The National Baseball League

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Founded in 2000 During the steroid backlash against MLB the National Baseball leagues 24 teams took the field promising a clean sport with mandatory weekly testing for all players at all levels. Fans flocked to the games in the opening season and it soon became apparent that the level of play was as good if not better than what MLB (called muscles look big) in some circles. By 2004 the writing was on the wall for Major League Baseball and at the end of that season Bud Selig announced that the league would disband due to a lack of earning power for the owners.The NLB continued to gain in popularity throughout the rest of the decade showing the staying power that is more than anyone could have projected.

I will be be taking over one of the bottom feeders in 2010, leaning towards the Nashville Barbers or San Diego Friars, but we will see

I am using 2011 settings for gameplay and financials with a 1-10 rating scale and hard trading. in the next post i will go over the 10 year history of the league focusing on who won, superstars and whatever else catches my attention

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I have decided to do a team by team Breakdown of the league to familiarize myself with the teams and also give you all a history of the league and its stars.

Miami Dynamos 2009 record 90-72 Overall record 865-756
In 2009 the Dynamos were, as expected, tops in the freedom east and made a run in the playoffs all the way to the National League Championship(my world series) before losing in six games. Led at the plate by 25 yr old first baseman Juan De Los Santos who for the fourth year in a row put up monster offensive numbers .303 avg 42hr 122 rbi while playing in a 161 games and is in the running for the freedom league mvp. This guy is a superstud crazy numbers in his first four years .302 avg 126 home runs. He leads an offense that is 4th or higher in almost every category.

As far as pitching goes 30 yr old Rudy Hoover leads a outstanding staff that was also in the top 4 in all categories. Rudy pitched to 13 wins with a 2.81 era while strikeout 142 in 189 innings. He will be a free agent next year after 2010 and will look to be one of the top options in that year, 87- 55 for his career with an era of 3.29 and a k/9 at just under 7.
Overall Miami is a well built team who should compete for multiple championships for the next few years, although there minor league system is ranked 18 of 24 by bnn so that is of concern

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Up next...

The Philidelphia Predators 2009 record 88-74 overall record 759-861

The predators have struggled in the east for most of the last 10 years, but this year they seemed to have turned a corner with solid pitching led by 25 yr old phenom Wayne Washington who in his first year in the majors posted a 16-9 record with a 3.19 era in 29 starts. He pitched in 201 innings posting a 4.1 war while striking out a good 6 per 9 innings pitched. He is more of a to contact guy and had a whopping 75 % ground ball rate. He should only get better and is under team control for at least 4 years.

They do have a weakness on the offensive side of the ball, in particular a lack of pop as the were led in hr by Carl Carver a solid 27 yr right fielder who popped 18 hr with a 277 avg 70 rbi and 14 sb.
This team is like the giants of 2010-2011 great pitching average bats at best.

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Onto the Boston Bombers 2009 record 83-79 Overall record 763-857

Boston is a confusing organization as they have a very nice fan base and payroll and yet seem to always fail to make the right choices on where to spend that money. They are a team full of aging players with large contracts and a minor league system that lacks any real prospects(109 of 24). The one thing they do well is smash the ball as they were 2nd in the F.L. with 186 round-trippers but in no other offensive category did they score better than 5th. There are a cpl bright spots in aging rf Pat Miles who continue to chug along hitting 47 hr while batting .317 adding to his already impressive hof caliber career (.297 avg with 347 hr this leads the career totals). Unfortunately he has become somewhat injury prone as he hits his 30s and i feel he has only a few yrs left at his peak. One of the only prospects in their system had fans excited in the last month of the season. Fernando Rangel played in 12 games in 2009 hitting a solid .286 with 1 hr and 6 ribbies he looks to make an impact in 2010

The pitching staff looks cobbled together to me and while not the worst in the league they were no better than 5th in any category and looking at the roster I dont see any reason to think that will improve

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Baltimore Legends 2010 totals 82-80 overall 788-832

This is a team on the come with the #1 rated minor league system and a lot of good young talent already in the majors including John Jones, there 26yr old catcher who hit .309 with 42 rbis and 8 hr and has one of the best arms at catcher in the league. He is joined by 26 yr old All Star cf Jose Prieto, a gold glove winner in cf he also hit 31 hr while batting in 117. In their rotation they are led by 4 time all-star Theodore Paige who posted wins with a 3.16 era in 2009 and is only 25 yrs old. 26 yr old Lorenzo Rodriguez is their number 2 who through 2 shutouts in 2009 on his way to 14 wins looks like top of the rotation stuff for years to come if he stays healthy.


