DELMARVA Baseball League

[illeracula]

Delaware Conference
Wilmington Star, Golden Arm Award Winner: The Wilmington Iron Pigs have a rising superstar or maybe even a budding Hall-of-Famer in the making.
It's Marcos Estrada, this year's Delaware Conference Golden Arm Award selection. This blossoming hurler wowed fans, peers and sportswriters with a fabulous performance.

Estrada compiled a 20-8 record in 34 starts, tallied 229 strikeouts in 243.2 innings and recorded a 1.92 ERA. Other clubs managed only a .202 batting average against him.

MarVa Conference
Golden Arm Award Presented by MVDIV: The Golden Arm Award for 2014 has been presented and the MarVa Conference winner is Miguel Contreras of Ocean City.

"It's always nice to receive an award like this," said Contreras. "I just hope I can improve on my performance next year and be in the running again," the Tourists star told reporters.

Contreras excelled with an impressive 16-9 record in 35 starts. In 232 innings he yielded 201 hits and 34 walks, while striking out 212 and compiling a fine 2.79 ERA.

[illeracula]

Delaware Conference
2014 Best Batter Selected In DDIV: Peter Peters went on a year-long hitting rampage against Delaware Conference pitchers and collected the Siliver Slugger Award for 2014.

The New Castle right fielder battered the opposition for 185 hits, 44 doubles, 1 triple, 40 home runs and 98 RBIs, while scoring 121 runs. He hit .359 and posted a .465 on-base percentage.

MarVa Conference
2014 MVDIV Best Batter, Ocean City's Cunningham: Anthony Cunningham had an impressive 2014 season against MarVa Conference pitchers and was acclaimed the league's Siliver Slugger Award winner today.

The Ocean City first baseman hit .343 and collected 193 hits, 41 home runs, 118 RBIs and scored 96 times to win the coveted trophy.

[illeracula]

Last season we had a hole at firstbase. With rookie Chris Shopland getting the call to start at first. When injuries came Shopland moved over to 3B and we moved our DH/LF over to first base, Ron Alder, where he was the staple for the rest of the season, he started in 34 games. Shopland started 87 games at first, and 44 games at 3B.

Coming in 2015 we will have a dilema at first base, assuming we are healthy. Shopland hit .269-7-58 in his first season as a regular and is a solid utility man, playing 5 positions at 10 or above. He will be talked about at first base, as will Mauro Candelaria, Gilberto Ramos (41 starts last season) and, yes, Ron Alder.

The Big Leagues:
Chris Shopland is an interesting guy. He should be playing second, rated at 18, but maybe forced to play first, rated at 15. That being said he will be on the team, he will play and important role, we are just not sure where yet. Last season his first full season in with Norfolk he put decent numbers .269-7-58, but numbers that don't correlate with a corner infielder.

Gilberto Ramos another guy who plays multiple positions (6) but just didn't hit the ball last season. He will have some issues making the team this year. Two years ago he had a solid season .277-11-45, and a huge drop off last year .186-4-22, and with no options his roster spot might be in jeopardy. The reason we keep him around is his 20 defense at firstbase. Is it that important?

Ron Alder is an outfielder who is learning how to play first. This past season he was thrown to the wolves to learn the position for his bat. Too many outfielder/DH types healthy. Alder did alright posting a .981 fielding PCT, but is better suited for a corner outfield spot. He lead the league with 58 stolen bases, and put together a pretty solid year .263-11-58. He is another guy who will be in the lineup, just who knows where.

Mauro Candelaria is the most interesting player on this team. When healthy his the best pure hitter we have. His primary positions are 3B and SS, but most likely he will end up playing 1B everyday. He will compete at 3B this season, and may make Mark Morris expendable. There are going to be a lot of interesting battles going on and 1B will be center stage. Mauro hit .328-5-44 in 98 games last season and we look forward to having him healthy all season.

AAA Yokohama
Our primary firstbasemen last Jason St. John retired.

Joey Yates was our #2 in AAA, but isn't much to write home about. Last season he split time between AAA and AA. For AAA he put up dismal numbers .229-2-7, but did hit .350 in AA. At 26 it is very close to time for him to move on.

AA New Orleans
Kevin Howse was our first basemen in AA. He is 25 and still has a long way to go. If he reached his potential he wouldn't be bad sub, but at 25 that time might of come and gone. He most likely will start the season in AAA next year, and it will probably be his last horrah. For AA last season he hit .264-9-43.

David Ramirez is another 25-year old prospect on the way out. Last season he played in 78 games in AA and had a respectable season .293-9-43, which was a big drop from a promising 2013. Rameriz, as with Howse are getting close to just being warm bodies to fill roster spots.

A Jacksonville
Down here in A-ball we have some real promising kids. First is King Brock. Last year Brock was named the #7 prospect in the game. Brock has done nothing, but develop since he joined the league as a 18-year-old. Expect Brock, now 20, to move up to AA and show off his skills there. With great ratings with the bat, and brick for a glove he projects to be a DH. Hopefully he will be able to develop some fielding skills over the next few seasons. In A-ball this year Brock hit .285-7-79. He had an off year with the bat.

Francisco Gallegos was signed as an international free-agent. He has a tremendous ceiling and at 17 years old he has a lot of time to reach that ceiling. He has show flashes of tremendous power during BP, but the worries are his eye. He will be a better fielder than Brock in the long run. Last season after signing Francisco hit .333-0-14. Expect him to be the starting 1B here in A-ball next year.

Predictions for 2015: Last year firstbase was a mess, hopefully this year we will have some stability. I think the front runner for 1B is Shopland, which means Candelaria will be at 3B. That being said Alder will be putting up a fight for 1B duty as well. Its really up in the air. Expect a possible deal, Marcus Morris, Gilberto Ramos and/or Chris Shopland could be moved if the right deal comes a long... then again if you ask me tomorrow and I am pretty sure it all will change.

[illeracula]

Well the Norfolk Cavaliers are on a winning streak... We had 6 hearings and all 6 went for the team. The only one I thought could go another way was the Dalton Whitaker, after his solid season.

The Results
OF - Allen Britt - TEAM $850,000
IF - Mason Foster - TEAM $750,000
OF - Pat Shelton - TEAM $2,520,000
MR - Dalton Whitaker - TEAM $750,000
IF - Gilberto Ramos - TEAM $850,000
OF - Howard Harper - TEAM $1,800,000

We have an abundance of outfielders, so we should expect some moves come the Winter Meetings. Our primary focus is a MR and maybe a SP and one more bat. Free agents will be announcing in a few days, doubt we will be big players, but you never know.

