The IBL's Chicago Iron Pigs

[gehrig38]

I love you man... My new financials, which appear to be workable.... Haven't looked in depth, but on the surface they look ok.
One bad result, my fan interest and loyalty plummeted? 58 and Average...

[gehrig38]

11/16 Alaska has made yet another trade. Today sending 28 year old SP Juan Martinez to Buffalo for 20 year old SP prospect Gabrial Gomez and 18 year old P prospect Andrew Flint. Martinez is 16-21 5.98 in 307 innings with 204 K’s. Gomez was the 2013 1st round pick of the LA Wizards (then Sky Sox and #24 overall) out of Lincoln HS in Denver, CO. Flint was Buffalo’s 2015 3rd round pick (out of Haralson County HS in Tallapoosa, GA) # 61 overall.

11/17 West Michigan has sent OF Dave Palmer to Edmonton for 29 year old SP Jeff Reese and 18 year old SS prospet Nelson Quintero. Palmer is hitting .245 with 46 HR’s in 344 career games and Reese is 7-8 6.08 in 21 career starts. He was 2-2 4.89 in 6 starts last year. Palmer will likely DH and hit 6th or 7th vs RHP in the Trapper lineup. Reese will slide into the White Cap rotation. Quintero was a 9th round pick out of Pymatuning Valley HS in Andover, OH who blossomed into a serious 4-5 start player in his first season according to our people. An outstanding awareness of the strike zone combined with a great contact bat and a guy that can run exceptionally well.

11/17 Tulsa sent 28 year old Tyler Still to LA for 29 year old reliever Arturo Ramirez and 22 year old 1B prospect Gonzalo Rios. Ramirez is 19-13 with 9 Saves and a 3.81 ERA in 231 games over 262 IP with 323 K’s. He will combine with recently acquired Wu-Shiun Fou as a R/L setup combo. Still will try to be the Wizards every day starting CF, with a career slash line of 238/344/357 in 55 games and 185 AB’s. Rios was the Wizards 2nd round pick (#55 overall) out of Mississippi Valley State and scouts think he’s a future batting crown contender from the left side. He projects as a 1B/DH in the IBL.

11/21 Las Vegas dealt 28 year old SS Allan Hamm to Edmonton for 31 year old RP Jerry Osborne and 20 year old OF prospect Rusty Davey. Hamm is a .289 career hitter with 17 HR’s and 248 runs, 191 RBI’s in 492 games and 1730 AB’s. He’s 69-100 in SB’s and the 2012 Gold Glove Winner for the CL at SS. He’ll serve as a right handed bat and backup SS/2B for the Trappers. Osborne is 15-3 with 9 Savs and a 3.23 ERA in 216 games over 242 IP with 276 K’s. He’ll move into the primary setup role for All Star Anbar Suhayb. Davey was discovered by Trapper scouts in Canada and is a 20 year old with top of the lineup speed and middle of the lineup power. Scouts remained concerned about the amount of swinging, and missing, he does but his 4 star ceiling is an indicator of his potential.

11/22 Dayton has agreed to send 30 year old 2B Cesar Torres and 22 year old OF Hunter McClain to the Patriots for 29 year old CF Salvador Chavez. Chavez is a career .268 hitter with 50 HR’s, 176 runs and 178 RBI’s in 353 games. He will be a 4th OF vs RHP and likely start vs LHP in Dayton. Torres is a backup IF and left handed bat for Philly, he hit .274/.353.400 in 48 IBL games for Dayton last year. McClain is a burner who can play all three OF positions and looks to be a leadoff, or top of the order bat if he meets projections.

11/22 The New York Knights dealt 26 year old IF Manny Marquez to Staten Island for 26 year old SS Ricardo Quintania. Marqiz is a .273 career hitter with 8 HR’s and 67 RBI’s while Quintania has been the Yankees starting SS for the past 4 seasons. Hitting 256/337/338 in 494 games and 1748 AB’s. He can play 2B, SS and 3B. The Knights early plans are to hit him behind Marcos Oginlara in the 2 hole, and play SS.

11/22 CHICAGO TRADE ALERT!!! I was just poking around, and stumbled into a major trade today. I agreed to send 29 year old SP Dan MacFadden to Edmonton in return for 5 star rookie Luis Chavez. Chavez contact 17/18 and power 17/20 are off the charts for a 21 year old. He’s a runner, 14 speed nd 19 stealing, as well. His eye has a high ceiling 10/15. The downside is his defense, he’s an 8 LF and 12 RF with a cannon (17). My hope is that my coaching staff can get him better. For now it puts my OF into an overflow, with he and 21 year old LHH Raul Feliz bumping heads. But I am going to do some more shopping, and try to move Feliz possibly, for a SP. As if that wasn’t enough, I forced Trapper GM Danny Thornton to include their 2013 4th round pick in 20 year old SP Tony Childs. A 2.5 star SP prospect that throws 90-92, with 13/14 stuff, 10/10 movement and control that needs to, and can, improve (6/10). He’s 6-10 the last two seasons in short A with a 3.06 ERA and 188 K’s in 159 IP, with 88 walks. Yes it cost me a SP, for today, but MaCfadden was 11-9 5.49 and if I want to truly build something it won’t be with arms like this at the top of my rotation. Childs was sent to Heavener and Chavez was added to the roster.

11/22 And 21 year old Raul Feliz was moved later in the day. In what we feel is just an insane deal for us, we dealt Feliz, with 28 year old MR Sib van Bodgraven (still my favorite name) to the Corpus Christi Hooks. In return we receive 2 players we feel will be franchise cornerstones. 22 year old Catcher Martin Ramirez is a HOF ceiling backstop. His defense is already well above IBL average (14), and his bat projects huge. He’s a 12/18 contact, 16/20 gap, 10/19 HR power, 10/19 eye. A true top of the 1st round talent. He was the Hooks 3rd round pick in the 2014 draft out of Coppin State. The 2nd player is 23 year old 3B Jose Ramirez. A solid defender at first, and well above average at 3rd with a cannon for an arm. His bat also projects extrememly well (11/16 con 12/14 gap 6/10 HR 10/18 eye 8/13 avK’s). Neither player has any speed but with what we have that’s ok. At the least we’ve found our future behind 28 year old C Eric Hudson if Ramirez can stay healthy. Feliz is a steep price to pay, being just 21 himself with 2 years IBL experience already, but the acquisition of Chavez, to our people, made Raul moveable. Sib was tough to move just because of his cool name, but his command is now in a place that makes it hard to give him high leverage innings late in the game. With Ken Johnson’s emergence this is a move we can afford to make as well. It also moves 1.45 million off the budget for 2016.

11/22 1st round pick Gerardo Zamora was added to the roster. The expectation is he’ll compete for a rotation spot next spring with the hopes he’s ready to take one.

IBL Career Leaders in Losses
Ken Williams (BAL) 51
Marcos Diaz (COL) 50
Antonio Espinoza (FRE) 50
Gerald Kelly (MICH) 50
Joe Maddox (NY) 49

11/23 Alaska ownership has announced a name change to their franchise. In 2016 the Aces will become the Alaska Avalanche. New logo’s and colors will be debuted shortly.

[gehrig38]

Their new logo's and team colors....So far.

[gehrig38]

IBL Career WHIP Leaders
Ernesto Cruz (CHI) 0.87
Joe Boswell (PIT) 0.88
Julio Gonzalez (LA) 0.93
Julio Salinas (SAN) 0.93
Nicholas Clark (NY) 0.93

Rule 5 Draft
I’m thinking of taking a 24 year old SP named Esteban Flores from the Avalanche. An 11/8/9 with 13/9/19 potential. If it doesn’t work out so what, I have roster room and I always felt this was what this draft was for….

I end up taking him and the very next day Luis Clemente, GM of the Drillers, pings me with a trade offer. He’s offering 27 year old Ony Kamyshinsky and 898K for 2B Alejandro Sotolo and the Flores kid I just picked up. Sotolo is limited really, to 2B, Ony plays an outstanding 1B and 3B and Flores isn’t likely to stick. The money will mostly offset his 1.3M salary, and he has options remaining. I pull the trigger and do the deal…

IBL Career Leader in SB’s
Kevin Moore (NH) 190
Felix Torres (LA) 169
Joel Runas (-) 155
Jesus Andrales (LV) 140
Thomas Hood (LV) 136

[gehrig38]

12/7 DAY 1 WINTER MEETINGS

TRADE-Green Bay has sent 27 year old SP Howard Crane to Fresno for 20 year old OF prospect Eden Romero and 20 year old OF prospect Edwin Calhoun.
Crane is 13-16 4.54 in 52 games, 32 starts. In 2014 he was 3-1 2.70 in 20 relief appearances in Pittsburgh. Green Bay took him in the expansion draft and he was 10-15 4.81 in 32 starts over 204 IP last year. He K’s 112 and walked just 36. He’ll slide into the #2 spot in the Grizzly rotation.
Romero is a speedy CF prospect with a projectible right handed bat. He spent last year hitting .258 in A ball with 10 HR’s and 25 SB’s.
Calhoun is likely a RF if he makes it, runs well above average with decent gap power.

