February, 2026
2026 Season Preview
Season 28 is upon us! Ill be honest here. This time last year, I didn't know what was going to happen. We were a little over a month past learning about Mike's passing. Being thrust into such big shoes to fill was daunting. But we made it through with an entertaining season that ended in a World Series battle that crowned Joe Demski and the Lake Norman Labradors as the BDBL Champs.
In looking over my attempt in last year's preview, I think I did OK. I got the Ozzie League's playoff teams correct which feels good. I didn't do quite as well over in the Eck, completely whiffing on Kansas who ended up with the most wins in the EL, but still three out of four ain't bad.
Last season, the Eck League looked stacked and it certainly delivered as all four playoff teams won 99 or more games. But this year doesn't look as feast or famine with Lake Norman really standing out with a very good squad, one capable of repeating as champs.
As always, best of luck to everyone, except Lee!
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 West Chester Blooms
Owner: Tim Chubb
2025 Record: (53-107, 4th place)
Strengths:
I said this last season, but it still holds: this farm system certainly looks to be in tops of the class this season based on the Top 100 lists that have dropped since the draft ended. But now, the Blooms have a solid roster to go along with that that they could leverage to become formidable.
An already good offense got a nice bump by the auction addition of a 12M Manny Machado (94 RC, .795 OPS). Add this to Will Smith (77 RC and .901 OPS from the catcher position), phenom James Wood (101 RC/.825 OPS) and Brice Turang (98 RC/.794). Oh yeah, they added Bryce Harper (93 RC/.844) at the beginning of the offseason too.
Weaknesses:
The Blooms had better have a good frequent flier airline program because they are going to have to use at least 8 different players as starting pitchers and only Dennis Rassussen has over 125 IP to use. Rasmussen will be a great front man in that rotation (2.76 ERA in 165 BDBL IP), but only Emmet Sheehan is as good but can only pitch 80 IPs.
The bullpen is slightly better, with some quality players in their other auction addition, Will Vest (.625 OPS) to go with Serathony Dominquez (.816/451 splits), Gabe Speier (.569 OPS in 68 IP). But again, overall a weak squad.
Outlook: "At some point, you have to add talent to the roster to make those farm players have someone to play with." Well, the Blooms are doing just that. They may be a year away from being a really good squad, but in a weak Glander, they could really break out with a surprise playoff appearance.
Prediction: Worst to first, courtesy of no other strong contenders.
 Flagstaff Peaks
Owner: Greg Newgard
2025 Record: 95-65 (2nd place, OL Wild Card and OL Champs)
Strengths:
The strength in Flagstaff is probably still the pitching staff especially with the addition of Max Fried from the Indy Racers. Fried will be the workhorse with a sub-3.00 ERA and overall 200 IP, an increasing rarity these days. Spencer Schwellenbach had a solid half-season and will contribute 120 IPs. But then Michael Wacha, Ryan Pepiot and Jose Berrios will provide roughly league-average output to round things out.
The offense will revolve around the duo of Corbin Carroll and Michael Busch who each posted 30+ HRs and OPS in the high .800s. The bullpen is usually a strength, and the Peaks still have some solid high-leverage options in auction-addition Raisel Iglesias along with Andrew Kittridge, Brennan Bernadino and Danny Coulombe who all have OPSs against around .600 or so.
Weaknesses: Outside of the Carroll-Busch duo, the offense is very middling and full of platoon guys that can be somewhat mitgated as games progress. Trading away Jackson Merrill was not and expected move and hampers the offense a bit, but they were avble to land Fried and added some some solid prospects and somewhat replaced the usage in the OF in Gavin Sheets and Jake Meyers. But the Peaks struggled to find options at both 2B and 3B and may have to spend some prospect capital to address that.
And as mentioned above, the bullpen is not as good as past iterations. There isn't a lock-down closer type per se and bridging from starters to get to the 8th inning and beyond is going to be tough, highlighting another area that could be address in trade.
Outlook: The World Series appearance was an unexpected but welcome end to our season as we really played well to get out of the Ozzie side of the bracket. This year's squad could have another playoff appearance in them, as the Glander really lacks a powerhouse team as of press time.
