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Ann
Arbor, MI. - February 11, 2009 by Leonard Lucas
Well
with the draft behind and the many moves that have taken place
the season is in front of us. The draft left us with some surprise
picks for the future and the most logical ones as well. Some teams
are right there to contend this year that were not there last year.
Having put pressure on some aging managers that have had a impact in
the playoffs the last few years. With that said, we can look for the
new manager, Billy Costa, to bring some excitement to the American
League with the addition of the White Sox. And veteran skipper Gary
Gandara with moving from the National
League to the American League.
The
National League looks to be competitive this year for the first year
in a couple years. With the veteran and new manager, Joe Terry, the
Braves look to be on track this year while Crash Davis has made it a
point to have a hostile
takeover for bragging
rights this year. Steve Sutherlin looks to be on the right
track with the Mets and Todd Vennis had a surprising draft for the
Pirates with all those 1st round picks. Crafty skipper, Ted Talbott,
still resides in San Diego and nothing but championships hang from
his monitor.So this writer and manager of the Cleveland
Indians forsees each division to have its own races to the
final spots are taken.
The usual trades will be flying around this league led by the
Rangers and Indians with a couple other managers to follow suit. It
looks like a fun year is upon us this year and some good things to
happen in the future. One thing this manager and American
League President is going to do is have a plaque to the
winner of the World
Series. Each year after that the winner can send it to the
World Series manager. Your name will be placed on the name plate and
forwarded to the new manager. A good tradition to start and add a
few bragging rights during those long awaited draft days each year.
Good
luck all and as I part I would like to say one thing .....
"PLAY BALL"
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Crash
Sends Red Tags to 7
Cincinnati,
OH. - January 23, 2009
The
Cincinnati
Reds front office has emerged from the draft war room.
Several reporters are curious as to the Reds sudden pick shuffling
to move up to the #4 slot in the draft. They also retained the
#7 pick and may not be done gathering picks. Some of today's
moves come as no surprise after finishing 26 games out of first
place. While the Reds did finish over .500 for the first time
in the Crash Davis regime the improvement was not enough to contend.
The Dodgers, Braves and Padres really ran away with the division
from the start.
Michael
Thomas - AKA Crash Davis
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ABL
Prepares for 2009 Draft
Victorville,
CA. - January 23, 2009
As
America's Baseball League prepares for its 2009 draft we
find two teams vigoursly making moves to get draft picks and
others wishing to get into the action.
The
Reds have recently made a push to secure #4 pick of this very deep
draft. They recently sent #9 and #21 in exchange for that #4 pick,
but the question is, what is at 4 and you cant get at 9 or 7? Only
GM Thomas can answer that question. Unfortunately the only pick
that the Reds have in the first three rounds is that #4 & #7,
so they will have to be a wise choice?
On
the other hand you have the Rangers who were too deep in certain
positions and was basically begging for teams to unload his excess
C and SS. Fortunately GM Sinclair found takers for both securing
picks #23 & #17. Then Sinclair turned around and parlayed 16
& 17 for 6. Currently the Rangers hold 6, 11 and 25 in the
first three rounds. The Rangers are in a position of drafting the
best available and no specific needs.
At
the top of the draft you see the Pirates with #1 and #2. GM Vennis
stated in a text message that "there has been a lot of
interest in #2, but I plan on going into the draft with the top
two picks". This leads you to ask, what is he going to take.
This is a draft that is very heavy pitching and some descent
sticks, but not a lot.
Based
on the current league requirements, there are at least 12 fulltime
pitchers while the hitters only total 3.
When
you review the roster of the Pirates, the only hole they have is
at 3B. They are pretty deep in every other position including
pitching, however the Pirates currently hold picks 1, 2, 14, 15,
26, 29 & 39 and this is even before the end of the third
round.
The
Pirates who were the laughing stock of the ABL in 2008 look like
they will be a team to recon with in 2009.
Other
teams only wish to get into the action. The Indians are completely
shut out of the first three rounds of the draft, while the Royals
have picks but until late. The Royals to have some good talent to
ship for some picks. One of which is Ryan
Sweeney, rated in all three OF positions, is really only
serviceable vs right handed pitching, but the numbers are nice. He
is carrying a .307 avergae and a .355 OB% with good running
ratings and one of the best outfield ratings at 29% of average
number of error's. Royals are also shopping Moises
Alou who is sure to be a playoff phenom. In only 54 PA's,
he has a nice .462 average vs left handed pitching.
The
Reds have offered up the possibility of moving some starting
pitching and the Indians are always in for a deal if you package
something nice.
With
the trade blackout less than 24 hours away, it will be interesting
to see what moves are made.
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2009
Season Goes Full Swing
December
11, 2008 - Victorville, CA
The
2009 season went into full swing on Thursday when the ABL was
presented with the data for the upcoming year. The first trade of
the season did not take long as ABL rookie Billy Costa received part
time catcher Ryan Doumit in exchange for the Indians Casey Blake
& Mark Teahan. Indians are no stranger to trading as they hold
the all time record for trades by a GM.
More
guys have been advised they were traded to Cleveland, then find out
15 minutes later that they were on the move again to another city.
The Indians quickly realized that all their wheelin and dealin last
year has put them in a bad position this year as the team does not
initially look that competitive. GM Lucas assures this writer that
"the Indians will be there in the playoffs at the end of the
season." A promise that was kept during the 2008
campaign.
When
looking at some things from the start, Gary Gandara's Angel's, who
migrated down the freeway from Dodgertown, has a quality team. They
are well balanced. Other teams in the American League that look good
is the pitchings staff's of the Red Sox and the Royals. Both clubs
sport a full staff of starting pitchers with WHIP's at or around
1.20. The Rangers sport a very powerful offense but lack the
pitching depth. But the fact that they are in Arlington, pitching is
not usually something that is worthy.
The
National League sports the best pitching staff in all of America's
Baseball League. The Padres have 6 starters at WHIP's under 1.30 and
a descent offense to match. The Reds also sport a nice starting
pitching staff in addition to Mark Teixiera. According to sources,
Tex is a highly asked about player. GM Thomas stated that there have
been offers for Mark, but it would be very difficult to move him
considering his value to the club. The Mets looking to rebound from
a subpar year, have a solid 1-2-3 starters in Cole Hamels, Ryan
Dempster & Jeremy Guthrie all sporting WHIPS 1.23 or better and
all three a very big strike out threat.
I
am sure the trading frenzy will continue as we head into the new
year.
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2003
Season / 2004
Season / 2005
Season / 2006
Season / 2007
Season / 2008
Season
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