TRADE-Dayton sends 36 year old OF Ben Simmons (.240 with 71 career HR’s) and 23 year old 3B prospect Chris Haynes (7th round pick in 2015 out of Hawaii Pacific, crazy fast with decent gap power bat, can play 2B, SS and 3rd, 1 star scouting report) to Staten Island for SP James Holloway. Holloway is a 26 year old with a career 23-24 record and a 4.78 ERA in 126 games, 60 starts. He becomes the #3 guy for the Dragons. The Yanks are talking about the 36 year old Simmons hitting 5th behind Villanuev and Bryant, and playing CF…..

TRADE-I throw LF Alfredo Lozano’s name to the wind and Tomas Hernandez of the NY Knights comes calling. Lozano has turned himself into a legit corner OF guy, 4th or 5th OF at best imo, but he can run and play D, no arm to speak of so LF looks like his place. Had a great year at Tulsa (.323-13-68 in 104 games and did very well in a late season call up .314-5-13 in 33 games). But he’s fluff for me. He’s offering me SP Ken Lee. A 26 year old lefty who Martin and our scouts love. A 13/12/16 projected to get a tad bit better control. Ya he’s a fly ball pitcher but my OF makes that ok. He sits 93-95 and has outstanding stamina, an innings horse who’s been in the Knights pen, but certainly could be a top of the rotation guy if he stays healthy. I pull the trigger on this.

12/8 DAY 2

TRADE- Baltimore has sent 25 year old Jorge Ortiz, an OF, to Sacramento for slugging 1B Nori Takahashi and 18 year old IF Octavio Gomez. Ortiz was the Railcats 1st round selection in 2013 (10th overall) and a 2015 CL POTW 2 times. In 179 games he’s hit .246/.353/.393 with 20 HR’s 88 RBI’s and 19-29 SB’s. He’s an outstanding corner OF who’s bat projects as a middle of the lineup presence. He’ll hit 3rd in the River Cats 2016 lineup.

Takahasi takes his 128 career HR’s (19th most in IBL history) and 381 RBI’s as well as his .283/382/.528 slash line and his 5.2 million dollar contract to Baltimore. He will DH and add to an already powerful linup, hitting ahead of young sensation Mehpare Isfahani (.292-31-91) and Juan Torres (.247-36-110).

Gomez could be the prize in this deal. An OF converting to the IF, he was the 4th round selection of the River Cats in the 2015 draft out of Honesdale HS in Honesdale, PA. Scouts are convinced his 5 star prospect rating will bear out. Our scouts have him as a current 7/12/4/4/2 at 18, with a 17/20/16/17/11 ceiling in a few years.

TRADE-Los Angeles has dealt 31 year old 2B Brian MacUlric to the Philadelphia Patriots for 33 year old catcher Dan Land. MacUlric plays a good 2B, 3B and SS and is believed to be a very good hitter coming off a bad year. Teammates rave about his presence.

Land was an integral part of the 2014 World Champion club but is also coming off a down season (.216/.309/.361) after 3 seasons of 28, 27 and 24 HR’s with 84 or more RBI’s each year. He’s a decent defender and durable (catching 140 games 3 straight years).

TRADE-Michigan traded 25 year old 1B Juan Molina to Los Angeles for 22 year old OF prospect Calvin Dundee and 22 year old OF prospect Jose Ventura. In Molina’s 1st taste of IBL play last year he hit .300/.361/.580 with 18 HR’s and 42 RBI’s in 69 games for the Battlecats. He’s a very good 1B.

Dundee was LA’s 10th pick in 2014 who’s arm and defense will likely land him in right. He can fly, and is an outstanding steal threat. Scouts have him as a 3.5 star guy. No one was really impressed with Ventura in this deal, his defense the only thing anyone really mentioned.

DAY 3 12/9

MAJOR TRADE!!!-We waffled, but we knew. To get to, and win, a world series, you need a true #1. A power guy who not only punches guys out, but eats innings in the process. To do one, the other, or both, you need to be healthy. Mike Davis, with the 2012 looming as an outlier, has spent 3 seasons on and off the DL, and underperforming. When Sacramento GM Daniel Hollingsworth returned with the name Bryan Rogers, we lept. Rogers is a 25 year old flame thrower. The River Cats 2012 first rounder out of Chaffey College, he was 6th in the CL in ERA (3.55), 7th in WHIP (1.24) and 3rd in K/9 at 8.42. He routinely touches triple digits and has a swing and miss split. He was 10-9 with 1 save last year in 45 games, 20 starts and had 154 punch outs to 72 walks. Ya the control is somewhat of a concern but he takes the ball every 5th day and is the top of the rotation power arm we’ve been looking for. Mike Davis introduced himself in 2012 as a 21 year old ace to be. His 18-8 season, 3.58 ERA and 180 hits in 228 solid innings, we thought, was a precursor of things to come. In the past 3 seasons he’s made 4 trips to the DL for over 8 months in missed time. I thank him for the effort, and wish him well in Sacramento.

DAY 4 12/10

TRADE-Brooklyn peeks their heads out and the Los Angeles Wizards pounce, making another trade. LA continues to be the most active this winter when they send 21 year old OF prospect Dave Paul to the Cyclones for 29 year old SP Luis Chavez.

Chavez is 2-10 5.94 in 22 starts with 115 K’s in 130 IP. He’s a flame thrower for sure, with a mid 90’s fastball. They’ll work to bring his gopher ball total down, if possible, as he works with a straight 4 seamer and has continued to hit too much plate.

Paul was the Wizards 3rd round pick in the 2015 draft out of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He missed 5 weeks this year with a fractured hand. He’s a RF by nature but his arm might force a move to left. An above average runner who doesn’t steal much, his ‘tool’ is his pop. An 18/9 gap/HR guy right now scouts believe he’ll end up an 18/16 gap/HR hitter in a few years, from the left side. A Eau Claire, Wisconsin kid, it’s rumored his family is ecstatic he’s moving closer to home, though leery the country boy will adapt to the big apple.

TRADE-Alaska has sent 29 year old RP Javier Sanchez and 20 year old 1B Prospect Albert Pujols (WHOA!) to the New York Knights for 26 year old RF Jamie Hilton. Hilton was dealt to NY in July of this year from Sacramento and hit .344-8-32 in 36 games with the Knights. That combined to see his totals for 2015 at .285-21-70 in 107 games with 12-18 steals. For his career he’s a .251 hitter with 32 doubles, 26 HR’s and 105 RBI’s in 198 games. Alaska plans to use him in the 2 hole and play him in right, hitting ahead of SS Alex Rodriguez and 3B Troy Glaus.

The Knights will put Sanchez into their rotation, likely as their 4th or 5th starter, but everyone knows the impetus to do this deal was their well known love affair with 1B prospect Albert Pujols. Knights scouts believe him to be the best hitting prospect in the game, at 20. He missed most of last season with a broken elbow, playing in just 14 games before the season ended. He’s currently the IBL’s #1 prospect.

DAY 5 12/11

TRADE-Edmonton sent 29 year old 1B Truman Stuckey to Arizona for 32 year old RP Gabriel Rivera and 21 year old P prospect Victor Mota. Stuckey can play all 4 IF positions but is an outstanding 1B. Arizona will be his 4th IBL team (Staten Island in ’12, Fresno in ’12, ’13, Edmonton from ’13 to now). In 483 career IBL games his totals are 230/298/392 with 52 doubles, 74 HR’s and 246 RBI’s. Arizona plans to use him at SS and hit him in the lower 3rd of their lineup.

Rivera, it appears, was included to fill out their Jersey City rotation. At 32 he’s an IBL mop up guy at best. Though he does have outstanding command. Edmonton made this deal to get 21 year old Victor Mota. People are questioning Arizona’s mind set in dealing their 2015 4th round pick. Mota had a great debut going 3-4 with a save in 11 appearances in rookie and short season ball. Striking out 77, with 25 walks, in 62 IP with combined ERA of 2.19.

TRADE-The Cyclones made their 2nd trade in 2 days, sending 29 year old RP J.R. Gamble and 21 year old OF Dave Paul (whom they acquired yesterday from LA) to Sacramento for 36 year old OF Dave Osborne. Many in the league consider Osborne, at 36, to be the best 4th OF in the game. Able to man all three OF positions well above average, he runs ok and is a great bat off the bench. A RHH he’s amassed a 270/357/366 career slash line with 44 doubles and 22 homers in 338 games and 1310 AB’s. He’s 57-93 stealing bases. With the return of 24 year old CF Angel Gonzalez still in question, Osborne will likely fill his role, and then move to a 4th OF role when he returns. Sacramento receives Paul, who you can read about in the earlier trade post, and 28 year old LHRP JR Gamble. Gamble has been durable, pitching in 190 games the past 4 years with an 8-6 2 Save total and a 4.48 ERA. He’s held LHH to a career .234 average.