Darien is rebuilding, but West Chester is on the rise and has a farm system that can easily land them what they need in a playoff run.
Prediction: 2nd place. I think we'll fight with West Chester all season, but will ulitmately fall short and we likely don;'t have a team worth investing in for a wild card effort.
 Lincoln Standing Bears
Owner: Tim Emry
2025 Record: 82-78 (3rd place)
Strengths:
Shohei Ohtani didn't quite match his 50/50 threat from 2024, but he still posted 55 homers and OPS of over 1.000 to lock down that DH spot in the newly-rebranded Lincoln. Lincoln also got the benefit of being a new owner to get some bad money off their ledger, so they got to be very active in the both the auction and draft markets, landing some solid infield bats in Dansby Swanson and Brett Baty to go with Rafael Devers (35 HRs, 112 RC), Wyatt Langford (78 RC with a .775 OPS) and Jung Hoo-Lee (80 RC), lengthing a lineup that will rival West Chester's as the Glander's best.
Weaknesses:
This franchise continues to struggle putting together a quality starting rotation. Tim Emry did spend 12M of his budget in the auction on 30-year olds Sandy Alcantara and Zac Gallen as reclamation projects next year and will slot in the back of the Lincoln rotation. But Adrian House (3.21 in 137 BDBL IP), Casey Mize (3.87, 165) and MacKenzie Gore (4.17, 176) isn't an inspiring front end. Ohtani pitching while rehabbing, making 14 starts but only racking up 47 IPs.
The bullpen is led by Edwin Diaz (1.63 ERA and 98 Ks in 66+ IP) but it's going to be hard to get to him in the ninth with the rest of a bullpen that with OPSs near .700.
Outlook: As I said last season, it seems obvious that the Standing Bears are going to have to win a lot of 9-7 and 12-10 ballgames again this year. They couldn't do that enough last season to keep pace with a 95-win Flagstaff team, but this season, even a slight imorovement in run prevention could go a long way.
Prediction: 3rd place. I really like where this team is headed, but the pitching is going to hold them back as well as just the general new-guy learning that Tim will go through. But I am optimistic about Lincoln's chances enough that it wouldn't surprise me if they could squeak out 90 wins somehow and win this thing.
 Darien Blue Wave
Owner: Lee Scholtz
2025 Record: 109-51 (1st place)
Strengths:
This is a different Blue Wave squad than we've seen in the past three seasons. They'll still bring a top-notch bullpen to the yard each game as Andres Munoz (1.73 ERA, .493 OPS allowed), Jhoan Duran (2.06/.564) and JoJo Romero (2.07/.596) should protect any all leads Darien comes across this season.
The Blue Wave outfield will bring the lion's share of their offense as Riley Greene (36 HRs, .806 OPS), Heliot Ramos (21/.728) and Oneil Cruz (20/.676). Mike Trout will finally earn a little of his huge TYpe H auction contract as a DH with his 27 HRs and .797 OPS. But they traded Cal Raliegh to Gulf Coast in a pre-emptive move to start what could be a short rebuild in earnest, netting Trey Yesavage and Cam Schlitter among others.
Weaknesses:
The rotation is ugly as Logan Gilbert and Cam Schlitter are the only starters with sub-4 ERAs in what will add up to be about 225 BDBL innings, or one 4-man rotation spot. Mitch Keller and George Kirby are around league average and Kyle Freeland will be ugly.
The overall offense is about 100 OPS less than their previous iterations. Yordan Alvarez's injury basically will turn in him into what Lee used to use Trout for, an occasional start and solid PH option. The infield boasts two players with OPSs over .700.
Outlook:
After three very good seasons that were punctuated with playoff upsets, the run of 100+ win seasons will not continue, at least this season. This is a very middle of the road team that should land between 75-85 wins. Look for them to continue to reload for 2027 and beyond as they will try to move some of those bullpen pieces as well as Trout to maximize that effort despite likely already having one of the best farm systems in the BDBL.
Prediction:
Last place. In a weak division, this team could land anywhere between first and last, but I really think they'll sell off, hampering their final placement.
