate where McCann (673/711 splits) carries a below-average bat, and first base/left field, where manager Jeff Paulson will have to piece together enough at-bats from LaHair, Prado and Davis to amply cover those two positions.  Beyond the staff ace, there isn't much about the Undertakers' starting rotation to warrant excitement.  Lester (738/785) had another off year, but plugs into the #2 spot based purely on his innings.  After that, it's basically a jigsaw puzzle, piecing together three rotation spots from a bunch of 100-inning pitchers.

Outlook: The Undertakers fell below .500 last year after three straight 100-win seasons, and they're not quite back to full power just yet.  But they're getting closer.  This season is hardly a lost cause for Los Altos, and they could easily compete for a division title or wild card, especially if they add a quality starting pitcher at some point in the season.  While it would be premature to say that Paulson has thrown in the towel already, both trades made prior to Chapter One involved shedding valuable players for this season in return for prospects.  This season definitely feels like a placeholder year, where the Undertakers are simply holding steady until their next wave of franchise players (Lawrie, Bubba Starling, Mike Zunino, Beachy, Gerrit Cole, Danny Hultzen, Jameson Taillon, Julio Teheran, et al) matures.

Prediction: 2nd place.  The Outlaws are hardly an unstoppable juggernaut in this division, yet it looks as though Los Altos will have to be content with playing the role of spoiler -- a role Jeff Paulson relishes, I'm sure.

Bear Country Jamboree

Owner: Matt Clemm
2012 Record: 62-98 (4th place)
Projected Rotation: Wade Miley, Lance Lynn, Clayton Richard, Barry Zito, Patrick Corbin
Bullpen: Jake McGee, Matt Harvey, Jonathan Broxton, John Axford, George Kontos
Projected Lineup: Rickie Weeks (2B), Alex Rodriguez (3B), Mike Morse (RF), Carlos Quentin/Seth Smith (LF), A.J. Pierzynski/Wilson Ramos (C), Brett Wallace/Chris Johnson (3B), Brian Dozier (SS), Desmond Jennings (CF)

Strengths: Fun fact: out of all pitchers in MLB who threw at least a dozen innings last season, Jake McGee owns the lowest opponents' OPS against right-handers.  The dude was almost literally unhittable.  He faced 120 right-handed batters last season, and only 20 of them managed to reach base -- and four of those guys reached base via an intentional walk.  Now, riddle me this: if you are managing a guy who held right-handers to a .098/.157/.134 triple-slash line, why on EARTH would you ask him to intentionally walk a right-handed batter...FOUR TIMES??  44 of the 120 righties McGee faced struck out, and one lucky bastard somehow managed to take him deep.  That would be the one guy I'd bitch about endlessly if I owned McGee and that happened during a Diamond Mind game.

Weaknesses: The most glaring weakness on the Bear Country squad is their lack of strengths.  Not one player on this roster is likely to play in the all-star game or appear on the post-season awards ballot.  Not one batter in this lineup is likely to crack 100 runs created, and not one pitcher is likely to win 15 games or more (even though two of them topped that number in MLB.)  The bottom half of this lineup is pretty pathetic (to put it nicely.)  Oh, and this team's starting shortstop is someone named Brian Dozier.  I have no idea who that is.

Outlook: Despite all their weaknesses, this is a much improved Bear Country team from 2012.  The Jamboree pitching staff is, at worst, league average.  That gives this team a fighting chance to stay in their games and be competitive.  If this team gets a little lucky in tight games and finishes above .500 in one-run games, we may even see the Jamboree sneak into the division race.  Crazier things have happened in the BDBL.

Prediction: 3rd place.  All eyes are on Alex Rodriguez at this point.  If A-Rod is able to recover from his surgery, he will likely play enough games in MLB this season that Bear Country will be forced to pay his $14 million salary next year.  If, however, A-Rod's recovery is not as smooth or quick as expected, it's possible that the Jamboree might wriggle their way out from under that horrendous contract and immediately shed $14 million in salary.  Not only would the team be able to spend that money on a pretty decent free agent class next winter, but they may also be able to flip A-Rod in trade this year and actually get some benefit from him.  This is obviously a best-case scenario, and A-Rod is hardly the only player who is keeping this team tied down financially.  Quentin is due for a $7.6 million payday in 2014, and Morse and Pierzynski are now locked in a $13 million combined in 2014 and $15 million in 2015.  But hey, at least they got rid of Rich Harden.

Dieppe Marauders

Owner: Don Woodworth
2012 Record: 95-65 (1st place, BDBL champions)
Projected Rotation: Anibal Sanchez, Dan Haren, Kevin Millwood, Mike Leake, Chris Young
Bullpen: J.J. Putz, Duane Below
Projected Lineup: Jimmy Rollins (SS), Angel Pagan (CF), Ben Zobrist (2B), Corey Hart (1B), Dayan Viciedo(LF), Chris Parmelee (RF), Kevin Frandsen (3B), John Buck/Jeff Mathis (C)

Strengths: Zobrist is an all-star rated at three different defensive positions, making him one of the more valuable and versatile players in the league.  Putz is a dominant closer, who is effective against both lefties and righties, though he is limited to less than 60 innings in usage.

Weaknesses: Where to begin?  Although Zobrist is a great asset, the $11.5 million salary Don Woodworth gave to him this winter meant that this team was still looking for a catcher, a right fielder, a third baseman, half a shortstop platoon and half of a left field platoon at the end of the auction.  There wasn't much left to choose from at that point, and the team ended up with just that: not much.  There simply isn't enough offensive firepower here to sustain an offense capable of scoring more than 650 runs.  And unfortunately for the defending champs, there isn't enough pitching here to hold the opposition to fewer than 650 runs.  Sanchez is a decent enough pitcher to fill a spot in the middle of an average rotation, but he is the de facto ace of this staff.  Likewise, Putz is a decent enough closer for an average bullpen, but he has little support from the setup men on this staff, and is limited in innings himself. 

Outlook: John Duel drove this franchise into the ground in an all-or-nothing effort to win the BDBL trophy...and it worked.  He won that coveted trophy and left his franchise in ruins.  Unfortunately, he didn't stick around to suffer the consequences of his actions, leaving Don Woodworth with that overwhelming responsibility.  This is not unlike the Democratic party spending trillions for immediate political benefit and saddling future generations with massive amounts of unsustainable debt.  (Sorry, I had to deliver one last political jab to Duel on his way out the door.)  This is hardly the first time a BDBL team went from league champs to cellar-dwellers in only one year.  Okay, it's the second time.  Of course, the 2010 Allentown Ridgebacks were the first and only franchise to accomplish that feat.  Although the Ridgebacks managed to bounce back and win 107 games in 2012, we aren't likely to see a repeat in Dieppe.  It may be years before this franchise sees .500 again, as they simply don't have the broad foundation of cheap, young players needed for a franchise to bounce back from such a depth.  In other words, what this franchise desperately needs is more cheap, young players with upside and fewer expensive veterans like Zobrist.

Prediction: 4th place.  In a year where league parity seems to be a prevailing theme, the Marauders may finish this season with more than 100 losses.  If they do, they will join the 2010 Ridgebacks as the only team in league history to lose 100 games the season after winning the championship.

Salem Cowtippers

Owner: Mike Glander
2012 Record: 84-76 (2nd place, OL wild card)
Projected Rotation: Stephen Strasburg, James Shields, Yovani Gallardo, Paul Maholm, Jake Arrieta
Bullpen: Craig Kimbrel, Andy Pettitte, Mitchell Boggs, Jerry Blevins, Kelvin Herrera, Kevin Jepsen, Boone Logan, Addison Reed
Projected Lineup: Jose Reyes (SS), Dustin Pedroia (2B), Melky Cabrera (RF), Yadier Molina (C), Ryan Zimmerman (3B), Ryan Ludwick (LF), Casper Wells/Hunter Pence (CF), Anthony Rizzo/Jesus Guzman (1B)

Strengths: Against left-handed pitching, every hitter in the Salem lineup except Reyes owns an 800+ OPS (and Reyes will likely finish above .800 in the BDBL, given the difference in ballpark factors.)  Against righties, "only" five batters in the lineup sported 800+ OPS's in the past MLB season, with two others (Reyes and Pedroia) clocking in above .770.  On the hill, Salem features a rotation filled with right-handed power pitchers, led by Strasburg, who FINALLY gets to pitch his first full season in the BDBL.  And the bullpen is led by the game's greatest closer, Kimbrel, who has the potential to produce the most historic season of any reliever since Los Altos closer Eric Gagne won the OL Cy Young award in 2004.  It will be interesting to see if Kimbrel breaks the all-time Salem single-season saves record of 26.