TRADE-Sacramento announced another trade at their final winter meeting press conference. Sending 29 year old SP Dan Millman and 25 year old Catcher George Knox to El Paso for 20 year old P prospect Esteban Figueroa. A lefty who sits in the high 90’s and is slated to be a back end bullpen guy. A 3 star ceiling in most scouts eyes.
Millman is returning ‘home’, having been traded from El Paso to Sacramento in 2012, he’s been asking out for the past 2 years, wanting to be near his wife’s family due to an illness. A career 39-44 4.57 ERA guy, he’s made 123 appearances, 112 of them starts. He had his best season, record wise, last year, going 14-9 4.88. He threw very well this year going 11-10 with a 4.25 in 37 appearances, 26 starts. With El Paso’s injuries to Josh Wells and Artie Johnson the Diablo’s were intent on getting some depth to their rotation after their stunning early exit from this years playoffs, following an IBL record 107 win season.

Knox was El Paso’s 1st round pick in the June 2012 draft out of Chicago State (I actually considered him in the first round that year). Considered by many to be the best defensive catching prospect in the game, with a cannon for an arm, he hit .344 with 3 HR’s and 8 RBI’s in his first IBL call up this September over 11 games. People assume he’s going to at least be a defensive replacement, but could end up splitting time with Hector Diaz (.206-26-70) for the River Cats.

[gehrig38]

ORG NEWS
Martin Cintron has shifted our scouting focus to Asia the past few months and he’s signed 17 year old 2B Ryuichi (RYE-U-EECHEE) Tsutsui (SOOT-SOO-EEE) to a minor league deal. The kid can run, and run, and run.

12/22 TRADE-San Antonio, quiet at the meetings, has sent 30 year old IF Jerry Warren and 22 year old OF Rick Hudson to Corpus Christi for 31 year old CF Justin Ryan. The Hooks are Warrens 3rd team (Dayton in ’12, Silver Stars since then) and he’s compiled a career .256 average in 390 games with 31 HR’s, 102 doubles and 197 RBI’s. He’s stolen 56-80 bases.

Ryan figures to be a 4th OF in San Antonio, with a career 276/347/430 slash line. In 319 games he’s hit 34 HR’s and driven in 152 runs. A RH hitter who’s an outstanding corner defender.

TRADE-New Hampshire has sent 27 year old RP Stanton Snyder to Baltimore for 20 year old OF prospect Edgar Nava and 23 year old IF prospect John Bell.

Snyder has appeared in 214 games with a 7-9 9 Save 4.36 ERA. He’s k’d 356 hitters in 266 innings with 181 walks.

Nava was the Railcats 2nd pick in 2013 (37th overall) out of Edgewood HS in Edgewood, TX. The 97th overall prospect in the IBL entering 2015. At 20 his defense needs a lot of work but his bat is coming. A high average high on base guy, his bat is a top of the lineup type as he has and should gain outstanding strike zone discipline. Bell is a 2B prospect with good gap power who is an exceptional baserunner and stealer.

Youngest players in the IBL
Carl Crawford (GB) 19, 144 days
Armando Arredondo (EDM) 19, 308 days
Josh Hamilton (GB) 20, 62 days
Jose Perez (NH) 20, 115 days
Bruce Voeller (GB) 20, 122 days

ORG NEWS
Scouts have found another potential prospect in Japan. 17 year old Iemitsu (EEE-MIT-SOO) Matsumara, a CF with otherworldly speed. A potential CF that we’ll sign and try to bring along slowly.

1/11/16 TRADE-Edmonton has sent 33 year old Toby Clifton (IF) to Corpus Christi for 28 year old RP Derek Campbell and 22 year old OF prospect Rick Hudson.

Clifton has played in 471 IBL games hitting .271 with 89 HR’s. A very good defensive 3B with good pop. His 2012 season of .265-38-120 was his high water mark and he’s been battling injuries the past 3 seasons. The Hooks plan to start him at 3B and hit him 5th behind Edgar Rosa (.243-35-100).
Campbell is a 28 year old righty who’s appeared in 142 games with an 8-6 mark and 3 Saves, and a 4.10 ERA over 177.2 IP. Hudson was signed as a minor league free agent by (San Antonio, then traded to Corpus Christi last year) after being drafted int eh 2014 draft (8th round Las Vegas). A burner who’s a standout in left and a good RF he’s not expected to be an IBl player of any impact by our scouts.

Single Season (FIP) record (though I still don’t understand exactly what this number means, or how it’s created!)
Vince Bray (PIT) 2.582
Ernie Kelly (DAY) 2.605
Walt Thompson (BRO) 2.654
Ernie Kelly (DAY) 2.876
Shawn Calhoun (WMI) 2.897

BREAKING NEWS!
IBL league officials announced a significant change to the CBA today. Fallout from the leagues acceptance of former MLB players, and the future promise by the union to allow more, led to this change in the current rules.
IBL players must now accumulate just 5 years of IBL experience on the 40 man roster to attain free agency. This is a landmark decision as the league enters it’s 5th year of play, meaning many players that teams expected another year from, not under a long term contract, will become free agents following this season!
(FWIW this is very cool, and feels like it was ‘intended’. Will certainly spice it up this winter.)

PRE-SEASON NOTES
With the help of Orcin and a change to budgets, teams have money to spend and I’m speding in scouting. 5.5 million in National, 4.54 million in international. (Average is 4.8, max is 14.5).

Our 2016 budget is 64.45 million with a payroll of 34.3 at this time. Fan loyalty is just average and interest is at 58. Need to get both those trending up. We’re 24th in payroll, 24th in budget. Our ticket price is at 22.97, and we’ll leave it there this year as we work to re-energize the fan base.

Our most popular players are pretty much unchanged with Chartier at 1, Collins, Alexander and Cruz and Johnson flip flopping in the 4-5 spots. Alexander is now our highest paid player at 5.3 (a steal).

Our payroll is at 34.3 and right now expected to go up just 1.3m next year due to locking guys up. The change to free agency will likely have a huge impact in the next year or two. That change means both Wes Morgan and Eric Hudson are free agenst after this year, and I expect to resign both to long term deals as long as they don’t go nuts.

Wes Morgan talks:
Wes’s agent is asking for 31.1 over 3. I counter and we go back and forth and he finally decides to mull over a 4 year contract with a club option for a 5th year at 8.03/8.03/9.03/10.03 with the option year matching year 4.

Eric Hudson talks:
Eric is 29, close to, if not on, the precipice for Catchers and their ‘cliff’. Flores is due back soon and will allow me to keep him fresh and catch him 120 or so games a year. He’s coming off his best offensive season (.292/.348/.394) but had a career high 14 passed balls last year and his caught stealing # has gone from 52.8/45.5 to 34.4. Now stolen bases are 90% on your pitchers, but it’s still troubling. My hope is for something less than 4-5 years as the trade we made this past winter for Martin Ramirez was with this situation in mind. He’s making 1.54 this year so I couldn’t be happier when the fax from his agent arrives and it’s an ask of 1.86/2.42/2.76 for just 3 years! I counter with a 1.86/2.22/2.46 with a club option for year 4 at 3.06 million and they are going to sit on it. This is as close to perfect as I could have hoped in this situation.

2/8 Eric Hudson has agreed to terms on a 4 year deal averaging 2.4 million. An absolute bargain for a guy of his caliber. Fan interest goes up 2 pts, to 60.

2/9 Wes Morgan agrees to his deal a day later. A bit heftier on the wallet (45.15 million over 5 if the option is picked up, 35 if not. At about 9 million per for a guy averaging 41-122 is a good deal given where contracts are headed. He’s 27, in his prime, and will move to 3rd when one of the young slugging 1B is ready. Not just that but he’ll do it and be a very good defender. Surprised the fans weren't more excited about this one.

I have a few other key pieces who are 2 years away, well 4 huge ones actually. Alexander, Chartier, Alejandrez and Cruz. My priority is to talk now but I got nothing from any of them, all 4 would like to wait until next winter, and I guess I can’t blame them. In order I would rank them Alexander, Chartier, Cruz and Alejandrez in importance. A lot can happen in a year and given how young Chartier is that one could be hugely problematic if he’s looking to make every last dollar…

Randy Pennington Talks
2/10 I approached the young reliever, who’s eligible for arbitration after this season, about trying to gain cost certainty, getting him security, and keeping him in the uniform of the only team he’s known. He’s making 812 this year, and his ask was 2 for 1.9. Given that he’s 25 I was comfortable in talking longer terms, and offered him a 4 year 1.18 million per deal. He seemed pretty fired up and is mulling it over.

