Royals over Hornets. The Royals will be ready to roll against Vissery’s former team at their home field, and the Hornets aren’t going to be able to do a lot to stop them, Randy Johnson or no Randy Johnson.

Orioles over Rangers. The Orioles are one of the best-looking teams in the preseason, and if looks are anything to judge by, they’ll be running circles around their rivals on Opening Week. T-Boz has his first new team in five seasons, but that team might not have an auspicious start.

Pirates over Devil Rays. It’s hard to know how quickly Mello will be able to adjust to playing again after taking a season off, but my guess is that factor plus playing at home will give the Pirates the breathing room they need to edge out the Rays.

Cubs over Reds. I’m not big on JY’s team in any case, and Cement Gardens is likely to only exacerbate their issues. The reigning champ will be romping to victory in this home opener.

Braves over Bombers. Natetastic might be a bit uncomfortable with his team to start with, but at least they’ll be able to ease into the season with an unintimidating first game.

Rockies over Angels. Parks should be a good fit for the hard-hitting Colorado squad, which should give them a definite edge as coach Martian looks to improve right out of the gate.

Cardinals over Melonheads. The Cards may have a rough season at Casa, but they still won’t be a fun team to play against there, and their batting order is well-built to take advantage of the weakness in the Melonheads’ defense.

Twins over Monsters. The Twins might be away from their favored park of Steele Stadium, but deep drives at the Gardens will suit them just as well. The outfield is the weakest part of the Monsters’ defense and the Twins are the perfect team to take advantage.

Yankees over Giants. There’s some room for doubt here, especially with Marky unboosted, but I think the Yankees are a fairly good fit for the Paveway and Crazy’s veterancy will help them to victory here.

Fishes over Marlins. In a battle for marine supremacy, I don’t know how well-equipped the Marlins are to handle Eckman Acres. They may get washed up here to let the Fishes swim free.

Athletics over Wombats. Time for one of the offenses I’m most skeptical of to prove itself. I’m not sure that the Wombats will much like to try and prove itself against the A’s defense – but I do think the A’s will enjoy their visit to Steele Stadium and get that much more of an edge that way.

Brewers over Diamondbacks. One of the biggest slugfests of the season will probably come right here in opening week, as two offense-heavy teams square off at Tin Can Alley. We could see some big scores right out of the gate from both of these teams, but ultimately I think the Brewers squad is better-built and thus has the edge.

A new season of BBL is here, and it’s time to take a look at our 24 new teams. Here I’ll go through each team and produce a rough ranking, based on basic observation and analysis of their batting and fielding lineups and extra factors.

1) Green Monsters

Home field: Cement Gardens

Coach: Yurya (7.5-season (9.5-team) veteran, 85-71 lifetime record, 3 division titles, 1 wildcard title, 2 LDS titles)

Yurya’s a long way from his glory days now, and has fallen short with other promising teams in the past, but this might finally be the season where we see his return to glory. The Monsters are especially characterized by a strong defense; the outfield is a little suspect, but is made up for by a stellar infield anchored by Derek Jeter himself at shortstop, and low-power hitters in particular will have trouble getting much done against it. This team also has a solid offense, with a lot of players that are decent but not amazing in both hitting and running. There’s no elite sluggers or super speedsters in this group, but there’s no total liabilities either, and this particular build should work very well indeed at Cement Gardens; most if not all of this team’s losses will likely come on the road. Overall this is one of the best all-around builds in the NL, with a field it was built for and a coach with the experience to make that lineup produce. Let’s see if they can accomplish in practice what they seem capable of in theory.

2) Minnesota Twins

Home field: Steele Stadium

Coach: Toast (2-season veteran, 16-13 lifetime record)

Toast took a look at his home field of Steele Stadium and decided to go almost all-in based on that, picking a team that ended up having the highest average power rating in the entire league! Only two players on the Twins have power ratings of lower than 80, and this team will be able to produce deep drives on the regular – deep drives that will be even more effective at their home field. And somehow, despite having zero fast players, the Twins also don’t feel crippled by a lack of speed, all the solid bats and the lack of cripplingly slow players making up for it. The defense isn’t amazing – the outfield could prove a bit of an issue in road games, and the overall lack of speed might make a critical difference against faster teams – but it’s still a solid one on the whole that sets Toast up to potentially have a great season. The only concern here is when the coach goes cold – this team’s success will rely on consistently hitting the ball well, and if they start to have more trouble doing that, their stocks will start to plummet. But if Toast can stay nice and hot and crispy all season long, this team will be quite the sensation.