Weaknesses: Each and every member of Salem's starting rotation owns a platoon split of at least at least 60 points (OPS), with the exception of the rotation's only left-hander, Maholm.  This will undoubtedly cause the team headaches when facing teams like the Blazers, who feature lefty-heavy lineups.  The bullpen has some platoon issues of its own, though that is more easily manageable.  Every member of the pitching staff, aside from Kimbrel, has some sort of issue, whether it is an unfavorable platoon split, a usage issue or unfavorable MLB ballpark factors.

Outlook: Once upon a time, the Salem Cowtippers owned this division.  It was practically a given that they would win this division year in and year out.  After winning four straight Benes Division titles, Salem joined the Butler Division in 2004, and immediately put an end to five straight division titles by the Stamford Zoots.  The Cowtippers then won four of the next five division titles in their new division.  But believe it or not, it has now been FIVE YEARS since a new red banner was hung on the left field wall at Sam Adams Stadium.  I say it's time that streak came to an end.

Prediction: 1st place.  The Butler Division race will be a bare-knuckled brawl from beginning to end this season.  The advantage Salem has over New Milford is depth and balance, and their advantage over Granite State is dominant talent and, of course, experience.  So at this early point in the game, despite the Opening Day Series debacle, the advantage goes to Salem.  But it's a really, really slim advantage.

New Milford Blazers

Owners: Anthony Peburn
2012 Record: 111-49 (1st place)
Projected Rotation: Clayton Kershaw, C.J. Wilson, Matt Moore, Jose Quintana
Bullpen: Brett Anderson, Jon Rauch, Tom Wilhelmsen, Clay Rapada, Jason Grilli, Jeremy Horst, Michael Kirkman
Projected Lineup: Robinson Cano/Tyler Greene (2B), Adrian Gonzalez (1B), David Ortiz (CF), Garrett Jones/David Murphy (RF), Alex Avila/Erik Kratz (C), Daniel Descalso/Matt Carpenter (3B), Matt Carpenter/Jed Lowrie (SS), Andres Torres/Daniel Nava (LF)

Strengths: The Blazers' offense is specifically tailored for their home ballpark.  Against righties, New Milford can field an entire lineup filled with players batting from the left hand side, and each with a 780+ OPS.  And that includes David Ortiz (1.050 vs. RH), who played nearly all of last season out of position in right field, and who is reportedly penciled in as the team's center fielder.  Against lefties, New Milford can fill out a lineup card with six batters owning an OPS of at least 800.  New Milford scored more runs than any other team in the BDBL last year, and that will likely be true again this season.  On the mound, Kershaw is the league's reigning Cy Young winner, and is the favorite to win the award again this season.  He is backed by a bullpen filled with short-usage superstars, including three pitchers with fewer than 40 MLB innings and an opponents' OPS of 601 or below.

Weaknesses: Platoon-heavy lineups can often be easy to exploit if you have the right personnel.  And while conventional wisdom suggests that left-handed pitchers don't fare as well in the BDBL as they do in MLB, and that having a starting rotation comprised of four left-handers would be easy to exploit, Peburn continues to thumb his nose at conventional wisdom.  There are currently 25 pitchers on the New Milford roster (including farm players), and FOURTEEN of them are left-handed.  Aside from Kershaw, the starting rotation is underwhelming, especially when compared to last year's group.  Anderson is a dominant "closer", but with only 35 MLB innings, his usage is severely limited.  And defensively, it remains to be seen how much of a negative effect Ortiz will have patrolling center field.  According to research conducted by one Diamond Mind user, a Pr/90-rated first baseman playing center field will cost his team 130 runs saved over 162 games.  Prorated to 105 games (which is about what Ortiz is limited to this season), and that's about 85 runs, which equates to around 8 wins.  Unless his bat generates more than 8 wins (highly unlikely), this is a net loss for New Milford.

Outlook: After taking a year off from his usual cheesetastic shenanigans, Anthony Peburn has returned to his tried-and-tested formula of cheesy, platoon-heavy lineups filled with part-time pinch hitters and a pitching staff filled with specialists.  No fewer than EIGHT hitters on the Blazers' active roster own a platoon difference of more than 160 points.  With a ballpark that heavily favors left-handers, Peburn has stacked his starting lineup, rotation and bullpen with southpaws, hoping to take full advantage of whatever flaws there are in the game's software.  Any real-life Major League team that would field an all-lefty lineup, an all-lefty starting rotation and a defense that features David Ortiz in center field would likely struggle to reach .500.  But this strategy just might be ridiculous enough to work in the BDBL.

Prediction: 2nd place, and the OL wild card.  This team as presently constituted is good enough to earn a spot in the playoffs, but because of the way in which they're constituted, the Blazers aren't likely to advance very far if they get there.  Last year's team was just as heavily biased toward southpaws, and despite owning the best record in the league, they weren't able to get past the Sylmar Padawans in the OLCS.  A team like this is much easier to beat in a short series than over the course of a long season.  That said, I'm predicting that the Blazers will finish this season with the second best record in the Ozzie League and eventually square off against their division rivals in the OLCS.  Given what I just witnessed on Opening Day, I'm predicting the Blazers will win that battle.

Granite State Lightning

Owner: Ryan Glander
2012 Record: 40-120 (4th place)
Projected Rotation: Josh Johnson, A.J. Burnett, Lucas Harrell, Bartolo Colon, James McDonald, Michael Fiers
Bullpen: Kenley Jansen, Rafael Betancourt, Jim Miller, Cody Eppley
Projected Lineup: Derek Jeter (SS), Todd Frazier (3B), Billy Butler (1B), Josh Willingham (LF), Andre Ethier/Shane Victorino (RF), Miguel Montero (C), Brandon Phillips (2B), Alejandro de Aza (CF)

Strengths: If you tally all the home runs hit by Granite State players in MLB last season, you get over 240, which is the total hit by the legendary 1961 Yankees (in about 2,000 fewer plate appearances.)  TEN different players on the Granite State roster hit 15 or more home runs in MLB last season.  Against lefties, the Lightning can send seven batters to the plate with an OPS above 800.  Against righties, six batters fit that criteria.  On the mound, the Lightning feature a rotation filled with quality starters, and a bullpen that includes one of the game's most dominant relievers backed by a few capable setup men.

Weaknesses: There really aren't any glaring weaknesses on this team.  The Lightning have a solid rotation, and more than enough quality innings available to fill a season.  Their bullpen is equally solid, and led by a dominant closer.  And their lineup has no glaring holes that need to be filled or reinforced with a platoon mate.  I guess if you wanted to get really picky, you could point out that many of Granite State's pitchers come from pitcher-friendly MLB ballparks, so they are likely to post disappointing numbers in comparison with their MLB performances.

Outlook: To hear the tale told around the Glander house, turning a 120-loss team into a playoffs contender in one short year is a piece of cake, but we all know it isn't quite as easy as Ryan has made it look this past year.  There are some franchises (cough-cough-Doyle-cough) that have spent nearly as many years as Ryan has been alive simply trying to finish with a .500 record.  So let's give some credit where it's due.  Despite all the naysayers and doubting Toms, Ryan has managed to turn around the league's most neglected and abused franchise in only one year.  And not only are the Lightning looking as though they may be competitive in 2013, but they may possibly win this division.  There's not much I can do but tip my spotted cap.

