2001 CFOD PREVIEW "Your mileage may vary" ############################################################################## Mantle Division - ############################################################################## #1 - Mechan Syndicate - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 74 91 97 91 96 86 102 81 74 58 SYNDICATE STRENGTHS: The Syndicate boast one of the strongest offenses in baseball. Who better to start off with than Barry Bonds? Bonds will look to shatter the OBA, SLG, walks and homers records with his best year ever. Bonds will be surrounded by OF Shawn Green and 1B Rafael Palmeiro, each capable of smacking 50 homers. Add in rapidly improving 3B Eric Chavez, and you have 4 guys who will combine for over 200 home runs. That doesn't even include 2B Roberto Alomar, who would be as good in the leadoff spot as in the cleanup position. Chan Ho Park should have a good year, and with the run support he's sure to get, 20 wins is not out of the question. SYNDICATE WEAKNESSES: Other than Park and Tim Wakefield, none of the pitchers are much to write home about. How will the team stars respond this year after being benched 2/3'rds of the way through the season in an effort to give the youngsters a chance to play? The Syndicate snagged phenom outfielder Adam Dunn with the 4th overall pick, but only time will tell if Dunn was a better choice for the team than Beckett, Sabathia, or any of the other young pitchers. SYNDICATE OVERALL: The offense will terrorize the league, and while the pitching is not the league's strongest, it will be enough (particularly in the Mantle division) to grant them the pre-season pick to be the Mantle division winner. ############################################################################## #2 - Angry Candy - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- -- -- 83 97 106 93 57 91 93 89 ANGRY CANDY STRENGTHS: The Candy have the best corners in the big leagues. 3B Chipper Jones and 1B Todd Helton should post 1.000 + OPS's with high batting averages, slugging, the whole kit and caboose. Bobby Abreu solidifies his status as the best non-homer-happy outfielder in baseball, and Jeromy Burnitz and Reggie Sanders provide 30 homer power. Torii Hunter can hit 30 homers, too, playing center field. Relievers Troy Percival and Abraham Nunez are closer-quality. Todd Walker is starting to deliver on the hype hurled on the second baseman several years ago. ANGRY CANDY WEAKNESSES: The primary starters (Omar Daal, Julian Tavarez, and Paul Abbott) won't remind anyone of Randy Johnson. Abreu, Burnitz and Sanders will be jockeying for 2 outfield spots, and whoever doesn't get the nod may not be a happy clubhouse presence. ANGRY CANDY OVERALL: Their team makeup is very similar to the Syndicate's. Adding an ace starter could shift the division pennant their way. ############################################################################## #3 - Charlottesville Squids - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 90 101 96 57 73 97 56 63 73 85 SQUIDS STRENGTHS: OF Gary Sheffield continues to be the cornerstone of the order, and will put in 35+ homers and a 1.000 OPS. Jose Cruz Jr continues to improve, raising his batting average and homer count. Charlottesville has high hopes that rookie Felipe Lopez can develop into a star. SQUIDS WEAKNESSES: Roy Halladay, Jim Brower and Jason Schmidt should combine to fill two competitive spots in the rotation, but there's no ace on the staff. Other than 1B Sean Casey, most of the infield won't be a threat at the plate. SQUIDS OVERALL: Going to be tough beating the Syndicate and Angry Candy this year, but they've managed to improve their win totals by 10 games in each of the past 3 years. ############################################################################## #4 - Springfield 'Topes - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 69 82 87 55 77 83 96 91 80 79 'TOPES STRENGTHS: Bernie Williams should continue his all-star ways in center field. Catcher Jorge Posada might not have quite the punch of his 2000 season, but it's still a lot better than average. Jose Vidro continues to improve his game at second base and could be an all-star this year. Mark Buehrle and Andy Pettitte form the basis of a strong starting rotation, and gives Springfield one of the strongest pitching staffs in the division. Kyle Farnsworth, Giovanni Carrara and Mike Matthews are a trio of great relievers. 'TOPES WEAKNESSES: Kevin Brown was the Springfield mainstay for years. But he's getting a little bit older and more injury prone, and was dealt in the off-season. So was outfielder Luis Gonzalez, who should explode at the plate this year. Time will tell if Springfield gets the better of the deal (but only if Johnny Damon can regain his earlier form). 