3) Crazy Yankees

Home field: Dubois Diamond

Coach: Crazyei8hts (8-season (10.5-team) veteran, 112-72 lifetime record, 4 division titles, 3 wildcard titles, 7 LDS titles, 3 LCS titles, 1 WS title)

Crazy is back at it again, ready to put forward another strong season. This team is actually a bit of an anomaly for him, heavy on neither strong bats nor strong arms, but it nevertheless has a good offense that he’ll likely be able to score high with as usual. The several slow players on the team are a bit of a concern, but the bats they boast help to alleviate that concern, and there’s enough fast players that I think this is, on the whole, a well-balanced offense that should be capable of good output, especially with Crazy able to ensure those bats work well. The biggest issue for this team is defense – there’s an overall lack of arm strength that is going to limit its effectiveness, and in particular the infield consisting of three not-great arms and a slow shortstop could prove to be a significant issue, especially in road games where Marky Dubois goes unboosted. Placing Donald Vogel at catcher and Todd Helton at short, rather than the other way around, seems to me like a mistake the Yankees might pay dearly for. Still, suspect though the defense might be, Crazyei8hts with this offense is going to ensure that it takes a major effort from other teams to beat him regardless.

4) Humongous Giants

Home field: The Paveway

Coach: Itaniium (BBL rookie)

Itaniium originally drafted a more offense-heavy team before undergoing a major roster overhaul near the trade deadline. While it didn’t make his team an amazing one, it did make it a solid one overall that has plenty of room to see success in this season. The defense is short on amazing players, especially with Ichiro stuck behind the plate, but it has a lot of solid players and very little in the way of holes. The aforementioned roster swaps also left the Giants without their top power hitters, but every player on the team is still decent with a bat, and there’s enough speed on the team that this lineup can still work, especially at their home field of The Paveway where this style of offense should be more effective. Ultimately this isn’t the most stacked team in the league, but it’s one that can get things done, and I think Itaniium has the potential to go far with them.

5) Chicago Brewers

Home field: Tin Can Alley

Coach: SilverBullet102 (2-season veteran, 1-27 lifetime record)

Silver is a real trooper for sticking with the league after two seasons as rough as he’s had, but things might be about to get better for him. Not only does he finally have a fix for SCUMM’s buggy hitting that’s been plaguing him the last two seasons, but he also has drafted himself a stacked offense for a field where they should thrive. This offense bears definite similarity to last season’s successful Melonheads lineup, full of solid power hitters and playing at Tin Can Alley where each and every hitter will be able to hit balls off the wall to get on base easily. The team’s slightly on the slow side, but not so much so that they won’t be able to produce runs, especially given that only three hitters have power ratings below 80, and overall this should be a fun offense to use. Now, there is a downside – this team’s defense isn’t great. It’s not terrible, but a lot of the fielders fall under the banner of “serviceable but not top-notch”, and some regions of the field look like they might be particularly vulnerable. It’s also not clear just how well this offense will perform on the road, and just because Silver has a SCUMM fix doesn’t mean he’ll suddenly become a top-tier player. But on the whole, things are looking bright for the Brewers, and this could easily be Silver’s breakout season.

6) Mighty Athletics

Home field: Playground Commons

Coach: arcothunder (BBL rookie)

In a league where I was skeptical about some aspect of most of these teams – whether the offense or the defense – the A’s rise up by being solid in both aspects. They don’t have any huge assets on offense except for Babe Ruth’s super home run bat, but they have a healthy amount of both power and speed all the way down their lineup and this should be a serviceable offense. Defense is where I like them more, as I think they have one of the more threatening outfields in the league to go with a mostly strong infield. Piazza at first might be what makes or breaks this team, but if both he and Hudson post-pitching can do well, I think this will be a pretty tough defense to break. The biggest question right now for the A’s is their coach, as Arco struggled in the June Joust tournament, but I’m not sure what exactly the cause of his struggles was, that was only three games, and it’s perfectly feasible that he rebounds for this season and puts out a solid effort with this solid squad.