Bronx BlueSox 2010 81-81 Overall 853-768

The Bombers have been one of the best franchises in the NBL in the first 10 years with 6 playoff appearances and one championship. Unfortunately age has caught up to their roster and the lack of young talent has some thinking they are in for a slide down to the cellar for a few years. Bostonites disagree and feel the young players they have brought up in the last 3 years will lead them back to the promise land. I guess time will tell on this one. There is no true superstars on this team as of now most of their starter look like number 3s and their offense lacks power at key position. They were led by their first baseman 27 yr old brandon simons who hit .307 with 87 rbis but lacks the pop needed at this position 8 hr. Pitching wise their best arm is probably miguel angel who won 14 with a 3.39 era


Charlotte Barons 2010 72-90 overall 787-833
This is a team that has been mired in mediocrity throughout it history. They have in ten years never won less than 70 gms nor one more than 89 gms, even in 2003 when they won it all they only won 88 games in the regular season they have the 23rd ranked minor league system and won 72 games this year. They do have some young talent at the major league level with 1b Alonzo Canales .253 avg 33hr 97 rbis and Harry Martin, the 2007 rookie of the year led the team with a .308 avg, 9 hr 59 rbis, but he is week in the field at 3b and canalez is at first. The pitching staff looks like journeyman to me and overall unimpressive.

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i have decided on a team for me to play so i am gonna rush through these a little to get to gm my new team. if you want info on a any team let me know and i will post it but i do want to get to work on my team

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Today the Buffalo Bisons announced the signing of their new gm Kevin Withrow. Mr. Withrow will be taking over effective today Nov 24 2009, when asked about the job in front of him Kevin as he likes to be called had this to say "When you are David, and everybody else in this league looks like Goliath you have to work harder, longer and better or you are going to get crushed we are operating with a budget that is 22 million less than the next smallest and 3 times less than the big dogs. I plan on living at the stadium year round and if you work for this franchise you better plan on it too". With that Mr Withrow turned and walked out of the press area and towards the deep, dark interior of Bisons field.

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The bisons went 67-95 in 2009 making 7 losing seasons in a row since their lone playoff appearance back in 2002. Overall this franchise is poor, lacking in talent in the majors or close too, and have an owner (Alex Hamilton) who hates spending money, but demands wins. It should come as no suprise then that this franchise has a career winning percentage at .461% (747-873) and already the owner wants to sell off the few players he has. This is going to be a tough turnaround .

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Starting Pitching: Donnie Ellis is the leader of this ragtag bunch my scout thinks the 24 yr old righty can be a 3 if he lives up to his potential he went 3-8 last year, his first in the bigs, with a 5.55 era. My thoughts: keep for now

Enrique Macias: This 26 yr old lefty anchored our rotation last year in his best year yet winning 13 with 3.39 era. Unfortunately he is making 4 mil this year which is a lot 4 a guy who my scout thinks is a flash in the pan. My thought has 4 pitches keep 4 now maybe july trade bait

Jorge Pimental 28 yr old right hander pitched good in first yr starting winning 10 with a 4.79 era but i dont see much upside here. I need an upgrade

Fernando Zapata: another guy who pitched up last year doesnt have the stamina to start may try him in long relief.

Prospects:
Angel Garcia: Pitched at double a last year looks like the real deal 11-6 2.9 era in 25 starts needs to work on control and his 4th pitch but should be up in 2 years hopefully thats it

Relief pitchers with these guys just listing the ones worth a damn

Tony De la Cruz rhp through 94.1 innings last year and posted 2.48 era with 79 ks my scout says he could be a starter a mid rotation type but he really only has 2 pitches fastball 97-99mph with a decent curve 7 out of 10 and pathetic change up 2 out of 10. May give him a shot in the spring at starting but he is great in the bullpen. What do you all think?