'TOPES OVERALL: Strong pitching, but not as strong hitting. Springfield presents a talent mix far different from the rest of the division, which makes them harder to judge. ############################################################################## #5 - Toronto Towers - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 63 62 89 92 64 71 71 74 55 89 TOWERS STRENGTHS: Toronto has some fine sluggers. Ryan Klesko has come into his own as a franchise player, doing his part to drive in runs at first base. Miguel Tejada is right behind the Jeter's and Rodriguez's of the worlds at shortstop. Ivan Rodriguez puts up another great season at the plate as well as behind the plate. And now, adding to the mix is young 3B Aramis Ramirez, who can bash it out of the park with the best of them. Steve Kline, Mike Remlinger, Jeff Tam and Danny Patterson form one of the deepest bullpens in the league. TOWERS WEAKNESSES: The ace of the staff is 38 year old David Cone, who is now several years removed from his days of dominance. The lack of pitching will place a lot of pressure on the hitters to win games on lots of run support. TOWERS OVERALL: 2000 saw Toronto win (a share) of their first ever pennant. Their starting pitching is a little shaky this year, but a winning season is within reach. ############################################################################## #6 - San Francisco Shriners - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 57 79 79 59 83 70 82 89 82 89 SHRINERS STRENGTHS: You have to start with Sammy Sosa. Sosa was acquired in 1997, and the Shriners have not had a losing season since. Sosa provides the power to the offense. Kevin Millar should hit 20 homers with a .500+ slugging average. Cory Lidle should have a nice year in the rotation. SHRINERS WEAKNESSES: Other than Sosa and Millar, nobody is a slugging source (other than SS Jose Hernandez, who could break the season record for strikeouts if he plays full time). Carl Everett's year at the plate won't be so good, making for a long year in the clubhouse. SHRINERS OVERALL: The Shriners captured a share of their first ever pennant in 2000. The past 4 years have seen a bounce between 89 & 82 wins .. this may be one of those 82 win years. ############################################################################## Koufax Division - ############################################################################## #1 - Cincinnati Rock - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 73 78 59 97 76 88 70 71 97 100 ROCK STRENGTHS: Teams ebb and flow, and this team is flowing like nobody's business. Tremendous pitching staff this year, led by stud-ace Curt Schilling. Al Leiter, Brad Penny and Bartolo Colon could be the ace on many other team's rosters, but they'll make easy work of the competition for Cincinnati. Steve Karsay and Kazuhiro Sasaki lead a competent reliever corps. On the hitting side, 3B Troy Glaus leads a young and improving roster. Cincinnati stuck through Carlos Beltran's sophomore slump, and Beltran should reward the team with an all-star year at center field. The team cornered the market on all of the young stars who had an "off" year, such as Ben Grieve and Brad Fullmer, but who could pay even more dividends down the road. ROCK WEAKNESSES: Cincinnati needs to decide between ok field/no hit Rey Ordonez, ok field/no hit Alex Gonzalez, or no field/ok hit Russ Johnson at shortstop. The team could use another power hitter in the corner outfield position to put the division away. ROCK OVERALL: The Rock comes in as the defending champions, winning the 2000 CFOD world series over perennial favorite California. A dominant pitching staff and a few good hitters make Cincinnati the favorite to win the division again. ############################################################################## #2 - Boston Brewins - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 72 77 92 73 73 73 66 64 79 49 BREWINS STRENGTHS: With the #1 overall pick, Boston selected 3B Albert Pujols, who is as much of an immediate impact player as there ever was. 2000 acquisitions Phil Nevin and Garrett Anderson will put up great numbers, as will offseason OF acquisition Shannon Stewart. 