Prediction: 3rd place.  Just two years after inheriting the league's most desolate franchise, and just one year after losing a BDBL-record 120 games, the Lightning are good enough to not only compete for the division title, but win it.  In any other division but the Butler, Granite State would be the odds-on favorite.  Unfortunately for Ryan, he plays in the Butler Division.  So the question you're probably asking yourself (especially if your name is "Ryan") is why I'm predicting a 3rd place finish for a team with no glaring weaknesses.  My answer is that if you were to combine the Cowtippers, Blazers and Lightning into one team, I think you'd find more Cowtippers and Blazers in the starting lineup, rotation and bullpen than Lightning.  Granted, that's not a highly scientific answer, but this isn't a highly scientific game.  Really, it all boils down to a bunch of random dice rolls.  I bet if you were to sim 1,000 seasons, the Lightning would win this division 333 times, the Blazers would win 333 times and the Cowtippers would win...334.

Corona Confederates

Owner: Ed McGowan
2012 Record: 80-80 (3rd place)
Projected Rotation: C.C. Sabathia, Derek Holland, Kyle Kendrick, Jerome Williams, J.A. Happ
Bullpen: Dale Thayer, Chris Perez, Brad Brach, Anthony Bass, Andrew Cashner, Ryan Matteus, J.J. Hoover, Andrew Miller
Projected Lineup: John Mayberry/Nate McLouth (RF), Joey Votto (1B), Albert Pujols (3B), Russell Martin (C), Howie Kendrick (2B), Erick Aybar (SS), Michael Saunders (CF), ?? (LF)

Strengths: A year ago today, C.C. Sabathia, Albert Pujols and Joey Votto were the three greatest assets to the Corona Confederates.  A year later, nothing has changed.  Corona managed to reach .500 last season on the backs of those three, and it's possible they could do so again.  The only problem with that scenario is that Votto is only available for roughly 3/4 of the season.  But that's a topic for the "Weaknesses" section.

Weaknesses: See above.  In the time that he is available, Votto will be among the greatest hitters in the entire BDBL, as he posted Bonds-like numbers in MLB last season.  But he will miss approximately 37 games in the BDBL this season, which is bound to make a difference in some way.  It's not like the entire team revolves around one player, though.  (It revolves around three, actually.)  Pujols will be around all season, barring short-term random injuries or (more likely) trade.  Unfortunately, beyond Votto and Pujols, there isn't much to talk about here offensively.  And on the pitching side, there isn't much to talk about once you get past the team's ace, Sabathia.

Outlook: It seems as though the Confederates have always been a "Stars and Scrubs" kind of team, and a very interesting team to observe as a sort of fantasy baseball experiment.  But in terms of wins and losses, I think we already know how this experiment will turn out.  This is the same experiment we witnessed last year, which resulted in a .500 record.  This year, the Confederates compete in the BDBL's toughest division, so a .500 record may only be good for last place.

Prediction: 4th place.  If/when the Confederates fall far behind in the division race, it will be interesting to see where free-agent-to-be Pujols lands after what is likely to be a bidding war.

Ravenswood Infidels

Owner: Brian Potrafka
2012 Record: 82-78 (2nd place)
Projected Rotation: Mark Buehrle, Ryan Dempster, Wei-Yin Chen, Bud Norris, Carlos Villanueva
Bullpen: Alexi Ogando, Jason Motte, Octavio Dotel, Clayton Mortensen, Joe Thatcher, Antonio Bastardo, Alfredo Aceves
Projected Lineup: Dexter Fowler (CF), Jason Kipnis/Alexi Amarista (2B), Chase Headley (3B), Chris Davis (1B), Ryan Doumit (C), Coco Crisp (LF), Rajai Davis (RF), Jerry Hairston/Cody Ransom (SS)

Strengths: The Infidels have a very strong lineup against right-handed pitching, including Headley (906 OPS), Fowler (866), Doumit (823), Davis (836), Kipnis (787), Crisp (774) and Murphy (761).  Even without San Diego's ballpark factors thrown into the mix, Headley should be in the running for OL MVP this season.  (And with what Skizm paid for him, he'd better be!)  In the bullpen, Motte is death to lefties (381 OPS), Dotel (523) is tough against righties, and Ogando (637/598) has good numbers against both.

Weaknesses: The pitching staff as a whole is solid, but not outstanding.  In terms of both ERA, CERA and opponents OPS, the Ravenswood staff ranks in the middle of the Ozzie League, but in the bottom half.  All three of their top starting pitchers, however, should perform much better in the BDBL than in MLB due to ballpark factors.  Offensively, there really isn't much of a reason to get excited about this lineup aside from its one lone superstar, Headley.  Lefties, in particular, will chew apart this lineup, as only Ransom (903), Headley (801) and Fowler (857) posted an MLB OPS above 800 against southpaws.  And I'm not sure who will play shortstop for this team against righties, but each of the three players on the roster rated at shortstop owns an OPS below 700.

Outlook: Ravenswood was named by both league polling and this page to win this division a year ago, yet scuffled through a .500 season from beginning to end.  The Infidels play in a ballpark that suppresses home runs for both lefties and righties, and they failed to capitalize on any home-field advantage inherent in the game.  In fact, they were one of only two Ozzie League teams last year that didn't win more games at home than on the road.  With much weaker competition within the division this year, Ravenswood is once again favored to represent the Benes Division in the playoffs.  And they may be able to get there with the same record (82-78) as last season.

Prediction: 1st place.  As stated above, there simply isn't much competition in the Benes Division this year.  I expect to see the Infidels jump out to a comfortable lead early in the year, and then coast to the division title.  And that should make for one happy and relaxed Brian Potrafka.

New York Giants

Owner: Jim Doyle
2012 Record: 79-81 (3rd place)
Projected Rotation: Brandon Morrow, Josh Beckett, Ricky Nolasco, Felix Doubront, Jaime Garcia, Matt Garza, Phil Hughes
Bullpen: Chad Durbin, Javier Lopez, Henry Rodriguez, Jeff Karstens
Projected Lineup: Alberto Callaspo/Will Middlebrooks (3B), Brandon Belt (LF), Carlos Beltran (CF), Mike Napoli (1B), Jesus Montero/Jason Castro (C), Ben Revere/Nate Schierholtz (RF), Darwin Barney (2B), Brandon Crawford (SS)

Strengths: The best defensive double play combo in the league.  Barney and Crawford are each rated Ex at their respective positions, and will be magical to watch this summer.  Neither one of them could hit pavement if they fell off a building, but their glovework is unrivaled.  The catching platoon of Montero and Castro could produce 80 runs created this season, and Napoli and Morrow will be outstanding for half a season until their usage runs out.

Weaknesses: Apparently, Jim Doyle's latest strategic brainfart involves managing without a bullpen.  We can only assume that he will employ a 10-man rotation or some other such goofiness this season.  Seriously, this team has no bullpen!  I listed Durbin as this team's "closer" simply because he has more than 40 MLB innings under his belt.  But he's far from being a closer.  If nothing else, Doyle provides endless entertainment.  As mentioned above, neither Barney (636/659 splits) nor Crawford (631/661) can hit a lick, so assuming both are in the lineup, that's one-third of the Giants lineup where opposing pitchers can give their arms a rest and toss underhanded.  Callaspo (634 vs. RH), Napoli (706 vs. LH) and Revere (676/675) aren't all that intimidating, either.  If New York scores more than their runs total last season (672), it would be a major accomplishment.

Outlook: It's exceedingly difficult to win at least half your games when you don't score many runs and have only 3/4 of a pitching staff.  Believe it or not, the last time this franchise scored more than 700 runs was 2008.  That was so long ago that George W. Bush was still president, Lehman Brothers was still in business, the unemployment rate was below 7%, the Senate actually passed a budget, and gas cost only a nickel a gallon.  (Or something.)  Doyle has now finished below .500 THIRTEEN YEARS IN A ROW.  The last time this franchise finished above .500, Bill Freakin' Clinton was still in office!  Although this sure doesn't look like a .500 team on paper this year, the fact that two of the teams in this division are just going through the motions allows Doyle the opportunity to finally (FINALLY!) break this streak.  Simply facing Las Vegas and Mississippi sixteen times each should ensure at least a dozen wins.  The Giants then need to somehow scrape together 68 wins against their other opponents and viola!  A .500 season!  Celebration in the streets of New York!  Or San Fran.  Or Bedford.  Or wherever it is that Doyle's team actually resides.