[illeracula]

Going into next season we have quite a few outfielders that will be vying for a roster spot. Last year thanks to injury it wasn't so bad, but assuming we are healthy we will have some battles.

I decided to do this now, because there have been at least 3 teams showing interest in Pat Shelton. I am curious if its time to move him or keep him as a back-up/defensive sub. I like Shelton, but that doesn't mean he gets a free pass.

The Big Leaguers:
Brian Cline is an DH and not a great outfielder. If he is in the field its most likely because we are playing a Delaware Conference team and we need his bat. Two years ago he hit 28 HR's, last season 26. He offers much needed power from the right-hand side of the plate. This past season he hit .243-26-83. He will be with us and most likely our starting DH, but will see some time in left (rated 11).

Pat Shelton is a former Gold Glove outfielder (in 2013) and offers great defense in left, center and right. As well as pretty decent speed. But his bat is whats missing. In 2013 he hit .255-14-57, this past season he hit .243-3-30 (200 less at-bats), but more like his ratings say he should be. I like his glove on this team, but at $2,250,000 per is he really worth it?

Jose Rodriquez is our power man from the left-hand side. After a horrific start in 2014 he finished with respectable numbers. .259-22-40, only playing in 113 games. He was benched in April and May until he started hitting the ball, and he can not hit lefties very well. He was our primary RF last season.

Howard Harper came over in an early season deal. He is fast and an above average defender in left-field. He put together a really nice play-off's, but struggled through the season. He doesn't make enough contact, but has pretty good power. This season Harper hit .228-13-39 in 246 at-bats. When everyone is healthy he is the odd-man out.

Ron Alder started the season as the DH, then went to the outfield then over to firstbase. He like him in the lineup, because he is FAST! He isn't a gret defender (13 and 12 in the corner outfield slots) and he strikes out too much for a speedster (109 last season). If everyone is healthy he will be in the mix of a corner outfield slot. And he always has his firstbase experience to fall back on.

Pablo Freitas was deemed one of our Franchise players (along with Don Sweetapple), and after a Rookie of the Year and Gold Glove campaign we had high hopes he was going to lead this offense. Then 2014 happened and he was struck with injuries, missing 5 months of the season. Pablo figures heavily into our future plans, and hopefully this year was a fluke. Playing in only 75 games he hit .254-11-43. Assuming he is healthy he will be our LF (19 defense) or our center fielder (12 defense). But no question about it, when he is healthy we are a better team.

The Minors
We really don't have a lot of "ready" talent in the outfield, but we do have a couple of prospects that are developing and could be factors in the future.

AAA
Allen Britt spend 28 games with Norfolk last season and 63 the season before. He is a slightly-below average ballplayer. He had some trade value last season, but not sure what he has anymore. With no more options left he may be candidate to get moved. Last season for Norfolk Britt hit .195-3-13, for AAA he put up respectable line of .273-16-54. Due to our depth look for him to get moved.

Murray Pavie started off the season by being named the #73 prospect and finished the season with AAA Gold Glove in RF. Murray spent time at all 3 minor league levels last season, but spent most of his time in AAA, where he hit .287-15-88. At 22-years old, he has a few more years to develop, but we have seen his potential drop over the past 6 months.

Estaban Sandoval projects to be a career AAA player, but he had a great minor league season and he develops some more contact skills could see himself up with the big club as that emergency outfielder. He is 23 years old and signed as a minor league free agent this year. For the season he hit .308-17-47 in AA and for .383-2-24 in AAA. We will take a look at him, but we won't be penciling him on the roster.

The last 3 AAA-players Filippio Monroe (25 years old .313-12-53), Jaime Caravajal (24 years old .213-3-16) and Carlos Alvarez (27 years old .462-2-5 @ AAA, .294-1-33 @ AA) don't really predict to much. Right now they are just hanging around as warm bodies playing baseball for a living.

AA Guys
Marc Alexander is 21 years old, super fast and will probably see a full-season of AAA next year. He isn't an all-star, but he gets the job done. Not sure if he will ever make it Norfolk, but he has a slight chance. Last season in AA he put up pretty good numbers .294-6-49 with 44 stolen bases. He is a speedster that needs to make more contact (102K's in 459 AB's).

Matt Perry is reaching the end of the tunnel. He is 25 years old, can fly, plays an above average outfield, but doesn't really project to be able to hit the ball at the big league level. He will probably see another year in AA, but a move to AAA could happen. Last season Mat hit .308-13-59. Can he keep that up?

Neil Moore split time between AAA and AA, but just couldn't get it done in AAA (.265-7-16). Down in AA he hit the ball a lot better .309-7-40 and was a much more consistent player. There isn't a big ceiling for Moore and at 25 he may just have too many other players ahead of him.

Jerry O'Toole is yet another 25 year old down on the farm. He split time at all 3 minor league levels and hit the ball well everywhere he went. He doens't project to make much contact, but he has so far. With the thining of crops happening, he will see more playign time this coming year. Most of his season was spent here in AA where he went .313-2-20.

Pedro Martinez and Mario Rodriquez are pretty much clones of each other. Not much to show in the way of ratings and at 24 their careers might be coming to an end. Right now they will be kept on the team just to make sure we have enough players in the minors going into 2015.

A - The Guys way down on the farm
Victor Moya is an average talent and with some hard work might see some ML time. He is getting a little old for A-ball at 22, so we will probably see him make a move to AA next season. He is fast, but a marginal fielder. For the season he put up .319-16-91. His days in A-ball are behind him.

Maurice Noble was listed at the #18 prospect in the league at the beginning of the season. He has big league potential, but 2014 was an injury plagued season. Missing a little mover a month due to injuries, which caused some ratings decline. He is 20 so he has a while to right the boat. In A ball this past year Noble played in 106 games and hit .296-12-58. He is a solid defender, one of the better ones we have on the farm. I see good things for him in future.

Dave Harrison was our other full-time outfielder in A-ball. He won a gold glove in RF and put up solid numbers. A 5th round pick in 2013 he made himself known this season. For the season he hit .306-4-50 and at 20-years old he has some growing room.