 Las Vegas Flamingos
Owner: John Bochicchio
2025 Record: 98-62 (1st place)
Strengths:
The Las Vegas offense is stacked with power hitters. Pete Alonso leads the way with 38 HRs but Taylor Ward hit 36, Salvador Perez had 30, and nine other Flamingo batters had double-digit totals.
The pitching staff is solid, fronted by Zack Littell and Jack Leiter (3.81 and 3.86 ERAs respectively). The bullpen is led by the age-defying and yoked Aroldis Chapan, who Vegas had to go Tyoe H in order to secure his services, but there are some nice pieces in Braxton Ashcraft (2.71 ERA), Bryan King (2.78) and Robert Garcia (2.95) slated to bridge the gap to Chapman.
Weaknesses: The downside of all that pop is that these hitters generally don't do much else. Josh Naylor did hit 20 bombs and had a team-leading .353 OBP and 30 stolen bases, but after that and Alonso's .347 OBP, it gets ugly quick. Throw in a nearly 3-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and this team could be just hitting a ton of solo bombs all season.
Outlook: The Flamingos won 92 games last year and crusied to the playoffs as no one else in the Benes put up a fight, but this time around Akron looks to get back to their usual business. If the Flamingos can overcome their weakness of getting on base and turning their lineup over, they could be dangerous.
Prediction: 1st place. The offense is a concern, but should be enough to win out.
 Akron Ryche
Owner: D.J. Shepard
2025 Record: 79-81 (2nd place)
Strengths:
When you think of Akron, what comes to mind first? For me, it's pitching and once again the Ryche will have it. Bryan Woo (2.94 ERA in 200+ BDBL IPs) and Merrill Kelly (3.52 ERA, 200+) will front the rotation. The bullpen is stocked full of solid relievers (six with sub-.600 OPS against) without a true closer-type.
Ronald Acuna is back from injury and will bring his .900+ OPS back to right field for about 3/4 of the season, which is a welcome sight. Steven Kwan should be a solid leadoff option to get things started as well.
Weaknesses: Where is the rest of the rotation? Akron was sort of joking in the offseason about an opener rule, but Akron really is going to be creative. Corbin Burnes and Hunter Dobbins could fill most of one rotation slot, and Slade Ceconni could fill most of the last spot. Will they just be short starters for the rest of the time and hand it off to the pen?
The lineup is generally thin, but they do excel in getting on base at least. Can they string enough hits together for long enough?
Outlook:
Both Akron and Las Vegas are flawed teams with fairly big issues, bigger than what a few trades could fix in a season. On paper, they could hang with Vegas all season in a tight race, but it really depends on how they can deploy all of their relievers.
Prediction:
2nd place. I don't ever want to sell D.J. short, and it feels like there is a world where this team can take the division like 4 times out 10, but my ample gut doesn't quite buy it. But they should take wild card.
 Ravenswood Infidels
Owner: Brian Potrafka
2025 Record: 65-95 (4th place)
Strengths:
The rotation is honestly is in fairly strong shape, or at least 3/4 of it is. Nate Eovaldi (1.73 ERA in 143 BDBL IP), Noah Cameron (2.99/152) and Kevin Gausman (3.59/212) form a really strong foundation and Reese Olson (3.15/75) can help cover the gaps in usage.
The bullpen also has some nice pieces in Shawn Armstrong (2.31 ERA in 80+ IP), Garrett Whitlock (2.25/79) and Jakob Junis (2.97/72+). Zach Neto returns after posting a weird 26/26 season
Weaknesses: Charlie Morton and Walker Buehler are the best options to fill the last rotation slot and neither should be anywhere near a BDBL rotation.
Injuries wrecked some really solid offensive performances by Isaac Parades and Max Muncy. But after Neto, the rest of the offense is filled with mostly league-average guys.
Outlook: I bragged last season about Ravenswood's under-25 club in Neto, Tristan Casas and Zach Gelof. Only Neto has paid off as Casas got off to a slow start and then was lost for the year. Gelof was released.
But there is there is a spark here, but I still think it's going to be another long season for the Infidels..
Prediction: 3rd place. All the injuries really snake-bit the effort.
