The most experienced division in the Frontyard League, the NL Central contains three coaches who played in part or all of last season, and clearly applied lessons learned there to this season’s draft. Between their strong defenses drafted and the presence of the two sandy fields, this promises to be an inhospitable division for other teams – and perhaps also for the lone newbie coach in the division.

Seattle Mariners

Coach Profile: elchrisblanco joined the league midway through Season Five, taking over a struggling team whose owner had left. While the team continued to struggle during the regular season, they picked up in the consolation playoffs to win the Tier 3 championship, and now with a team that he drafted himself, Chris will be looking to build off of that success.

Team Analysis: The Mariners are yet another team built for defense. Only two players have fielding ratings of less than 7, and everybody on the team has at least an average arm, with 6 of 9 having strong-rated arms. Some significant placements, such as 5-rated arm Tina Herrara behind the plate and Ichiro clone Susan Gore covering shortstop, increase the danger level of the team, and they have plenty of pitching depth as well, with ace Christina Beattie as the first line of defense once starter Dominic Hoskins has been worked through. This will be an intimidating team to hit against.

Unfortunately, this comes at the cost of the Mariners not having a particularly impressive offense. The batting ratings are decent, six team members having a 7 or better, but Davy Marian is the only hitter with a rating above 8, the team appears to have a lack of bona fide sluggers when you look at the names of the hitters, and three weak hitters round out the roster. Running is also a concern – five players on the team have decent speed, but four other players are slow with running ratings of 4 or 5. That could really hinder the team’s ability to put rallies together, and those slow players being clustered in the infield, with Gore as the only fast fielder there, could be a critical weakness in an otherwise fantastic defense.

Prediction: First place. In a division without a lot of hitting power, the Mariners’ top defense should give them the edge.

Players to watch: As the strongest hitter on the team and a solid fielder, Davy Marian is expected to contribute the most to their success. Susan Gore shouldn’t be far behind, and it will especially be interesting to see if her playing shortstop will be as devastating in practice as it is in theory. And Sally Dobbs also bears watching, as one of the few true sluggers on the team and a solid all-around player.

Baltimore Bombers

Coach Profile: jlund24 joined the league midway through Season 5, and had his share of struggles while leading a gimmicky team that had been drafted by a league veteran. Now with the freedom to choose his own team, he’s hoping to make a statement in his first full season.

Team Analysis: Following the pattern that’s been established for the Frontyard League, the Bombers are another defense-first team. Everybody on the team has a fielding rating of 6 or better, and five strong arms spread across the field, including at third base, shortstop, and second base, will help rally the balls around quickly and defend especially well against ground balls. They also secured a strong catcher in Greg Vaughn. The right side of the field is a bit more suspect, though, with two weak arms and a pair of slow, relatively weak-armed outfielders offering a potential opening for opposing offenses to break through. Pitching depth is also a concern, with two 7-rated pitchers the best that the team has to offer, one player rated at 6 in pitching, and the rest all weaker. It’s not a line that will crumble instantly, but it is a weak point, and if opposing teams get going against this defense, the Bombers could have a tough time reeling them in.

Their offense is a similar story to that of the Mariners, with six hitters with a rating of 7 or better, rounded out by three relatively weak hitters. The Bombers have an advantage in that a boosted Ernie Steele will be a better contributor during home games, but they do have the same issue where, looking down the list of hitters, there is a lack of true sluggers, and it’s uncertain how much the hitter’s park of Steele Stadium will help with that. Still, a lot of good outfield hits are perfectly attainable with this team. But those could be of limited use – speed is a very real issue for this team. Six out of nine players have running ratings of 6 or less, and while that will only be five players during home games, it’s still going to make extra bases that much harder to achieve, and constitutes another weakness for the right half of the field on defense. This team is intimidating at first glance and won’t be total pushovers, but there are enough warning signs to seriously take their chances into question.

Prediction: Third place. This should be a competitive division, but the weaknesses of this team are ones that others in the division should be able to take advantage of, putting the Bombers back slightly.

Players to watch: The Bombers were largely built around Ernie Steele, both for his presence on the mound and his boosts from their home park, and they’ll be relying on him to deliver on those. Meanwhile, as the weakest link on the defense, Peggy Heffernan will need to lead the way with her bat in order to make up for it and give the team success. And Jillian Paine at first base will be a crucial part of the team’s defense, while seeking to eke out a true spot for herself on the offense after several lackluster seasons in that regard.