Prediction: 2nd place.  Opening Day is a time for optimism, but I just can't muster up enough optimism to believe the Giants will finish above .500 this year.  My prediction is 78 wins.

Las Vegas Flamingos

Owner: John Bochicchio
2012 Record: 64-96 (4th place)
Projected Rotation: R.A. Dickey, Bronson Arroyo, Jason Vargas, Ivan Nova
Bullpen: Tim Byrdak, Matt Belisle, Evan Scribner, Randy Choate, Josh Lindblom, Bryan Shaw
Projected Lineup: Ichiro Suzuki (RF), Asdrubal Cabrera (SS), Chase Utley (2B), Nick Swisher (LF), Carlos Lee (1B), Gregor Blanco (CF), Greg Dobbs (3B), Hector Sanchez/Bobby Wilson (C)

Strengths: Dickey was arguably the biggest surprise in baseball last year.  The NL Cy Young winner is not only one of the best pitchers in the league, but he's a workhorse, who is eligible to pitch 256 innings this season.

Weaknesses: Sigh.  Spending another year pointing out all the flaws on this team just seems like needless piling on.  The Flamingos lost 96 games last year, and somehow managed to take a step backward despite the out-of-nowhere performance by Dickey.  Aside from Dickey, Arroyo and Swisher, not one player from last year's roster will make a positive impact on this year's team.

Outlook: Last year, I wrote: "The Flamingoes are an old ballclub that is getting older by the minute."  So John Bochicchio spent the winter filling several open spots in the starting lineup with the likes of Ichiro (age 39), Lee (37) and Dobbs (34).  It's almost as though all my incredibly sage insight falls on deaf ears.  This team's #1 starting pitcher is 38 years old, and their #2 starter is 36.  And looking at the entirety of this roster, including the farm club, there isn't one player under the age of 30 who looks like an impact player at any time in the near future.  Quite simply, this franchise is in worse shape than any other franchise in the league.  But let's focus on the positive, shall we?  On the plus side, the Flamingos will shed $27.1 million in salary this winter with the free agent departures of Swisher, Utley and Arroyo.  It is then up to Johnny Bo to resist the temptation to fill those three roster spots with three more aging and expensive veterans.  This team desperately needs young players with upside potential.  Filling roster spots with the likes of Ichiro, Lee, Dobbs and Jason Vargas isn't going to accomplish anything productive.

Prediction: 3rd place.  The only thing preventing the Flamingos from another last place finish is the pathetic excuse for a team coming next.  Hold your noses.

Mississippi Meatballs

Owner: Nic Weiss
2012 Record: 100-60 (1st place)
Projected Rotation: Chris Sale, Luke Hochevar, Ricky Romero, Joe Kelly
Bullpen: Raul Valdes, Nate Jones, Adam Ottavino, Luis Perez, Matt Albers, Luis Avalon
Projected Lineup: David DeJesus (RF), Kevin Youkilis (3B), Jason Kubel (LF), Carlos Pena (1B), Colby Rasmus (CF), Yan Gomes/Devin Mesoraco (C), Dustin Ackley (2B), Brendan Ryan (SS)

Strengths: The best-looking GM in the league.  Oh, and Chris Sale.

Weaknesses: It's almost as though Nic Weiss saw the Granite State Lightning lose 120 games last year and thought to himself, "That's nothing!  I can top that!"  Seriously, there are too many weaknesses to list with this team.  The entire pitching staff includes only three pitchers who logged more than 110 innings in MLB last year, and that includes Hochevar (185+ IP, 4.99 CERA) and Romero (181 IP, 5.75 CERA), who were beyond awful.  I honestly don't know how the Meatballs will find enough innings to get through this season.  And the lineup is filled with players who wouldn't start for most teams in the BDBL -- even as half of a platoon.  Just imagine if Brendan Ryan (637/503 splits) were a member of your team.  With his Ex range, he'd be a defensive replacement at best.  Because I had no choice, I listed Pena (636/705) as this team's cleanup hitter.  I'm guessing he wouldn't start for any other team in the BDBL.  If the Meatballs score more than the 546 runs the Lightning scored last season, it would be a major accomplishment.

Outlook: It's always so disheartening to see a 100-win team lose 100 games the following season, as it just seems so unrealistic and so counterproductive to the stated goal of this league (which is to be the most realistic fantasy baseball league in existence.)  Unfortunately, this happens a lot in the BDBL, and it appears as though the Meatballs will join the long list of teams that have accomplished this "feat" throughout the league's history.  The very next day after Sylmar clinched the BDBL championship, Weiss announced his trade with Kansas.  That deal, which transferred a whopping $40.2 MILLION from Kansas to Mississippi, not only sealed the fate of the 2013 Meatballs, but the fate of the Law Dogs and every team with the onerous task of facing the Law Dogs this season.  I understand what the Law Dogs got out of that trade.  They were able to buy themselves a championship-caliber roster this winter.  I'll never understand what Nic Weiss got in return.

Prediction: 4th place.  120 losses just seems like an unrealistic goal, given that it took 14 years for any BDBL team to reach that total.  But I honestly don't see how this Mississippi team can win more than 40 games this season.  There is only one man stopping that from happening, and it is Sale.  He could possibly win five or six games all by himself, which may be enough to keep this team from infamy.  But something tells me that Weiss would actually enjoy a place in infamy.

Allentown Ridgebacks

Owner: Tom DiStefano
2012 Record: 107-53 (1st place)
Projected Rotation: Gio Gonzalez, Jake Peavy, Tim Hudson, Colby Lewis, Travis Wood
Bullpen: Darren O'Day, Robbie Ross, Junichi Tazawa, Koji Uehara, Greg Holland, Brad Ziegler, A.J. Griffin
Projected Lineup: Mike Trout (CF), Ryan Braun (LF), Carlos Santana (C), Giancarlo Stanton (RF), Chipper Jones (3B), Jeff Keppinger (2B), ?? (1B), Luis Cruz (SS)

Strengths: A year ago, Allentown featured MVP runner-up Jacoby Ellsbury, who came out of nowhere and hit 30 home runs after never hitting more than 9 in any other season of his career.  In 2010, Ben Zobrist came out of nowhere and hit 35 homers for Allentown, after a career in which he'd never before hit more than a dozen home runs.  In 2008, Ryan Braun hit 27 home runs in his rookie season in the BDBL, at the tender age of just 23.  He hit 5 more home runs in that season than he'd ever hit in any minor league season.  In 2005, it was Carlos Guillen who hit an astounding .360/.418/.598 for Allentown, with 42 doubles and 25 homers, following a career in which he'd never hit more than 9 home runs in any season.

Either Tom DiStefano has some sort of psychic connection to the spiritual world or he is the most talented baseball scout the world has ever seen.  There is no other option.  Just in case you needed further proof of DiStefano's psychic powers, he has done it again this year.  The latest "out of nowhere" performance for a Ridgeback is the best yet.  Mike Trout, who can't even legally drink a beer, enjoyed one of the greatest rookie seasons in baseball history last season.  Major League Baseball is supposed to be difficult.  It's so difficult, in fact, that most players -- even the ones who are incredibly successful in the minor leagues -- struggle in their rookie MLB season.  But not Mike Trout.  After a minor league career in which he'd never hit more than 11 home runs in any season, Trout made it look easy, hitting 30 home runs in just 139 games against Major League pitching.  As if that weren't enough, he also hit .326, posted a .399 OBP, stole 49 bases in 55 attempts and saved a dozen kittens from trees (a league-leading 2.4 kittens per month.)

Add into the mix Ryan Braun, whose MVP follow-up was even more impressive than his MVP season.  And Giancarlo "Don't Call Me Mike" Stanton, who posted splits of 1024/950, all while hitting in a tough hitter's park.  And let's just stop there, because no lineup needs any more than that.  As a whole, the Ridgebacks posted an OPS of 832 last season.  The next highest OPS for any team in the entire BDBL was 777.  In other words, Allentown is so far ahead of the rest of the league, they're in a league of their own.