 Indy Racers
Owner: Shawn Lechner
2025 Record: 78-82 (3rd place)
Strengths:
Max Fried and Andrew Abbott should be a solid 1-2 punch at the top of this rotation... wait. They were traded this offseason along with trading J.D. Martinez. But those deals did net the Racers a ton of young players that should help them rebuild, adding big names like Jackson Merrill, Jordan Lawler, Logan Henderson and bunch more names.
Weaknesses: I don't mean to dump on Indy here, but there really isn't any strengths, they must all be weaknesses, right? The offense will be led by Merrill and Brandon Nimmo, the return from Flagstaff in the Fried deal, but there there is no real support around them and Nimmo could be a decent trade piece in season. The rotation is unexciting at best. The bullpen is weak with really only Caleb Thielbar being an exciting arm that will have more value on the trade market.
Outlook: Shawn Lechner acquited himself well last season in taking over a flawed roster and keeping that team at .500, but it's probably time to tear it down and start over and that appears to be what he has done with the moves to date.
Big rebuilds are never fun, but the moves Indy made this offseason did net the Racers some solid MLB youth to build around. It'll be exciting to watch how Indy positions themselves moving forward.
Prediction: 4th place but could go battle Ravenswood to stay out of the cellar.
 Los Altos Undertakers
Owner: Jeff Paulson
2025 Record: 75-85 (2nd place)
Strengths:
The re-tooled Undertakers are primed to re-take their position on top of the Griffin Division, but for once it looks like it'll be mostly focused on the bats as they have one of the best offense in the OL. With four hitters with mid .800 OPSs (Seager, Bichette, Tucker, Rice) as well as 31-homer Brandon Lowe, there isn't one bat to avoid, but a long lineup to navigate through four or more times a game.
Garrett Chochet will front the staff with is 2.59 ERA and 255 Ks for about 225 BDBL IPs. Kris Bubic, Joey Cantillo and Tyler Glasnow are three half-starters that can be leveraged as well.
Weaknesses: While Los Altos's bullpen isn't terrible, it's not up to the standards we are accustomed to from a Paulson-run squad. For instance. he only has three low .500 OBP relivers in Steven Okert, Robert Suarez and Brad Kellwer. And he only has four OOGYs with a sub-.500 split. Pathetic.
Outlook: Los Altos should be back on top as they are used to and should battle for best team in the Ozzie this season. I don't really see any outright super teams in the OL this season, but this is as close as you can get I think.
Prediction: 1st place. And probably my chalk pick to represent the Ozzie League in the World Series.
 Bear Country Jamboree
Owner: Matt Clemm
2025 Record: 74-86 (3rd place)
Strengths:
Logan Webb (3.22 ERA), Freddy Peralta (2.70), and Ranger Suarez (3.20) will front of rotation that can hang with what the other Griffin teams offer. All have sub .700 OPSs. There are also some solid bullpen pieces with auction-winning Kenley Jansen likely locking down saves while Mike Vasil and Drew Pomeranz supporting him.
The offense will be led by Jonathan Aranda who boasts a near-.400 OBP at first with some pop to push that OPS to nearly .900. Mike Stanton had a solid half-season at DH cranking 24 homers to show signs of what made him such a dangerous hitter. William Contreras had another solid season as well.
Weaknesses: Overall, the offense just may not be robust enough. Outfielders J.J. Bleday and Nick Castellanos have a little pop left, but have OBPs below .300. Yoan Moncada had a solid half-year himself, but there isn't much else to supplement with. Ozzie Albies posted an OPS of .671.
Outlook: I was hopeful last season that that squad could have done and pressured Cleveland but that didn't happen. This team has a playoff caliber rotation, just not much else.
Prediction: 2nd place but by a far margin.
 Cleveland Rocks
Owner: Mike Stein
2025 Record: 92-68 (1st place)
Strengths:
The Rocks have not a great pitching staff, they nearly have enough usage for two full staffs. Carlos Rodon (3.09 ERA), Robbie Ray (3.65), Luis Castillo (3.54), Ryne Nelson (3.39) and Chad Patrick (3.53) might be the best rotation in the Ozzie League. And they could probably trade Tanner Bibee and/or Logan Allen for help elsewhere. Add in solid bullpen and you have the makings of something.