Jorge Vazquez. rhp was beat up a little last year but that was cuz he was transitioning to sp will be in the rotation this year see if he can get the 3rd pitch to the point where he can be sucessful in that role

The rest of these guys are really just scrubs up next the bats

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catcher - We have only one catcher on the roster as i take over ,but he looks like a solid player Alfredo Hernandez is 26 yr old switch hitter with an avg bat but good pop (.231 avg last yr 18 hr and 59 rbi) with avg (5)catching ability.
As for prospects it really begins and ends with bill phillips, the 20 yr old looks like the real deal at the plate (.293 avg in limited work at A ball last yr 92ab 3 hr and 12 rbi he will start the season at A but could move to AA soon with a hot start. His defensive is ok but i worry about his 4 catching ability, which is a 4 now and i like my catchers to frame their pitches well.

First base- We have a whopping 4 first basemen on the active roster so i will be looking to move some of these guys this offseason. Gerardo James is an established guy for us at this position and only 26 yrs old. The righty hit .300 last yr with 18 hr and 73 rbis, but is defensively a better corner OF I am considering moving him to LF.
Jose Gonzales is only 23 yrs old but my scout is very high on him, he was called up in late september last year and struggled out of the gate(.235 avg in 34 AB's we will test him out in the spring and if he does ok it is his job too lose. There is really nothing in the minors to speak of at this position.

Second base-25 yr old Paul Dodson will most likely start for us at 2B this year as he is one of the staples of this young team(.324 avg with 26 SB and a solid if unspectacular .981 fielding %. He is fairly popular nationally and is not to expensive at 2.6 mil in his first yr of arbitration. He has some injury concerns but had a bounce back yr last year, so we will see.

Steve Mcghee is the only real prospect hear and although my scout loves the 20 yr old he struggled at short a last year and OSA is not nearly as high on him. He will start at SA again i think and will try to be patient with the kid.

Shortstop- Pablo Murillo started for us last year at SS and although he is solid defensively he has very little to offer at the plate. I am looking for an upgrade here as i have nothing to speak of in the minors.

Third base - Sergio Acevedo mans the hot corner for buffalo and is their most popular player by far. Unfortunately he has a very large contract 9.5 mil this year and may be trade bait to improve my fairly weak rotation. He is an offensive stud(.278 with 17 hr and 64 rbis but his defensive is atrocious( .931 fielding % with a Zone rating of -19.3). In an interesting side note first player i have seen with no positional ratings. Nothing to see in the minors at this position.

Outfielders- Alberto Martinez mans CF for us and hits with very good pop 23 HR 101 rbis but his avg is just .247 and struck out 136 times. Defensively he is the real deal (.988% with a ZR of +8.4) but he is injury prone and i am concerned about his health
Vicente Nieves is our RF who is solid but not really starter material would make a good 4th OF will look to upgrade here.
The good news is i do have a cpl solid prospects in the minors, but they may not be ready for this yr
Julio Seguillo struggled at AAA last year but looks ready on paper I am torn on if i want to put him out there this yr or wait till he proves it at AAA could use some advice from you guys if you have any ideas.
Ron Lyon is playing in A ball this yr at just 19 yrs old. He is a true corner of in the mold of Carlos Quinton with a big bat but poor glove work overall one of my top prospects but still a cpl yrs away.

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As of right now i have roughly 7 mil to spend in free agency and i need some pitching, a shortstop and a utility IF.

Free agent targets-
32 yr old relief pitcher john ferguson 4 star reliever possible closer for my sqaud- asking 3.2 mil over 2 yrs offered 1 yr at 2.29 mil.

SP Ray Buck 33 yr old righty might fit in at the bottom of a good rotation which means opening day starter for me lol. He is durable but gets winded easily could fit as a long relief option to. The price is right here if i can sign him on a one year deal. Asking 1yr/ 950,000 Offered 1 yr 750,000.

This is a really weak free agent class for pitching there are some big stars but none i can afford, will have to look at trades and the waiver wire here

There is a lot of star power available at SS but only if you want to spend a third of my budget I think i will have to stand pat here

I also made an offer to Howard Murphy LF 27 yrs old, he is a solid fielder and has good pop could possibly start at one corner allowing nieves to be my 4th OF and my prospects could stay in the minors Offered 2 yrs 1.5 mil

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I decided to take a young catcher in the rule 5 draft by the name of keith simmons today. He is a avg bat with an avg arm but he does frame pitches extremely well and will be slotted in as my backup backstop

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The Bisons had a big week as Mr Withrow spent most of his remaining budget on 3 players relief pitcher john ferguson, sp ray buck, and OF howard murphy.
Fans seemed moderately happy with the Ray Buck signing but there are ? surrounding the amount spent on the other players. Harold reynolds questioned the howard murphy signing stating that it was an example of wasting resources on a player who will probably produce at a level equal to what any triple AAA OF would. Mr. Withrow had little too say simply stating that he was excited with these signings and looked forward to the season as he felt they would be key contributors.

