POWER RANKINGS (AFTER 22 GAMES)

BIG MOVERS
Moving Up- Chicago Prime Movers & New Britain Connecticut Ghosts
Slipping Down- Toronto Thoroughbreds & Washington DC Lawmakers

Team........................... Record ........... Last Week ............... Comment

1. Monterrey Cheese (21-1)......1........ 20 game winning streak Dominating!!
2. San Diego Land Sharks (17-5)......... 3............ 70 steals in 22 games!!
3. Los Angeles Blue Knights (17-5)............4......... 168 runs scored leads league
4. Augusta Vactioners (17-5)...........5........... 5-0 in 1-run games
5. Seattle Spartans (15-7)............ 7............. only 18 HR’s allowed in 22 games
6. Detroit FC Dinamo (14-8)........... 2..............518 slugging pct is 3rd in baseball
7. Milwaukee Brewers (14-8)............. 6.............most saves in the league without a blown save 8. San Jose Crabs (14-8)........... 11............... 4-1 in extra inning games
9. Atlanta Shredders (14-8) .............17........... .313 team BA is 2nd in baseball
10. Little Rock Razorbacks (11-11)...........13........... Juan Berroa, 7-8 in save situations
11. New Orleans Nasty (11-11)............ 14……………..Freddie Hudson, 7 saves and 0.83 WHIP
12. Chicago Bruisers (11-11).............. 8............. 58 walks allowed, 3rd in baseball for best control 13. Chicago Prime Movers (12-10)............ 25………outscored opps 45-21 during 6 game Win streak
14. Helena Hitters (11-11)........... 19…………….. .258 team BA is not “Hitter” like
15. New Britain Connecticut Ghosts (11-11) ............15............... pitching should carry team in weak division
16. Baltimore O’s (10-12) .............20.............. 1.60 WHIP is killing this team
17. Florida Beach Bums (10-12).............. 21................. hitters have K’d 164 times which is 2nd in baseball
18. Colorado Commodores (10-12)............... 22............ astounding .339 team BA
19. Toronto Thorougbreds (8-14).............. 9..............reputation keeping this team from being ranked lower
20. Richmond Spiders (9-13)................ 10................. hitters are really struggling
21. New York Mets (10-12)................ 15................ .289 OBP is 31st in the league
22. Arizona Painted Rocks (10-12)................ 28............ beginning to rebound from a poor start
23. San Juan Slugging Diablos (9-13)............ 12............have already played eight 1-run games (5-3)
24. Wichita Earps (10-12) ............30 ...............have won 7 of 12 but defense is ranked 31st
25. Buffalo Iroquois (8-14)............... 24..............been caught stealing 18 times to lead the league 26. Tampa Bay Yankees (8-14) ............26…………2-5 in 1-run games
27. Houston Crackerjacks (8-14)............. 18...............lost 9 of 12 but starter Spud Small has a 1.91 ERA in 5 starts.
28. Washington DC Lawmakers (7-15).............. 16............... outscored 68-34 during current 9 game skid
29. El Paso Miners (7-15).................. 32................ .showing signs of life lately
30. Tacoma Mist (7-15)................ 29................ pitchers have issued a league leading 106 walks
31. Oklahoma City Farfanoogats (6-16) .................23................averaging less than 4 runs scored a game
32. Pittsbugh Great Ones (5-17) ..................31 ..............6.24 ERA to go along with 7 blown saves

POWER RANKINGS (After 10 Games)

Let the debate begin. The updated rankings took the schedule so far into consideration as well as record.

