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woodfeld · 12-08-2007, 04:23 PM

Ohio League
East Division

Akron Red Irons
Predicted finish in division – 4^th
Minor League system ranking – 7^th (out of 16)
A little known fact around the MOBL has been the development of Red Iron 3B Alyn LaPierre into a superstar. LaPierre is a part of a nice crop of young third basemen coming into their own (Stan McQuistan of Kalamazoo and Dave Waterman of Columbus) and is quietly putting himself into MOB contention after last season (.311, 31 HR, 83 RBI). “He’s got a real compact, powerful swing and he’s real tough to nibble around the edges on. He stays away from those….[He’s] definitely one of the tougher outs in the league,” one OL pitcher said. A huge bounce back year from SS Alfonso Palacios (.301, 24 HR, 88 RBI) and C Todd Frison’s development into one of the best catchers in the league will help keep the pressure off LaPierre. They are plenty of holes in this lineup though and teams will expose that. The pitching staff is certainly not good but capable of keeping their team in the race. RHP Felix Pisa has developed into a fine young pitcher though his record doesn’t show it (career 18-49 record). He won’t have much help from his rotation mates though as RHP Paul Kettlewell and LHP Lorenzo Prestamo are not aging gracefully. LHP Jose Pena is the only good reliever in the bullpen, which will cause plenty of problems when the Red Irons get a lead.
Best Hitter – 3B Alyn LaPierre (16 Contact, 16 Gap, 15 Power, 15 Eye, 11 Avoiding K’s)
Best Pitcher – RHP Felix Pisa (13 Stuff, 12 Movement, 10 Control)
Best Prospect not in the majors – A RF Jose Rodriguez, 21 Years Old. Potential – (16 Contact, 11 Gap, 14 Power, 15 Eye, 6 Avoiding K’s) After playing three seasons of short season ball, Rodriguez finally gets a chance to play 100 games in a season this year. Quickly developing a power stroke the Red Irons could desperately use (12 HR’s in 43 games last year), Rodriguez still has star potential and could be in the Red Iron outfield sometime next year if all goes well.
Turn back the clock – 1941 Top Prospect Update – RF Jose Rodriguez – See above. Rodriguez is beginning to show the signs of being a top draft pick as he was named the MOB in Short Season ball last year.

Canton Terriers
Predicted finish in division – 2^nd
Minor League system ranking – 13^th (out of 16)
The Terriers will boast the best pitching rotation in the MOBL yet again, but will a weak lineup and the closer problems hold them back from repeating as OL East champs? I don’t see any reason why a Terrier pitcher won’t win the MOP yet again this year. Will this finally be the year that LHP Howard West wins the award? He is the best looking pitcher on paper but has yet to take home any hardware despite fabulous statistics (career 58-24 record, 2.25 ERA, 0.98 WHIP). Time is beginning to become a question mark though as 3 of the big 4 are at least 30 years old (LHP Tommy Lafferty being the exception). “I don’t care what anyone else thinks. They are the favorites to win that division until they don’t have one or two have those guys anymore,” one OL scout said. Questions still rage about closer RHP Dan MacCall and if there is anything the Terriers will do about it. The biggest trade of the offseason was a head-scratcher that leaves the offense in a bit of disarray. The Terriers shipped star RF Syman Shores to division rival Youngstown for RF Jacob Davis. Davis had a rough year (.279, 9 HR, 54 RBI) in 1942 while Shores continues to put up MOB numbers. And to send him to your division rival is insane and will surely come back to bite them. “I’m certainly looking forward to April 19^th though I don’t harbor any bad feelings towards them,” Shores said about his first meeting against his former team. Without Shores in this lineup, this is a lineup that should have trouble keeping up with some of the mashing lineups in the OL.
Best Hitter – LF Peter Northcutt (18 Contact, 20 Gap, 12 Power, 16 Eye, 16 Avoiding K’s)
Best Pitcher – LHP Howard ‘Merlin’ West (17 Stuff, 19 Movement, 14 Control)
Best Prospect not in the majors – AAA LHP Brishen Sanders, 21 Years Old. Potential – (11 Stuff, 12 Movement, 14 Control) After bouncing around in trades for a couple years, Sanders could be on the move again this year as he is almost ready for MOBL action (10-14, 3.98 ERA in AAA last year) and the Terriers don’t exactly have room for him. Sanders is a pitcher that likes to mix it up with his 5 different pitches, though his sinker might be his out pitch.
Turn back the clock – 1941 Top Prospect Update – RF Cory Rick – The Terriers tried to turn Rick into a center fielder, where they had a hole, but it doesn’t look like he can take to that demanding position. At this point, Rick looks like nothing more than a decent bat off the bench (.207 in 121 AB’s with Canton last year).

