Dark Cloud's Moneyball Dynasty

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THE KNIGHTS LOAD UP WITH RF SHAWN GREEN
HARTFORD – RF Shawn Green who is aging but still has some pop at age 38, is heading east. The 16-year vet has 417 career homers and over 2,000 hits. He was dealt with another player for 3B Joe Crede.

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The Red Sox bring back the same team that won the AL East last season (98-64), but that might not be enough. The keys to last season was a career year from SP Ian Ferguson who was 20-6 with a 1.96 ERA. If he replicate a year like that, along with SP Barry Zito regaining his form of yesteryear with an 18-7, 2.89 ERA effort, then these guys will knock on the door again in September.

The defending World Champs, the Yankees added what they hope is a big-game starter in Toji Sukonarma, the Hawaiian-born Japanese leaguer who will make his US debut as the #2 starter in the Yanks rotation. He could be the difference between winning the division title and the defending champs being on the outside.

The rest of the division figures not to be players. The Blue Jays added a nominal fifth starter and hope a full season with Kurt Ainsworth translates into enough wins to put the team in Wild Card contention. The Orioles added RF Kenny Kelly who split time in Milwaukee and Minnesota last year, hitting 26 homers and 86 RBI. He'll start and should be a contributor. The Rays dropped the Devil in their name, changed their city and might still suck. A full season from RF Vlad Guerrero after an injury kept him out 9 weeks last year, could help power this team beyond 70 wins, but with only two starters in double figures in wins last year - don't bet on it. The Hartford Knights are desperate to get fans in the seats. They're hoping RF Shawn Green can bring over some much needed production and create something worth seeing, but at age 38 and only hitting 22 homers with 59 RBI and under .250, don't hold your breath.

PREDICTION
1. Red Sox
2. Yankees
3. Blue Jays
4. Orioles
5. Orioles
6. Rays

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I only do team previews, to give you a glimpse of what's happening in the league.

But to be honest, they're a bit tedious and so..I don't think I'm going around the league to do them. After all, I really only care about seeing how my team does, because my story line centers around them primarily.

So...if you have something you're curious about, would like me to focus on more or something like that, you should post and tell me. I can take it wherever, just let me know what you're looking for.

That said, I updated the web site for the league here fairly often, because that way, you're able to check the teams out, their rosters and lineups and can see what's going on with each of them.

That's your best reference source for league info and such. Speaking of, I'm updating it now for opening day April 6th, 2009

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The Texas Rangers come into another season as the highest payroll ballclub in the majors at just over $103 million. Their biggest acquisition of the off-season was 40 save man John Wasdin Gunning for the third straight title with basically the same team as last year should make the Rangers the favorite again. 19-game winner Pedro Martinez is showing little sign of aging, despite being 37. He's just 26 wins shy of 300. They'll need another career year out of Rick Ankiel who is finally showing signs of being an elite pitcher winning 19 games last year and 16 two years prior.

Speaking of promise, CF Laynce Nix is officially "here". He's a three-time all-star and this 28-year old talent is poised to do more great things. He hit .302 last season with a career high 45 homers (his second straight 40+ homer season) and 125 RBI. RF Manny Ramirez is back after an all-star season that was lower than normal for him. He only hit 24 homers, but had 93 RBI and hit .275, lowered than his .310 career average, but solid.

The Athletics have a new home in Portland, Oregon and hope to springboard themselves into a playoff spot. They signed SP Jeremy Griffiths who won 15 games in Houston last year. He'll be their opening day starter.

The team hopes to get contributions from SP Adam Johnson who won 13 games last year and Tony Armas, Jr. who has bounced around the league and played on four teams last season. He signed with the A's and hopes to stay long enough to unpack his bags.

Other than free agent-to-be 3B Eric Chavez, the A's don't have much firepower to speak of. The A's will likely hear offers for Chavez by mid-season if they're out of contention, though that could signal the end of the honeymoon for Portland fans before it even starts. LF Ben Petrick is the other player who provides pop in this lineup and is also a free agent at the end of the year. He's hoping for his fifth 100+ RBI season in six years this year.


The Angels hope 1B Josh Phelps can repeat last season's 36 homers, 102 RBI season. It was his fifth 100+ RBI season in six years. He's a free agent this year, so that should be good motivation to keep it up. RF Ryan Church brings some pop to the club. He split last season in Colorado and New York. He hit 22 homers last year. Unfortunately, the Angels lack the firepower to keep pace with the rest of the league and its unlikely they'll contend.

