doh
THANK YOU Dermott McHeshi
While the rest of the league is sleeping and I'm up because I drank too many Mr. Pibb's at lunch... the pre-season Dowher Rankings:
1. Helsingborg -- I've seen them as the most complete team the last three or so seasons and think they still are going into this year. Lost Brittian and Carrillo but I think still win 100+ easy probably in the 105-108 range partially because this is a better league this season. Not head and shoulders better than the rest though going into this year.
2. Amsterdam -- Still the best lineup and the pitching staff has gotten worse. Fulton Juarez (.314, 45 HR) is batting sixth in this lineup. Adding Brittian more than makes up for losing Rojas. I predict they outscore the 2043 Amsterdam team who scored 1050 runs.
3. Las Vegas -- I think the biggest additions to my team will be getting Francisco Colon, Ed Weaver and Enrique Gomez for a whole year. Offensively I upgraded at 1B and SS significantly (and hope C is positive WAR). Defensively I'm concerned about SS/3B but SP and RP wise feel very strong. On paper I think this is a better team than last year and the has the least holes I've had ever. Definitely on paper the best offense I've had.
4. Moscow -- Made it back to the playoffs last year and I think they do again. Getting Boys helps with a team that struggled preventing runs and they didn't lose anything from last year. They haven't had trouble scoring and return a lot from last year. Defense still has some questions.
5. Seoul -- Missed the playoffs by four games last season. Team is very much the team that ended last year. Medina replacing Ant for a year could be a big swing in wins if Onye has another year like last season. Padilla for a season will be huge too. I think they're right there with Moscow.
6. Berlin -- I've posted this seemingly the last 4 years but I continue to like what they're doing. The wins were low 60s to 83 last year. As I've posted in other threads, I think that you need a "transition" year and Berlin had theirs last year. The young hitters are getting better and IMO getting Carrilo in the OF will help a ton because that OF was brutal defensively. Also Bucher at 3B solidifies that position. I think they need 1-2 more pitchers and hope some of those old guys don't get hurt/decline. Better defense will help. It's just really hard right now to crack the top 5 in the NL... in the SL this is a playoff team.
7. Dublin -- I like what's going on in Ireland too. Young pitching staff is developing. I love the signing of Benny Jones too... if he plays every day he's a threat to hit 40 HRs in that park. Still some holes multiple places.
8. Lisbon -- This could be the year before the transition 80 win season. It's really up to them on how many guys they promote. I also think they did well getting Langille, Davila and Ramos for basically nothing salary or prospects wise as players to help with the future.
9. Istanbul -- Very, very wise signings of Ruiz and Hong Hong as potential future trading targets. Got both on steal contracts. I'm kinda dumbfounded no one else went after Ruiz. I would've if I didn't blow all my money in IFAs.
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