Jeremy Pittman is a 21-year old that hasn't developed into much. A late round pick last season he finds himself low on the depth chart. In 2015 its possible he will get some more at-bats, but still has a long way to grow. in 2014 he hit .326-0-12 in limited time. With trimming down the roster he is one player that is really on the cusp.

Bryan O'Neil is a 22-year old prospect who hasn't gotten the respect he thinks he deserves. I would like to see O'Neil get a full-time slot next season and show us what he has. At 22 the time is now to prove to us he deserves a shot to move up the ladder. in 2014 he split time between A (.348-3-16) and AA (.288-10-45), having a solid season.

International Complex
We have 2 kids in our complex that are raw. Raul Rubio, who is 16, and Sanho Masarenhas, who is 17, both signed out of Venezuela.

If Rubio can stay on track he might have a shot at being a solid guy in the bigs. With power and speed he could easily be a 20/20 guy, but not for quite a while, as he is very raw.

Sanho is more refined than Rubio, but both have issues making contact. Sanho is very intelligent and a hard worker. We see him as an average 5-tool player. He will be in A-ball this upcoming season to showcase his skills.

Predictions for 2015:
We have 6-outfielders on the roster when Freitas is healthy and one in AAA with no more options. 7 is too many. With 25 man rosters, I like to carry 11 pitchers and 14 position players. This means we could deal with 5, 6 would be pushing it. If we classify Alder as a 1B then we will need to move one guy, if we don't we will need to move 2. I think the starting outfield will be Jose Rodriquez, Freitas, Alder with Cline the DH. This makes it 2 Lefites and 2 Righties and Howard Harper, Allen Britt and Pat Shelton on the outside looking in. Our best defensive team is Freitas, Shelton and Rodriquez. I am torn about what to do with the outfield, but this is what I know for sure. Rodriquez, Cline and Freitas will be starters. Britt, Shelton, Alder and Howard will be fighting for position, with the caveat that Alder will be in the line either in the OF or 1B.

Also expect some pairing down of some of these older non-prospect guys so the younger guys can get some playing time... I would also like to get some better "teaching" coaches, but they just aren't available and/or not interested in coaching in the minors.

[illeracula]

We reached out and had some talks with some teams, but today we made it official. Allen Britt has been traded away. I would of liked to of kept him for depth, but without any options left he had to go. Matsuda will most likely take over the pen spot vacated by new free agent Javier Castro, but with 3 options some time AAA isn't out of the realm.

Official News Brief:
Swap: Britt for Matsuda: The Norfolk Cavaliers addressed a concern today, coming to terms with the Ocean City Tourists on a trade that will send 25-year-old minor league left fielder Allen Britt from the Cavaliers to the Tourists in exchange for 27-year-old reliever Edgar Matsuda and 25-year-old minor league closer Will McNeal.

Britt has a lifetime .240 average and .303 on-base percentage in his career with 94 hits, 22 doubles, 3 triples, 17 home runs, 55 RBIs and 57 runs scored.

A look at Matsuda's career stats shows he has 5 saves with a 7-8 record and a 4.46 ERA.

Free Agents:
The free agents filed as well, and boy would we like one or two of them. On the top of the list would be Abraham Thomas a 29-year-old slugger, but with his asking priced of $21 million we won't even be in the running. Also SP Jarred Perry filed. He is a 4.5* pitcher with great control, but his $18 million is a little much for us, as well... we won't be players in the big-names, but maybe we can sneak in a grab someone else. We will have to check out the list of names...

Top 10 list:
1. Pete Richard, 42 year-old second baseman
2. Raymond Corbett, 39 year-old starting pitcher
3. Gabriel Zumaya, 35 year-old starting pitcher
4. Luis Rodríguez, 36 year-old right fielder
5. Bill Downey, 30 year-old starting pitcher
6. John Jordan, 29 year-old starting pitcher
7. Colin McRankin, 33 year-old starting pitcher
8. Abraham Thomas, 29 year-old left fielder
9. Jarred Perry, 30 year-old starting pitcher
10. Robert Walker, 27 year-old starting pitcher

International Free Agents
Along with the other free-agents a handful of International free agents have filed to play in the DelMarVa Baseball League.

SS Tomás Reyes out of Cuba
2B Ryozo Hayagawa out of Japan
2B Koshiro Takahashi out of Japan
1B Totoya Ogawa out of Japan
RF Myeong-hwan Ch'a out of South Korea
2B Tashiro Masuda out of Japan
C Yoshinori Tanaka out of Japan

After looking over this list we reached out to Tomas Reyes and gave him, what we believe to be a more than fair offer. We had luck with Tony Soto out of Cuba last season, so we are hoping to have the same with Reyes. We will see if we can work something out. Reyes is asking for $8 million. Our scout Tim Olson sees him as a 4.5* prospect. Reyes would give us an average bat and a gold glove caliber 3B/SS. I can't go to far over my $8 million initial offer, so if he has more offers we may have to bow out quickly.

[illeracula]

This is probably our deepest position down through the farm, and we should have some battles this spring. We may even have to make a trade or two to keep everyone happy.

Second Base/Shortstop
Joe Payne was our primary second baseman all season long, he was hitting over .300 till the end of the season and finished with a respectable .284. Joe was a gold glove winner 2 years ago at SS, but just doesn't have the bat to be an everyday player. But he is a very good defender at 5 positions, which is the reason we brought him aboard.

Mauro Candelaria is pretty much the man without a position. Best fitted to play 3rd, can also play all other infield positions. Look for him to be going after the starting job at 3b this season.

Tony Soto was the rookie of the year this season. Even though he isn't a great fielder, making 21 errors at shortstop this season, his bat made up for it. After a slow start Tony hit the ball well until he was injured. He also plays some third-base but SS is his position to lose.

Jesus Rivera had a cup of coffee in 2013 and was a late addition to the roster in 2014, can on strong during the post season, thanks to the injury to Soto and the cold bat of Shopland. He made everyone say, oh yeah, we can't forget about Jesus. He is the front runner for the second base job, but still has to prove he can hit. In 185 at-bats this season Jesus hit .200, but he did go 5-12 in the playoffs. At 23, he is still developing, and with an option year left he could end up being the odd man out.