2000 acquisition Joe Mays will anchor a surprisingly good pitching staff, along with 2000 acquisition Jason Marquis and off-season acquisition Randy Wolf. Sense a trend here? BREWINS WEAKNESSES: With all of the roster turnover, will the team be able to gel in time? BREWINS OVERALL: Last year the Brewins decided to go young, and it should pay off in bundles this year. Boston should have their first winning season in 8 years and contend for the pennant. ############################################################################## #3 - LA Zippys - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- -- -- 64 83 46 75 64 88 87 69 ZIPPYS STRENGTHS: Young Barry Zito proves his half year as a rookie was no fluke. Zito gives the Zippys the Schilling-level ace needed to compete for years to come. #2 Jeff Weaver will be decent. LA has an army of good relievers. Al Levine, Todd Van Poppel, Jay Powell, Victor Santos and others will allow the starters to not worry about getting to the 9th inning at every start. SS Derek Jeter continues his all-CFOD ways. One of these days JD Drew is going to put in a 162 game season, and grab the MVP award in the process. John Olerud continues to put in underratedly-excellent season at first base, hitting for average and for power. ZIPPYS WEAKNESSES: Any pitcher beyond Barry Zito and Jeff Weaver is going to have problems getting an all-star nod this year, just because the talent is spread so wide. To really kick things into high gear, the Zippys could use a 40 homer guy in the middle of the order. ZIPPYS OVERALL: The Zippys have always been an interesting team. If rookie Brandon Duckworth improves the way Zito has, and JD Drew is healthy for a whole season, the Zippys could be serious contenders in 2002. Until then, Zippy fans will have to settle for a merely good season. ############################################################################## #4 - Hillsborough Regulators - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 94 85 67 83 91 78 90 65 79 100 REGULATORS STRENGTHS: Jason Giambi put up an MVP year last year, and this year he should be *better*. He'll get plenty of support with OF Cliff Floyd and IF/OF Frank Catalanotto in a breakout year. Matt Lawton will do well in a table setting role, posting .400 OBA/.400 slugging. Hillsborough has high hopes for rookie Juan Uribe, who should put in 1/2 a year of great baseball at shortstop. REGULATORS WEAKNESSES: Pitching. Oof! Other than closer Trevor Hoffman and part time starter Dave Williams, it's going to get nasty when the opponents come up to the plate. REGULATORS OVERALL: Hillsborough won a share of their first pennant in 8 years in 2000, and posted a team record 100 wins, but the pitching shortage may hit them hard this year. ############################################################################## #5 - Oregon Wet Sox - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 92 84 85 99 70 70 105 94 93 79 WET SOX STRENGTHS: Jeff Bagwell is now officially an institution for Oregon. Having been with the team since the league's inception, Bagwell can be counted on year in and year out with 30+ homers, 100+ runs scored, and 100+ RBI's. OF Brian Jordan was acquired in the off-season and will be the team's best outfielder, hitting 25 homers and the standard .300/.350/.500 stats. Longtime ace Mike Mussina will put in another great season, and Rick Reed and Aaron Sele provide some punch in the rotation. WET SOX WEAKNESSES: Ugueth Urbina and Billy Koch are the leading candidates to close, but neither will measure up to the Firemen of the Year closers Oregon has traditionally put out. Andrew Jones will put up a 30 homer/100 RBI season, but his overall stats will be a step backwards from 2000. Losing Nomar Garciaparra for most of the year is a huge blow to the offense. WET SOX OVERALL: This is a team that won an average of 97 games between 97-99 with 2 world series appearances. Many of those players are still with the team, but due to slumps and injuries they might not be able to get to that championship-caliber form in 2001. ############################################################################## #6 - Somerville Sluggers - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 79 84 92 83 104 91 93 96 93 91 SLUGGERS STRENGTHS: Manny Ramirez should have another good year at the plate, as should first baseman Paul Konerko. Trot Nixon will have a breakout season, and Shane Halter can hold his own at third base. SLUGGERS WEAKNESSES: Ramon Ortiz, Todd Ritchie, Kevin Tapani and Ruben Quevedo are all competent pitchers, but will be hard pressed to compete with Cincinnati's row of aces. Mike Hampton has (or had) the stuff to be an ace pitcher, but will crater in '01. SLUGGERS OVERALL: It's hard to argue with history. Somerville have won at least 90 games a year for the past 6 years. But their pitching is going to have to perform a lot better than expected to make the streak 7. ############################################################################## Ruth Division - ############################################################################## #1 - California Coneheads - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 106 103 107 106 109 114 113 95 102 108 CALIFORNIA STRENGTHS: Many, obviously. California acquired starter Freddy Garcia in the off-season, giving them the best 1-2-3 starting pitching combination with Randy Johnson, Tim Hudson and Garcia. California still has the best 1-2 closer combination in