BIG MOVERS
UP- San Jose Crabs & Atlanta Shredders
Down- Arizona Painted Rocks & Colorado Commodores

Team........................... Record ........... Last Week ............... Comment

1. Monterrey Cheese 9-1......1........ 8 game winning streak and a 4-gm lead.

2. Detroit FC Dinamo 7-3......... 2............ .311 team BA through 10 games.

3. San Diego Land Sharks 8-2............ 6......... 2.33 ERA leads the entire league

4. Los Angeles Blue Knights 7-3 ...........4........... 2.90 ERA 2nd in the league

5. Augusta Vacationers 7-3............ 3............. cupcake schedule so far

6. Milwaukee Brewers 7-3........... 5................. closer Ricky Allen off to great start

7. Seattle Spartans 7-3............. 9............. sweep in Baltimore was impressive

8. Chicago Bruisers 7-3........... 12............... split with rival Tor. 5-1 vs cupcakes

9. Toronto Thoroughbreds 5-5 .............7........... 18 steals is 2nd in all of baseball

10. Richmond Spiders 5-5........... 8........... .235 team BA has to be concerning

11. San Jose Crabs 6-4............ 27................. Impressive start vs difficult schedule

12. San Juan S'Diablos 5-5.............. 17............. held own vs Aug, Bal & Az

13. Little Rock R'Backs 5-5............ 14............ needs to show better vs Cheese

14. New Orleans Nasty 5-5........... 18............. careful, 6.03 ERA is frightening

15. New York Mets 5-5 ............15............... series vs LA was a downer

16. Washington DC L'makers 5-5 .............20.............. lost 2 outta 3 to the Mets

17. Atlanta Shredders 6-4.............. 24................. great start, team could surprise

18. Houston Crackerjacks 5-5............... 19............ good power, poor speed, average

19. Helena Hitters 4-6.............. 16.............. needs to play better vs TB

20. Baltimore O's 4-6................ 10................. reeling after Seattle sweep

21. Florida Beach Bums 4-6................ 30................ nice series win at Colorado

22. Colorado Commodores 4-6................ 11............ only 9 players have AB's so far

23. Oklahoma City F'noogats 4-6............ 25................. stayed afloat after difficult sched

24. Buffalo Iroquois 4-6 ............31 ...............won 2 out of 3 in Houston

25. Chicago Prime Movers 4-6............... 23.............. pitching needs to improve

26. Tampa Bay Yankees 4-6 ............21............ sorry, can't put last

27. New Britain Con Ghosts 4-6............. 22............... easy schedule, little results

28. Arizona Painted Rocks 3-7.............. 13............... panic on the streets in Phoenix

29. Tacoma Mist 3-7.................. 26................ .231 ave might spell doom

30. Wichita Earps 3-7................ 28................ 15 errors in 10 games

31. Pittsburgh Great Ones 3-7 .................32................ 16 errors in 10 games

32. El Paso Miners 1-9 ..................29 ..............7.42 team ERA, uh oh

AL EAST SNEAK PREVIEW- SEASON 10

AL EAST PREVIEW

1) AUGUSTA VACATIONERS

Owner- Averyk73
Career Record- 861-597 .591
Franchise Record- 861-597 .591
History- 7 AL East Division Championships (Season 3 to Season 9) World Champs (Season 5)

Key Returnees- 3 Time All Star P Rich May, Former league MVP OF Harold Martin, 2 time All Star and former Rookie of the Year P Danys Vasquez, 2 time All Star and Silver Slugger 1b Russ Flanagan.

Key Additions- Rookie Sam Ledee

Strengths- Team Power, Arm Accuracy, Glove, Batting Eye
Weaknesses- Range, Velocity, Pitch 2

Season 10 outlook

The Vacs have owned this division for the past 7 seasons even though ownership wise, this has been one of the more stable divisions. Until someone knocks them off, the 1st place prediction is an easy one. (Power Ranking- 3rd)


2) BALTIMORE O’S

Owner- jfribush
Career Record- 533-601 .470
Franchise Record- 620--838 .425
History- 1 Wild Card berth….Season 9

Key Returnees- Season 9 Rookie & Fireman of the Year Felipe Cora, All Star P Matty Gibson
Key Addition- SS Miguel James

Strengths- Velocity, Contact, Baserunning, Stamina
Weaknesses- Durability, Power, hitting vs Lefties, batting eye

Season 10 outlook

The O’s took a major stride last season and look to continue the momentum in S10 to upend the Vacs. It appears ownership has things figured out and the addition of Miguel James may really boost the offense. (Power Ranking-10th)


3) SAN JUAN SLUGGING DIABLOS

Owner- Swindy10
Career Record- 708-750 .486
Franchise Record- 708-750 .486
History- no playoff appearances despite having won 90 & 94 games in a season.