2/14 A nice valentine’s. Randy faxed in the offer sheet, signed, and is excited, as we are, to spend the next 5 years chasing this elusive trophy as a member of the Iron Pigs.

2/15 Haha. Eric Hudson propsed to his long time girlfriend on the 54th floor of the Mori Tower in Tokyo today. As part of the IBL team touring Japan he’s over there before camp opens. (nice touch).

[gehrig38]

A look at the Chicago club entering it’s 5th season, and intent on getting to it’s first world series.

I’m going to put our scouts ratings in parenthesis, more to keep track of their progress, regress, since I always plan to and never do and then sit and wonder “Wasn’t this guys stuff a 17???”

STARTING ROTATION:
9 pitchers head to Sarasota as true rotation candidates.
1) Alfredo Alejandrez-Will start his 5th opening day game. A 65-35 4.05 career and he’s been healthy. Last year was, despite the 18-6 4.24 ERA, disappointing. He failed to reach 200 innings for the first time in 4 years. He’s at a point that he needs to take the ‘next step’ and be an ace in the league, not just on this team. A career high 1.43 WHIP was a problem but bigger still was hi failure to go deep into games. That needs to change this year. (14/14/11)
2) Ken Lee-Acquired at the winter meetings from the New York Knights for Alfredo Lozano, the 26 year old lefty comes to camp as our #2. A power lefty with outstanding control and the stamina to get into the 7th and 8th on a regular basis.(13/12/16)
3) Bryan Rogers-There was much joy in the front office when the deal to bring this 25 year old into the mix was consummated. A true power arm, hitting triple digits when he dials it up. He needs to continue to improve his control, and the hope is that he does it quickly and is occupying the #1 slot by seasons end.(15/13/9)
4) Curt Daugherty-Just 23 years old, and a lefty. Acquired last year for 4 players in a June trade with Corpus Christ. Daugherty is the definition of a ‘crafty lefty’. Sitting right at 88-90 he’s a 5 pitch guy, but his bread and butter is the change. Throwing it when, where and how he wants. His 70% GB rate should play right into the outstandind infield defense. He struggled in his 2015 call up but all signed point to him being ready. (14/12/11(12)).
5) Gerardo Zamora-Our 2013 #1 draft pick (4th overall). A AA all star in 14, and AAA all star last year, he’s done everything we’d hoped to date. At just 21 years old it could be a bit early for this, but that’s what the spring is for. I’d love for him to answer all questions and just take it, but we’ll be patient no matter how this plays out.
6) Richard Cox-13-6 4.98 in 22 starts last year Cox is pissed and I don’t really blame him. In his mind the job’s his, but as I see it, that ain’t the case. His propensity for the long ball (30 in 141 IP) and his 48% ground ball rate are both negatives. He’s got 3 options left and if things go as I hope, we’ll use one at the end of camp. But an injury or poor performance by one of the guys above him, or if Zamora isnt’ ready, he’ll break camp with a spot, otherwise he’s starting in Tulsa. (12/8/14)
7) Mark Williams-He’s gone 32-18 4.47 for us but I’d attribute it as much to our offense as him pitching well. A lefty with no changeup to speak of. His forkball is what saves him but he k’s very few hitters for having that as a put away pitch. His 1.45 WHIP and 500 hits in 477 innings are why he’s in this spot. On a good club, which I believe we are, he’s insurance, which he is. At 27 he has 2 options remaining. (11/13/13)
8) Denny Walker-At 27 he’s trying to break that last barrier. He’s 32-28 the pas 3 years in AAA Tulsa, 28-18 the past 2 and the 2014 AAA pitcher of the year. The classic “Journeyman”. His control continues to improve and he’s at a point where I wouldn’t be afraid to put him in the rotation if we needed a starter. (11/10/14(15)
9) Elijah Walton-Acquried from Green Bay last year for Melvin Watson. He’s 26 and has good stuff. A ground ball pitcher (62%). He missed almost all of last season after shoulder surgery in April. His stamina, and abilty to go deep in games make him a nice insurance guy in Tulsa. He has yet to throw a full season anywhere, which is what I’d like to see this year. Has 2 options remaining. (12/11/10(11)

BULLPEN:
Some new faces, but the pen will likely change little. Sib van Bodegraven is gone (traded to Corpus Christi) but the rest remain. Ernesto Cruz, if he can get through the spring healthy, is the closer and one of the premier guys in the game. He missed most of the season last year but returned to save 18 games in 22 appearances. A career 10-7 139 of 152 saves (.914%) with 282 K’s and 29 walks in 226 innings he’s about as sure a ‘thing’ as there is. We will break camp with a 7 man pen again and the hope is that it’s 3 lefties and 3 righties to get games to him. Winston, Torres, Sanchez and Pennington with Ken Johnson. That leaves a right handed spot open and the fight will be between Pedro Garcia, Ed Thomas for that one. Jeff Bentley, Mike Moore, are lefties ticketed for Tulsa as insurance.

CATCHING:
If everyone stays healthy Eric Hudson is back, newly married, and under contract for the next 4 seasons with a club option for a 5th. A former Gold Glove winner he’s a leader on the field and one of the games best throwers. He’s coming off his best offensive season (292/348/394) and guarantees there are no holes in this lineup, hitting down in the bottom 3rd. Many scouts believe the only better catcher/thrower than Hudson, in the IBL, is his backup Rafael Flores. Flores began to catch more early last season before going down and missing the latter half of the year with a strained hip. He’s not just a glove, but certainly no threat. His career numbers of .256/.312/.395 in 109 games with 17 doubles and 4 HR’s. He spells Hudson and allows me to pinch run if need be, and use him for defense late in games. When Flores went down it exposed the lack of depth in the organization (hence the deal to acquire prospect Martin Ramirez from Corpus Christi in the van Bodegraven deal. Who, btw, has seen a pretty big dip in his ratings, which is driving a need to talk with my scouts). Jesus Fuentes came up and held his own as Hudson’s backup. A good defender, though a much better blocker, receiver than he is a thrower. Fuentes hit .205 with 3 HR’s and 19 RBI’s in 39 games. He’ll start in Tulsa and be on call.

INFIELD:
If we manage to stay healthy through camp there are no openings in the infield. Wes Morgan is back with the ink barely dry on his 5 year 45.1 million dollar extension. Coming off another outstanding season (.297-40-131) he’s the left handed anchor in the middle of the lineup. 23 year old Paul Riggs is the 2B. He stayed healthy last year, starting 153 games and hit .284/.364/.411 with 42 doubles and 7 HR’s. He’s another bottom of the order hitter who’d be hitting 2nd for about every other offense in the game. At short is ‘the Franchise’. 2 year old Jean Chartier enters his 3rd season. His combined numbers from the last 2 seasons are .328-51-218 with 42 2B’s and 14 3B’s, while stealing 74-106 bases and scoring 225 runs. Defensively he’s a gold glove waiting to happen with the leagues best infield arm. He’ll play SS every day and hit 2nd again. At 3B is newcomer Ony Kamyshinsky (O-NEE CAM-Ah-SHIN-SKEE), acquired from the Drillers this past winter for Alejandro Sotolo and Esteban Flores. Ony’s arm rivals Chartiers and he’s an outstanding defensive 1st and 3rd baseman, allowing he and Morgan to spell each other. If he can stay healthy he’ll bring big time pop to the lower half of the lineup, as he hammers right handed pitching. That’s a bigger than usual ‘if’ as he has only managed to play in 190 games the past 2 seasons after a fractured Fibula. He’s an enormous presence in the clubhouse in every way positive, his only ‘downfall’ being his inability to let an at bat ‘go’ after making an out. Massimiliano Lorenzelli will be the RH platoon to Kamyshinki’s LH bat at 3rd. Massi hit .264/.307.410 last year with 41 doubles, 10 triples and 8 homers. He scored 93, drove in 78 and stole 33 bases. He’s a great base runner, an even better bunter. With Ony’s health history it’s likely Massi will get his AB’s.
The backup infield job that’s left will be battled for amongst Enrique Franco (1B), Chris Dixon (2B, 3B, SS) Angel Lopez (2B, 3B, SS, RF) and 35 year old veteran Ignacio Ferrer (2B, 3B, SS). Franco is almost a lock to be traded as he’s out of options and limited defensively. He’ll be protection during camp. Dixon is also out of options and a likely trade candidate should everyone get through camp healthy. Lopez and Ferrer are really the two guys, should health not be an issue, to battle it out. Both are outstanding defenders at every position they play. Neither has a visible edge offensively but Lopez switch hits, where Ferrer is right handed. That and Angel is 8 years younger. The last spot is likely to be taken by 1 of those two, and if it ends up being Lopez we’ll look to trade Ignacio, to get him a chance to play for someone else in the show, he’s earned that much at his age.