Now let's talk about the pitching.  The discussion begins with the bullpen, which includes so many closers, it's quite honestly overkill.  I feel as though Tom is just rubbing our faces in his awesomeness, as he did last season with his outfield.  There's simply no reason for any team to have this many closers, just as there was no valid reason to use Jay Bruce as a fourth outfielder last year.  Let's just take the last guy I listed above as an example.  A.J. Griffin (82+ IP, 3.06 CERA, 629/631 splits) would easily be the closer for several BDBL teams...and yet he's only the seventh man out of the 'pen for Allentown!  Given that the average pitching staff only includes 10-11 pitchers, it's possible that Griffin won't even make the team!

Moving on to the starting rotation, Peavy was the bargain of the auction at only $10 million in salary.  He will be a Cy Young candidate this season for Allentown, and will win at least 20 games.  Mark that down as an official prediction.  And he's not even the best pitcher on this staff.  That distinction belongs to Gonzalez, who Tom somehow managed to acquire this winter while simultaneously dumping the salary of Tim Lincecum.  And then there's Tim Hudson (yawn) and Travis Wood (yawn), who would be aces for more than a few BDBL teams.

Weaknesses: Incredibly, the Ridgebacks wrapped up the free agent auction with two glaring holes still remaining at first base and shortstop.  DiStefano's master plan was to bid $11 million on Ben Zobrist, assuming that with the top tie-breaker it would be well more than enough to win that bid.  Unfortunately for Tom, the Dieppe Marauders ruined that plan.  And even more unfortunate, there was apparently no "Plan B."  As a result, the Ridgebacks will be featuring Luis Cruz (791/737 splits in 296 PA's) as their starting shortstop this season.  Not exactly championship-caliber.  The situation at first base is even more depressing.  The only eligible first basemen on the roster at the moment are Mauro Gomez (559/911 splits in 111 PA's), Travis Hafner (748/798 in 263), Keppinger and Santana.  Since the latter two are needed at other positions, that leaves this team with a very short-term patch at a position that is typically an asset in the lineup.

Outlook: Since DiStefano took over the franchise in 2001, the Ridgebacks have won four BDBL championships, five Eck League titles, six division championships, and one wild card.  They have also finished with 100+ wins four times, and 95+ wins seven times in eleven seasons.  More often than not, the Ridgebacks have been the team to beat over the past 11 years, and 2013 is no different.  As always, the Higuera Division race will be a dog fight to the end, but the Ridgebacks are clearly the top dog, both offensively and defensively.

Prediction: 1st place...and the BDBL championship.  Are you ready for a Peburn vs. DiStefano Steal Cage Death Match?  I sure hope so.  The Ridgebacks have the best offense in the league, and that's even before they begin to patch the holes in their lineup through trade.  They also have a stellar starting rotation, backed by one of the league's best and deepest bullpens.  Meet the new boss; same as the old boss.

Kansas Law Dogs

Owner: Chris Luhning
2012 Record: 106-54 (2nd place)
Projected Rotation: Zack Greinke, Jered Weaver, Hiroki Kuroda, Kris Medlen, Doug Fister
Bullpen: Fernando Rodney, Jim Johnson, Aaron Crow, Tim Collins, Cory Luebke
Projected Lineup: Juan Pierre/Lorenzo Cain (CF), Aaron Hill (2B), Carlos Gonzalez (LF), Adam LaRoche (1B), Salvador Perez/Yasmani Grandal (C), Marco Scutaro (3B), J.J. Hardy (SS), Chris Denorfia/Emilio Bonifacio (RF)

Strengths: GM Chris Luhning jettisoned more than $40 million in one trade with the Mississippi Meatballs this winter, and spent nearly that same amount ($31.5 million) on three starting pitchers: Greinke, Weaver and Kuroda.  So it makes perfect sense that Kansas' starting rotation is its main strength, given the resources allocated to it.  Incredibly, none of those three is even the best starting pitcher on this team, as Medlen had an amazing season in MLB.  Inning-for-inning, he should be the best pitcher in the BDBL this season.  Unfortunately for Kansas fans, he can only throw 152 innings this season.  As if that weren't enough, the 'Dogs also feature Fernando Rodney (74+ IP, 1.22 CERA, 435/394 splits), who set a record for lowest ERA in MLB history last season, and should enjoy an historic BDBL season this year.  His acquisition means that closer Jim Johnson (2.22 CERA in 68+ IP, 581/526 splits) is relegated to setup duty.

Weaknesses: The bottom half of the Kansas lineup isn't all that intimidating.  Scutaro is the team's de facto starting third baseman, and he brings with him a split OPS of just 718/768.  The team's starting shortstop, Hardy, hit 22 homers, but managed an OBP of just .282 and slugged just .389.  And the left-handed half of Kansas' right field platoon of Denorfia and Bonifacio managed an OPS of just 714.

Outlook: The Kansas Law Dogs won 106 games last season, and just a few months later the only players remaining from that team are Gonzalez, LaRoche, Medlen (who didn't play a role in last year's team) and a few assorted spare parts.  The strip-mining of this team began with the Mississippi trade, which gave Chris Luhning an extra $41 million in spending money.  Next came the Jose Bautista trade, which freed up another $11 million.  And finally, there was the Jayson Werth trade, which not only freed up $3.5 million in salary before the draft, but gave Kansas an extra $5 million to spend during the draft.  Taken all together, the Law Dogs had a whopping $52.1 million to spend on free agents this winter.  Combine that with one of the most talented free agent classes in recent history, and is it any wonder that Kansas is vying for another division championship despite turning over nearly 100% of their roster?  It is an unconventional way to build a championship-caliber team, and a way that is completely inconsistent with any real-life application, but it is incredibly effective.

Prediction: 2nd place, and the EL wild card.  There isn't a better pitching staff in the BDBL.  The Law Dogs as a whole compiled an ERA of just 2.94 in MLB last season.  No other team in the BDBL even comes close.  (The next closest, in fact, is Kansas' division rivals, Allentown, who clock in at 3.53.)  That is enough to ensure that this team will be competitive.  This is a very similar team to the one that won 106 games a season ago.  A year ago on this page I wrote: "Kansas will ride their pitching to the post-season, but it won't be enough to get past the Ridgebacks or Apostles."  That prediction proved to be accurate, so I'll double down on it this year.

Great Lakes Sphinx

Owner: Scott Romonosky
2012 Record: 65-95 (3rd place)
Projected Rotation: Jeremy Hellickson, Chris Capuano, Jason Hammel, Nathan Eovaldi, Tim Lincecum
Bullpen: Bobby Parnell, Shawn Camp, Hector Santiago, Louis Coleman, Mark Melancon
Projected Lineup: Austin Jackson (CF), Hanley Ramirez (3B), Pablo Sandoval (1B), Josh Reddick (RF), Ian Kinsler (2B), Alex Rios (RF), Wellington Castillo/John Jaso (C), Elvis Andrus (SS)

Strengths: The Sphinx have a left-handed hitting right fielder by the name of Josh Reddick who hit 32 home runs last year in Oakland, which has a LH HR factor of 81.  Great Lakes' home ballpark has a LH HR factor of 128.  I'm anxious to see how many home runs Reddick hits this season.

Weaknesses: Aside from acquiring Reddick this winter, it doesn't seem as though GM Scott Romonosky spent a lot of time adding players who are tailored to his ballpark, as Jackson, Ramirez and Rios are all right-handed.  It's strange to see Lincecum listed at the bottom of the rotation, but given his 2012 MLB performance he belongs there.  The rest of the Great Lakes rotation, including their "ace", Hellickson, is pedestrian.  And the Sphinx bullpen lacks a single pitcher who can dominate either lefties or righties.

Outlook: It took 12 years for this franchise to experience their first post-season, and from the looks of their last two teams it may take them another dozen years before they see the playoffs again.  Okay, that may be a bit harsh.  This is still a fairly young team.  The heart of this team -- Andrus, Jackson, Jaso, Ramirez, Reddick, Sandoval, Jose Tabata, Hellickson and Lincecum -- are all on the right side of 30 years old.  There is reason for hope in Great Lakes; just not this year.

Prediction: 3rd place.  Nearly every impact player on this roster is signed through the 2014 season, so this looks to be another placeholder season where Great Lakes simply plays out the string and tries not to lose too many games while keeping an eye on next year.