the league with Mariano Rivera and Keith Foulke. Longtime first baseman Frank Thomas was dealt in the off-season, and in return they get Jim Thome for his 2nd tour of duty with the team. Thome joins Mike Piazza and Juan Gonzalez for the best middle of the order lineup in the league. This doesn't even include 3B Scott Rolen, SS Jose Valentin, and surprise 2B Bret Boone, who may be the best hitter on the team (not bad for a 2000 9th round pick, and who wasn't even the 1st Boone drafted that year!). CALIFORNIA WEAKNESSES: Few, obviously. California's problems boil down to 3, and none of them have much to do with the regular season. The first problem is that in recent years, California has been susceptible to post-season upsets, most notably their world series loss in 2000. The second problem is that California is having to juggle salaries more and more, and one of these days they may not be able to keep all of their superstars. The third problem is that to win their division this year, they'll have to beat the 2nd best team in the league. CALIFORNIA OVERALL: 100+ wins, division pennant, world series appearance. It's usually been a safe bet ... usually. ############################################################################## #2 - Paxtang Pitbulls - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 81 97 77 70 50 110 90 88 90 83 PITBULLS STRENGTHS: Some killer drafts back in the mid-90's have made Paxtang a perennial threat. Alex Rodriguez may very well have his best season ever at shortstop, and Brian Giles and Carlos Delgado continue to put up stats that will make the hitting lineup scary for years to come. Ellis Burks will put in a 30 homer season, and Jeff Conine's high on base average should translate into plenty of runs scored. The starting rotation of Darryl Kile, Javier Vazquez, and young phenom Mark Mulder is as good as any other trio of pitchers in the league. PITBULLS WEAKNESSES: Sadly, there's just one, but it's a big one. They're in the same division as the California Coneheads. PITBULLS OVERALL: A few management shifts in recent years left Paxtang in neutral, but some stability (and the emergence of a nice starting rotation to compliment their usually nice hitting lineup) should propel Paxtang to a playoff spot and an eventual confrontation with the Coneheads in the post-season. ############################################################################## #3 - San Diego Termites - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- -- -- 70 54 86 80 87 105 51 95 TERMITES STRENGTHS: Bring on the vets! The team is chock full of veteran players who know how to win. Larry Walker is (mostly) healthy this year, and will respond with his usually ridiculously-excellent performance. Jeff Kent has another great year at second, and will be joined by underrated Jeff Cirillo at third base. On the pitching front, Rob Nen, Felix Rodriguez and Scott Strickland form a great pool of closers. Vets Steve Sparks and Woody Williams will put in their 200+ innings, put up good ERA's, and benefit from the run support to win 15 games. Starter Kevin Brown was also acquired in the off-season. TERMITES WEAKNESSES: Brown will only put in a half season due to injury. Walker will have to carry the hitting load in the outfield, as the other spots are not at an all-star level. The team average age of 30.9 years indicates that their window to win is now, not later. TERMITES OVERALL: The last 3 years have been characterized by extreme winning or extreme losing. This year may not be extreme, but it will be a lot closer to the winning side than to the losing side. ############################################################################## #4 - Topeka MooseDogs - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 76 75 71 75 85 46 67 63 82 76 MOOSEDOGS STRENGTHS: Roger Clemens was drafted in 1999 with a 2nd round pick, and has provided dividends ever since. 2001 should be his best year with the MooseDogs. Jason Isringhausen and Paul Quantrill form a formidable duo in the bullpen. 3B Corey Koskie will break out this year, joining OF Dmitri Young and 1B Richie Sexson as a solid middle of the order trio. MOOSEDOGS WEAKNESSES: After #2 Shane Reynolds, the starting pitching gets a little thin. Topeka has hopes that Kenny Lofton will follow Clemens and Bobby Higgenson in successful reclamation projects, but his 2001 season won't be good as previous ones. Losing starter Kris Benson for the season hurts tremendously, as does catcher Jason Kendall's slide into hitting mediocrity. MOOSEDOGS OVERALL: Probably the best team at picking up reclamation projects, they need Lofton and Benson to come back strong in 2002 for them to move up in the standings. ############################################################################## #5 - Carolina Lightning - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 84 65 75 100 78 97 88 82 65 76 LIGHTNING STRENGTHS: Jim Edmonds, Pat Burrell and Raul Mondesi form an outfield that can slug 30 homers each. That doesn't even include a certain individual named Ken Griffey Jr, who despite battling injuries will still slug 500 and eek out 20 homers in 2/3'rds of a season. 