Chris Shopland is probably the best defensive 2B on the team and will be fighting Jesus for the job this coming spring. The problem with Shopland is he plays 4 other positions as well. He started the year as our first basemen and ended the year as our third basemen. He had a decent regular season .269-7-58 with 73 runs. He is out to prove that he belongs with the Cav's. A lot of the front office are down on Chris after his 1-21 in the playoffs.

AAA
Mason Foster had some time with the big club to fill in space when injuries were at their worse. A solid middle infielder with a below average bat. He went 3-16 in his stint with Norfolk, but did hit .322 in AAA. He has another option year, so unless he develops some hitting skills he will be back in AAA to start 2015.

Josh Watts split time between AAA and AA and is another one of these no-hit, good glove guys. The one thing he does have is a little more speed than Foster. The fact that he only plays one posisiton well, doesn't bode well for him. Last season he hit .250-4-23 in AAA and .316-13-52. He will be up in AAA, most likely, to start the season. So we will see what happens.

Allen Moore is our minor-league version of Joe Payne and at 31 years old has probably seen the last of his playing days. Last season he hit .249 in AAA a 70 point drop from the season before.

Emilio Gonzalez is a poor fielding short-stop that is best suited for a DH/pinch-runner. His bat isn't good enough that he would see time with Norfolk, so we will see how he develops this off-season. At 24 years old and not much more potential to reach his Norfolk days could be numbers. He hit .303-27-91 for AAA last season.

AA
Yasutoki Ine is one of the best defensive second baseman in our organization. At 25 he will be in AAA next season. His downfall is that he only plays 1 position. He was AA gold glove winner and put up solid numbers at the plate .295-8-65. Depending how he transitions to AAA he may see some time with the big league club in September.

Kao-Kan Kung is a defensive wiz, but has no bat to go along with it. He did hit .304-4-49 in AA last season, but doesn't have much potential at the plate. At 25 his time with Norfolk might be getting close to ending.

Cole Smith is 24 and seems to be more of a roster spot holder for the kids who aren't quite ready for AA. He doesn't have a whole lot of talent or much potential. If we need roster room, he might be on the chopping block.

A
Augusto Rodriquez the #30 rated prospect in the DBL is on track to being the SS of the future for the Cav's. A gold glove winner in A ball this past season shows that his glove is big league ready. He is still developing on the offensive side. He hit .299-10-62 in A and .269-2-26 in AA. Expect him to be splitting time between AA and AAA this season. At 20 years old there is no need to rush him.

Jeremy Jones our 2nd round pick from last year came on the season hitting the ball. In 70 games he hit .295-1-31. He has a very high ceiling and could make a nice double play combination with Augusto in 2 years. He still has some developing to do, so expect some more AB's in A-ball before moving up to AA.

Francisco Correa played all over the place for the Tritons last season. He comes from the good glove, good speed, no bat mold. Even though he did hit .318-5-56 in A ball last season our scout sees him as nothing more than a career minor leaguer. At 20 years old he still has some ball left in him.

Carlos Tobais was the 2B for most of last season here in A-ball and after a successful campaign .297-4-59 should start the season in AA. He is 20 years old and is out to prove he can hit at all levels.

Vern Sanchez is a great fielder at 3 infield posistions, but there are many questions about his bat. He only got 43 ab's last season, and he didn pitch a little. 2015 should bring some more AB's to Vern. The jury is still out.

Jamie Schneider hit .361 in 28 games last season, but at 23 has very little potential. He has seen his last days days in the Norfolk organization. He was signed as a free-agent 2 years ago and now after 2-drafts isn't needed.

Bertrand Balkwill was our last pick in 2014 and sort of got the short end of the stick, only playing in 2 games. But during those 3 games he did go 3-6 with 4 runs an HR and 3 RBI. Bertrand should get some more PT come 2015 at least I hope so. He will be 20 going into the season, so it will be interesting to see what he is going to do with more PT.

Predictions: So far with the reviews that I have done, I think all I have left is 3B and pitching. I have a feeling the IF will pan out something like this: 1B Ron Alder, 2B Chris Shopland/Jesus Rivera, SS Tony Soto, 3B Mauro Candelaria with Joe Payne playing the role as "super-sub". I know we have a kid at 3B Mark Morris who is out to prove this prediction wrong.

Side Note: After the writing of this we decided to release Allen Moore. We may have to let one more go, but for now its just Moore.

[illeracula]

Last season third base was a revolving door with at least 6 players getting starts there. Morris, Shopland, Candelaria, Shelton, Payne, Soto and Foster. I know this year I'd like to add some stability over there. Mark Morris was supposed to be that guy a solid glove and decent bat, but just never got it going.

Third Basemen
Mark Morris was brought on to be our third basemen, but he never got his bat going. Before he went down for 4 months, Morris was hitting .175, and didn't do much better when he returned in August, finishing the season .174-1-14. We were hoping he would be our lead-off man, but that never transpired. A solid 19 at 3rd, 16 at 2nd and 14 at short he has some intangibles to stay. Just needs to hit.

Chris Shopland was forced to play third last year, but is better suited as the 2nd basemen. Last season he posted a .936 FPct at third. He will be competing for the 2nd base job, but he is always available.

Mauro Candelaria's best position is 3rd base and he will be heading into spring training as our starting 3rd basemen. Last season in 61 games he posted a .971 FPct, but ended up finishing the season as our shortstop due to Soto's injury. Expect him to hold down this slot, since he has probably the best bat on the team.

AAA
Denny Young split time at 3b and 2b last season and had an all-star season in AAA (.287-7-51). But at 32 there really isn't much space for him to hang around. Depending on the depth, Denny Young might have played his last game for the Cav's organization.

Gabrial Rios was our primary 3B in AAA last season and will most likely be there again. He could see some time with the big club or could be traded depending on his market share. He is 29, but could make a marginal big leaguer. Last season he hit .355-6-45 for AAA. He is eligible for the Rule-5 Draft, so if he isn't protect we could lose him. If he is with us he will get an invite to spring training to see what he can do.

AA
Johnny Oliver got to see some time an AAA, but was primarily the 3B for the Pelicans here in AA. Oliver hit .240 in AA and is a solid glove with some speed. As it seems like a lot of our players there are questions about his bat. At 26 he should get a little more playing time, but don't expect him to be donning the Blue and Orange anytime soon.