The Seattle Mariners are expecting a long season. Other than newly acquired SP Mark Mulder, the team lacks any depth in the starting pitching department. They're hoping for a breakout year from former Silverhawks starter Timothy Marrow. Offensively, only C Ryan Christianson had more than 20 homers and 60 RBI last season. The team will be very young, but that will likely translate into lots of losses.

On the other hand, the Nevada Silverhawks had four players with 30+ homers last season and they added another threat in 2B Kai-Soo Pauk who comes over from Korea, though he's not expected to have an immediate impact.

The real question mark for the 'Hawks is whether their young rotation can hold up. SP Francisco Rosario is not the first name anyone dreams of when thinking of a ace. But he'll start the season as the ace, coming off a 14-4 campaign last season and many say he has front-line potential. Kyle Sleeth had 15 wins last year and should be a factor. The team has lots of depth at middle relief and a number of arms that can contribute in AAA if necessary. That could be a great thing or could cause problems if no one is producing.

This should be the year the Silverhawks compete for the division title or at least, a wild card. But if the team falters again this season, you can expect that someone will call for firings somewhere.

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ESPN.COM REPORT: INDIANS TO BECOME PRIDE
CLEVELAND - Major League Baseball, responding after a meeting with Native American advocacy groups, are reportedly close to accepting a bid from Louis Whitehorse, leader of the Menominee Nation in Wisconsin for the Cleveland Indians.

The team's name will be changed to the "Pride." We believe that a name like the "Cleveland Pride" summarizes what the people of Cleveland should feel for our ballclub and we're excited about this opportunity," said a spokeswoman for the Menominee.

An official announcement is expected tomorrow.

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AL CENTRAL
1. Minnesota Twins
2. Kansas City Royals
3. Chicago White Sox
4. Detroit Tigers
5. The Pride of Cleveland

AL WEST
1. Texas Rangers
2. Nevada Silverhawks
3. Portland Athletics
4. Seattle Mariners
5. Anaheim Angels

NL EAST
1. Philadelphia Phillies
2. The Legends of Brooklyn
3. New York Mets
4. Atlanta Braves
5. Washington Spirit

NL CENTRAL
1. Houston Astros
2. Chicago Cubs
3. St. Louis Cardinals
4. Milwaukee Brewers
5. Cincinnati Reds
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

NL WEST
1. Colorado Rockies
2. Arizona Diamondbacks
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
4. San Francisco Giants
5. San Diego Padres

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SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco Giants dealt ace SP Jesse Foppert to the Nevada Silverhawks today for three players including SP Kyle Sleeth. Sleeth, 26, split time between Houston before being dealt in a three-team deal that sent him to Nevada. He won 15 games last year and is regarded as a potential star. Along with Sleeth, the Giants acquired 2B Jose Vidro. Vidro, is a free agent at the end of the season, after signing a one-year extension with the Silverhawks, but was displaced after the signing of Korean star 2B Kai-Soo Pauk. He is a five-time All-Star and made the team each of his four years in Vegas. Also included in the deal was 25-year old prospect SSLance Zawadzki, who was touted in the Silverhawks organization.

While team might look like a purge, the Giants pick up the reliable Vidro, who fills their gap at second base and Sleeth is an NL pitcher who has experience in the league and should be dependable.

Meanwhile, in Foppert, the Silverhawks get a pitcher who had his breakout year last year with 17 wins. He's got immense talent and upside. Plus he's signed until 2012. "We're delighted when deals like this work well for both teams," said Dark Cloud.

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I was having problems over the past year with league totals. Last season, I modifed the numbers after reading threads here to produce better offensive numbers, since the year before I think they were depressed significantly.

Now, I have this "arena league" type of offense where players have players in the 50+ homer range before mid-season and ERAs over 4.00 leading the league. I changed them back, but its really annoying.

Anyway, I guess I just wonder how people come up with totals for their leagues. Not really a huge fan of those spreadsheets and exporting and all that. Too much work, but I figure there has to be a simple model for doing it.

Thoughts?

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The Dynasty web site is updated for June 1, 2009. (link in my sig)

So you can see the wackiness in the offensive explosion. There will be an article to follow.

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Actually, I changed my mind. Because of the wackiness, I decided to reset the 2009 season. All deals made up to that point obviously remain, but the stats are gone. It was just too wacky for words.

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I've figured out how to configure the settings and so, we should have some updates forthcoming.

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NEW YORK - The MLBPA and Major League Baseball officials are having discussions regarding renewing the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The agreement ends at the end of next season, but the owners are convinced that the players need to make concessions, as salaries are rising again and teams are finding it harder to compete in the current landscape.