2B Craig Biggio is healthy this year, and will put up a near .400 OBA and .450 slugging. Tom Glavine returns to anchor the rotation, with AJ Burnett, off-season acquisition Kevin Millwood also in the rotation. Dave Weathers and Jay Witasick will battle for closer duties. LIGHTNING WEAKNESSES: The team will go without longtime 1B Mo Vaughn this year, and may end up playing CF Edmonds in the role. Albie Lopez and Kevin Jarvis may drag the team down in the latter portion of the rotation. Griffey Jr needs to get healthy again to return him to the hitting elite. LIGHTNING OVERALL: They've got some hitters, but having Griffey Jr at less than 100% effectiveness (and not having Mo Vaughn at all) will be hard hits. ############################################################################## #6 - Miami Mangos - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 71 91 70 49 75 43 54 65 75 71 MANGOS STRENGTHS: 2B Ray Durham is an above-average hitter, ideal at the top of the order. Draftee Ruben Sierra has channeled a bit of his 1989 self, putting up great numbers in a partial season. Bubba Trammell should hit 25 homers with a .470 slugging average. Ace starter Brad Radke is a throwback to the Jack McDowell model, who won't put up Pedro-esque stats but find ways of winning anyways. He'll be joined by Hideo Nomo in the rotation. Miami has a bevy of talented relievers led by Tim Worrell, Mike DeJean and Derek Lowe. MANGOS WEAKNESSES: In a division where it seems like everyone and their grandmother can bomb them out of the park, nobody other than Trammell could be considered a longball threat. Their team on base average and slugging average could hover near league lows, making it difficult on their pitching staff (which is actually better than half the league!) MANGOS OVERALL: Miami has been extremely unlucky in their rookie drafts, nabbing plenty of promising talent (Kerry Wood, Matt Morris, Alan Ashby among others) only to have them fall to injury. However, in recent years they've been focusing on more proven veteran talent, and one of these years it is going to pay off. ############################################################################## Young Division - ############################################################################## #1 - Arizona Thunder - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 90 69 99 65 72 94 88 88 98 54 THUNDER STRENGTHS: The home run thunder returns. Arizona acquired OF Luis Gonzalez in the off-season in anticipation of a huge year. He should deliver. 1B Mike Sweeney, Mike Cameron and 3B Vinny Castilla will also provide power. OF Juan Pierre and SS Jimmy Rollins are scary-fast at the top of the order, and will give Gonzalez lots of RBI's. Roy Oswalt is a young pitcher to watch, and he'll provide some immediate impact in his first year in the big leagues. Jon Lieber and Miguel Batista add to the solid 1-2-3 parts of the rotation. Billy Wagner and Norm Charlton will compete for closing duties. THUNDER WEAKNESSES: Arizona could use another good starter to give them an unbeatable rotation, but until then whoever they throw in there every 5th day could get shelled. Arizona no longer has the towering presence of Mark McGwire in the lineup. THUNDER OVERALL: The McGwire years were very good to the Thunder. Now that big mac is riding off into the sunset, Arizona is adjusting, and with their new combination of speed and power, Arizona is back and better than ever. ############################################################################## #2 - San Francisco Piazza's - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 90 59 49 75 100 59 81 73 63 52 PIAZZAS STRENGTHS: A very deep starting rotation, led by the trio of John Burkett, Kerry Wood (a nearly full season!) and Jamie Moyer. Shawn Estes and Kirk Rueter may be a #1 starter on some teams, but here they only have to face #4 & #5 starters. Arthur Rhodes and Jeff Zimmerman are Fireman of the Year candidates. The Piazza's drafted outfielder Ichiro Suzuki with their 1st round pick, who will numerous RBI opportunities for veterans Fred McGriff and Moises Alou, who both hit .300 with 30 homers, .400 OBA and .500 slugging. PIAZZAS WEAKNESSES: Just imagine how much more runs the Piazza's would score if Ichiro had SS Rafael Furcal alongside him for a full season. A managerial snafu caused a bevy of talent to flee to the free agent draft, causing them to scramble for last minute roster keepers. PIAZZAS OVERALL: Go big or go home? The