The Rocks traditional value speed on the bases, especially now with the limited pickoff moves rule but they have some real thump in the lineup from George Springer (32 HRs, .959), Cody Bellinger (29/.813) and Willy Adames (30/.740).
Weaknesses: The bulk of the offense in Cleveland is centered around the three players noted above. The infield especially is weak outside of Adames, unless Bellinger is slated for first.
Outlook: After timing a great year along with a subpar Los Atlos team, the Rocks were able to channel all of that into a Griffin tite. But with Los Altos reloading, and the Rocks offense not quite being good enough, it could be back to the middle of the pack for Cleveland.
Prediction: 3rd place. They'll have a better record than most 3rd place teams, but can't really do anything with Los Altos.
 Maarva's Militia
Owner: Larry Langellier
2025 Record: 46-114 (4th place)
Strengths:
Having a ton of auction money is a strength, right? The Militia spent 41M in the past auction, landing eight players, but having to go Type H on six of them. The bulk of that spending was done on the pitching side of the ledger, landing Dean Kremer, Lucas Giolito and Eric Lauer to supplement their rotation. Tyler Rogers, Garrett Cleavinger and Kyle Finnegan were added to help create a bullpen capable of winning close games.
Pete Crow-Armstrong and Shea Langeliers are 31-homer thumpers that should sit in the middle of the lineup.
Weaknesses: The downside of all that pitching spending will come at the expense of the offense. Outside of PCA and Langliers, there is nothing to supplement that at all. It'll be hard for this team to score runs at all
Outlook: The good news is, the pitching is solid enough that Maarva's should not only not repeat their 114-loss season from last year, but could avoid 100 losses all together, a step in the right direction. I think the hope on all of this Type H pitching is that those players can maintain enough value to be trade pieces next season to add some bats as well as hope their farm can graduate bodies.
Prediction: 4th place, but not the worst team and could even battle for third place with Cleveland.
 Kansas Law Dogs
Owner: Chris Luhning
2025 Record: 107-53 (1st place)
Strengths:
Another powerful offense in a division full of them. Seven players amassed 25 or more MLB homers with Junior Caminero leading the way with 45. Four players had 23 stolen bases or more with Jazz Chisholm and Trevor Story swiping 31 each (to go along with 31 and 25 bombs respectively).
And the bullpen is quite nice with Dennis Santana and Jason Adam being a nice 1-2 punch at the end of games.
Weaknesses: I think it has to be the rotation, which is better than Gulf Coast's but not nearly as good as South Philly's. Clay Holmes and his 3.53 ERA will lead the way for the Law Dogs, but after that it is a collection of league-average Seth Lugo's and Luis Ortiz's.
Outlook: This race feels like a repeat of 2025, just with a little lesser performance as I don't know how this team can with 100 games as constructed.
Prediction: 1st place. They'll be locked in a battle with Gulf Coast, but the advantage in pitching should carry them.
 Gulf Coast Badgers
Owner: Tony Badger
2025 Record: 99-61 (2nd place, EL Wild Card)
Strengths:
Homers! The Big Dumper and his 60 homers found his way over to the Badgers at the expense some good, young pitching. Add him to a lineup with Eugenio Suarez (49 HRs), Jo Adell (37), Jose Altuve (26) and Ramon Lauerano (24, really?) and there really isn't a lot of places to hide from long balls from opposing pitchers. Especially with this team playing in a park like Cincinnati.
Weaknesses:
Everything else. The pitching is not good outside of Zach Wheller and his 2.71 ERA at the front of the rotation and Bryan Abreu (2.28 ERA with 105 Ks) likely in the back of the bullpen. But everything in between is very middle of the road at best. The bullpen may need to add more arms before the season ends too.
Outlook:
Everything old is new again and the re-branded Bagers are back in the BDBL and they are fresh off a Wild Card. They also aren't the first or last team to have a one-sided stregnth, selling out to outscore their opponents, series after series. Will it be good enough for a second straight playoff appearance?