Meanwhile, Players Association officials deny this is the case. Players Association lead consul Tom Glavine, who went to law school after his playing career ended, is a vehment advocate for the players cause. "Look, we all want baseball prosperity. But what we don't want, is to get hosed. The players are ready, willing and able to do what it takes to help the game. But no one is going to impede the players ability to make a living," said Glavine.

Owners lead negotiator Bob Bostick, argues that with teams moving out of poor markets and with the Indians going bankrupt last year, the owners say there needs to be a salary cap. "We will do whatever it takes to maintain baseball as we know it," said Bostick, eluding to a work stoppage that could jeopardize next season.

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THE SEASON THAT NEVER WANTED TO START
The 2009 season had anticipation surrounding it that was far greater than any of the previous years.


SURPRISE, SURPRISE
The Cleveland Pride are surpassing all expectations. After the first month of the season, they led the AL in wins with a 16-8 record. Their pitching staff is 5th in the majors so far. "We're excited about what we're doing so far," said Pride manager Eric Wedge.

STANDINGS
Boston 15 10 .600 - 15-10 0 8-6 7-4 3-1 5-2 138 L1 7-3
Baltimore 12 10 .545 1.5 12-10 0 8-4 4-6 1-1 3-5 - W3 5-5
New York (A) 12 10 .545 1.5 12-10 0 7-6 5-4 2-2 4-6 - L1 5-5
Hartford 12 11 .522 2.0 13-10 -1 9-4 3-7 1-0 4-3 - L2 5-5
Orlando 11 11 .500 2.5 7-15 4 8-7 3-4 1-0 4-1 - L4 4-6
Toronto 11 12 .478 3.0 12-11 -1 9-7 2-5 0-2 4-3 - W1 5-5

Central Division

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Cleveland 16 8 .667 - 15-9 1 9-2 7-6 2-1 7-2 135 W1 6-4
Minnesota 11 12 .478 4.5 12-11 -1 4-5 7-7 1-0 0-3 - W1 6-4
Kansas City 10 12 .455 5.0 10-12 0 5-5 5-7 0-1 1-6 - L1 5-5
Detroit 9 14 .391 6.5 7-16 2 2-7 7-7 1-0 3-2 - W2 5-5
Chicago (A) 5 16 .238 9.5 7-14 -2 2-7 3-9 1-3 1-3 - L1 4-6

Western Division

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Nevada 14 8 .636 - 13-9 1 7-3 7-5 2-0 4-2 139 W1 6-4
Texas 13 10 .565 1.5 15-8 -2 5-6 8-4 0-3 1-4 - L1 4-6
Anaheim 11 11 .500 3.0 10-12 1 7-3 4-8 4-0 6-3 - W1 4-6
Seattle 9 12 .429 4.5 9-12 0 5-4 4-8 0-3 2-3 - L1 6-4
Portland 9 13 .409 5.0 9-13 0 3-6 6-7 0-2 3-4 - W1 4-6

National League Standings

Eastern Division

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Washington 14 9 .609 - 13-10 1 6-4 8-5 2-1 5-3 139 L1 5-5
Atlanta 12 10 .545 1.5 11-11 1 6-3 6-7 0-0 3-3 - W1 5-5
New York (N) 10 13 .435 4.0 8-15 2 3-6 7-7 1-0 4-2 - W4 5-5
Brooklyn 9 13 .409 4.5 9-13 0 4-5 5-8 0-2 3-3 - L7 3-7
Philadelphia 7 16 .304 7.0 8-15 -1 2-9 5-7 2-0 2-3 - L1 4-6

Central Division

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Houston 14 9 .609 - 13-10 1 10-7 4-2 0-0 1-2 140 L1 8-2
Milwaukee 14 9 .609 - 14-9 0 7-6 7-3 0-0 5-2 140 W2 6-4
Chicago (N) 11 11 .500 2.5 11-11 0 8-5 3-6 0-1 4-2 - W1 5-5
Cincinnati 11 12 .478 3.0 12-11 -1 6-7 5-5 3-4 5-7 - L1 5-5
Pittsburgh 10 12 .455 3.5 10-12 0 6-7 4-5 0-1 3-4 - W1 5-5
St. Louis 10 12 .455 3.5 9-13 1 7-9 3-3 1-1 3-3 - L1 3-7

Western Division

Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away XInn 1Run M# Streak Last10
Arizona 16 7 .696 - 15-8 1 8-2 8-5 0-0 4-2 137 W2 6-4
San Francisco 11 10 .524 4.0 12-9 -1 5-4 6-6 0-1 2-3 - L2 5-5
Colorado 12 12 .500 4.5 11-13 1 3-7 9-5 1-0 4-4 - L2 4-6
San Diego 10 13 .435 6.0 12-11 -2 4-5 6-8 0-0 1-2 - W1 6-4
Los Angeles 9 12 .429 6.0 10-11 -1 4-5 5-7 3-2 3-7 - W1 5-5

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LAS VEGAS - The Silverhawks have never, ever been in first place to end a month. But before you go uncorking the bubbly, recognize that there are still 5 1/2 months left to go in the season.