Youngstown Black Irons
Predicted finish in division – 1^st
Minor League system ranking – 5^th (out of 16)
One team’s castaway is another’s gold is what the Black Irons are finding. After picking up LF Ben Myers off waivers and trading for RF Jacob Davis and then trading him for RF Syman Shores, this Black Iron team is ready to be the new dominant team in the OL East. After being the biggest disappointments of the 1942 season, ownership cleaned house in the coaching department and GM James Geer made some excellent trades to solidify this team for the future. “Geer should get the GM of the century award right now for the deals he’s been able to pull off. Now it’s up those new coaches to harness that talent,” one national newspaper said leading up to the 1943 season. The lineup only features a couple of real power guys (C Calvin Faithorne and 1B Martin Cook) but this team will score plenty of runs this season. There are lots of excellent contact hitters and lots of speed in the lineup. CF Toshiyuki Ishimura is the best center fielder in the game right now but is out for the first two months of the season while guys like SS Bart Kenedy and CF Alan Scarberry will look to pick up the slack in the lineup and on the field respectively. While the hitting has never really been the main problem for the Black Irons, there is reason for optimism in the pitching department. They made a great trade in picking up RHP George Price and LHP Scott Moroney (14-10, 3.83 ERA in 1942) is ready to make the leap to MOP candidate. After picking up LHP Clark Josephson and RHP John Reinheart during the 1942 season, things are looking much rosier for the staff. Throw in a good bullpen featuring LHP Leigh Edwards, RHP Pat O’Mulrony and closer RHP Bo Schumaker and you can see why this team looks like the best the OL East has to offer.
Best Hitter – RF Syman Shores (14 Contact, 18 Gap, 12 Power, 13 Eye, 13 Avoiding K’s)
Best Pitcher – LHP Scott Moroney (13 Stuff, 12 Movement, 16 Control)
Best Prospect not in the majors – AAA LHP Anthony Boyd, 24 Years Old. Potential – (9 Stuff, 14 Movement, 15 Control) Should anyone in the Black Iron rotation struggle, the Black Irons have a young future ace ready to be called up. Boyd has done well in his rise up the ranks as his powerful sinker has baffled many a hitters. If he doesn’t make it this year, he certainly should next year.
Turn back the clock – 1941 Top Prospect Update – LHP Anthony Boyd – See above. While his record doesn’t exactly show it, Boyd did well in his first taste of AAA baseball (7-13, 3.80 ERA, 119 K’s in 168 IP).

Zanesville Engineers
Predicted finish in division – 3^rd
Minor League system ranking – 2^nd (out of 16)
After toiling through some rough years where they pieced together a team of castaways, the Engineers can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel. They have a great nucleus of young pitchers that should keep them in contention this year. RHP Wil Sanchez has the look of a future ace after the 24 year old Cuban went 12-7 with a 3.67 ERA last year. Former 1^st round pick RHP Dan Lang is also looking to make the leap to ace after struggling a bit (3-7, 5.16 ERA) in his first taste of MOBL action last year. Veteran RHP Rafael Garza needs to bounce back though after he endured an awful season (8-17, 5.90 ERA in 1942) and they hope RHP Ronald Norfleet can get back to ace status after regressing a bit (12-15, 3.69 ERA in 1942). The offense starts and ends with MOB candidate 1B Jesus Badilla. After posting an unbelievable season last year (.312, 42 HR, 108 RBI), this big Georgian is looking to repeat it and then some. “I thought I had a pretty good year, but I know I can be better. I’m going to have to be if we want to do some things in the OL East this year,” Badilla said in spring training. The Engineers made a nice trade in picking up leadoff hitter 2B Tom Berry and will look to young outfielders LF Owen Yeley and RF Tim Williams to pick up some of the slack.
Best Hitter – 1B Jesus Badilla (15 Contact, 17 Gap, 14 Power, 9 Eye, 8 Avoiding K’s)
Best Pitcher – RHP Wil Sanchez (13 Stuff, 15 Movement, 11 Control)
Best Prospect not in the majors – A 3B Alexander Grove, 19 Years Old. Potential – (16 Contact, 18 Gap, 10 Power, 13 Eye, 11 Avoiding K’s) After posting a decent season in Short Season ball last year, Grove looks to put up big numbers in a full season of work at A Marietta this year. An intelligent player, Grove knows how to take a pitch and has already been named team captain at Marietta.
Turn back the clock – 1941 Top Prospect Update – LF Vasco Ayala – There wasn’t much room in the Engineer outfield, so they shipped Ayala to Mackinac for current starting C Kris Edmonston. Ayala posted some decent numbers (.240, 17 HR, 59 RBI) in his first full season as the Trolleys look to him to provide more power this season.