Just a day later there was more news out of Buffalo as the team announced that they had come to terms with their star LF/1B gerardo Jaimes on a five yr extension valued at 34.9 million over 5 yrs. The 26 yr old Jaimes spoke to the media stating he was excited to be staying in Buffalo for now and how he felt things were looking exciting for the Bisons

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The Bisons had an exceptional spring going 15-9 with there bats leading the way. Unfortunately they did not escape with no injuries as star 2b paul dodson and free agent acquisition John Ferguson were lost for a month and 2-3 months respectively. I did make one waiver claim on a 2b Owen Lowe out of Seattle, while not a star 2b Lowe can play at the major league level and will be able to get us thru the month till dodson gets back I also upped our player development and scouting by 2 mil apiece in the preseason in the hopes our minor league talent can grow quickly.

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Well april was a rough month for the bisons as they went 9-15. Their hitting has been solid (4th in avg ) in the Liberty league but their pitching as expected has been their downfall (7th out of 12 or worse in all categories)the lone bright spot being first year starter tony de la cruz who is on pace to win 20 games with a 2.25 era. At the plate the real story has been stud OF Jaimes who has popped 10 dingers in the first month while posting a .314 avg, looks like he is going to earn every penny i gave him this offseason. Omar Lowe has been very solid at 2b so I decided to send Dodson down to AAA on a rehab assignment he may very well be trade bait soon if Lowe continues to play well and my pitching doesn't improve.

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I got my first look at the draft pool today and with the 4th pick I need to get this one right. My top pitching prospects are as follows:
1. Mike "Nuke" Winston-This 21 yr old college lefty boasts great makeup (6/9 stuff, 6/7 movement,3/8 control) and brings a plus fastball 91-93 mph, a killer curve 6/9, forkball 6/8, and weak slider3/3. Overall my scout thinks he will be a HOF caliber pitcher
2. Arnold"Bonehead" Harrison is a 17 yr old phenom out of Stilwell high school in Oklahoma. He boasts 3 average pitches(sinker curveball slider) with all 3 being ++ potential. He already has great movement on his pitches 7/9 and needs only to improve his stuff 3/8 and control 1/8. Overall a high risk high reward kinda of kid.
3.Werner Hatcher is a solid top of the rotation righty with 3 solid pitches and good if not great potential according to my scout. Interestingly OSA is extremely high on this kid (10/9/9) so might be worth a pick at some point

Hitters.
1. Emilio Pena 2b 18 yrs old- this kid has all the tools you look for at 2b with a pretty swing 3/9 contact and a solid eye 1/8, but he will never hit for power 1/4. He is defensively ready now and will only get better for the next few years. He plays all infield positions other than 1b well and can also line up at the corner OF spots without embarassing himself
This is an extremely weak class i will be happy to get any of these 4 players this year in the first round

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The bisons played .500 ball in may going 14-14 so this is somewhat of an improvement. Unfortunately Donnie Ellis the young starting pitcher went down for the year with a torn elbow ligament. He was 3-3 with a 5.05 e.r.a in nine games this year Manuel Rincon was called up from AAA to replace him in the rotation. Geraldo Jaimes cooled down this month but is still hitting .282 with 12 hr so far this season. Howard Murphy continues to hit moderately well(.264 with 7 hr) in the early going he does give them another option in the outfield. In the minors Julio Seguillo is playing great at AAA with a .309 avg and 17 SB so far, he may be up in early september this year. Alfredo Garcia is pitching very well at AA this year and will probably be called up to AAA at the end of the year if this continues

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Well going into the draft we had planned on taking one of 4 players listed in our earlier post. With the 4th pick I was shocked to see 2 prospects still on the board. My choice was either lhp mike"nuke winston or super utility player Emilio Pena. As our offense has played well and our best prospects are batters this became a simple choice.