The team has yet to get the best from its pitching staff and manager Cito Gaston realizes that's the key to the team's success this season. "We're going to need guys to step up if we want to get to the playoffs," he said.

Offensively, Kai-Soo Pauk is holding his own. He's hitting .374 with 6 homers and 18 RBI so far this season. "We're delighted to see his performance. We hope he keeps it up," said Dark Cloud, who noted the team has sold thousands more tickets this year, because of fans from Asia who traveled to see Pauk. "We're getting a ton of requests, but that's great for us," said Dark Cloud. Perhaps that's the reason the team is actually on pace to exceed their record 4 million fans last year by over 200,000.

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ROSARIO OUT SIX WEEKS

LAS VEGAS - Silverhawks pitcher Francisco Rosario is out six weeks with a ruptured ligament. He will be on the shelf until sometime close to the All-Star break.

Meanwhile, the Silverhawks are looking for potential suitors for Todd Helton who is an expensive option at first base with Casey Kotchman and Mark Texieria both able to contribute at a fraction of the cost.

The team hopes to pick up a pitcher to anchor the rotation in the midst of its current struggles.

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MINNEAPOLIS - Five-time All-Star Todd Helton was sent packing today, to the Minnesota Twins, along with a minor leaguer (C Oscar Arias) and SP Jeriome Robinson from the Nevada Silverhawks for 25-year old future ace Jared Hughes along with touted minor leaguer SP Roberto Gaona and a minor league outfielder.

"It's not everyday you can acquire a player like Todd Helton," said Twins team President Paul Molitor. "It's hard to give up a star in the making like Jared Hughes," he said. "But we believe this deal helps us get where we're going faster."

Reports said that Hughes was unlikely to sign with the Twins after this season and the team wanted to get more offense. The deal fills a gap on the Silverhawks after the injury of SP Francisco Rosario earlier this week.

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MINNEAPOLIS - Five-time All-Star Todd Helton was sent packing today, to the Minnesota Twins, along with a minor leaguer (C Oscar Arias) and SP Jeriome Robinson from the Nevada Silverhawks for 25-year old future ace Jared Hughes along with touted minor leaguer SP Roberto Gaona and a minor league outfielder.

"It's not everyday you can acquire a player like Todd Helton," said Twins team President Paul Molitor. "It's hard to give up a star in the making like Jared Hughes," he said. "But we believe this deal helps us get where we're going faster."

Reports said that Hughes was unlikely to sign with the Twins after this season and the team wanted to get more offense. The deal fills a gap on the Silverhawks after the injury of SP Francisco Rosario earlier this week.

Arias is likely to be a starter, at age 26, he was stalled in the Silverhawks minor league system.

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KNIGHTS CRASH AL EAST PARTY
Of all the teams that should be leading the AL East, the LAST team you'd expect would be those expansion bums, the Hartford Knights. The proverbial bastard stepchild of the Metro-NY area, the team must've figured it had to step it up, with the Florida Marlins moving to Brooklyn, giving the region one more reason to ignore the club.

The team sits a game behind the club even LESS LIKELY (if that's possible) to be leading the division, the Orlando Rays. The Rays epitomize the adage that "a little change could do you good." Vlad Guerrero is doing what they brought him here for, paying over $20m per year. After spending most of last season injured, he's already close to matching his numbers from then.

The AL East logjam is compounded by the fact that every team is within 4 games of the lead. The Red Sox are just a half game out of the lead. The Orioles are 2 games out, The Yankees are 2.5 out and Toronto is 4 games out.

NEW NAME, NEW ATTITUDE
Speaking of changing doing a team good, The Pride of Cleveland are living up to their new namesakes so far this season. The team leads Minnesota in the AL Central by three games. The team's pitching is Top 10 in the majors, led by SP Jason Stumm and Sean Smith who both have six wins.

HAWKS HANGING TOUGH
In the always tough AL West, the Nevada Silverhawks are tied with the Texas Rangers for the division lead. Manny Ramirez is hitting .341, which is helping the Rangers gun for their next title. The Silverhawks are again near the top of the majors in batting, but if their pitching doesn't pick up, currently 29th in the majors in team ERA, they might be on the outside looking in again.