Key Returnees- Silver Slugger SS Lorenzo Perez, All Star and Gold Glove P Rick Douglas, 3-Time All Star Reliever Tanyon Dunn, 3-Time All Star Reliever Seth Brower

Key Additions- P David Chang, P Mark Cohen, P Pedro Marquez

Strengths- Durability, Power, Control
Weaknesses- pitching vs righties, pitch 2, Speed

Season 10 outlook

The Diablos are optimistic about Season 10 but have a lot of ground to make up on Augusta and Baltimore. Pitching has always been the Achilles heel and playing 81 games in San Juan doesn’t help. But 86 wins in Season 10 should be reachable. (Power Ranking- 17th)

4) FLORIDA BEACH BUMS

Owner- itomcny
Career Record- 99-235 .296
Franchise Record- 689-769 .473
History- Franchise won the World Series in Season 2 as well as 2 AL East crowns in Seasons 1 and 2.

Key Returnees- P Tom Hauser, 1b Phil Carver, P Don Lambert

Key Additions- SS Douglas Kelleher, P Carlos Delgado(on DL in Season 9)

Strengths- Arm Strength, Durability, Power, Baserunning
Weaknesses- Arm Accuracy, Makeup, Control, Velocity

Season 10 outlook

The Beach Bums do not have a player on their opening day roster older than 29 and only 4 players on payroll who make over $378k. Ownership obviously has a plan but much work to do. There was improvement in Season 9 and Season 10 should probably see this team lose less than 100 games for the first time in 3 seasons. (Power Ranking- 30th)

S10 POWER RANKINGS- POLL 1

Let the debating begin. Email me and say "screw you swindy"! But nothing like a "Power Rankings" to last throughout the season. Obviously this 1st one will be the hardest since I went on last season, ownership, stability and franchise rankings. Here you go ...and good luck in S10 (Season 10).

Gehringer Power Rankings

1. Monterrey Cheese ------------2 Rings in 4 seasons..and Zach F’ing Bones
2. Detroit FC Dinamo -----------Still stinging over last seasons World Series Collapse
3. Augusta Vacationers---------- 7 straight AL East Championships
4. Los Angeles Blue Knights --------8 straight NL West Championships…no rings….ouch
5. Milwaukee Brewers ------------5 straight NL North Championships
6. San Diego Land Sharks -----------stuck in the wrong division, might make a push in S10.
7. Toronto Thoroughbreds ----------see above San Diego
8. Richmond Spiders ---------------are they ready to push Monterrey?
9. Seattle Spartans -------------------improved by 30 games from S8 to S9…bigger push now?
10. Baltimore O’s ------------------another major improvement from S8 to S9
11. Colorado Commodores--------------- big players in free agency took over solid team
12. Chicago Bruisers ------------------in oh so tough division year after year
13. Arizona Painted Rocks ---------------might be a player this season, could surprise
14. Little Rock Razorbacks ----------solid foundation but has Monterrey and Richmond in front
15. New York Mets --------------------might drop off some this season
16. Helena Hitters -----------------------nother tough division, can he bust outta 3rd?
17. San Juan Slugging Diablos ----------------long time franchise heading up
18. New Orleans Nasty ---------------------took over a division champ but has work to do
19. Houston Crackerjacks ------------------can new ownership turn things around?
20. Washington DC Lawmakers -----never finished higher than 3rd but division is getting easier
21. Tampa Bay Yankees -------------one time World Champ needs to reverse recent trend
22. New Britain Connecticut Ghosts --------ownership hopes the season isn’t as long as the team name
23. Chicago Prime Movers ----------------new owner improved franchise by 10 games in S9
24. Atlanta Shredders -----------------2nd place finish in S9 but just 75 wins
25. Oklahoma City Farfanoogats -----------tough division and but this owner knows how to win
26. Tacoma Mist -------------------franchise has never placed higher than 3rd
27. San Jose Crabs---------------- this historic poor franchise has some talent
28. Wichita Earps -------------------a playoff team just 2 years ago needs work
29. El Paso Miners ---------------------franchise has 4 divisional crowns but 4th in S9.
30. Florida Beach Bums -----------------110+ losses in 3 straight seasons
31. Buffalo Iroquois -------------previous ownership kept getting worse by 10 games each year
32. Pittsburgh Great Ones ------------------ton of work to do with this bunch