Carlos Magana is playing the role of the guy who is doing all he can to make it to the big. He is now learning how to play the corner outfield position as well as all the infield positions. He is an adequate defender, but he hasn't show much with his bat. Spending the last 2 years in AA and tailing off quite a bit this season compared to last (average dropped 20 points and he hist 9 less HR's). He is getting older for a minor leaguer (24), but may be a guy we keep around to plug some holes.

A - the kids
Gary Lee was drafted last season (9th round) and didn't get into many games. Expect him to play more in 2015 as he has developed into a better player. At 18 years old he has a long time to develop and we are going to make sure he gets his PT. He could turn into a pretty decent hitter so time will tell.

Diego Martinez was signed out Venezuela and appeared in 25 games down in A ball. He hit .217, but falls into the same boat as Gary Lee. He just didn't play enough and we are planning on getting him some at-bats next season. He too is only 18, and with his worth ethic there are a lot of possibilities.

Prediction: Mauro Candelaria will most likely be the full-time 3B next season. As I see how everyone else is stacking up. I would like to get some stability at these positions, since last season it seemed like people were just playing wherever. I may look to move Mark Morris depending on what the demand is for him, but he also an option.

Side Note: Denny Young is soon to be released.

[illeracula]

After a big season prediction the Senators fell apart due to injuries and lack of production, but today they took a step closer to becoming that team that greatness was predicted for. The Washington Senators have announced they have signed one of the games premiere power hitters, Abraham Thomas. The 29-year-old Abraham signed a 4-year $74,600,000 deal to come to Washington. The Senators were 8th in the league in HR Totals, adding Abraham will change that.

The Richmond Cardinals were unable to reach an agreement with Abraham as he moved over to a divisional rival.

Abraham Thomas, 4.5*, Contact: 14/14, Gap: 11/11, Power: 18/19, Eye: 11/12, Avoid K's: 7/7

[illeracula]

It was announced today that the Norfolk Cavaliers have signed free-agent from cuba Tomas Reyes. Reyes is a 27-year old from Cuba and who can play Third, Second and Short with the bet of them. He can also fill in at all the out-field positions. His signing only makes the log-jam in the infield worse... A deal or two will have to be made.

Tomas Reyes signed a 5-year contract, most people think the Cavaliers over paid for him, but as GM Tony Luke said "Lets wait and see. He is only going to make us better and as Washington is trying to improve we will need to as well. We just don't have the deep pockets to sign a guy for 20 mil"

[illeracula]

A day after signing Tomas Reyes out of Cuba, the Cavaliers announced they have pulled off a trade in hopes to alleviate the log-jam of infielders that signing created... In a press conference where the trade was announced GM Tony Luke said, we got rid of two guys that haven't panned out the way we had hoped. We traded two guys that would be fighting for a roster spot, a draft pick and a prospect for two big prospects. I think we made out pretty good... once we signed Tomas, Mark had no where to go, so he had to be moved. He wasn't happy sitting on the bench last season. We wish both Jose and Mark the best of luck."

Official Press Release:
Norfolk, Newark Trade Players: 27-year-old third baseman Mark Morris, 28-year-old starting pitcher José Martínez, 21-year-old minor league left fielder Marc Alexander and a 4th round draft pick will now be playing for the Newark Millers and 19-year-old minor league first baseman Steven Wilson and 20-year-old minor league starting pitcher Eugene Carpenter will be suiting up for the Norfolk Cavaliers. The trade was announced today at a press conference by club officials.

Since his debut in the league, Martínez has posted 4 victories and 14 defeats with an ERA of 5.55.

[illeracula]

In another divisional move the Richmond Cardinals have signed Pete Richard to a one-year deal worth 12 million. Richard is a 42-year old second basemen who, in our opinion isn't worth that kind of money. He makes contact, has speed and used a brick for a glove... this deal is sort of shocking to us. Maybe it was a knee jerk reaction to losing Abraham Thomas.

Press Release:
Richmond Fired up over Signing of 2B Richard: The Cardinals and Pete Richard appeared before the Richmond media today as the two sides emerged from marathon contract talks.

Richard, a second baseman, is poised to make $12,500,000 over 1 year.

His all-time numbers show Richard is carrying a .298 career batting average with 2 home runs and 72 RBIs.

[illeracula]

Dear Fans-

Norfolk held tight during the winter meetings this year. We tried to shop some guys around, but nothing was doing. At least nothing that would make us a better club. Outside of the two big moves (signing Tomas Reyes and trading for Edgar Matsuda and some high level prospects) we made before the meetings started there was nothing that was going to make us a better team.

I do believe we will need to make one or two more moves, due to players with no more options come pre-season, but everyone will be fighting. We should have some good battles coming up.

At the end of the winter meetings Washington approached with a really intriguing move for a star-first baseman (Jose Martinez .313-22-81) who has no where to play with the signing of Abraham Thomas. The kicker was they want Geoffrey Bayles. Without Bayles our team is a lot weaker. I am just not sure we can let him go (yet). Plus Martinez puts us under more financial constraints. We explored the idea, but when we noticed that the Senators were in talks with one of the top free-agent pitchers out there. We don't
After some negotiations, we tried to get them to take Sun Ho, but we just couldn't pull it off financially. Based on how much money we have left, I am pretty sure our team is set for the pre-season. We will see.

We will continue to look for ways to make us better. We take one of the leagues best staff's and add in another bat we should be set-up to defend our title.

Thank you for your continued support and I look forward to seeing you at the ballpark this spring.

- GM Tony Luke

[illeracula]

There are still a lot of free-agents out there, so we will have to revisit this later on, but as of right now here are the leaders in WAR gains.


The shocking thing to me was the Washington Senators are at -1, they have had a very busy off-season. Looking at their "losses" they lost 18 players, including 10 with a 1.0+ war. They have done well for themselves with the signing of Abraham Thomas (4.1) and Ignacio Briacho (3.2), as well as trading for Kyle Brown (2.7). After a prediction to win it all last season, it will be interesting to see how these changes translate.

The Richmond Cardinals lost 14 players, including 4 with a 1.5 rating or more, but haven't had much luck getting anyone to come to Richmond, with only signing 2 free-agents.

A couple of other teams that have had interesting off-seasons are the Newark Millers, who lost 17 players (only accounting for a 0.7), but able to bring in 7 new guys, mostly via trades... the Milton Brewers lost a total of 6.6 war to retirement and free-agency, and have only attracted 5-unproven talents.