7) Seattle Fishes

Home field: Eckman Acres

Coach: elchrisblanco (3.5-season veteran, 34-27 lifetime record, 1 division title, 1 wildcard title, 1 LDS title)

Chris just came off of a successful Season 8 where having one of the top defenses in the league allowed him to get by with an unimpressive offense, so it’s interesting to see him here with a defense that I’m not so big on. The outfield is solid but not great, while the infield has a lot of slower players with not-great arms. Sarah Maxwell ought to help out a lot with that, but if she loses too much stamina and effectiveness in her starting pitching stint, things could get ugly for this defense. To counter this, the Fishes’ offense is solid, but not great. Brad Radke and Trent Sizemore could prove tough to get much done with, and while there’s decent speed and decent hitting on this team, there’s a lack of really great talent on offense, nothing that I think will really give the Fishes an edge. It’s true that they’ll look better at home when Kimmy Eckman’s boost is applied, but I dn’t know that that will be enough. Ultimately, the biggest point in this team’s favor is their coach. Chris has proven his acumen and been successful in recent seasons, and he just might be able to lead this squad to another good performance.

8) St. Louis Cardinals

Home field: Casa de Pablo

Coach: Wizard (4-season veteran, 36-29 lifetime record, 2 wildcard titles, 1 LDS title)

Wizard, what are you doing? The biggest thing that stands out to me looking at this team is the lack of speed, with only a single fast player and five players that are below average in speed – and this team plays at Casa de Pablo! That means they will be going nowhere fast, and this could be a long season indeed for the Wiz. He attempted to make up for this by drafting a lot of power bats to be one of the hardest-hitting teams in the league, but Big Bats at Sandy Flats has historically been a poor-performing strategy, and Casa’s even harder to hit the ball out of. And rather than drafting a ton of top-tier power bats, the Cards went for a low floor, with a lot of solid bats in the 60s and 70s but only a few super sluggers. I doubt that will be enough to make up for their slow speed on the basepaths, and this offense might have a rough time of it. The Cards’ defense is at least solid, with no huge holes and Jeter clone Marilyn McDonnel in play, and with a lot of strong arms on the field, nobody else is going to enjoy facing the Cards at the Casa. Wizard is also a coach with proven tenacity who has always been in the running for the playoffs. But he’s still going to face an uphill battle this season.

9) Blue Marlins

Home field: Parks Department #2

Coach: shrewsbury91 (3-season veteran, 19-23 lifetime record)

The Marlins have another offense that I’m none too fond of here, with a similar problem to the Cards’ in a glut of slower players and a lack of big power bats. They do at least have super-speedster Stuart Sullivan to help out, and all of those solid but not amazing bats should do well at their home field of Parks, but they might struggle more away from home, and in any case Erin Harris and Ryan VanderHoek are likely to prove significant problems for the Marlins’ rallies. The good news for the Marlins is they have a good tight infield, which should cause its share of problems for weaker opposing hitters, and the plan for Mr. Clanky to go behind the plate after five runs. The bad news is that Clanky could come back on the mound later on to mess all this up, and the Marlins’ outfield is unimpressive. Overall, the Marlins aren’t a terrible team, but I do think they’re underpowered and have the potential for some disastrous results.

10) Super-Duper Melonheads

Home field: Parks Department #2

Coach: Eauxps I. Fourgott (6-season (9-team) veteran, 52-74 lifetime record, 2 division titles, 1 LDS title)

On the one hand, I like the offense that I’ve drafted myself here; I think it strikes a good balance between power and speed and has no glaring holes in it. On the other hand, I think it’s also the sort of offense that I might struggle to harness considerably, and while there will likely be some big games from this Melonheads squad, there will also likely be some big duds from them. On paper, I like my defense pretty well also, but the outfield is a potential weak point that might be suspect to fatigue later on, and between that and the not-so-glowing reviews I’ve heard of it, I get the suspicion that in practice it will probably get beat up on a lot, with the hitter’s field Parks not helping their case at all. Overall I don’t think this is going to be the worst iteration I’ve had of the Melonheads – but I don’t know that they’re set up for success in this landscape either.