Free Agency Frenzy--Big $$$ Spent

Big bucks are being tossed around and clearly teams such as Little Rock, New Orleans, San Juan and Colorado are opening their wallets in order to improve in Season 10.

Former league MVP Mo Osborne struck it rich by signing with Colorado for 3 years $41.4 million. Osborne, 31 will stay with the same organization he has been with that moved from Portland to Colorado. Colorado struck another deal with 26 y/o OF Cristobal Garces. The former 3rd round pick of the Baltimore O's has played in only 2 career games at the ML level but parlayed a solid minor league season last year into a 4 year $15.2 mil deal. Garces stole 46 bases in AAA last season.

The Little Rock Razorbacks have been extremely agressive and snagged coveted free agent OF Jamie Lee. Lee hit .270-30-83 last season and signed a 5 year $62.5 million dollar deal. The former bonus baby from Japan has won 3 Gold Gloves in his career. Little Rock wasn't finished though. Starter William Stanley was snatched away from El Paso for a 4-year $28 million deal after posting a 11-16 record last season with a 5.68 ERA. And finally. the Razorbacks signed former All Star P Enrique Calderon to a 4 year $24.5 million deal after going 2-6 with a 5.96 ERA with KC. $113 million paid on those 3 players as the Razorbacks will be looking for immediate results.

The New Orleans Nasty signed what appears to be a brand new middle infield. 2b Vic Alarcon and SS Julio Moreno look to man the middle of the diamond for a few years in the big NO. Alarcon signed a 3 years $13.5 million deal after hitting .284-16-48 with Tampa Bay last year. Moreno was signed to a 3 year $14.1 million deal after hitting .316-26-76 in AAA. The Nasty also scooped up SP Harpo Munoz from DC. Munoz went 9-5, 4.23 in the Nation's Capitol last year and used that to get a 2 year $9.2 million deal from N.O.

Finally, the Slugging Diablos of San Juan looked to upgrade their pitching after signing starter Mark Cohen to a 5 years $30 million deal. Cohen went 10-2 with a 4.82 ERA last year with Chicago. The former Rookie of the Year will look to bolster the rotation. Also, San Juan signed 1b Desi Peron who has yet to play a game at the ML level. Peron hit .307 with 20 HR's in Tacoma last season.

Other key free agent signing:

Tampa Bay signed OF Juan Owens to a 2 year $8.8 million deal. Owens is a former gold glover and hit .305-17-61.

Washington DC signed OF Andy Thurman to a 5 year $22 million contract. In 596 career AB's, Thurman has a .289 average. Also, DC re-signed SP Dan Redman for 3 years $14.4 million.

Richmond bolstered their bullpen by signing David Yamamoto away from KC after appearing in 72 games last year and posting a 4.69 ERA. Yamamoto signed for 2 years for $7.4 million.

Pittsburgh signed highly regarded pitching prospect Harold Moore to a 4 year $16.4 million contract after appearing in 59 games at AAA Iowa last season. Pittsburgh also gave OF prospect Al Campos a 5 years $18.6 million deal after hitting .307 at AAA with Monterrey.

The Chicago Bruisers re signed SP Ed Crummack for 2 years $9.4 million after going 9-7 with a 3.67 ERA.

San Jose made a big splash by signing SP Bill Smith to a 4 year $24 million deal after he went 8-11 with a 5.48 ERA with Chicago last season.