OUTFIELD:
The ‘Golden Jewel’ of the Chicago Roster. It’s likely we sport the best all around OF in the game. In Centerfield it’ll be Ernesto Gutierrez against RHP. “Goot” fell 5 pts shy of a 2015 batting title and set a Chicago record for single season OBP at .451 (8 pts shy of Curt Whimster’s IBL record) A 2014 Gold Glove winner in RF and a 2015 All Star, Gutierrez will play CF every day this year. In left it’ll be 30/30 man Hugh Collins. At 26 he’s one of the most dynamic players, all around, in the game. An injury last year shelved him for 3 weeks but his HR totals 29/37/34 and SB totals 27/44/33 combined with a .380 career OBP% make him the perfect #3 hitter. A 2 time all star and 2014 Gold Glove in CF round out his game. He was the CL leader in WAR in 2014 at 7.8. Every team, contending team, has a cornerstone, a franchise guy. Our guy sits in RF and goes by the name Bill Alexander. A 4 time all star and 2013 Hank Aaron Award winner, he’s been as consistent and dominant as any hitter in the game. His career .322/.386/.596 line place him 7th all time in batting average, 33rd in OBP and 5th in slugging %. He’s the IBL leader in career HR’s with 188 (1 ahead of Dayton’s Bill Hill) and RBI’s with 608 and probably the most amazing stat is his 268 walks to just 179 strike outs in 2500+ career at bats. At 28 he’s entering his prime years. The 4th outfielder/RH DH chores and RH platoon hitter will go to Ron Miller. Ron was acquired from Pittsburgh in April of 2014 in a 7 player swap (along with SP Dan MacFadden) and has destroyed LHP from day 1.He hit .315/.448./.581 last year vs. lefties and will play left against them this year as well as spell at DH. His defense is a liability but he brings a dangerous RH bat off the bench late in games. The 5th OF/DH role wil fall on 21 year old Luis Chavez. The IBL was stunned when Edmonton dealt him to acquirq Dan MacFadden (along with SP Tony Childs) at the winter meetings. In just 78 games last season, as a 20 year old, he hit 17 homers and drove in 57 runs. He’s a decent RF with a cannon, and he runs very well for a 6’6” kid. His calling card though, is his bat. A potential .330 40 HR guy who’s just getting started. He will be the primary DH vs RHP with Miller spelling him every now and then, and he can handle LHP enough to be able to cover himself against lefties if an injury should arise. 34 year old Ron Miller is a great LH insurance option for the corner OF spots, but ticketed for Tulsa if everyone can get through the spring healthy. Speedster Bob Barbour is out of options and likely headed for waivers if all goes well for the starters.

[gehrig38]

SPRING 2016

Forgot to mention this. We filled our three vacant jobs. Former Railcat A Ball manager Dean Curry took the Bakersfield job on a 1 year deal, we weren’t excited about this one, but how much damage can he do in a year? Outstanding rookie league hitting coach Nathan Franklin took a 4 year deal to do the same thing for Class A Denison. An excellent hitting and fielding coach he’s got a legendary reputation with players, especially younger ones. AA Amarillo Frontier pitching coach Fletcher Brown wants to manage. We offered him a shot to work is way up from Heavener and he took a 5 year deal to do jus that. He’s an excellent players guy, and word has it a good hitting and fielding guy as well.

3/6 Tulsa Driller 2B Edward Young (293-17-67) went down on day 1 of the spring with a jammed shoulder.
3/7 Brian Rogers goes down with shoulder inflammation in his first Chicago start. That could present problems in getting him innings. He’s out for 2 weeks.
3/14 Reliever Mike Moore came out of the game today with something wrong, not sur what. Waiting on word from the team docs.
3/15 Houston’s Cy May (344-36-99) will miss the next 3 weeks with a jammed shoulder.
3/16 Houston, we have a problem. Bill Alexander suffered a concussion today and is out a minimum of 2 weeks. We’ll pray that’s it because that would be a huge blow.
3/17 Moore has a ruptured tendon in his finger and will require surgery. He’s out at least 4 months and heads to the 60 day DL today.
3/18 Big blow for LA today. RF Julio Martinez (.299-19-71) will likely miss the season after breaking his kneecap today.
3/19 The Baltimore Railcats suffered a huge blow today. 31 year old closer Jorge Bautista (5-2 34 Saves 2.62) will miss the next 3-4 months with a torn tricep.
3/20 Hope it’s nothing in the water. Staten Island learned it will be without closer Eli Gill (5-11 38 saves 3.56) for at least 4 months after he underwent arthoscopic surgery to relieve a sore shoulder.
3/21 Luis Chavez leads all IBL hitters with 5 HR’s this spring. Alexander had 3 when he went down. He’s 1-2 weeks away

IBL Leader in total bases, career
Bill Hill (DAY) 1483
Bill Alexander (CHI) 1482
Curt Whimster (TUL) 1436
Rich Stone (FRE) 1338
Gerald Wright (EP) 1319

3/23 Dayton Dragons SP 23 year old Alfonso Gomez will miss 4-5 months after undergoing suregery do decompress his radial nerve. Gomez was the Dragons #1 pick in 2013 (22nd overall). Iron Pig Stever Howard went down with an indiagnosed injury today.
3/26 Howard will miss 5-6 weeks with an ACL strain. He goes to the 15 day DL. Patriot reliever, and former closer Julio Arroyo could be out the season after fracturing his coracoid bone.
3/27 So far no setback on Alexander, 2 days more.. I’m expecting a problem though.

[gehrig38]

Iron Pigs Spring Training
Gerardo Zamora isn’t ready. 20 hits in 13.2 IP and a 7.90, time for some more seasoning in Tulsa. Richard Cox didn’t do himself any favors, sporting an 11.48 in 13.1 IP. He heads down as well. Denny Walker has a great spring and it earns him a shot, a 0.77 in 11.2 IP with 14 k’s. Rogers has a bad spring but we know what we’re in for. The rotation, 1-5, on opening day will be Alejandrez, Kenny Lee (3.38), Bryan Rogers, Curt Daugherty (3.75), and Denny Walker.

In the pen Pedro Garcia won the open RH spot, leaving he, Ken Johnson and Dave Winston as the righties, Pennington, Sanchez and Torres as the lefties, with Cruz closing.

The catchers all made it through ok, so Fuentes was optioned out. Dixon and Franco both had bad springs and I will shop them before designating them. Angel Lope had a good spring, beating out 35 year old Ignacio Ferrer. I will look to get Ferrer a job with someone else in the big leagues before I send him down. Jean Chartier had a monster spring, 7 homers 16 RBI’s in 51 ab’s. Wes Morgan had a bad one, hitting .191 but had a .355 OBP.
Kami (what I will call Ony Kamyshinsky rather than typing that damn thing out all the time) struggled to a .167 spring in 36 AB’s. Luis Chavez hit .397-6-20 in 73 spring AB’s. Miller struggled to a .176 average but did hit 4 Hr’s.

TRADE NEWS
Corpus Christi offers me MR/SP Donald Kemsley for 1B/DH Enrique Franco who’s out of options. Kemsley is a 25 year old that the Hooks have put in the pen. Control issues are plaguing him so I pull the trigger, can never have too much pitching!

TRADE-Holy cow. Chris Dixon, per our scouts, is a fringy decent hitting middle infielder. OSA has him as a pretty serious slugger, very different looks. I realize this as I put him on the market and see some serious 5 star guys being offered in return. Including 2 ace closers (Barlow from Dayton and Clark of the Knights). Dayton also puts 23 year old 2015 2nd rounder (36th overall) Santiago Flores on the table. The upside on this kid is too good to pass up. Plays all 3 OF positions, with the corners being very good, can play 1st, runs very very well and my scouts say he’s a 19/16/18/16/14 ceiling hitter???? Going to have to see how this one works out.

TRADE-We send Bob Barbour, out of options, to Green Bay for 33 year old OF Steve Blue. He’ll help the Tulsa club and he’s a switch hitter who can hit and play left if there’s a big club issue in left or at DH. We also exchange 2nd round picks moving our former first of 2 picks in the 2nd round up to #9 (meaning we get 2 of the 1st 38, 3 of the first 57.

MINORS NEWS
Zamora tossed 7 scoreless for Tulsa on opening day and I did send Ferrer back to AAA while I shop him. He'll play SS every day down there for a bit.

[gehrig38]

Michigan inked slugging 1B Bob Herman to a 1 year 5.5m extension, and El Paso signed 16 game winner Jason Allen to a 1 year 2.6m extension as well, avoiding them becoming free agents this winter.

And below are the ranked minor leagues, along with the top 10 prospects coming into the 2016 season.

