[ArquimedezPozo]

The excitement of a new baseball model had become commonplace by the time Cycle 3 rolled around. The new Federation was a clear success: after six years, attendance and revenues were up, small-market teams were advancing, and a new crop of stars were setting the pace. But the mid-2010s - Cycles 3 and 4 of the NABF - have come to feel more like treading water: a quiet space between the excitement of the early days and the dynamic 2020s. That’s a shame, because under the surface a lot was changing in the NABF - changes that would come to fruition in those epic runs of the next few cycles..

During the 2011 and 2012 seasons, a new force had begun to make itself felt in Division 2. The Boston Bees had spent the first four years of their existence as a middling franchise: stuck with some holdover mid-range talent, they spent Cycle 1 building a farm system that would soon begin to bear serious fruit when combined with successful trades and strategic free agent signings. By 2012, they were two-time Division 2 East winners, having won 102 games (at that point tied for the second-highest in Federation history, behind only the 105 win 2011 Saints). That was more than enough to vault them into the top division, where they proceeded to dominate: the Bees took the D1 East in 2013, losing to the Los Angeles Angels in the Championship, then finished second to eventual D1 Champs Montreal in 2014 before storming back to a dominant, 101-win 2015 that saw the franchise claim its first title, defeating Fort Worth.

The Bees came into Cycle 4 with a powerful young core of players: 1B Nick Brod had collected 4 WAR with 34 homers in 2015, and young C Alex Afan was coming into his own. But the biggest stars were free agent RF George Smith (acquired in a trade from Montreal in 2014) who would go on to win the 2016 D1 MVP, and young two-way star Hector Rayfield, who hit respectably at 2B while putting up 4.6 WAR and a 3.30 FIP (82 FIP-) in 204 innings as the team’s #2. The ace of the staff was fellow 25 year old Geoff Finnell, a first-round 2012 pick who had been Pitcher of the Year in 2015. Behind this core, the Bees won the conference in 2016, 2017, and 2018, claiming the Championship - again over Fort Worth - in 2017.

The Bees were not the only new dynasty riding a young core to victory. The Columbus Red Birds had spent Cycle 1 as the worst team in Division 4, but had begun to climb in Cycle 2, posting their first winning record in 2011. They burst onto the scene in 2013 to win 98 games and take the D4 crown, a feat they would replicate in 2014 before a second-place campaign in 2015.

Still, two championships was more than enough to move them into D3, and after a year of adjustment in which the club barely scraped above .500, they once again claimed the top spot: an 82-win surprise championship season in 2017 and a dominant 97-win championship season in 2018 guaranteed them another jump, matching the Salt Lake Gulls who had also climbed from D4 to D2 in the matter of six years. The Red Bids were led by 3B/DH Lorenzo Valenzuela, whose early career suggested an all-time great but who was sadly slowed by injury later in his career. Valenzuela won the 2013 D4 MVP while leading Columbus to its first title, and he would remain on the team through 2020, though 2018 was his last productive season.The pitching staff was fronted by Josh Ellis and Jamie Voelker, strong righthanders who put together good if not great careers centered on their time in Columbus. Unlike the Bees, the Red Birds lacked genuine star power, but they had a deep roster that was skilled in run prevention, allowing them to win four championships in six seasons.

It was more of a mixed bag for Nashville’s Sounds; their 2009 D4 East-winning campaign had been the highest-win season of Cycle 1, and they won D3 East their first year after promotion, then held on with decent seasons through 2012. Then in 2014 they became the first NABF team to win a Championship after promotion, beating Seattle in six games after an 81-73 season headlined by star 2B Cameron Bright. But by Cycle 4, Nashville had fallen apart, posting the three worst seasons in franchise history, finishing last in each, and finding themselves back in Division 4.

Cycles 3 and 4 were good ones for the Mexican teams of the NABF. The Tijuana Potros ownership had taken heat at the Federation’s formation for not accepting an offer to merge with San Diego, and those criticisms grew louder with San Diego’s repeat D3 championships in 2009 and 2010. But the Potros spent those years building, and emerged in Cycle 3 as a powerhouse, winning the D2 West in each of the three seasons, with a championship in 2014 over Atlanta. That run was powered by 2014 Pitcher of the Year Jose Santos, who put up 8 WAR with 245 Ks in Tijuana’s championship season, after a 7.5 WAR campaign in 2013. His career would slow down after 2014 but he was a critical figure in Tijuana’s ascent to D1 at the start of Cycle 4. The Potros struggled in the top Division, but held on, and have not fallen from it since.

The Monterrey Industriales followed suit in Cycle 4, with their own threepeat as D2 West winners. Their 2014 and 2015 Championships, over the Ottawa Champions and the Havana Sugar Kings respectively, helped vault them into D1 by the end of Cycle 4. Another primarily offensive club, the Industriales MVP was CF Brett Perry, an Indiana native who put up 20.5 WAR over Cycle 4 with a combined 62 homers while taking home a streak of Gold Gloves.

The El Paso Sun Kings, who drew heavily from Juarez over the border, continued to establish themselves as a perennial D1 West favorite; though they had struggled in Cycle 2, even losing 102 games in 2011, by 2014 they were back on top. They won their second D1 Championship that season, over the Expos, with a potent offense led by leadoff man CF Bruce Tussey (.291/.376/.472 with 38 doubles and an incredible SB rate, with 41 thefts against just 5 failures at age 24. Tussey’s subsequent El Paso years would not be as strong, leading the club to deal him to Boston for star 3B Luis Limon in 2018.

Meanwhile, some of the standouts of the early years saw their fortunes reverse. The Salt Lake Gulls had moved steadily up through Divisions 4 and 3 over the first six years of existence, never losing more than 68 games in a season. But a combination of Division 2 competition and an aging core brought them low: in 2013, their first season in D2, the Gulls went 72-82 to finish 4th; they dropped further in 2014, finishing in last place with 59 wins and a .383 winning percentage. Though they rose to second in 2015 it was more the result of a weak conference than a strong team, as the Gulls still posted a losing record at 75-79. It was good enough to keep them in Division 2 for Cycle 4, but not for long: the Gulls finished last in the D2 West in both 2016 and 2018, and 5th in the intervening 2017, to be knocked back down to D3.

Similarly, the St. Paul Saints came into Cycle 3 seeming like an unbeatable powerhouse: winners of four straight D2 championships, they now looked to continue their success against D1 competition. But the Sun Kings, Angels, Cats, and others had something to say about that: The Saints finished in 5th in each of their first three seasons in D1, then dropped to last place in 2017 and 2018 to be bumped back down to D2. As much of this if not more can be pegged to a decline in production than to the move up: LF and former MVP Manny Lopez, speedster 2B Andrew Pierre, RF Josh Curran, and SP Chris Knipp all experienced career swings that ended their productive years during Cycle 3, while ace Jared Butcher signed with Monterrey after 2012.

In all, the mid-2010s proved to be a hold-steady period for the NABF. Looking over the record books, it’s notable how few Federation or Division records remain that were set in those years. Though the period saw the heydays of some major stars (Boston’s Rayfield, the incredible LF John Hansen, 1B/SP Jose Martinez of the Chicago Whales, and Havana’s ace Jim Betz among them), it is overshadowed by the excitement of the Federation’s early days, and the dynamic 2020s.

Next: Greatest Individual Seasons, 2013-2018