11) Mighty Wombats

Home field: Steele Stadium

Coach: Marco (4-season veteran, 23-32 lifetime record)

There are a number of offenses in the NL that I’m skeptical about this season, but none so much as the Wombats’. They’re another team that went for a high floor in terms of batting power, and while that does mean they have no weak hitters, it also ended up meaning that they have an awful lot of average hitters – power ratings in the 50s and 60s that are solid, but not great. They have two stronger bats but no top-tier ones, and they don’t have the fast speed or favorable home field that would be needed for this array of bats to find success. Indeed, their home field of Steele Stadium will likely hurt them more than it helps, as their opponents might enjoy that short porch but almost no Wombats are positioned to take advantage of it. This is the sort of offense that requires long strings of good solid hits to enjoy success, and while that’s not impossible, it’s difficult to produce consistently, and I think they ultimately won’t do so well this season. Their defense is solid, but it’s not amazing, and ultimately I think this team’s fortunes will be decided by their offense – or lack thereof.

12) Super-Duper Diamondbacks

Home field: Scrapco Field

Coach: PepsiBoyTTV (BBL rookie)

Shortly before the trade deadline, PepsiBoy largely overhauled his team, gutting it of most of its best talent on defense in order to load it up with big hitters and runners. The result is an offense that should be dynamic, fun to use, and effective, with four different top tier power bats, two super speedsters, no really slow kids, and a couple of other useful players as well. But there are still weak points in the offense – Linda Potter and Tina Herrara might be difficult to fit in and get a lot accomplished with – and it’s unclear how a rookie like PepsiBoy will do with them, especially after he struggled in the June Joust tournament. Instead, I think the main story with this team, and the reason they fall to the back of the preseason power rankings, will be their defense, which in the wake of the big roster overhaul is looking like it will be one of the worst defenses in the league. They have Linda, who’s at first base. They have Tina, who’s behind the plate. They have Henri Deschenes, who will be the heart and soul of this defense from his position at short. And then they have six players with relatively weak arms, who will struggle to get the ball anywhere fast. This should be one of the easiest defenses in the league to put up big scores against, doubly so when playing at their home field at Scrapco, and if Henri gets too tired out and ineffective when he comes on to pitch, they’ll have nobody left to fall back on. We’ll see if Pepsi can harness the upsides of this team well enough to overcome this disadvantage, and it’s not unthinkable that the offense will win out. But here at the outset of the season, I do think their defense is the biggest weakness that any NL team has.

Predictions

NL East

4) Wombats. That lineup is a serious problem to me, and I don’t see any strengths on this team that can give them the edge.

3) Marlins. Their fate may be pretty similar to that of the Wombats, but I think this is a slightly better team that can squeeze out one or two more wins.

2) Giants. This is a solid all-around squad, and even if they don’t actually secure a playoff spot, they ought to be part of the race.

1) Brewers. I’m going to take the role of Silver’s cheerleader here during the preseason. There’s a lot of potential variance with this team, but they definitely has what it takes to make a playoff run, especially if their coach settles in within the first few weeks. We could see this happen.

NL Central

4) Diamondbacks. Ultimately I think the lack of defense on this team will dig too deep of a hole for their offense to climb out of, and they won’t be able to collect that many wins.

3) Fishes. I can’t give too much credit to this team just for having a good coach. They appear significantly weaker than their competition, and that may well result in Chris’s worst season in a while.

2) Athletics. A very solid all-around squad, but are they good enough to help a rookie coach reach the playoffs? Not via a division title at least, not in a division with Crazyei8hts.

1) Yankees. Crazy’s skill as a coach combined with a strong offense will propel him to yet another playoff berth.

NL West

4) Melonheads. It may be a rough season ahead for my team. I can’t predict success until I see a solid basis for it.

3) Cardinals. The Cards might have a rough season as well, but when in doubt, go with the better coach.

2) Twins. The Twins should have a good season and are my pick for NL Wild Card, but I think they’ll have enough off games for their tough competition to edge them out.

1) Monsters. I’ve been fooled by Yurya’s squads before, but this time. THIS time, I think we finally have his return to the playoffs after a five-season absence. This team is, simply put, very good.

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As a bit of bonus content, briefly thought-out playoff predictions:
Division playoffs: Orioles over Devil Rays, Cubs over Pirates, Yankees over Twins, Monsters over Brewers

League championship series: Cubs over Orioles, Yankees over Monsters

World Series: Cubs over Yankees. Emery wins back-to-back titles.