Cuenca Strangegloves

Owner: Michael Quinn
2012 Record: 47-113 (4th place)
Projected Rotation: Yu Darvish, Trevor Cahill, Marco Estrada, Tommy Hunter, Kevin Correia
Bullpen: David Robertson, Alex Burnett, Sean Marshall, Joel Peralta, Jeff Niemann, Jose Veras
Projected Lineup: Adam Eaton/Gerardo Parra (LF), Logan Morrison (1B), Jose Bautista (RF), Pedro Alvarez/Alexi Casilla (3B), Chris Iannetta/Kurt Suzuki (C), D.J. LeMahieu/Mike Aviles (SS), Mike Aviles/Steve Lombardozzi (2B), Michael Brantley (CF)

Strengths: The Cuenca bullpen is very intimidating.  Robertson, Burnett, Marshall, Peralta and Niemann each owns a split OPS below .600 against either lefties or righties.  The Cuenca starting rotation is also impressive, led by Darvish, who posted some impressive numbers (674/640 splits) in a brutal pitcher's park.

Weaknesses: Many of the best players on the Cuenca roster are hindered by low usage this season.  Bautista is limited to 438 plate appearances.  Eaton is good for only 113.  Morrison must be held to no more than 367.  And both Estrada and Hunter are limited to around 150 innings.  Another issue is the team's lineup against left-handers.  Cuenca's biggest offensive weapons -- Alvarez, Bautista, Morrison and Parra -- are all neutered by left-handed pitching.  And frankly, the lineup against right-handers isn't all that impressive, either, compared to other teams in the league.

Outlook: The Strangegloves have a very interesting team going forward.  Pedro Alvarez, Gary Brown, Matt Dominguez, Aaron Hicks, Logan Morrison, Trevor Cahill, Tony Cingrani, Yu Darvish, Marco Estrada, Luis Heredia and Dan Hudson all form a very interesting group of young players with significant upside potential.  It will be interesting to see how this team develops over the next year or few.  But for now, I'm afraid they will have to get used to looking up at the rest of this division.

Prediction: 4th place.  If/when the Strangegloves throw in the towel, Bautista and Marshall will make interesting trade bait.

St. Louis Apostles

Owner: Bobby Sylvester, Jr.
2012 Record: 97-63 (1st place, EL champions)
Projected Rotation: Mike Minor, Ervin Santana, Justin Masterson, Shaun Marcum, Rick Porcello
Bullpen: Darren Oliver, Raul Valdes, Carlos Marmol, Francisco Rodriguez, Fernando Salas, Alfredo Simon
Projected Lineup: Yoenis Cespedes (CF), Jose Altuve/Matt Carpenter (2B), David Wright (3B), Troy Tulowitzki (SS), Justin Morneau/Allen Craig (1B), Brandon Moss/Delmon Young (LF), Joe Mauer (C), Matt Carpenter/Allen Craig (RF)

Strengths: The starting lineup includes five players with an 800+ OPS against lefties and EIGHT players with an 800+ OPS against righties (not counting Tyler Moore's 902 OPS as a part-timer off the bench.)  It's easy to envision this team scoring 900 runs or more this season.  This lineup is so stocked, I couldn't even find a spot for Kyle Seager (783 vs. RH).

Weaknesses: It's no secret that Bobby Sylvester has a longstanding indifference (if not downright disdain) toward pitching, so it's no surprise that all of his time and energy this winter seems to have been the construction of the league's best lineup at the expense of his pitching staff.  Not only does this team lack a true #1 starter, but nearly every pitcher on this staff owns a platoon split that is easily exploitable, especially Masterson (825/613), Marcum (792/648), Porcello (883/725) and Santana (867/664).  You may have noticed that all four of those pitchers have trouble against left-handers -- something I'm sure St. Louis' opponents have already noticed.

Outlook: As always, it was a busy winter for Sylvester, as he made a total of 13 trades involving 63 players.  The end result of all that frantic reshuffling is a St. Louis team that features the league's best offense, hands down.  As I mentioned, the Apostles could easily score 900 runs this season, which is a milestone that no BDBL team reached last season.  On paper, St. Louis' pitching staff looks below average; however, they can afford to give up a few more runs than the average team, given this lineup.  If it becomes clear that St. Louis needs a quality starting pitcher to compete this season, there is plenty of quality trade bait on this roster to add such a pitcher.  And we all know Bobby isn't afraid to make a trade if necessary (or even when it isn't.)

Prediction: 1st place.  The Apostles have been fixtures in the post-season, having reached the Tournament of Randomness in each of the last five seasons.  Last year they were able to reach the final stage of the tournament, but ran into a "team of destiny."  This year's squad is very different from last year's, but you come to expect that when the GM makes a habit of overturning 90% of his roster year after year.  St. Louis should reach the post-season for a sixth straight year, but if you believe that pitching wins in November, then the Apostles are at a severe disadvantage.

Southern Cal Slyme

Owner: Bob Sylvester, Sr.
2012 Record: 84-76 (2nd place)
Projected Rotation: Felix Hernandez, Kyle Lohse, Jarrod Parker, Ryan Vogelsong, Bruce Chen
Bullpen: Grant Balfour, Jonathon Papelbon, Charlie Furbush, Edward Mujica, Brad Lincoln, Jason Isringhausen, Brett Myers, Burke Badenhop, Jose Arredondo
Projected Lineup: Scott Podsednik (RF), Matt Holliday (LF), Andrew McCutchen (CF), Chris Carter/Adam Dunn (1B), Wilin Rosario/Jarrod Saltalamacchia (C), Mark Ellis/Donovan Solano (2B), Jhonny Peralta (SS), Willie Bloomquist (3B)

Strengths: A starting rotation that rivals the Kansas Law Dogs'...at a fraction of the cost.  SoCal features four full-time starters, each with an opponents' OPS below .700.  And the bullpen includes a legitimate closer in Balfour, backed by several very talented setup men.  Turning to the offense, McCutchen (1140/900 splits in a very tough hitters park) is among the favorites to win the EL MVP award this season.  He is surrounded in the lineup by Holliday (1021/827) and the platoon of Carter (898 vs. LH) and Dunn (817 vs. RH), who should provide more than enough protection.

Weaknesses: The remainder of the Slyme lineup is underwhelming, to say the least.  Nearly the entire infield is an offensive black hole.  Ellis (877 vs. LH) and Solano (736 vs. RH) form a decent enough platoon, but Peralta (692/688) is abysmal, and Bloomquist (797/689) is in desperate need of a platoon mate.  I listed Podsednik as the leadoff hitter above, simply because there aren't a lot of other options.  However, he, too, needs a platoon mate, as he posted an OPS of just 651 against righties.

Outlook: There is a lot to like about this team, from the one-two combo of Holliday and McCutchen to the deep and talented starting rotation to the solid bullpen.  However, there is also a lot not to like about this team, and its weaknesses are as glaring as its strengths.  These weaknesses, however, are easily fixable, and if there is a will, there will be a way for this team to win this division.  Unfortunately, history tells us that if there is even the slightest chance that the Slyme won't be guaranteed a spot in the World Series, Bob Sylvester will wave the white flag, blow up the team, and begin working on next year's superteam.

Prediction: 2nd place.  It's difficult to predict where this team will finish year to year, because it always depends on whether Bob Sylvester thinks he has the horses to win it all.  I personally don't see those horses this year, so I'm predicting a second place finish.  But as I wrote above, there isn't much separating this team, as currently constituted, from a legitimate contender.