The two big winners (so far) this offseason have been the Lewes Braves and the Ocean Tourists. The Braves lost 15 players and brought in 12, including 6 free-agents with a 1.0 or more. Their most impressive signing was Jarred Perry a SP. The Tourists lost 15 players this off-season and according to WAR they got all of it back with signing Tristan Blades (3.9), then went on to add 2 more players with a WAR rating over 1.6.

The Cavaliers didn't do much this off-season, but we did get rid of some guys that brought us down. We lost -2 WAR with only one guy we lost having a positive WAR Rating. As far as new guys we only brought in one player with any WAR, Edgar Matsuda.

[illeracula]

The following is a recap of the top free-agents and international free-agents and where they ended up... A lot of starting pitching on that list, we talked to a few of them, but they were just too rich for our blood.

Top 10 list:
1. Pete Richard, 42 year-old second baseman - Signed a 1-year deal with the Richmond Cardinals.
2. Raymond Corbett, 39 year-old starting pitcher - Signed a 2-year deal with the Baltimore Barons.
3. Gabriel Zumaya, 35 year-old starting pitcher - Unsigned, rumored to be looking for a 4-year, $8mil /per year.
4. Luis Rodríguez, 36 year-old right fielder - Signed a 2-year deal with the Wilmington Iron Pigs (to play 1b).
5. Bill Downey, 30 year-old starting pitcher - Signed a 6-year deal with the New Castle Colonials
6. John Jordan, 29 year-old starting pitcher - Unsigned, rumored to be looking for a 4-year deal, $6.5/per year.
7. Colin McRankin, 33 year-old starting pitcher - Unsigned, rumored to be looking for a 4-year deal, $13 mil/per year
8. Abraham Thomas, 29 year-old left fielder - Signed a 4-year deal with the Washington Senators
9. Jarred Perry, 30 year-old starting pitcher - Signed a 6-year deal with the Lewes Braves
10. Robert Walker, 27 year-old starting pitcher - Signed a 6-year deal with the Wilmington Iron Pigs

International Free Agents
SS Tomás Reyes out of Cuba - signed a 5-year deal with the Norfolk Cavliers
2B Ryozo Hayagawa out of Japan - unsigned
2B Koshiro Takahashi out of Japan - unsigned
1B Totoya Ogawa out of Japan - signed a 5-year deal with the Chesapeak Blue Crabs
RF Myeong-hwan Ch'a out of South Korea - unsigned
2B Tashiro Masuda out of Japan - unsigned
C Yoshinori Tanaka out of Japan - unsigned

Other Free Agents to Note
Three of the top relievers still out there are all ex-Cavaliers
Garip Ertegun throws lefty and is looking for around 10 mill a year, a lot of interest in him right now.

Jack Clow, Theodore Petherick and Alberto Hernandez, all ex-Cav's, all looking for 3-4 year deals worth 4 million. The only one we would consider bringing back is Jack, but that is highly doubtful.

Edward Clark (.283-21-59) and Jorge Garcia (.282-26-85) are the best position players out there, both are corner outfielders and looking for 9-10 mil/per.

Should be interesting to see what plays out before the season starts. We will revisit this later as well... We, the Cavaliers, would like to reach out to a few of these guys, but our hands are really tied. We may be forced to make some moves for financial purposes.

[illeracula]

Top 10 list:
1. Pete Richard, 42 year-old second baseman - Signed a 1-year deal with the Richmond Cardinals.
2. Raymond Corbett, 39 year-old starting pitcher - Signed a 2-year deal with the Baltimore Barons.
3. Gabriel Zumaya, 35 year-old starting pitcher - Signed a 2-year deal with the Washington Senators.
4. Luis Rodríguez, 36 year-old right fielder - Signed a 2-year deal with the Wilmington Iron Pigs (to play 1b).
5. Bill Downey, 30 year-old starting pitcher - Signed a 6-year deal with the New Castle Colonials
6. John Jordan, 29 year-old starting pitcher - Signed a 3-yead deal with the Newark Millers
7. Colin McRankin, 33 year-old starting pitcher - Signed a 3-year deal with the Wilminton Iron Pigs
8. Abraham Thomas, 29 year-old left fielder - Signed a 4-year deal with the Washington Senators
9. Jarred Perry, 30 year-old starting pitcher - Signed a 6-year deal with the Lewes Braves
10. Robert Walker, 27 year-old starting pitcher - Signed a 6-year deal with the Wilmington Iron Pigs

Garip Ertegun signs with the Washington Senators for a 2-year deal worth $19 million
Jack Clow signs with the Washington Senators to a 2-year deal worth $17.8 million
Theo Petherick signed on with the Wilmington Iron Pigs for 1 year @ 3.8 million
Alberto Hernandez signed with the Annapolis Admirals for 2 years, totalling $8.2 million

Edward Clark signed on with the Lewes Braves for a 4 years 29.46 million dollar deal.
Jorge Garcia signed on to join the Newark Millers.

I left the international guys off this list, because the two that already signed were the only ones with actual worth-while ratings.

There was just a frenzy of signings over the last 30 days... The Washington Senators seemingly have an open checkbook as they are just throwing money all over the place. The Senators have now added 13 new players to their roster for a total of 16.7 WAR. The Senators now have a payroll of $172,432,500 for 3rd in the league.

[illeracula]

We have some battles going on this spring... Manager Alastair Turcotte and I different on some of the positions but the spring battles will determine who will win out.

Turcotte has the following primary lineup:
LF Ron Alder
3B Mauro Candelaria
CF Pablo Freitas
DH Brian Cline
RF Jose Rodriquez
SS Tony Soto
2B Tomas Reyes
C Jacob Chaney
1B Chris Shopland

I have some questions about 2B, 3B and SS. I'd like to see Jesus Rivera get some playing time over Shopland. I would rather Reyes at 3rd, but the IF all around would be better with him at 2B (he could win a gold glove at 3rd).

Preseason battles include:
IF who plays Rivera or Shopland. If Rivera plays Candelaria would move over to 1B, Reyes to 3B. Does Gilberto Ramos make the team or get traded? Out of option years he is trying to stick on as a utility man.

And there will be some battles for the roster spots. We have 19 fielders in camp, and room for 14, so 5 will have to be moved. Bob Barrett (C), Gabriel Rios (3B), Mason Foster (IF) and Bryan O'Neil (OF) are here for a look, but most likely will be sent down to AAA, so that leaves a battle for that last slot. Shopland (IF), Rivera (IF) and Harper (OF) all have an option year left, so one of them may end up being the odd man out.