Prediction: 2nd place. I really worry about the pitching staff and it's not fixable in season.
 South Philly Gritty
Owner: J.D. Luhning
2025 Record: 64-96 (3rd place)
Strengths:
Kyle Schwarber will lead the Gritty offense with his 56 HRs and his .928 OPS. But he isn't the only weapon as Brent Rooker (30/.814) and Jeremy Pena (17/.840) are nice complements. South Philly has three more players with 20 or more homers, but have an OBP under .300, indicating a long of selling out for power there.
The top of the rotation has a nice 1-2 punch with Matt Boyd (3.21 ERA) and Framber Valdez (3.66) at the top with 210 and 200 available innings to use respectively. Shota Imanaga makes a nice #3 (3.73) just with less IP available at around 160, but someone like a Tyler Mahle (2.18/95 IP) could be paired with him. That gives the Gritty a nice foundation to work with. Randy Rodriguez, Isaac Mattison and Trevor Megill are solid relievers, but each carry a split difference that could hamper them.
Weaknesses: Overall, this offense feels top heavy and make fit in the middle of the pack in the EL. The OF will likely be mainly handled by DHs Schwarber and Rooker who are each rated as Pr at the corners. But in general, upgrades in the outfield especially focused on getting on base, would be welcome. The bullpen could stands a lockdown guy and maybe another addition or two.
Outlook: After a down year, it looks like a lot of things lined up for the Gritty to build a sold squad that could compete for the division crown.
Last year's good news of weak competition is not the case anymore and Gritty fans will have a ton of competition in this division this season, which will surpress win totals overall. The Law Dogs are better and the Sovereigns are vastly improved over their improvement last year. This division will be a key one to watch and should issue two postseason berths.
Prediction: 3rd place. The rotation is good enough to keep them in this race, but the upgrades mentioned could make a difference and propel them a playoff spot.
 Jacksonville Jackalopes
Owner: Nick Cifrese
2025 Record: 59-101 (4th place)
Strengths:
It's been a rough pair of seasons for Nick Cifrese as he has averaged 100 losses over that time, but things are looking up in Jacksonville, especially on the mound. Hunter Brown (2.43 ERA, 200+ IP) and Quinn Preister (3.32/175+) are nice young arms to build around. Throw in Grant Holmes (3.99/125) and this looks like the making of the second-best rotation in this division, if it was one SP longer.
Weaknesses: The glaring weakness has to be the offense, especially when looking just within the division. It's no question this is the worst offense in the division, if not maybe in the EL. The Jackalopes spent 25M in this year's salary on 36-year old Freddie Freeman to lead the bats with his 24 homers and .869 OPS, both team highs, and Alex Bregman (18/.821). But the dropoff is significant after that.
The Jackalopes contiune to rank among the bottom-quarter in the BDBL in OPS and OPS allowed. They have enough usage to play the season, which is something, but there isn't even alot of solid trade bait to build with in-season.
Outlook: Spending a ton of money of Freeman was a choice and a risky one. Bregman was a bit safer, but he too is on the wrong side of 30. Jacksonville will likely be hoping for one more solid year out of them so they can flipped for help next season while the youth comtinues to mature.
Prediction: 4th place. They have enough pitching to avoid 100 losses, and maybe by quite a few losses, but it's still going to be uphill sleding for this franchise.
 Lake Norman Labradors
Owner: Joe Demski
2025 Record: 102-58 (1st place, BDBL Champs)
Strengths:
The main strength of our defending champs are basically that they are slightly better than the rest of their division in every facet of the game. The offense isn't going to be flashy, but they have like 8 players with OPSs around .770 so they won't kill you per se, but they should keep the line moving. The rotation is solid front by workhorses Jacob DeGrom (2.97 ERA), Yusei Kikuchi (3.99), Joe Ryan (3.42), and Dylan Cease (4.55) that will all have 185 innings or more to deploy. Then Hunter Greene and Jose Quintana can fill in any gaps, or likely limit to Cease's impact.
The bullpen is also very strong and might be the best unit on this team. They have about 300 innings of guys that recorded OPSs in the low .600s or better with Matt Svanson maybe being the tasty weapon with a .466 OPS against and VG durability rating.