12-08-2007, 04:23 PM	#97
woodfeld Minors (Double A) Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 198	Ohio League East Division Akron Red Irons Predicted finish in division – 4^th Minor League system ranking – 7^th (out of 16) A little known fact around the MOBL has been the development of Red Iron 3B Alyn LaPierre into a superstar. LaPierre is a part of a nice crop of young third basemen coming into their own (Stan McQuistan of Kalamazoo and Dave Waterman of Columbus) and is quietly putting himself into MOB contention after last season (.311, 31 HR, 83 RBI). “He’s got a real compact, powerful swing and he’s real tough to nibble around the edges on. He stays away from those….[He’s] definitely one of the tougher outs in the league,” one OL pitcher said. A huge bounce back year from SS Alfonso Palacios (.301, 24 HR, 88 RBI) and C Todd Frison’s development into one of the best catchers in the league will help keep the pressure off LaPierre. They are plenty of holes in this lineup though and teams will expose that. The pitching staff is certainly not good but capable of keeping their team in the race. RHP Felix Pisa has developed into a fine young pitcher though his record doesn’t show it (career 18-49 record). He won’t have much help from his rotation mates though as RHP Paul Kettlewell and LHP Lorenzo Prestamo are not aging gracefully. LHP Jose Pena is the only good reliever in the bullpen, which will cause plenty of problems when the Red Irons get a lead. Best Hitter – 3B Alyn LaPierre (16 Contact, 16 Gap, 15 Power, 15 Eye, 11 Avoiding K’s) Best Pitcher – RHP Felix Pisa (13 Stuff, 12 Movement, 10 Control) Best Prospect not in the majors – A RF Jose Rodriguez, 21 Years Old. Potential – (16 Contact, 11 Gap, 14 Power, 15 Eye, 6 Avoiding K’s) After playing three seasons of short season ball, Rodriguez finally gets a chance to play 100 games in a season this year. Quickly developing a power stroke the Red Irons could desperately use (12 HR’s in 43 games last year), Rodriguez still has star potential and could be in the Red Iron outfield sometime next year if all goes well. Turn back the clock – 1941 Top Prospect Update – RF Jose Rodriguez – See above. Rodriguez is beginning to show the signs of being a top draft pick as he was named the MOB in Short Season ball last year. Canton Terriers Predicted finish in division – 2^nd Minor League system ranking – 13^th (out of 16) The Terriers will boast the best pitching rotation in the MOBL yet again, but will a weak lineup and the closer problems hold them back from repeating as OL East champs? I don’t see any reason why a Terrier pitcher won’t win the MOP yet again this year. Will this finally be the year that LHP Howard West wins the award? He is the best looking pitcher on paper but has yet to take home any hardware despite fabulous statistics (career 58-24 record, 2.25 ERA, 0.98 WHIP). Time is beginning to become a question mark though as 3 of the big 4 are at least 30 years old (LHP Tommy Lafferty being the exception). “I don’t care what anyone else thinks. They are the favorites to win that division until they don’t have one or two have those guys anymore,” one OL scout said. Questions still rage about closer RHP Dan MacCall and if there is anything the Terriers will do about it. The biggest trade of the offseason was a head-scratcher that leaves the offense in a bit of disarray. The Terriers shipped star RF Syman Shores to division rival Youngstown for RF Jacob Davis. Davis had a rough year (.279, 9 HR, 54 RBI) in 1942 while Shores continues to put up MOB numbers. And to send him to your division rival is insane and will surely come back to bite them. “I’m certainly looking forward to April 19^th though I don’t harbor any bad feelings towards them,” Shores said about his first meeting against his former team. Without Shores in this lineup, this is a lineup that should have trouble keeping up with some of the mashing lineups in the OL. Best Hitter – LF Peter Northcutt (18 Contact, 20 Gap, 12 Power, 16 Eye, 16 Avoiding K’s) Best Pitcher – LHP Howard ‘Merlin’ West (17 Stuff, 19 Movement, 14 Control) Best Prospect not in the majors – AAA LHP Brishen Sanders, 21 Years Old. Potential – (11 Stuff, 12 Movement, 14 Control) After bouncing around in trades for a couple years, Sanders could be on the move again this year as he is almost ready for MOBL action (10-14, 3.98 ERA in AAA last year) and the Terriers don’t exactly have room for him. Sanders is a pitcher that likes to mix it up with his 5 different pitches, though his sinker might be his out pitch. Turn back the clock – 1941 Top Prospect Update – RF Cory Rick – The Terriers tried to turn Rick into a center fielder, where they had a hole, but it doesn’t look like he can take to that demanding position. At this point, Rick looks like nothing more than a decent bat off the bench (.207 in 121 