The team is thrilled with the performance of rookies 3B Jaime D'Antona, a product of their minor league system who is tied for the major league lead in homers so far with 18 and 2nd in the AL with 50 RBI. "We're amazed that he managed to come along this fast," said Cito Gaston, who said D'Antona was not planned to be the starter this year. "With him playing so well at third, we move Mark [Texieria] to first and that's what made Todd [Helton] (who was traded to Minnesota) expendable," said Dark Cloud.

WE'VE GOT SPIRIT, YES WE DO!
The Spirit are having a season that makes DC fans thrilled they have baseball again, putting the team in a position to make their first playoff appearance since leaving Montreal. They have a 7 1/2 game lead on Philadelphia and New York. Mike Cuddyer is tied for the ML-lead in homers with 18 and SP Josh Karp is 6-1.


Houston leads the NL Central over Milwaukee by a game and a game and a half over Cincinnati.

Arizona leads the NL West by 5.5 games over Colorado.

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OWNERS SUBMIT LATEST PLAN TO PLAYERS
The baseball owners, at a time when baseball should be rejoicing over the success of this season, are instead mulling a plan that would impose a progressive salary cap that would begin next season and rise annually.

The owners say the plan would "keep salaries in check," but players are balking. "This plan is unacceptable," said Tom Glavine of the Players Association. The plan would allow for an NFL-style "Franchise player" that would allow teams to enact their franchise player each year and sign that player to a one-year deal worth the average of the Top 5 salaries for players at that position.

Talks are expected to continue well into the fall.

RAYS STILL SHINING
The Orlando Rays are still the surprise talk of the baseball world. At the break, the team holds a 2 game advantage over the other surprise team, the Hartford Whalers. To put it in perspective, neither of these teams has ever finished higher than third in their franchise history. Orlando did it in 2005, while Hartford finished sixth each of its first three ML seasons and was fifth last season.

The Knights are being led by Cy Young candidate Alan Adamek, the 1st pick of the 2006 draft, who at just 21 is showing poise beyond his years. He's tied for the ML lead in wins with 14, leads baseball in ERA at 1.79 Meanwhile Orlando's Edwin Oropesa, a third round pick in 2004 is leading the majors with 30 saves so far this season.

SIGNS THAT SOMETHING ISN'T RIGHT WITH THE WORLD
Take a look at the free agent pool and notice two names there:

SP Pedro Martinez, released by Texas because he refused minor league assignment. He's been pushed out of the rotation, but at 38, still should have some gas left.

SP Kerry Wood, not the player he had promise to be. 107-77 with 1 save in his 11+ seasons. He might latch on elsewhere, but hasn't had a distinguished enough career to warrant too many looks, though someone might take a chance.

Other notable names: MR Matt Mantei, 1B Ryan Klesko, 3B Mike Lowell, CF Ken Griffey, Jr. (just 3 homers shy of 600)

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With the trade deadline just two weeks away, you know its that team when bottom feeder teams, with no prayer deal their players in the hopes of getting someone who can help them in the future.

One team we know is heading for the dump are the
KANSAS CITY ROYALS
There were plenty of reasons for excitement in KC this year. The team's new stadium - The KC Masterpiece - will be completed by 2011 and the club won their first division title since 1985 last year.

But spending with the big boys has caused some royal headaches. Because of the contracts of OF Austin Kearns ($10.875 million until 2010) and the whopper of a deal that 2B Ramon Castro has ($13.27 million until 2012), the team has little to spend.

To make matters worse, the club is 39-51, dead last in the AL Central (13.5 games out of first). Expect change soon, because this club needs solid pitching if it wants to compete.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS
The days of mighty Jays are a distant memory. After a surprise division title in 2006, the Jays have been grounded. Former MVP (2004) Carlos Delgado isn't the player he once was. With over $34 million locked up between two pitchers Kirt Ainsworth who has largely held up his end of the bargain and rapid decline of SP Josh Fogg who after an 18-9, Cy Young campaign in 2006 for Pittsburgh, caused a bidding war. Only, he wasn't up for the challenge. After a subpar 2007, he was injured all of 2008 and came back a totally different player, who isn't even in the rotation.

Expect Fogg to be released, to allow the Jays to save some of the close to $30 million left on his mega-contract. Ainsworth should be scuttled by the break, to a contender like the Yankees or Red Sox, who are trying to catch the upstarts in the AL East.