Weaknesses: This Labs roster is not as good as the one that won it all last year, but it doesn't really have a weak spot. As is, they probably win this division going away and just getting in the playoffs in half the battle.
Outlook: Changing mascots last season sure paid dividens with that shiny new trophy and they wil run a squad back that is playoff-able, but given the strength in the Higueria, they'll have to win the division.
Prediction: 1st place and should be a worthy playoff opponent to challenge anyone they may face.
 Niagara Locks
Owner: Mike Ranney
2025 Record: 80-80 (3rd place)
Strengths:
All the bats fronted by the 20-million dollar Aaron Judge (50 HRs, OPS over 1.100). Then there was the 15.5M Byron Buxton who clubbed 35 homers. Then there are the rest of the names you know. Witt Jr. Guerrero. There is a lot to like with run production for the Locks and they certain went all in on that side of things, spending over half of their cap this season on just two guys.
The bullpen isn't a world beater, but there are a good amount of solid options like Edward Bazardo (.674/.492), Lucas Erceg (.539/.762) and Jalen Beeks (.611/.624) that won't embarrass themselves.
Weaknesses:
The bats are vastly improved from last seaosn, but the pitching staff took a step backwards. Jameson Taillon and Justin Verlander has decent seasons (3.68 and 3.85 respectively) but aren't really frontline guys. Patrick Corbin and Eduardo Rodriguez can function as workhouse types to saok up innings but won't have quality with them.
Outlook: This a flawed roster that just won't have the horses to complete, likely falling around the middle of the road.
Prediction: 2nd place? The offense is a positive improvement, but is this just a ploy to gamble on them having good seasons to flip for talent next season?
 D.C. Memorials
Owner: Adam Miner
2025 Record: 96-64 (2nd place)
Strengths:
Paul Skenes anybody? 1.97 ERA and 200+ innings to use him? Jose Ramirez ahd his 30 HR, 44 SB season to play every game for the Memorials this season? Overall the offense has some good pieces to go with JRam with a nice catching tandem in Austin Wells (21 HRs, .712) and Ivan Herrera (19/.837). Ketel Marte (28/.893) has second base locked down and Kyle Stowers (25/.912) with man a corner outfield spot with a good bat.
Weaknesses:
Outside of Skenes, the rotation looks absymal as Luis Severino is the next best starting option with a 4.54 ERA. The bullpen will do that rotation very little in favors as auction-add Matt Strahm is the only real solid option there. After those really nice bats I mentioned, there is a big drop off with the rest of the lineup.
Outlook: It was tough to see this team win 96 games and not play in the postseason. But that won't be a big concern this season as this team looks destined to sit around .500 with too many issues to resolve.
Prediction: 3rd place? I think everyone in this division is looking up at Lake Norman and could all be jockeying around .500.
 Highland Freedom
Owners: Bob Sylvester, Sr. (manager), Bobby Sylvester (GM)
2025 Record: 62-98 (4th place)
Strengths:
Landing Cristopher Sanchez in the auction sure nicely rounded out a very strong rotation for the Freedom. Sanchez joins Yoshinobu Yamamoto with nearly identical 2.50 ERAs followed by Brayan Bello (3.35), Edward Cabrera (3.53) and Jesus Luzardo (3.92). Add in a bullpen capped by Josh Hader and Mason Miller and t
Weaknesses: The offense projects to be among the worst in the EL. Overall, this team will not get on base consistently enough and there isn't any power to help with that. The youth is promising when you have names like Jackson Chourio, Marcelo Mayer and Colson Montgomery that will form a nice foundation to build off of down the road.
Outlook:
The normal operation with this franchise is usually all-in or full rebuild and this really looks like the rare in-between sort of situation. The pitching is nice and could lead to a ton of 2-1 or 3-2 games. The one hallmark that never changes in the commitment to build thorugh the farm and this looks to be a top-third sort of farm.
Prediction: 4th place. Only because I think the selloff will come and they'll take advantage of the better in-season benefits from that.