On the pitching side of things, we have 21 pitchers and only 11 slots, so 10 will have to sent down... the tough call will be Sun Ho, he will be battling Geoffrey Bayles for the #5 slot, the loser may end up pitching long relief for the time being. Sun has an option left, so he may end up being the odd man out no matter what and be ready to get the call when the time comes. I have a feeling there will be a lot of upset people come opening day.

One player that is really intriguing is MR Ken Coffman. We got him in a trade last year and he was rated as the #3 prospect in the game. A year later he isn't in the top 100 and at age 26 it might the year to put up or shut up. Tim Olson see's him as a quality reliver, but with control issues (8/9), but OSA sees him as a star with above average control (11/13). Ken is a hard throwing reaching the upper 90's with 2 solid pitches. He is out to prove that he still is that top prospect everyone thought he was at the start of last season.

At first glance I thought I was going to be in trouble with a lot of guys with no options on my roster, but after examining who we have in camp, I think we will be alright. I know there will be 2 or 3 guys who won't be happy, but in the end they will get their time and all will be good. At least that is what I am banking on.

[illeracula]

As spring training gets on the way we look at the preseason predictions... I am surprised to see we are picked to win the Western Division. I am not sure if that is a good thing, since the Senators were picked to win last season and finished with a brutal record. We are hopefully going to score more runs this season than last, pitch better and win again. Its a log season, so here is to good health and good baseball...

Player Predictions to Note:
Delaware:
Peter Peters is predicted to have another huge season: .37-48-125
Billy More is predicted to hit 59 Hr's and drive in 157 Runs.
Bruce Walker is predicted to lead the league in hitting with a .362 avg.
No predicted 20 game winners, but Jarred Perry is predicted to lead the league in wins and ERA.
Marcos Estrada isn't predicted to be as dominate as he has been, but will still Strike out a ton of hitters.

MarVa:
Anthony Cunningham is predicted to contend for the triple crown (.352-46-124)
Abraham Thomas is predicted to have a HUGE year in Washington, with a .323 average and 163 RBI!
Grant Wright is expected to hit .355.
Jose Matos is predicted to be 14-7 with a 2.93 ERA, best in the league.
Miguel Contreras is expected to have a good season as he did last year with a 194 K's.
First year closer Manuel Martinez is expected to lead the league in saves with 45.

The only Cavaliers on the list are Karl Armstrong 13-8 3.35 season and Carlos Rodriquez 33 saves and a 2.63 ERA... no Cav's hitters are on the predictions list again this season... sad to see Sweetapple not make the list.

[illeracula]

18 games into Spring Training (6 more games left) we are tied with Washington with the best record in our division at 12-6. The team has played well and our offense is scoring runs, which is a nice surprise since we were the worst scoring team in the league last season.

The Pitchers:
Sun Ho is going to make it hard for me to decide what to do with my starting pitching. He is having an really solid spring, at this point all 6 starters have 3 starts under their belt.

My predicted rotation is (Spring Stats):
Don Sweetapple (11.2 IP, 15 H, 3 HR, 3 BB, 11 K, 6.17 ERA, 9/8 R/ER)
Carlos Mateo (11.2 IP, 11 H, 2 HR, 6 BB, 6 K, 6.17 ERA, 11/8 R/ER)
Karl Armstrong (12.0 IP, 10 H, 0 HR, 2 BB, 8 K, 0.00 ERA, 0/0 R/ER
Tsueno Sato (10.1 IP, 12 H, 0 HR, 2 BB, 4 K, 2.61 ERA, 3/3 R/ER)
Geoffrey Bayles (12.0, 15 H, 1 HR, 7 BB, 5 K, 6.75 ERA, 9/9 R/ER)

Sun Ho (12.0 IP, 8 H, 0 HR, 6 BB, 7 K, 1.50 ERA, 3/2 R/ER)

Sun would get sent to AAA, but doing this might upset him, but he is the only one with an option. I signed Sweetapple and Mateo to deals before last season and ever since Mateo has taken some ratings hits. It has me a little concerned, especially since he isn't off to a great start. Yes its just Spring Training, but he was left off the playoff rotation after his mediocre season. Is he hiding an arm injury from us? Has he just started to decline? We will be keeping a close eye on him this season.

Why wouldn't I just keep Sun in the rotation and move one of the starters to the pen, or keep him in the bullpen? Well the answer is pretty simple, I have an abundance of quality relievers. Everyone from last season is returning, except Javier Castro, but he has been replaced with Edgar Matsuda. I am going to be carrying 11 pitchers (25 man roster), so we will have to do some more evaluating over the next 6 games.

The bullpen is looking something like this:
Closer:
Carlos Rodriquez
He is ready to go having a great spring (10.2 IP, 8 H, 9 K, 0.84 ERA)

Set-up:
Dalton Whitaker (14.0 IP, 13 H, 15 K, 3.86 ERA)
Edgar Matsuda (6.0 IP, 4 H, 6 K, 1.50 ERA)
These guys are doing pretty good. We will need to get Edgar a little more work over the next 6 days. Dalton still has his explosive fastball, but his control has been a little off this spring (10 BB).

The Rest:
Ron Harris (6.2 IP, 6 H, 2 HR, 3 K, 4.05 ERA)
Elmer Hawkins (L) (16.2 IP, 9 H, 17 K, 0.00 ERA)
Billy Lee (13.0 IP, 13 H, 9 K, 4.15 ERA)
Harris has given up a couple of long balls this spring. Elmer Hawkins has just been lights out. Elmer is our only lefty in the pen. Bill Lee is doing what we have asked of him.

Other than that the kids haven't been overly impressive.
Elliot Bean, who was in the pen 2 years ago has struggled to get back to the big-club. This spring he has given up 1 run in 8 IP. Elliot has been working as a starter in AAA, but is best suited for the MR role with the Cavs.

Andrew Donnelly will be down in AAA to start the season. He has had a pretty decent audition. Andrew got his cup of coffee last season. Donnelly has thrown 5.0 IP, posting a 3.60 ERA.

Jorge Castro, Lewis Yoder and Scott Smith will all be sent down to AAA to start the season. Scott won't be happy, he was unhappy most of last season, as well. He just isn't good enough. We have tried to move him, but no one seems very interested.