Glad to see, so far, Pedro Salinas is what my scouts thought. Far too few pitchers for my tastes and that is hopefully fixing itself over the next few years as the heavy investment in the past few drafts begins to pay off. Arizona has to be feeling good about Pimentel, their 2014 #1 and the 4th overall choice. HS pitchers are huge risks, but huge returns when they hit (or pitch in this case). Castillo was Michigan's choice and the #1 overall in 2014 but there are questions coming out about his durability and health, but he's #2 for the 2nd year in a row. We moved to having the 6th best, from 11th, which is a good thing. Problem is our division has 2 teams thought to have better prospects than us, including top ranked Columbus.

[gehrig38]

A look at who's who in the CL coming into 2016..
Tulsa didn't receive the competitive balance memo it seems, wow. Pittsburgh and Baltimore again in the East, Vegas and Sacramento in the West.
Bulldogs Russ Tunstall with a HR title, and Rich Stone with another batting title?
Betting Bray outdoes those numbers. Wow, look at the Driller rotation? 3 18+ game winners? The River Cats are going to mash, and Vegas looks to be off to the races again. Sacramento and Pittsburgh are the class of the CL pitching wise it seems.

[gehrig38]

Nice, finally getting some pre-season accolades..
Are the Knights set to make their first post season appearance?
Us and Columbus again, and wow, a 24 game reversal in El Paso? (BTW I did this before camp opened and it had us at 110 wins).
Collins, Chartier, Chavez and Alexander all predicted to have monster seasons, and one of our new SP is as well. Ernesto Cruz finally getting recognized. Another 30/30 season for Collins?

[gehrig38]

Wow, 26th? Really? I'm gonna call the bluff. El Paso wins 107 and adds 2.9 WAR overall, but is predicted to be 24 games worse? Always interesting to see what the numbers 'say', versus how it actually happens.
I'm betting Lee and Chavez bring far higher returns.

[gehrig38]

I am not going to go all long winded here. Suffice to say I feel like we did everything we could this winter, and for the first time I believe the club is a serious World Series contender.

My owner is happy with a 'reach the playoffs' season, I won't be. If we don't get to the Series I feel it will be an underachieving season.

I've raised ticket prices to 25 bucks, fans are lukewarm in their loyalty and interest is at 60. I expect that to change as we come out of the gates.

Our budget is 64.45m, 24th, our payroll is 35.02m, 24th as well. We have 7.6m available for free agents this winter, before our 6.8m draft allowance. Our total expenses this year, right now, look to be around 60.7m.

We've made Mr Marquis insane amounts of money the past 4 seasons and I don't expect that to change.

Scouting wise we are finally spending. 5.6 on NA, and 4.5 internationally. Scouting is 40/20/40 Major/Minor/Amateur.

I've got area scouts in Japan, Cuba, the Dominican and Puerto Rico, Curacao, Taiwan, Honduras and the Virgin Islands, the Bahamas and North Korea (that would be awesome!) and Sweden.

Here's a look at our minor leagues as of opening day 2016...

[gehrig38]

WEEK 1
3 @ Green Bay
3 @ Staten Island
1 vs El Paso (Home Opener)

GAME 1
Ernesto Gutierrez’s 3rd inning single is the season’s first hit. Hugh Collins drives in Kamyshinsky with the first run.
Gutierrez leads off the 9th of a 4-4 game with a double and comes home on a Luis Chavez single. Ernesto Cruz comes in to save the opening day win (1), but it comes at a price. Bill Alexander is hurt running the bases and will head to the 15 day DL with a strained hammy.
Gutierez was 3-4 with 3 runs on a double, and Alexander drove in 2. Todd Helton was 4-4 with his 1st HR in the loss. Pennington blows the lead but gets the win (1-0).
Ok for what it’s worth this Blizzard team has some offense. Rolen (in the leadoff spot?), Helton, Andrew Jones and 20 year old Josh Hamilton, they can hit.
CHI 5 GB 4 (1-0)

OPENING DAY NEWS AROUND THE LEAGUE
Zito (ALK) tosses 7 scoreless in a 2-0 opening day win over Buffalo.
Luis Acosta (CC) tosses 7.1 scorless in a 3-0 win over Tulsa.
Arizona’s Michael Moran drills 2 homers and drives in 3 in a 8-4 loss to NY.
And I present Houston Roughrider Ace Raul Gonzalez ladies and gentleman….

[gehrig38]

GAME 2
Another win, another injury. Paul Riggs goes down with an oblique strain and it’s another trip to the 15 day DL. Riggs was 2-2 with 2 doubles when he went down. Luis Chavis went 2-4 with 2 runs and 4 RBI’s, Miller drove in 2 with a double. Ken Lee (1-0) made a sparkling Iron Pig debut going 7-2-2-2-4-3, Sanchez and Johnson tossed a scoreless inning each to close it out.
CHI 9 GB 2 (2-0)

INJURY NEWS
Las Vegas 51 1B Drew Leduc suffered a severe hamstring strain and will head to the DL for at least the next 6 weeks.

Riggs was placed on the 15 day DL, Ignacio Ferrer (Glad I held onto him!) was recalled and will backup the infield.

GAME 3
Hugh Collins went 2-3 with 2 RBI’s on his 1st homer of the year and Steve Blue was 2-4 with his first to back Bryan Rogers (1-0) who went 6-2-2-2-4-6 and the pens Jose Torres (H1) Dave Winston (H2) Randy Pennington (H1) and Ernesto Cruz’s 2nd Save. They went 3-1-0-0-1-2. Chartier and Collins both stole their 2nd bases.
CHI 3 GB 2 (3-0)

LEAGUE NEWS
Ben Brady (TUL) and Cecil Watts (CC) were both suspended 12 games! For a bench clearing brawl in the Driller/Hooks contest (won 7-3 by Tulsa)

Antonio Vargas (PHI) went 4-5 with 4 RBI’s in a 16-4 win over Las Vegas.

Missed it earlier but our old friend Walt Thompson appears to be at it again. He punched out 12 in 7 innings of an opening day win.

GAME 4
Our first round playoff opponents from last year, the Staten Island Yankees…
And they bring the whooping sticks. Pounding our staff for 15 runs on 18 hits. Curt Daugherty (0-1) gets walloped going 2.1-9-8-8-2-1 and Jose Torres can’t get 3 outs in a .2-6-4-4-0-0 disaster. Marquis, Bonnar and Ben Simmons all hit their 1st HR’s of the year in the win, Marquez going 3-3 with 3 runs, Bonnar 2-5 with 4 RBI’s and Robbie Howard 3-4 with a double and triple and 3 RBI’s. Jean Chartier goes 4-5 with a triple and a homer (1), driving in 4, and Kami hits his 1st HR and a double going 2-3 with 2 runs and an RBI. Chavez goes 2-5 with 2 RBI’s on a double as well.
SI 15 CHI 11 (3-1)

GAME 5
An insane game, with an even more insane finish. Trailing 8-4 into the 8th Chicago explodes for 6 runs, capped by Steve Blues 3 run bomb, to take a 10-8 lead. Ernesto Cruz enters in the 9th and proceeds to blow his first save in over a year, giving up Robbie Howards bases loaded double with 2 outs. Luis Chavez unties it in the 10th with his 1st Chicago HR, a 2 run shot. Ken Johnson enters and after a Neil Weber ground out, he creates problems. Garza singles, Villanueva walks, he retires Travis Bryant and with 2 outs Mario Orosco drills what looks to be a game tying single, but the ball drills base runner Alejandro Villanueva for a game ending…single? BTW Villanueva was 3-4 with 4 runs and 2 RBI’s on 2 HR’s (4). Howard was 2-5 with 4 RBI’s on his 1st HR and a double.
Gutierrez goes 4-5 with 2 runs, Chartier 2-4 with 2 RBI’s, Collins 1-3 with 3 runs and 2 RBI’s on a bases loaded double. Wes Morgan drills a 3 run shot (1) and Eric Hudson goes 2-5.
CHI 12 SI 10 (4-1)

LEAGUE NEWS
Pittsburgh is off to an 0-5 start, Bray and Roa got bombed by the, get this, 4-1 New Hampshire Fisher Cats! Might be the 1st time they’ve ever been 3 over .500.

Bob Herman mus be happy with his new 1 year extension, he and Villanueva are tied with an IBL best 4HR’safter just 5 games, and he has 11 RBI’s.