Niagara Locks

Owner: Mike Ranney
2012 Record: 61-99 (4th place)
Projected Rotation: David Price, Edwin Jackson, Homer Bailey, Matt Harrison, Alex Cobb, Luis Mendoza
Bullpen: Scott Atchison, Cesar Ramos, Chris Tillman, Pedro Strop, Esmil Rogers, Felipe Paulino
Projected Lineup: Carlos Gomez (CF), Adrian Beltre (3B), Josh Hamilton (LF), Nelson Cruz (RF), Jonathan Lucroy (C), Wilson Betemit/?? (1B), Joaquin Arias (2B), Yunel Escobar (SS)

Strengths: Price, Beltre and Hamilton form a really nice foundation for any team.  Among all pitchers with 200+ innings in MLB last season, only Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander own a lower opponents OPS than Price.  He is a true workhorse, and should be among the top vote-getters in the Cy Young balloting at the end of the season.  Beltre was the prize of the free agent market this winter, as he combined a lethal bat (especially against right-handers) with a Vg-rated glove.  In fact, in all of MLB last season, only three batters with 300+ at-bats against righties managed to compile a higher OPS than Beltre's .985.  And trailing just behind Beltre in that ranking is Hamilton, who posted a .965 OPS against righties while smashing 43 home runs overall (just one behind the MLB leader, Miguel Cabrera.)

Weaknesses: Once you get past those three mega-stars, there really isn't much else left to write about.  The starting rotation is solid behind Price, and Jackson, Bailey and Harrison are all above-average hurlers.  But the bullpen lacks a true closer.  (I inserted Atchison in that role based on his 485/601 splits and 1.91 ERA, but he tallied just 51+ innings.)  And the lineup is filled with holes.  For example, Betemit is the only player on the roster rated at first base, but with 405/859 splits, he's in desperate need of a platoon mate.  This leads me to believe that someone must be slotted to play out of position, but I can't imagine who that would be.  The same situation applies to second base, where Joaquin Arias (768/625 splits) is currently the only player rated at that position.

Outlook: There are too many holes on this roster for this team to be competitive this season.  Price, Beltre and Hamilton should keep this team competitive enough to avoid an embarrassing number of losses, but unless the Slyme wave the white flag again, it would be very optimistic to expect any more than a third place finish.  As a few people have already noted, the Locks look to be a formidable team in the coming years, with youngsters like Jurickson Profar, Jose Fernandez, Wily Peralta, Shelby Miller and Carlos Martinez waiting in the wings.  But for now, the franchise is in a holding pattern, waiting for the troops to arrive.

Prediction: 3rd place.  And that's all I have to say about that.

South Carolina Sea Cats

Owner: Tony DeCastro
2012 Record: 68-92 (3rd place)
Projected Rotation: Joathan Niese, Ian Kennedy, Roy Halladay, Wandy Rodriguez, Brandon McCarthy, Scott Diamond, Joe Blanton
Bullpen: Aroldis Chapman, Luke Gregerson, Wilton Lopez, Jeremy Affeldt, Jose Mijares, Tony Watson, Huston Street
Projected Lineup: Michael Bourne (CF), Trevor Plouffe (3B), Buster Posey (C), Mark Trumbo (RF), Freddie Freeman (1B), Cody Ross/Denard Span (LF), Logan Forsythe/Kelly Johnson (2B), Ruben Tejada (SS)

Strengths: The Sea Cats have enough starting pitching, quality relievers and outfielders to form two teams.  South Carolina has no fewer than seven pitchers who racked up more than 140 innings in MLB last season, seven relievers who posted a CERA under 3.50 in at least 30 innings, and six outfielders who compiled more than 350 PA's.  In addition to all that depth, the team's greatest asset is their MVP-caliber catcher, Posey.  With splits of 1262/822, compiled in a drastic MLB pitcher's park, Posey could have one of the better seasons in league history.  And Chapman has the potential to put together one of the greatest seasons of any reliever in league history.

Weaknesses: Aside from Posey, only Trumbo (808) and Ross (807) owns an overall OPS above 800, although from a platoon basis the Sea Cats have plenty of options.  The bottom half of the lineup is fairly weak, however, compared to other teams in the league.  In fact, taken as a whole, the Sea Cats' offense ranks sixth from the bottom in OPS.

Outlook: Once again, Tony DeCastro has assembled a team that should finish with somewhere between 60-70 wins, which is where this franchise has finished in 8 of the past 13 seasons.  The Sea Cats have finished above .500 exactly twice in 13 seasons.  If you are a Sea Cats fan, you have to be excited about seeing Posey and Chapman perform on a daily basis.  They will be incredibly fun to watch, and will undoubtedly have unforgettable performances this year.  But it's tough to win with just two superstars, and the supporting cast in South Carolina simply isn't good enough to make up for that fact.

Prediction: 4th place.  A few years ago, the Villanova Mustangs had a team where everything just magically clicked at the exact same moment.  All the young players who had such potential, but had disappointed in the past, suddenly blossomed at the same exact time.  And a few veteran players who bounced up and down in recent years, or had seemingly leveled off, suddenly experienced a career year.  The end result of that convergence was a BDBL championship for Tony Chamra.  The same thing could plausibly happen to this team's Tony as well.  It isn't difficult to imagine Ian Kennedy having a career year in MLB this season after so many years of steady progression.  And imagine if Wily Peralta makes the big league team out of spring training and enjoys a Michael Pineda-like rookie season.  Matt Harrison has also teased us in the past, and could easily blossom into an ace this year.  Combined with David Price, that would make a helluva starting rotation.  Offensively, we can easily imagine Posey repeating his MVP-caliber performance, and Beltre and Hamilton cranking out one more good year.  With that foundation in place, it would only take one key trade for another bat, or a savvy free agent signing, for the Sea Cats to become the odds-on favorite to win this division.  Just click your heels three times and chant "I believe" and it could happen.

Atlanta Fire Ants

Owner: Gene Patterson
2012 Record: 76-84 (3rd place)
Projected Rotation: Mat Latos, Max Scherzer, Adam Wainwright, Ross Detwiler, Clay Buchholz, Dillon Gee
Bullpen: Sergio Romo, Wade Davis, Casey Janssen, Brayan Villarreal, Jordan Walden, David Phelps, Franklin Morales, J.P. Howell
Projected Lineup: Chris Heisey/Bryce Harper (CF), Carlos Ruiz (C), Prince Fielder (1B), Alfonso Soriano (LF), Mark Reynolds (3B), Michael Cuddyer (RF), Danny Espinosa (2B), Alexei Ramirez (SS)

Strengths: Depth.  The Fire Ants have over 8,400 plate appearances on their roster (which gives them over 9,200 PA's with 110% usage).  In total, the 17 batters on the Atlanta roster accumulated more than 1,000 runs created last season (a figure topped only by the Granite State Lightning.)  A dozen different players on the Atlanta roster racked up at least 50 runs created in MLB last season.  Not even mentioned in the lineup above are Matthew Joyce (810 OPS vs. RH), Josh Rutledge (798/766 splits), Yonder Alonso (760 vs. RH) and J.P. Arencibia (774 vs. LH) -- all of whom would make terrific platoon players for most BDBL teams.  The pitching staff is equally loaded.  Who is the closer for this team?  Romo (491/537 splits)?  Davis (464/654)?  Janssen (467/666)?  Villareal (678/547)?  It doesn't matter; they're all good.  The same can be said of the starting rotation, where Latos, Scherzer, Wainwright and Detwiler could each make a case for being this team's #1 starter.

Weaknesses: Although the lineup is stacked, there are still a couple of weak spots up the middle.  Espinosa sports just a 694 OPS against righties, and Ramirez's OPS against righties is even lower at just 631.  Rutledge (766 vs. RH) can fill one of those two positions, but: a) he only had 291 PA's last season, and b) he's rated "Fr" at second base and "Pr" at shortstop.  The only other option at second is Gordon Beckham, who sported splits of 695/659 in more than 580 PA's.

Outlook: After winning it all in 2011, Gene Patterson took a year off to regroup, and that has quickly paid dividends.  During that year, Bryce Harper (who was the second-youngest player ever drafted in the BDBL when Patterson grabbed him with the #1 overall pick in 2009) burst onto the Major League scene and enjoyed a very impressive rookie season.  Will Middlebrooks came out of the Atlanta farm system to produce a rookie year that was good enough for him to become valuable trade bait.  He was shipped off to New York this winter in exchange for Soriano and Josh Reddick.  Patterson then flipped Reddick to Great Lakes (along with Starling Marte), getting not only Prince Fielder and Adam Wainwright in return, but also jettisoning John Danks' salary.  That freed up enough cash to sign Reynolds to fill the hole at third base.