1rst round pick 4: Mike Winston LHP out of Berkley California The kid looks like he will anchor the rotation and was number one on my scouts wish list. If he doesn't make it as a picture this kid looks like he could have a career as a utility outfielder 3 * potential with great speed lol.

After getting our top rated guy at #4 I was concerned what would be left from here on out but when our pick came up in the second guess who was still on the board

2nd round pick 36th overall: Emilio Pena 18yr 5* pot 2b/ss/3b/rf/lf
This kid has a long way to go but he has the potential to be a super contact machine with good defensive skills already. This could be the still of the draft

2nd round pick 39: I couldnt pass up Pena earlier but i am getting back to my original plan here as i am going to take arms in this draft. In baseball it is better to have to much pitching than not enough.
Closer Christian Ramirez fits this to a tee as he is the most advanced reliever on the board and can probably start at A ball this year, maybe be to the bigs in just a cpl years

3rd round pick 62: Sp Tim Starks- great potential here although I worry that if he doesn't develop a 3rd pitch he may have to move to the pen, still has a live arm and looks like he will contribute in the bigs at some point

3rd round 63 pick: relief pitcher goerge wilson was a starter in college with 4 plus pitches and if his stamina improves may be a star in the making if not, then he should be great in the pen.

4th round pick 90th overall: C Jacob Bennet 2.5 * potential with an avg bat but good pop, where he shines is with the mask on as he is very polished behind the plate with a solid arm and glove.

5th round 114th overall: 2B Roberto sosa was best available at this point will probably sniff the majors/AAA but does not look like he has the talent to make an impact

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June- With the draft complete and the Bisons chugging along to their first winning month things were looking up in buffalo. Tony De la Cruz continued to set a torrid pace racked 7,8,and 9 wins as he was looking to be on a pace to win 20 or more with a sub 3 era. Gerardo Jaimes continued to hit the ball and drive in runs, although his power has never been as good as the 10 hr he hit back in april. Overall a very positive month for the young Bisons going 15-13 in June.

July- Well what comes up must go down and what went down was the Bisons playoff hopes. First the good news, the Bisons did have 2 all star selections this year as young phenom Tony De la Cruz and his 11 pre-allstar game wins was selected to represent the freedom league. Also being selected and somehow flying under the radar is the play of Alfredo Hernandez, I am sorry i have not mentioned him since back in the roster breakdown but he has quietly been tearing pitching up .280+ batting avg with 12 hr. I also came to an agreement with all my draft picks from this year and they are all working in my minor league system including Michael "Nuke" Winston who is dealing at short A and could be pushed to A ball by end of year. Unfortunately despite this good news we struggled this month on the field going 10-15 while also losing Sergio Acevedo our starting 3b and highest paid player on the team for 2 weeks in early july.

By July 27 we wer 10 gb and falling and after thinking about it for a while i got on the phone and shopped Sergio Acevedo .256 avg with 12 hr to the Nashville Barbers who agreed to a 5 player deal that netted them Sergio and minor league reliever Fernando Ramos, in return i netted stud 1B prospect 24 yr old Jon Harvey (.257 avg with 16 hr 5* Pot) along with ss porter Long, and minor league lefty Rodrigo Sanchez who was immediately brought up to help my struggling bullpen.

This deal was a salary dump on my part in all honesty Sergio was a good player but had no defensive skills and only a solid bat in his time here and 11 million next year for an injury-prone 3b is a killer for this team. I was shocked when they agreed to part with Harvey so easily he is almost MLB ready and looks to be a .260 30 hr guy whose only weakness is he swings and misses too much he will stay down for now.

August-More of the same for your bisons as they go 10-17 in Aug and drop to 58-73 overall De la Cruz did sign an extension to stay in Buffalo for the next 4 yrs for 25.2 million, he promptly had 3 horrible starts in a row dropping to 14-8 on the season with 3.99 era. Gerardo Jaimes got his power bat out this month with 7 dingers pushing him to 23 for the year so far with 80 rbi's and a .291 avg, this still looks like a good deal to me and am excited to see how he turns out with more talent around him next year.
Alfredo Hernandez has continued his monster year with 17hr and a .288 avg, the problem is he is in arbitration next year and is looking at close to 5 mill per from here on, his backup has played very well for me and is better defensively I may end up moving him in the offseason.