The finally guy Ken Coffman, last year he was a top 5 prospect, this year he is struggling to prove he still has it. So far this spring he has only thrown 2.2 innings, giving up 8 hits, 2 HR's and 8 Runs (4 ER). The number I am paying most information to are those 4 walks and only 1 K. This year might be his make or break year.

The Hitters:
Brian Cline, Jose Rodriquez and Jacob Chaney are having fantastic springs, solidifying their spots in the starting lineup. Since we are carrying 11 pitchers we will have to cut our fielders down to 14. We have 19 here at camp, so 5 will need to moved before the regular season.

Catchers:
Jacob Chaney (L): .388-3-13 (49 ABs)
Julio Romero (R): .313-3-7 (16 ABs)
Bob Barrett (S : .286-0-0 (7 AB's)

This is a no brainier, Barret will be sent to AAA to get his PT while Chaney and Romero play here with the Cav's. Chaney is a gold glove catcher so he will get most of the playing time. Both him and Romero are swinging the bat well so far this spring.

Outfielders:
Brian Cline (R): .296-4-12 (71 ABs)
Bryan O'Neill (L): .263-1-4 (19 ABs)
Pat Shelton (R): .348-1-8 (23 ABs)
Pablo Freitas (R): .373-2-10 (51 ABs)
Ron Alder (L): .320-0-0 (50 ABs)
Howard Harper (L): .182-0-0 (22 ABs)
Jose Rodriquez (L): .390-4-12 (41 ABs)

Bryan O'Neill is a young guy, but is showing us that he can hit the ball. He has had a couple of really solid performances. He will get some more AB's down in AAA. Howard Harper who played a very important role in our success last season in the playoffs just isn't hitting the ball. He has a low contact rating, which has us concerned. He will also end up being sent down to AAA to start the season. Leaving us with 5 OF's.

Infielders:
Gilberto Ramos (R): .346-2-6 (26 ABs)
Jesus Rivera (R): .297-2-8 (37 ABs)
Chris Shopland (R): .263-1-9 (57 ABs)
Gabriel Ramos (S): .348-0-8 (23 ABs)
Tomas Reyes (R): .229-0-5 (48 ABs)
Mauro Candelaria (R): .250-1-7 (48 ABs)
Joe Payne (L): .235-0-2 (17 ABs)
Mason Foster (R): .143-0-1 (14 ABs)
Tony Soto (L): .316-3-9 (38 ABs)

We do have some concerns with Tony Soto, after his ROY campaign last season, our scouting department has reported some lost of contact skills. Swinging for the fence too much? We will have to keep an eye on him, but so far this spring he hasn't shown any reason to worry. Mason Foster and Gabriel Rios will be sent down to AAA to start the season. Rios was added to 40-man roster right before the rule-5 draft and Mason was added to the 40-man last season when we needed an IF'er after some injuries.

All of our infielders but Jesus Rivera and Tony Soto play at least 2 positions at 12+ better defensively. Shopland and Rivera are battling for PT. When Rivera is at 2B, Candelaria or Reyes will be at 1B, Shopland will be our 1B when he is in the game.

If I counted right, offensively we are set. Barrett, Foster, Ramos, O'Neill and Harper going to AAA should put our offense at 11. The toughest call was to move Harper, but i can't keep him around just because he was good in the playoffs. He will be the first one to join the club if needed.

Turcottes Lineup is still the same as it was at the beginning of spring.
LF Ron Alder
3B Mauro Candelaria
CF Pablo Freitas
DH Brian Cline
RF Jose Rodriquez
SS Tony Soto
2B Tomas Reyes
C Jacob Chaney
1B Chris Shopland

I may have to have a talk with him, because I think it could be strong with some adjustments. Alder struggled in the lead-off slot last season and he loves to strike out, so I think getting him out of there will help. Last season we had too many lefties this year it seems like we have a lot of RH'd bats. Only issue with having Candelaria lead off is we lost the speed that Alder brings. Speed vs On-base? I think its an easy answer.

3B Mauro Candelaria / 1B
SS Tony Soto
CF Pablo Freitas
DH Brian Cline
RF Jose Rodriquez
2B Tomas Reyes / 3B
LF Ron Alder
1B Chris Shopland / 2B Jesus Rivera
C Jacob Chaney

If our pitching holds up and our offense can score some runs we should compete again this season. Our biggest rival is the Washington Senators and they made some HUGE changes this off-season. I still like our changes, I like this team. I think we will be able to make some noise.

[illeracula]

As Spring Training concludes we look forward to the regular season. During spring the Norfolk Cavaliers were tied with 2nd best record @ 16-8. Our division rival the Washington Senators had the best record @ 17-7. Not too bad.

The final roster moves... Sun Ho really deserves a shot with the way he pitched this Spring but he is one without experience and options, so he is going to be sent down to AAA. With the track record of Armstrong and Bayles, I am sure he will be up before too long. Ho was 2-0 in 4 starts posting a 1.13 ERA over 16 IP, allowing 11 hits 0 HR, he walked 7 and struck out 11.

The pitching staff is in place.
Don Sweetapple will be the opening day starter for the 3rd year in a row.
Followed by Carlos Mateo, Tsuneo Sato, Karl Armstrong and Geoffery Bayles. The middle relivers will be Edgar Matsuda, Elmer Hawkins and Billy Lee. Our set-up men are Ron Harris and Dalton Whitaker and closing the games will be Carlos Rodriquez... This is pretty much the same staff that finished the season last year, with the exception of Edgar Matsuda.

The lineup will start out this season with Mauro Candelaria leading things off. Ron Alder may end up back there depending on how things go. Tony Soto a lefty will bat second, followed by Pablo Freitas, Brian Cline and Jose Rodriquez, our 3 "big" power men, then Tomas Reyes, then the bottom 3, Ron Alder, Chris Shopland/Jesus Rivera and Jacob Chaney. Shopland and Rivera will be playing every other day, they both had decent springs and have earned the right the duke it out for playing time.

The bench will consist of Julio Romero (C), Gilberto Ramos (1B, 2B, LF, RF), Joe Payne (2B, 3B, SS, LF, CF) and Pat Shelton(CF, LF, RF, 3B). One thing I like in bench players is the ability to play multiple positions. I have a nice team here for that.

Coming up next... OPENING DAY!!