But the most surprising development over the past year for Atlanta was the emergence of Ruiz as an offensive force.  After spending five years as a light-hitting on-base machine (career .265/.357/.393, with 36 HR in 619 games), Ruiz enjoyed a career year at age 33, slugging 32 doubles and 16 homers.  Combined with Fielder and Soriano, the Fire Ants now have a formidable lineup capable of holding their own against any team in the league.  And thanks their balance of solid hitting and pitching, and impressive depth, Atlanta is once again favored to win this division and return to the playoffs for the fourth time in five years.

Prediction: 1st place.  Atlanta's pitching will allow them to match up well against Allentown or Kansas, should they have to face each other in the post-season.  As we all know, at that point, it's simply a coin flip (or, if you prefer, a dice roll.)  Atlanta doesn't have the offense that Allentown has, nor the pitching that Kansas has, so they would be considered the underdogs at this point.

Akron R�che

Owner: D.J. Shepard
2012 Record: 96-64 (2nd place)
Projected Rotation: Justin Verlander, Johnny Cueto, Cole Hamels, Drew Smyly, Erasmo Ramirez, Ted Lilly
Bullpen: Joe Smith, David Hernandez, Joe Smith, Troy Patton, Joe Nathan
Projected Lineup: David Freese (3B), Jon Jay/Jayson Werth (CF), Mark Teixeira (1B), Dan Uggla (2B), David Ross/Ryan Hanigan (C), Will Venable/Scott Hairston (LF), Skip Schumaker/Jayson Werth (RF), John McDonald/Elliot Johnson (SS)

Strengths: Akron's pitching is phenomenal, and it is a toss-up whether the Ryche or the Kansas Law Dogs will finish this season with the best ERA in the BDBL.  Verlander is the odds-on favorite to win the Cy Young, which would be his second in a row.  If he does, he'll be the first member of the Ryche to accomplish that feat since the great Pedro Martinez.  The rest of the rotation is phenomenal, with two other pitchers who would be aces on most staffs.  And the bullpen is also well-stocked with quality arms.  With a pitching staff like this, you don't need much offense.  Which is a good thing, because...

Weaknesses: This team doesn't have much offense.  Including all the MLB stats for every player on all 24 rosters, Akron ranks just 18th in OPS, 18th in runs created, and 22nd in home runs.  One thing they do well is get on base, as their .332 OBP is above the league average.  But even then, playing station-to-station baseball without much speed (only three players with double-digit stolen bases, and none over 25), there isn't much potential here for massive amounts of run production.

Outlook: The Ryche allowed just 587 runs last season and scored 713, giving them a 126-runs differential and 96 wins (one more than their Pythagorean projection.)  This year's pitching staff is even better than last year's, so if we assume Akron holds the opposition to just 550 runs (a figure that would have ranked #2 in the BDBL last season), that would mean Akron would need to score roughly 676 runs to finish with the same record.  That would be a tall order considering the composition of this lineup.  So we're probably not looking at another 96-win team this season, but we are looking at a team capable of winning 88 games or more, which should put them in contention for a playoffs spot.

Prediction: 2nd place.  It's really difficult to make a prediction that a team with pitching like this won't even make it to the post-season, yet that's exactly what happened last year, and I'm afraid that's what I'm predicting to happen again this year.  Akron could very well end up with the #1 draft pick again a year from now.  Let's just hope he doesn't trade it to Luhning this time.

Chicago Black Sox

Owner: John Gill
2012 Record: 102-58 (1st place)
Projected Rotation: Madison Bumgarner, Jeff Samardzija, Gavin Floyd, Aaron Harang, Joe Saunders
Bullpen: Tyler Clippard, Brandon League, Sean Burnett, Ronald Belisario, Michael Bowden
Projected Lineup: Andrelton Simmons/Starlin Castro (SS), Evan Longoria/Casey McGehee (3B), Miguel Cabrera (1B), Matt Kemp (CF), Justin Upton (RF), Matt Wieters (C), Nick Markakis (LF), Taylor Green/Neil Walker (2B)

Strengths: Few teams can boast a starting lineup with more star power than Chicago's.  Castro, Longoria (when healthy), Kemp, Upton and Wieters are all all-stars, and in the middle of that pack stands the AL Triple Crown winner and one of the favorites to win the EL MVP this season, Miguel Cabrera.  This isn't a lineup; it's a nuclear arsenal.

Weaknesses: Aside from the ace, Bumgarner, Chicago's starting rotation is rather boring.  All of the other pitchers listed are likely to get smacked around on a regular basis, and it wouldn't be shocking if all four finished this season with ERA's north of 4.50.  The bullpen has the same issue, but lacks the dominant ace that the starting rotation has.  All in all, this is a team that will likely finish among the bottom half of the league in runs allowed.

Outlook: We've seen teams like this before in BDBL history (including a few in Chicago), and while these teams have had exciting seasons, they haven't had much post-season success.  The one outlier was John Gill's 2000 Black Sox team, which won 106 games with Todd Ritchie filling the role of staff ace.  That team, however, ranked #1 in the Eck League in ERA that season...with an ERA of 4.12.  It was a VERY different era back then.  In this modern age where pitching plays a more important role than it did a dozen years ago, I can't help but think that the present-day Black Sox are going to struggle a bit.  They certainly aren't going to finish below .500, but they don't look like a playoffs team, either.

Prediction: 3rd place.  This is a tough call.  If the Black Sox played in the Benes or Griffin Divisions, I'd pick them to easily win their division.  But here in the Eck League, they aren't even looking like a wild card team to me.  Maybe DJ and John should file a petition to switch leagues.  We'll gladly send Doyle and Peburn the other way.

Cleveland Rocks

Owner: Mike Stein
2012 Record: 66-94 (4th place)
Projected Rotation: Jordan Zimmerman, Edinson Volquez, Jake Westbrook, Carlos Zambrano
Bullpen: Drew Storen, Jared Burton, Jared Hughes, Rex Brothers, Vinnie Pestano, Eric Stults
Projected Lineup: Norichika Aoki (LF), Torii Hunter (RF), Curtis Granderson (CF), Aramis Ramirez (3B), Paul Konerko (1B), A.J. Ellis (C), Justin Turner/Michael Young (2B), Alcides Escobar/Freddie Galvis (SS)

Strengths: There is tons of depth on the bench -- especially in the outfield.  Justin Ruggiano (1129/806 splits), Craig Gentry (859 vs. LH) and Andy Dirks (751/889) would make fine platoon options for many teams in the BDBL.  Zimmerman is the type of dominant ace you like to see at the top of a rotation, and Granderson (43 HR in MLB), Ramirez (27) and Konerko (26) could each hit 30+ homers this season.  And of course, this being a Mike Stein team, you also have to contend with a bunch of annoying base stealers like Escobar (35 SB, 5 CS), Aoki (30/8), Campana (30/3), Quinton Berry (21/0), Ruggiano (14/8), Gentry (13/7) and Granderson (10/3).  The Rocks aren't likely to top their BDBL-record 264 stolen bases from last year, but that won't stop Stein from trying.

Weaknesses: Given that stolen bases stopped being relevant around 100 years ago, they don't really accomplish much except annoying the crap out of your fellow managers.  I've listed Storen as the closer here, simply based on his 635/418 splits and 1.79 CERA.  However, because he tossed only 30 MLB innings, the Rocks are going to have to find someone else to pitch the late innings at some point this season.  At first glance, there doesn't appear to be an in-house substitute, so it'll have to be a closer-by-committee.

Outlook: This is pretty much the definition of a middle-of-the-road team.  Cleveland probably won't be good enough to win a spot in the post-season, but they won't be bad enough to drop out of contention completely, either.  Their power/speed offensive combination will keep them competitive, and their pitching is good enough to keep them in most games.  But at the end of the year, we'll likely see a team with around 80 wins.  Looking ahead, there is a TON of salary about to be shed from this roster, including $30.5 million from Escobar, Granderson, Konerko, Volquez and Westbrook alone.  So we'll all be treated to another Mike Stein spending spree next winter.  Which is almost as annoying as all his base stealing.

Prediction: 4th place.  Cleveland Flops.