A new season of BBL is here, and it’s time to take a look at our 24 new teams. Here I’ll go through each team and produce a rough ranking, based on basic observation and analysis of their batting and fielding lineups and extra factors.

1) White Cubs

Home field: Cement Gardens

Coach: Emery92 (1.5-season veteran, 24-5 lifetime record, 1 division title, 1 LDS title, 1 LCS title, 1 WS title)

Reigning champion Emery established himself as both an elite player and drafter last season, and appears set to continue that trend here in Season 9. Certainly his drafting skills remain top-notch, as the Cubs are one of the best all-around looking teams in the entire league at the start of the season. Jody Palmer and Dominic Hoskins may prove a bit of a damper on offense, but the rest of the lineup has plenty of speed and enough power to drive them in. This isn’t the most power-laden squad in the league, but at Cement Gardens, it doesn’t need to be, and this offense is both built well for its home field and should scale well into the playoff fields later on. While not lockdown-tier, the Cubs’ defense is nevertheless a very solid one that will be none too easy for opponents to crack. Combine these factors with one of the league’s best coaches, and you get a team that will be very difficult to beat this season.

2) Milwaukee Orioles

Home field: Playground Commons

Coach: Mavfatha (6-season (7.5-team) veteran, 33-69 lifetime record)

Mav has had some promising teams fail to deliver before, and has come just short of the playoffs in the past. Could this be the team that finally gets him there? I think it just might! To me the Orioles have the best-looking offense in the league this preseason, an excellent blend of power and speed with almost no slow players to clog up the bases and no real liabilities at the plate. It’s not quite as stacked with big hitters as some here, but it’s better-balanced than those and in theory should be fantastic to play with. And while the O’s outfield is a bit suspect, it doesn’t look terrible, and is complemented by a really tight-looking infield that should in theory make this team a good performer on defense as well. All in all, Mav seems to have set himself up with a great team here – maybe this will finally be his season.

3) San Diego Devil Rays

Home field: Dirt Yards

Coach: aesnop (4.5-season veteran, 69-20 lifetime record, 4 division titles, 2 LDS titles, 1 LCS title)

Co-coaches: MelloMathTeacher (1-season veteran, 18-5 lifetime record, 1 division title, 1 LDS title, 1 LCS title, 1 WS title); Big_DAWG (BBL rookie)

After some interesting pickups earlier in the preseason, Aes made some additional trades to end up with what is a very classic Aes team, opting to construct a lockdown defense. The result is the league’s most intimidating defense, an infield full of elite fielders paired with a solid outfield and two pro pitchers. I don’t envy the teams that have to face off against this squad. The tradeoff is that this team has a subpar offense, with only mediocre speed and a lot of solid bats, but a lack of real power bats to drive the runners in and several players who might be difficult to accomplish much with at the plate. It’s unclear how much a home of Dirt Yards will help this team’s case, and overall they’d merit a rather lower ranking, if not for the coaches. MelloMathTeacher famously took a defense-focused team to win the championship and is the perfect coach to figure out how to get the most production from this offense, while head coach Aes has previously shown himself quite capable of putting up giant scores even with subpar offenses. Still, the facts that this team will have multiple coaches and that several of their games will be coached by newbie Big_DAWG keep them from the top of these rankings.

4) Baltimore Pirates

Home field: Playground Commons

Coach: QuestionMonkey (1-season veteran, 6-8 lifetime record)

This is QuestionMonkey’s first time drafting his own team, and I think he’s done a good job of it. The offense has a bit less speed than would be ideal, but that’s counterbalanced by a good array of bats that should especially love the short left field fence at Playground, and I think this lineup has the potential for some very good scores even if it won’t be top-tier. The defense is not elite but ought to be solid and has no huge flaws. Overall this is one of my favorite all-around team builds in the AL; we’ll see if Pablo Sanchez can finally enjoy a season of success.