 Chicago Black Sox
Owner: John Gill
2025 Record: 69-91 (4th place)
Strengths:
A stacked offense that doesn't have that one guy like a Judge or Soto to scare you, but a long lineup that can treated to go deep from 1 to 9 as 15 Black Sox players racked up double-digit homers.
Chicago paid a pretty penny to bring Andrew Abbott into their rotation, that gives them about 800 BDBL IP with an combined OPS against at around .650 with an ERA around 3.00. The bullpen doesn't shock you, but is very sold from top to bottom.
Weaknesses: There are nits that could be picked, but overall, this is a well-rounded team. However, the farm was nearly emptied out in the Abbott deal, so those nit may end up going unpicked.
Outlook: This feels like a playoff team to me, not one that looks like it could win it all right now, but you have to get in to have a chance.
Prediction:
1st place. This should be a battle with Myrtle Beach and my head thinks the Hitmen are better, but my heart leans toward the experience John brings to bear.
 Myrtle Beach Hitmen
Owners: Mitch Gill (GM), Ryne Gill (manager)
2025 Record: 86-74 (2nd place)
Strengths:
The Hitmen bring back another strong roation with Tarik Skubal being the show horse (2.21 in 215 BDBL IP) and a plethora or half-season starters that can mix-and-match against most opponents. Chris Sale (2.58/138 IP), Kodai Senga (3.02/125 IP), Stephan Kolek (3.51/124 IP) and Trevor Rogers (1.81/120 IP) can be combined for two full SP slots. There are also some solid bullpen pieces to back them up.
The offense is much better than last year and has a ton of pop, led by rookie Nick Kurtz who hit 36 homers and posted an OPS of just over 1.000, albeit in a minor-league park in Sacramento. But there are good options at nearly ever position with some great options on the bench.
Weaknesses: As mentioned, the bullpen has some solid guys but there is no real shut down option in a closer spot, per se, so landing a big name there could round out things well.
Outlook: This is fairly complete team that stands to improve on their 86-win campaign last season, now that they have the bats to go with the arms. Those Gill boys will be battling against Dad is another fun twist on this division race.
Prediction: 2nd place and will battle for the division race and I will predict them taking the wild card spot.
 Charlotte Mustangs
Owner: Tony Chamra
2025 Record: 99-61 (1st place)
Strengths:
With Judge leaving in free agency, the Mustangs still have their other flagship superstar bats in Juan Soto (43 HRs, 921 OPS), Francisco Lindor (31/.811) and Julio Rodriguez (30/.798).
Weaknesses:
After that big three, Charlotte has little else in the lineup to support them, giving their opponents an easier time to work around those bats. From a rebuilding perspective, only Lindor can be moved. But with a 12M price tag and a contract that ends in 2028, it'll be interested to see if he is shopped and if so, what sort of return he could fetch.
The pitching is atrious with a rotation that is full of #5 (or worse) starters and a bullpen with very little impacrt outside of Justin Sterner (3.18 ERA and .633 OPS allowed), Jordan Leasure (3.92/.556) and Braydon Fisher (2.70/.544) being bright spots in the bullpen.
Outlook:
There is too much to fix so this is a rebuilding year in Charlotte after their playoff disappointment last season.
Prediction: 3rd place. Are the bats enough to prevent 100 losses?
 North Carolina Iron Spider Pigs
Owner: Ian Hartner
2025 Record: 51-109 (4th place)
Strengths:
The farm system is nice and could be in the top five when rankings come out.
Weaknesses:
I don't like piling teams when they are down, but this is another really tough roster to evaulate. Some of the young names that were promising are starting to age, as Bryson Stott and Spencer Steer are 28 now and posted disappointing low .700 OPSs. After trading out their best trade chip in Matt Chapman, there isn't a solid bat on this team outside of a Brandon Marsh whose .785 OPS can't be expected to lead a team.
The rotation looks like a bunch of inning fillers with ERA way above league average and I can't find a bullpen target that I'd like on my team as any sort of upgrade anywhere.
Outlook: Fresh off of losing 109 games last season, this Iron Spider Pigs roster will have a challenging time keeping from repeating that feat.
Prediction: 4th place and likely the first pick in the farm draft in 2027.
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