GAME 6
Jean Chartier goes 4-5 with 3 runs and 3 RBI’s on 2 doubles and his 2nd HR (and is hitting .600 through 6 games), Hugh Collins goes 3-5 with a triple and 2 RBI’s and Luis Chavez drills his 2nd HR in a 2-5 2 RBI day. Angel Lopez was 3-4 with 2 runs and an RBI with his 2nd double.
All that offense in support of Alfredo Alejandrez (1-0) who went 8-6-1-1-3-2 for his 1st win .
CHI 10 SI 1 (5-1 +2)

GAME 7
Home opener up against 2015 K leader Corey Elkins. First meeting with the Diablos and I have to wonder why they’re picked to regress so much.
Lee struggles his 2nd time out, back to back homers by Gerald Wright (1) and Caden Haynes (3) give the Diablos and early lead and we play back and forth. A 2 run game tying single in the bottom of the 9th ties it at 7 but Rafael Cuesta doubles leading off the 10th off Dave Winston (0-1) and Pennington can’t keep him on third an out later. Lee goes 5.2-8-7-7-1-6 and his 3rd HR (Gomez with 2 on in the 6th) ends his day. Tony Ruiz goes 4-5 with a HR (1) and 4 RBI’s. Hugh Collins goes 4-5 with his 2nd HR, Wes Morgan 2-4 2 runs and 3 RBI’s on his 2nd homer as well. 55,169 in attendance.
EP 8 CHI 7
(5-2 +2)

WEEK 1 RECAP
WEEK 1 FL POTW-Jean Chartier 15-25 2 HR’s 9 RBI’s
WEEK 1 CL POTW-Rajah Lashari (PHI) 12-23 3 HR’s 10 RBI’s

INJURY NEWS
Sacramento will be without CF Ramon Cano for the next month after he strained an oblique yesterday.

IBL WEEK 1 POWER RANKINGS
1) New York Knights
2) Houston Roughriders
3) El Paso Diablo’s
4) Los Angeles Wizards
5) Chicago Iron Pigs

[gehrig38]

WEEK 2
2 vs El Paso
3 @ Arizona
Off Day
1 vs New York

GAME 8
Bryan Rogers (2-0) shuts down El Paso with a 7-4-1-1-2-4 day and Luis Chavez goes 3-4 with 2 runs and 4 RBI’s on 2 homers (4). Hugh Collins goes 2-5 with 2 runs and 3 RBI’s on 2 triples and Wes Morgan slams his 4th homer and drives in 2. Kamyshinski goes 1-1 with 3 walks and his 2nd HR in an 11-1 rout.
CHI 11 EP 1 (6-2 +3)

LEAGUE NEWS
Patriot Roberto Flores went 4-5 with 3 RBI’s and hit for the Cycle in a 4-2 Philly win over Houston.

INJURY NEWS
Edmonton Trapper SP Lucio Ernandez is out for at least the next 3 months with a bum elbow. The 25 year old was 10-10 3.66 last season and off to an 0-1 3.86 start this year.

GAME 9
Curt Daugherty (0-2) can’t protect a 4-1 lead into the 5th. Going 6-9-6-6-1-7 in the loss. Caden Haynes hits his 4th and Catcher Cesar Barron goes 3-4 with a double, run and an RBI.
Eric Hudson goes 3-4 with 2 doubles and drives in 2, Ron Miller goes 2-4.
EP 9 CHI 5 (6-3 +2)

LEAGUE NEWS
Greyhound SS Truman Stuckey, the newest infielder in Arizona, said hello to the fans with a 5-5 5 RBI day in a 9-4 win over Columbus. Arizona is headed home to face Chicago tomorrow.

GAME 10
A Luis Chavez 1st inning Grand Slam (5) jumped started the day. 7 different Chicago players scored and Gutierrez, Chartier, Hudson and Lopez had 2 hit days. Wes Morgan also hit his 5th. Denny Walker (1-0) went 8-4-2-2-3-4 for his first IBL win.
CHI 7 AZ 2 (7-3 +3)

LEAGUE NEWS
For just the 6th time in IBL history, a hitter netted 6 hits in a single game. Clipper 2B Jeff Hudson went 6-7 with 7 RBI’s in the Clippers 20-1 demolishing of the New York Knights.

GAME 11
Ony Kamyshinsky punched out with the bases loaded, down 2, in the 9th, to end the game. The Chicago rally fell short after Chartier had walked against Greyhound closer Arthur Newton (4 saves). Alejandrez went 6-7-5-5-2-5 giving the lead back on a 4th inning Truman Stuckey 2 run homer (2). Stuckey was 2-4 wih 3 RBI’s. jean Chartier was 2-5 with 2 runs and his 3rd HR, Eric Hudson hit his 1st in a 1-4 day, driving in 2.
AZ 8 CHI 6 (7-4 +2)

LEAGUE NEWS
Cyclone 3B Casey York went 3-4 and hit 3 home runs in a 10-6 win over Buffalo. They were his 1st 3 homers of the season.

INJURY NEWS
Paul Riggs is not healing as expected, and will miss at least 5 more days.

Bulldog 2B Roberto Morales isn’t either. The 2B will miss at least 3-4 more weeks recovering from a severely strained hamstring.

GAME 12
A 7 run first ended it before Arizona had a chance to hit. 6 more in the 5th made sure. But not before Arizona got themselves in the record books. In the bottom of the 6th 5 consecutive Greyhound batters hit doubles to start the inning, and end SP Ken Lee’s day (2-0). Lee went 5-9-5-5-0-5.
Gutierrez was 2-4 with 3 RBI’s, Hugh Collins went 2-4 with 3 runs and 3 RBI’s on his 3rd HR. Massi Lorenzelli was 3-5, Eric Hudson went 3-4 with 3 runs and 4 RBI’s on a double and his 2nd homer in 2 days. Angel Lopez was 3-5 with 2 runs and a double (and is hitting .343 with Paul Riggs out). Arizona SP Jesus Mendoza went .2-7-7-7-1-1 for the loss (1-2 17.36).
CHI 16 AZ 6 (8-4 +2)

OFF DAY NEWS
Sacramento SP George Bean (1-0 3.38) wil miss the next 2-3 weeks with a sore shoulder. Bean is coing off a 13-10 3.03 season in 2015.

Game 13
This was all Bryan Rogers (3-0) and the pen. Rogers tossed 7 scoreless (7-3-0-0-4-7) and Winston (H4) and Pennington (H2) got big 8th inning outs to get the ball to Cruz who threw a perfect 9th for his 3rd Save. The lone run was accounted for on Luis Chavez’s 6th HR, in the 7th inning.
CHI 1 NY 0 (9-4 +2)

WEEK 2 RECAP

WEEK 2 FL POTW-Hugh Collins 11-22 2 HR’s 9 RBI’s (.408-3-16)
WEEK 2 CL POTW-Orlando Rios (FRE) 10-21 2 HR’s 5 RBI’s (.326-2-9)

MINORS NEWS
LF Jose Gonzales of Belleview took home our first minor league POTW in a long time by going 12-23 2 HR’s 4 RBI’s (.375-3-6).

INJURY NEWS
Vegas 1B Art Doane will miss the next 4 months with a strained hip. The 34 year old was off to a .212-1-2 start.

IBL Single Season Walk Record
Lou Sparks (SAN) 151
Thomas Hood (LV) 138
Mathew Moore (NY) 135
Mather Moore (NY) 134
Mario Orosco (SI) 130

IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) Fresno
2) El Paso
3) Chicago
4) Los Angeles
5) Tulsa

And a look at the league 2 weeks in. Pittsburgh is probably the biggest 'shocker' 13 games in, I expected them to roll, but 13 games isn't enough to really tell either way. Chavez is exactly what we'd hoped so far. Chartier is going to be a force for the next decade, just need to find the money to keep him. Collins as well. Walt Thompson's stuff is 'back' I guess. Rogers is pitching like an 'ace' through 3 starts. Nice to see Cy May back at it, now that I'm no longer in his division.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 3
2 vs New York (8-5)
3 @ West Michigan (5-8)
2 vs Columbus (7-6 Our first meeting with the defending world champs)

GAME 14
Curt Daugherty (1-2) works out of big 1st and 2nd inning trouble to finally get it together by going 6-5-0-0-3-3 for the win. Wes Morgan goes 2-4 with 4 RBI’s on 2 home runs (7). Hugh Collins goes 2-4 with 2 RBI’s on his 4th HR. Gutierrez goes 2-4.
CHI 6 NY 0 (10-4 +2)

ROSTER NEWS
Alexander is ready to come off the DL and he’ll be in the lineup tonight. Riggs is due off tomorrow. Steve Blue was optioned to Tulsa.

#1 Pick Pedro Salinas is off to a very slow start and I’m keeping an eye out, with the thought that a return to AA could be needed. He’s raised his average from .159 to .197 the past four days but is homerless so far. Nice to know he’s still showing a good eye, with a .342 OBP.

2013 #2 pick Eric Coates is close. He’s hitting .383 at Tulsa, and scouts are saying the talent progression is there. Though it’s a good problem to have, I am unsure of what I’ll do if he’s ready ‘too son’. He could be Gutierrez replacement (if I deal him for a SP) or I could use him to get that SP. We’ll see. Amazing how these things always work themselves out.