5) Colorado Rockies

Home field: Tin Can Alley

Coach: MartianMan (1-season veteran, 0-14 lifetime record)

For his second season in the BBL, MartianMan has drafted a fun-looking squad laden with pro kids. The six total pros come with a lineup of solid bats that ought to perform especially well at Tin Can Alley, though with a lack of speed and a few more suspect hitters, I’m not sure how successful they’ll be on the road. Their defense also looks solid, with a particularly strong outfield that might prove very important in road games, but the infield is a bit less impressive and I’m not sure how well it will perform once Jose Meisenheimer comes off the mound. In general this team is not fantastic, but has the potential to be quite dynamic; perhaps the biggest concern for it is the struggles that MartianMan had when playing last season. But this team definitely looks better than his last one, and if nothing else he should be able to have fun with this team and win a few games at home. If he can harness this lineup well, this team could be a big threat to play spoiler in the playoff race even though it’s stuck in a nasty division.

6) Boston Royals

Home field: Parks Department #2

Coach: Vissery (1.5-season veteran, 6-11 lifetime record)

The Royals have garnered a lot of attention pre-season for their front-loaded offense, boasting four different players with swing power ratings of 100! This pairs exceptionally well with the team’s home field at Parks, and having a couple of speedy players in the lineup as well makes this an overall intimidating offense, even if the bottom of the lineup isn’t very impressive, and it would be no surprise to see some of the season’s highest scores coming from this team. On the other hand, with a lineup like this one, when the team falls on hard times, they’re going to fall hard. When those 100 bats just don’t produce at their full potential, this offense won’t be going much of anywhere, they might have trouble being as effective on the road where it’s farther to the fence, and their defense looks pretty weak, so their opponents are likely to put up some strong scores of their own. This team will definitely see some losses, but should be an interesting one to watch in any case.

7) Blue Angels

Home field: Parks Department #2

Coach: bobbyJONES2370 (BBL rookie)

The Angels are the last AL team that I would describe as “solid all-around”, each other team having noticeable flaws. They boast an impressive array of power bats, with only three players having power ratings of less than 80 and only one being a likely liability in the lineup, but with only one actual top-tier bat and a bit of a lack of speed, I don’t think their offense will be top-tier. Their defense is similarly a bit of a mix, as some parts of it look quite scary indeed while others are definite holes. Ultimately I don’t think this team is great in either aspect, but it looks solid in both. The biggest question will be if coach Bobby, who’s struggled to put up high scores in his first few BBL games, will be able to find his groove this season. If he does, I think he could find quite a bit of success with this team.

8) Cincinnati Reds

Home field: Steele Stadium

Coach: Jyknight (5-season (6-team) veteran, 48-46 lifetime record, 2 wildcard titles, 1 LDS title)

While JY has a long track record in the BBL and quite a bit of experience drafting, ultimately I’m not much of a fan of his latest squad. While the team has a decent array of power bats that should enjoy playing at Steele, it’s a rather slow squad on the whole, with multiple players who will be difficult to accomplish much with, and when they’re not actively hitting the ball out of the park, I don’t think it will be an efficient offense at all. Road games might be especially rough. Then while there are a few strong defenders on this team, taken as a whole I don’t think this defense looks particularly intimidating. There’s enough mediocre defenders on the field that I don’t think it will be terribly difficult to score off of, and as they go deeper into games the situation might become rather worse indeed. We’ll see if JY can pull from his veterancy and solid recent track record to make something out of this team, but out of the gate I’m skeptical.

9) Atlanta Braves

Home field: Eckman Acres

Coach: Natetastic28 (2-season veteran, 14-16 lifetime record, 1 wildcard title)

The Braves’ biggest trouble this season is likely to be offense. They do have two good home-run hitters on the team and three more solid power bats, but the team as a whole has a critical lack of speed, which will give the weaker bats and even the solid ones some trouble with actually driving many runners in. Colleen Klinker and Tracy Hoban might be especially difficult to harness effectively at the plate, and a home field of Eckman Acres, with its deep fences and slow terrain, won’t be doing them any favors. And while decent, I don’t think the Braves’ defense is strong enough to carry this team by itself; the slow infield in particular might end up giving up a lot of base hits to faster teams. On the whole, then, this team’s prospects don’t look great right out of the gate, but perhaps Nate can prove me wrong and use those power bats to good effect.