New York Yankees

Coach Profile: As a new coach in Season 5, Marco got everybody’s attention by trading up to secure three Round 1 picks, but paid a premium price for those and struggled through the season as a result. This season he clearly learned a lot about savvy trading, and is hoping to leverage that to have a more successful year.

Team Analysis: This team is more clearly built for offense than many in the Frontyard League. Six out of nine players have batting ratings of 8 or higher, and the lowest rating on the team is a 6. There are quite a few home run hitters on the team, and almost everybody should be able to get solid outfield hits at worst. Speed is somewhat of a concern, with four players of speed 6 or lower and only one truly fast player. Especially at the inhospitable Casa, the team won’t get around the basepaths very quickly, but there are slower teams in the league, and the strong hitting across the board and good number of decent runners should help to cover for the weakness.

Defense is more of a concern for this team. While pitching depth is good, four strong arms are scattered across the field, and Kay O’Toole could be a devastating catcher, this also looks to be the most vulnerable defense in the league, with four different players’ arms rating below the average mark. Especially with weak arms for Arlene Perez and Ray Tran in left and center field, that could be a major weakness for the team, and once Bobby Bulgrien is taken from the mound, he’ll be another big defensive liability wherever he ends up. The sands of Casa could also work against the Yankees here, causing the slower defenders to take that much longer to get to the ball, allowing easy bases for fast baserunners. While this defense is a vast improvement over their S5 field, it still doesn’t look to be one of the stronger ones, especially in a league where many coaches pushed defense specifically.

The Yankees also made an interesting trade after the draft, sending faster players Wing Kwan and Sheila Basante away to pick up Perez and Tran, and more importantly move O’Toole to the catcher’s position. While this is a definite improvement of catchers, and O’Toole won’t surrender the steals of second base that Basante may well have, the rest of the defense suffered for it, as Perez and Tran are both slower than Kwan and Basante and have weaker arms, and the outfield in particular is now worse than it was before. With a weak bat, Perez is also a downgrade on offense, although Tran at least has a stronger bat and could drive more runs in to compensate for his slightly lower speed. It remains to be seen whether this trade was a brilliant move or one that hurts the Yankees overall, but my preseason opinion is that it did more harm than good.

Prediction: Second place. Their hitting is head and shoulders above that of the other teams in the division, and – to a certain degree – will make up for their inferior defense.

Players to watch: As the team’s first pick, Wendy Parsons will have the greatest expectations to fulfill and prove that she was the right choice. As previously mentioned, Kay O’Toole has the potential to be devastating behind the plate – and she’ll need to be in order to justify the measures that were taken to get her there. And on a team that last season was home to the Ace Wilson winner, Bobby Bulgrien will be under a lot of pressure to fill her shoes.

Albuquerque Tapirs

Coach Profile: JorgesBankAccount is new to the BBL this season.

Team Analysis: Especially in contrast to the other teams in their division, the Tapirs have a clear strength in solid speed. While only two true speedsters are on the team, all but one of the players have an average speed rating of 7 or better. Especially given the weakness in this department that their division rivals have, the Tapirs will be unparalleled in both baserunning and efficiently moving around the field.

That’s their biggest strength, though. Defense is solid, as only two players have fielding below 7, five players have arms rated as above average, and the team’s speed will help them out. But with three weaker arms also on the team and a mediocre catcher, there are also definite holes that opponents will be able to take advantage of. Pitching depth is also an interesting point. There are two strong pitchers with a rating of 9, but a lone 6 is the next best, so if the two strong pitchers fail, then there won’t be much holding the team up, and their defense could crumble quickly.

But the biggest warning sign is the Tapirs’ lack of hitting ability. Only three players on the team have batting ratings of higher than 6, and while there are a lot of 6-rated bats on the team, they seem to be ones with relatively low power. Nobody on the team is a great home run hitter, and the large number of weak hitters combined with a lack of exceptional speed is going to give the team a lot of trouble stringing together many hits. Especially with the strong defenses that fill the NL, this could be a critical Achilles’ heel for Albuquerque.

Prediction: Fourth place. The weak hitting just doesn’t give the team enough scoring power to overcome the others.

Players to watch: As the final player picked in the Season 6 draft, Angelique Harding will be hoping to prove herself with a strong season on the mound. Gwen Sears and Barry Bonds were last-minute additions to the team in a blockbuster trade deal that sent away Jay Green – how well will they fit into their new team, and will they be able to compensate for his absence?