Piazza's best season ever was in 1995, when they won 100 games and made an appearance in the world series. A good rotation and a highly concentrated core of star hitters could make San Francisco approach that mark again. ############################################################################## #3 - Seattle Moshers - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 85 84 98 103 88 74 87 87 86 89 MOSHERS STRENGTHS: If there's one thing you can count on in life, it's that on opening day, Greg Maddux will be pitching for the Moshers. Maddux is now the only player from the 1st *4* rounds of the inaugural draft to continuously remain with his team for 12 years. Maddux leads a deep pitching staff of Kevin Appier Jarrod Washburn, Ismael Valdes, and rookie CC Sabathia, all potential #1 starters on other teams. Paul Shuey, Bob File and Ricardo Rincon lead a deep staff of relievers. OF Magglio Ordonez has elevated his game to all-star level, and should be for years to come. 2B Fernando Vina should be able to score some runs at the top of the order. MOSHERS WEAKNESSES: Other than Ordonez, everybody else in the hitting lineup is a part-timer. The mega-platooning could work out well or not at all. Seattle hopes they can make Mark McGwire's swan song as successful as Will Clark's swan song of 2000. MOSHERS OVERALL: They've been remarkably consistent the past 4 years. Assuming their platooning experiment works out, expect the consistency to last at least one more year. ############################################################################## #4 - Brookfield Brouhaha - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- -- -- 62 98 86 99 84 97 80 88 BROUHAHA STRENGTHS: A killer quad of Paul Lo Duca, Rich Aurilia, Edgar Martinez and Marty Cordova. Lo Duca will burst onto the scene at catcher, putting up an all-star year. Also doing the all-star thing will be shortstop Rich Aurilia, who is the team's best hitter this year. Brouhaha mainstay Edgar Martinez continues to put up the stats, although with another year on the clock and a few more injuries. OF Marty Cordova was picked up in the draft, and should revert to his rookie of the year form. Ramon Ortiz is the staff ace this year, with Jason Bere and Terry Adams filling out the rest of the rotation. BROUHAHA WEAKNESSES: Richard Hidalgo will put up an OK year in center field, but needs to revert back to his 40 homer form. Third base is looking a little thin. The bullpen might not hold up as well, forcing the starters to last longer than usual. BROUHAHA OVERALL: They've got some talent. Brookfield will have a good year. ############################################################################## #5 - Sacramento Fish - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 95 73 80 78 86 71 69 53 89 94 FISH STRENGTHS: Vladimir Guerrero continues to be one of the best outfielders in the game, and this year he is joined by fellow young superstar Lance Berkman. Both are good for power and average. Matt Morris, Wade Miller, Eric Milton and Jeff Suppan give Sacramento a competitve rotation. Jason Grimsley is the leading candidate for closer duties. FISH WEAKNESSES: After Grimsley the bullpen is a little thin, placing pressure on the starters. Not a whole lot of depth after Berkman and Guerrero in the lineup. Adrian Beltre's progress will stall a little bit, denying Sacramento some badly needed thump in the lineup. FISH OVERALL: Their young movement of several years ago paid off in a couple of good seasons. Now comes the hard part. ############################################################################## #6 - Park City Climbers - --------------- HISTORICAL WIN TOTALS: 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- 79 81 96 102 70 82 84 81 78 81 CLIMBERS STRENGTHS: Pedro Martinez is still very, very good when he pitches. Mike Stanton will be able to convert any and all save opportunities thrown his way. Off-season acquisition Charles Johnson is pretty good behind the plate and has some pop in his bat. Jermaine Dye and Preston Wilson are a good duo in the outfield with lots of future potential. Carlos Pena is a rookie worth watching. CLIMBERS WEAKNESSES: Aye carumba! Pedro will battle numerous injuries this year, sure to put a dent in his Cy Young chances. Slugger Jim Thome was dealt in the off-season in a deal that brought Frank Thomas on board, who will be injured. After Martinez and Stanton, the pitching is jaw-droopingly awful. CLIMBERS OVERALL: The Climbers figure that if you are sure you are not going to win games, you might as well make sure you don't win a lot of games. It's going to be an ugly 2001. But with hopes of a healthy Martinez and Frank Thomas, combined with an impact 2002 #1 overall pick, Park City hopes to bounce back just as strong as they're going to crater this year.