10) New York Rangers

Home field: Steele Stadium

Coach: T-Boz (4-season veteran, 23-35 lifetime record, 1 division title)

T-Boz has drafted another team of the archetype that he prefers, one that focuses on speed over power, and in raw running rating it is indeed the fastest team in the league, but I don’t think this squad is going to find as much success as his last one. For one, the offense is rather weak; I don’t think three power hitters and four speedsters is going to cut it, and too many players don’t have enough of either to make me think they’ll do well at the plate. For another, the defense is also weak; they have a good shortstop and a good catcher, but there’s a major lack of arm strength around the rest of the field, which I think will negate the advantage their speed gives them. Finally, while previous T-Boz teams have been helped by a friendly Cement Gardens or Paveway that suits this style of team well, this squad has no such luck, playing instead at Steele Stadium. I don’t think this field will be doing the team any favors, and that alone might be enough to see a major swing down in T-Boz’s success.

11) Milwaukee Hornets

Home field: Eckman Acres

Coach: DevanWolf (1-season veteran, 3-11 lifetime record)

The Hornets come across as a team that wasn’t drafted with a clear focus in mind, with several picks that you’d expect from a purely offense team and several that you’d expect from a purely defense team. Unfortunately, I think the result is a team that isn’t very strong in either regard. A huge problem for this team is the lack of speed that results in them being one of the slowest teams in the league. That was obviously a secondary concern in this draft rather than a trait that Devan prized very much, and the result is a squad with only three players of average speed or faster. This will especially cause them trouble on offense, and outside of Julie Dunkel and Fred Benson, who can’t carry the team on their own, this team will have trouble stringing together much in the way of rallies. It will also dampen their defense, especially with Eckman Acres resulting in a lot of ground for those slower players to cover. This team will be absolutely lethal against grounders toward the third base side, but the rest of the field’s coverage isn’t very intimidating at all. Ultimately, despite boasting an amazing first pick and the scariest pitching ace in the league, I don’t think the rest of this team is very good, and they might have a long season indeed.

12) Blue Bombers

Home field: Sandy Flats

Coach: Guy Smiley (BBL rookie)

I hope that Guy Smiley can have fun playing with this team composed of his favorites from the game. He specifically decided against drafting generics or getting into the league’s draft strategy, and the result is a team that is unlikely to be competitive with the others in the league, and whose flaws will only be exacerbated by a home field of Sandy Flats. We’ll see what else Guy has in store for his team this season, but one thing not in their future is a playoff spot.

Predictions

AL East

4) Angels. I think three of the teams in this division have very similar overall threat levels, and the fighting could be fierce between all of them. Ultimately, while Bobby has the best team of those three, he’s also the least proven coach, and might well get edged out unless he finds his groove.

3) Reds. Who knows what JY’s purpose will be in this season now that he can’t foil me, but whatever it is, it might be hard to accomplish with the weak-looking team he’s drafted himself.

2) Braves. One thing Nate won’t do is give up easily. He fought his way into the playoffs from a bad spot last season, and while he might not make it that far this time, he might well have what it takes to come up on top of this particular pile of teams.

1) Pirates. Ironically, Question’s team is the only one in the division that doesn’t raise big questions for me. If initial appearances are anything to go by, the Pirates are going to be plundering the other teams in the division.

AL Central

4) Bombers. You can add to the list of factors working against them the fact that they’re in possibly the league’s scariest division.

3) Rockies. Martian has things lined up to have a much more successful season than he did last time. Unfortunately for him, he’s stuck in a division with two of the league’s best coaches and nastiest teams.

2) Devil Rays. Thanks to the turbulent coaching situation and stiff competition, this might be Aes’s first full season to not end in a division title, but the Rays will still do well and most likely grab the wildcard spot.

1) Cubs. Everything’s coming up Emery for the preseason. It won’t be an easy road given he has to contend with the Devil Rays, but I think he has things lined up the way they need to be to take another division title here.

AL West

4) Hornets. I don’t see where this team gets ahead to win more than a couple of games.

3) Rangers. They might have a rough season ahead of them, but at least T-Boz is playing with the sort of team that he knows how to use and has gotten results out of in the past.

2) Royals. There are going to be some big wins and some big losses for this team. Ultimately I think they can come out of the season looking pretty good, but maybe not consistent enough to make the playoffs.

1) Orioles. Based solely on the contents of rosters, this is my top team of the preseason. Hopefully I’m not jinxing Mav this time, but I truly do believe that this is his division to lose.