21 year old Raul Feliz is off to a great start in Corpus Christi, hitting .353 through 11 games with 3 doubles. I hope I don’t regret that one.

Pittsburgh’s 2 headed monster of Bray (1-2 6.05) and Roa (0-2 9.22) are off to a dismal start and so are the Bulldogs at 4-10. Tomas Villanueva, their #3, is 0-3 3.24 as their offense is 10th in OBP, 11th in HR’s.

Houston’s Raul Gonzalez is 3-0 0.73, telling me the opening day no-no was a sign of things to come. He’s clearly back from his injury last year.


INJURY NEWS
Green Bay 3B Scott Rolen will miss the next 4-5 weeks with after spraining his ankle yesterday. Rolen was hittin g.308-4-14.

GAME 15
A bullpen meltdown in the top of the 9th turned a 2-0 deficit into a 6-0 whitewash. Pedro Garcia walked 2 and gave up 3 hits, and 3 run’s in 1 inning. Knights SP Alberto Rivera came into the game with a 20+ ERA and proceeded to go 7.2-7-0-0-1-3 for the win with Colin Brown getting the last 4 outs. Marcos Oginlara was 3-5 with 2 doubles and 2 runs and Lee Allen hit his 4th HR.
Wes Morgan was 3-4, and Hudson went 2-4. Alexander was hitless in his return from the DL.
NY 6 CHI 0 (10-5 +2)

GAME 16
Alfredo Alejandrez (2-1) goes 7-3-0-0-1-7 and Jean Chartier goes 3-5 with 4 RBI’s on a double and his 4th HR in a 5-0 win, marking the third straight game we’ve played that resulted in a shut out.
CHI 5 WMI 0 (11-5 +2)

GAME 17
Make that 4 straight. Ken Lee (3-0) worked an amazingly difficult 6 innings, getting out of 2 bases loaded jams, 1 with 0 outs, the other with 1 out, and went 6.1-4-0-0-6-5 on 112 pitches. Jean Chartier remains on complete fire, going 4-5 with 3 runs and 2 RBI’s on a triple and his 5th HR. Bill Alexander hits his first HR of the year in a 2-5 day and Luis Chavez goes 3-5 and drives in 1. Huhg Collins hit his 5th as well, a 3 run shot in the 9th.
CHI 8 WMI 0 (12-5 +3)

GAME 18
5 straight shutouts (1 of them was us being shut out) ends when Bryan Rogers (4-0) surrenders a run to the White Caps in their half of the 4th (22 consecutive scoreless IP for the staff). That was today’s bad news due to the fact it was the only run the staff surrendered. Rogers went 7-5-1-1-1-6 to lower his IBL best ERA to 1.33. Jean Chartier had 2 more hits and Wes Morgan 2 more HR’s (9, which leads the IBL). Morgan drove in 4.
CHI 6 WMI 1 (13-5 +3)

INJURY NEWS
I threw Gutierrez in against a lefty, to spell Collins, and he ends up getting hurt. No word yet on how bad.

LEAGUE NEWS
Staten Island CF Neil Weber went 5-7 in a 30-2 win over Buffalo today! HOLY CRAP! He drove in 9! (Box score to follow!)

Speaking of Bryn Rogers, the man we traded for him, Mike Davis, is 2-1 5.66 in 4 starts for the River Cats.

GAME 19
Curt Daugherty (2-2) settles in after some early trouble going 6-6-3-3-2-4. The pen takes over and Winston (H5) Pennington (H3) Johnson (H1) get it to Cruz who has a perfect 9th for his 4th save. Their line was 3-0-0-0-3-3. Wes Morgan homered again (10) and Chartier hit his 6th. Kamy was 2-3 with 2 RBI’s.
CHI 5 COL 3 (14-5 +4)

INJURY NEWS
Gutierrez has a strained hip and is DtD for the next week or so. We’ll use him sparingly, if at all.

GAME 20
The dominant SP continues. Denny Walker (2-1) goes 7.1-4-1-1-1-6 and after a squirmy 9th Cruz notches his 5th Save getting the final 2 outs.Wes Morgan goes 3-4 with 2 RBI’s hitting his 4th HR in the last 3 games and Bill Alexander goes 2-3 with 2 solo homers (3) and scores 3 times. Jeffrey Hudson hit a leadoff homer for Columbus (8) and that would be it for their scoring.
CHI 5 COL 1 (15-5 +5)

WEEK 3 RECAP
WEEK 3 FL POTW-Todd Helton (GB) 16-31 2 HR’s 7 RBI’s (.462-5-18)
WEEK 3 CL POTW-Rich Stone (FRE) 15-29 7 RBI’s (.416-3-17)

IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago
2) Fresno
3) Green Bay
4) El Paso
5) Arizona

MINORS NEWS
Pedro Salinas is heating up. Going 16-50 with 2 HR’s and 9 RBI’s to raise his average from .105 to .227. He went 3-5 with 2 HR’s and 5 RBI’s in the 22nd to finally get on the board.
Gerardo Zamora is 3-1 2.19 with 26 K’s in 24 IP after 4 starts. Elijah Walton is 2-2 1.93 after 4 as well, with 28 IP and 26 K’s.

[gehrig38]

WEEK 4
1 vs Columbus (10-10)
3 vs Dayton (5-15)
Off Day
2 @ Edmonton (9-11)

GAME 21
Randy Pennington (1-1) surrenders 2 2 run 10th inning homers to break a 6-6 tie. Alfredo Alejandrez went 6-8-3-3-1-6 and Torres (H2) and Garcia (H1) got the game into Sanchez’s hands but a leadoff homer from Wazir Ubadah blew the lead. Morgan and Chavez had 2 hits apiece and Eric Hudson went 3-5 scoring and driving in 1.
COL 8 CHI 4 (15-6 +3)

GAME 22
Massi Lorenzelli went 3-4 with 2 doubles, a HR (1) and 3 RBI’s to lead a 14 hit attack. Wes Morgan hit his 12th and Hugh Collins, Morgan, Eric Hudson and Paul Riggs all had two hits to back Ken Lee (4-0) who went 6.1-8-2-2-1-4.
CHI 6 DAY 2 (16-6 +3)

GAME 23
It was all setup perfectly, 3-2 lead, 9th inning, Cruz in. Then Bill Hill stepped up. Hill drilled a 2 out 2 run game winning homer off Cruz for a 4-3 Dayton win, after Bill Barlow closed out the 9th for his 2nd Save. Bryan Rogers went 6-3-0-0-4-10, but the pen, starting with Jose Torres blew the lead. Ron Miller was 2-2 with a double (breaking out of his early season slump). Hugh Collins stole his 6th base.
DAY 4 CHI 3 (16-7 +2)

GAME 24
Daugherty (2-3) struggled again going 5-7-5-5-4-6 and Jose Torres continues to be a nightmare, surrendering 2 more runs in 1.2 IP (his ERA now stands at 10.24). Dragon SP Thomas Savary went 7.2-6-2-2-2-4 for the win and Alfonso Gallegos went 3-5 with 3 RBI’s and Dave Brown went 3-4 with 2 RBI’s in the win. Riggs and Alexander had 2 hits apiece an Eric Hudson continued his strong start with his 3rd HR.
DAY 8 CHI 2 (16-8 +2)


GAME 25
Just an unthinkable loss. A 7-2 leading into the bottom of the 9th with Pedro Garcia on the hill. 2 outs around a Simone Politti walk and Javier Colon hits a 2 run homer to make it 7-4. Cruz gets the call and Greg Mccain and Dave Palmer single (Palmer on a 3-2 count) when Tim Davis runs another full count and hits a line drive down the left field line for a game tying 3 run homer! Both teams trade few chances into the 11th, Pennington replaces Cruz and with 2 outs Brent McCoy drills a line drive in the hole at short to score McCain with the walk off win.
EDM 8 CHI 7 (16-9 +1)

APRIL RECAP
APRIL FL HITTER-Jeffrey Hudson (COL) .412-9-31
APRIL CL HITTER-Rajah Lashari (PHI) .420-7-19
APRIL FL PITCHER-Bryan Rogers (CHI) 4-0 1.09 33 K’s
APRIL CL PITCHER-Rafael Garza (LA) 4-0 1.82 29 K’s
APRIL FL ROOKIE-Jerry Grant (ALK) .206-4-13 17 Runs (Really?)
APRIL CL ROOKIE-Carlos Andrade (CC) .301-5-14

ORG NEWS
Bakersfield 3B Jim Kelly had a day, going 3-4 with 3 solo HR’s in a 7-6 win.

[gehrig38]

A look at the top prospects on the mound and at the plate.
And holy cow the arms, some enormously talented SP, power guys, and some big bats as well.