AB’s with Canton last year). Youngstown Black Irons Predicted finish in division – 1^st Minor League system ranking – 5^th (out of 16) One team’s castaway is another’s gold is what the Black Irons are finding. After picking up LF Ben Myers off waivers and trading for RF Jacob Davis and then trading him for RF Syman Shores, this Black Iron team is ready to be the new dominant team in the OL East. After being the biggest disappointments of the 1942 season, ownership cleaned house in the coaching department and GM James Geer made some excellent trades to solidify this team for the future. “Geer should get the GM of the century award right now for the deals he’s been able to pull off. Now it’s up those new coaches to harness that talent,” one national newspaper said leading up to the 1943 season. The lineup only features a couple of real power guys (C Calvin Faithorne and 1B Martin Cook) but this team will score plenty of runs this season. There are lots of excellent contact hitters and lots of speed in the lineup. CF Toshiyuki Ishimura is the best center fielder in the game right now but is out for the first two months of the season while guys like SS Bart Kenedy and CF Alan Scarberry will look to pick up the slack in the lineup and on the field respectively. While the hitting has never really been the main problem for the Black Irons, there is reason for optimism in the pitching department. They made a great trade in picking up RHP George Price and LHP Scott Moroney (14-10, 3.83 ERA in 1942) is ready to make the leap to MOP candidate. After picking up LHP Clark Josephson and RHP John Reinheart during the 1942 season, things are looking much rosier for the staff. Throw in a good bullpen featuring LHP Leigh Edwards, RHP Pat O’Mulrony and closer RHP Bo Schumaker and you can see why this team looks like the best the OL East has to offer. Best Hitter – RF Syman Shores (14 Contact, 18 Gap, 12 Power, 13 Eye, 13 Avoiding K’s) Best Pitcher – LHP Scott Moroney (13 Stuff, 12 Movement, 16 Control) Best Prospect not in the majors – AAA LHP Anthony Boyd, 24 Years Old. Potential – (9 Stuff, 14 Movement, 15 Control) Should anyone in the Black Iron rotation struggle, the Black Irons have a young future ace ready to be called up. Boyd has done well in his rise up the ranks as his powerful sinker has baffled many a hitters. If he doesn’t make it this year, he certainly should next year. Turn back the clock – 1941 Top Prospect Update – LHP Anthony Boyd – See above. While his record doesn’t exactly show it, Boyd did well in his first taste of AAA baseball (7-13, 3.80 ERA, 119 K’s in 168 IP). Zanesville Engineers Predicted finish in division – 3^rd Minor League system ranking – 2^nd (out of 16) After toiling through some rough years where they pieced together a team of castaways, the Engineers can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel. They have a great nucleus of young pitchers that should keep them in contention this year. RHP Wil Sanchez has the look of a future ace after the 24 year old Cuban went 12-7 with a 3.67 ERA last year. Former 1^st round pick RHP Dan Lang is also looking to make the leap to ace after struggling a bit (3-7, 5.16 ERA) in his first taste of MOBL action last year. Veteran RHP Rafael Garza needs to bounce back though after he endured an awful season (8-17, 5.90 ERA in 1942) and they hope RHP Ronald Norfleet can get back to ace status after regressing a bit (12-15, 3.69 ERA in 1942). The offense starts and ends with MOB candidate 1B Jesus Badilla. After posting an unbelievable season last year (.312, 42 HR, 108 RBI), this big Georgian is looking to repeat it and then some. “I thought I had a pretty good year, but I know I can be better. I’m going to have to be if we want to do some things in the OL East this year,” Badilla said in spring training. The Engineers made a nice trade in picking up leadoff hitter 2B Tom Berry and will look to young outfielders LF Owen Yeley and RF Tim Williams to pick up some of the slack. Best Hitter – 1B Jesus Badilla (15 Contact, 17 Gap, 14 Power, 9 Eye, 8 Avoiding K’s) Best Pitcher – RHP Wil Sanchez (13 Stuff, 15 Movement, 11 Control) Best Prospect not in the majors – A 3B Alexander Grove, 19 Years Old. Potential – (16 Contact, 18 Gap, 10 Power, 13 Eye, 11 Avoiding K’s) After posting a decent season in Short Season ball last year, Grove looks to put up big numbers in a full season of work at A Marietta this year. An intelligent player, Grove knows how to take a pitch and has already been named team captain at Marietta. Turn back the clock – 1941 Top Prospect Update – LF Vasco Ayala – There wasn’t much room in the Engineer outfield, so they shipped Ayala to Mackinac for current starting C Kris Edmonston. Ayala posted some decent numbers (.240, 17 HR, 59 RBI) in his first full season as the Trolleys look to him to provide more power this season.