Newsline

Welcome to the Season 17 of the USMLB.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

USMLB Weekly

USMLB Weekly

Welcome to the second edition of the USMLB Weekly as there have been a lot of things going on with the league for the last week. Trades are still going strong but they are slowing down, two new owners will be joining the league soon, playoff caliber teams are beginning to pull away from the pack, draft is happening this week so a lot of exciting times ahead for the USMLB.


League Leaders: National League
AVE: NL - Tony Armas (COL) (.396)
HR: NL - Erik West (NB) (34)
RBI: NL - Erik West (NB) (94)
R: NL - Khoury Glass (COL) (69)
H: NL - Khoury Glass (COL) (98)
SB: NL - Rich Blue (JAC) (53)
OBP: NL - Tony Armas (COL) (.497)
SLG: NL - Erik West (NB) (.830)

ERA: NL - Raymond Pavlov (DET) (1.71)
W: NL - William Woo (DUR) & Brandon Ellis (SA) (8)
L: NL - Wilson Fisher (RIC) (8)
SO: NL - Carmine Taft (LV) (83)
IP: NL - William Woo (DUR) (92.1)
WHIP: NL - Raymond Pavlov (DET) (0.91)
SV: NL - Nicholas Fox (TAC) (20)
G: NL - Vladimir Gonzalez (FAR) & Tom Moss (FLA) (33)
League Leaders: American League
AVE: AL – Nick Collins (ATL) (.397)
HR: AL – Al Vazquez (OTT) & Eric Sisk (SFE) (27)
RBI: AL – Eric Sisk (SFE) (79)
R: AL – Emmanuel Carrasco (CHY) (66)
H: AL – Nick Collins (ATL) (93)
SB: AL – Michael Long (TUC) (49)
OBP: AL – Hector Acosta (HOU) (.476)
SLG: AL – Nick Collins (ATL) (.756)

ERA: AL – Charlie Hill (LAA) (2.09)
W: AL - Delino Maduro (LAA) (9)
L: AL - Tito Stone (IA) (9)
SO: AL - Cliff Sheets (HOU) (77)
IP: AL - Tito Ramirez (SJ) (90.1)
WHIP: AL - Charlie Hill (LAA) (0.99)
SV: AL - William Hanson (KC) (17)
G: AL - Denny Pavano (CHY) (33)



Rumors:
The Tornados are looking to give away any player for as little as a bag of peanuts and a hot dog. Report from the try outs that mab444 had very little success as he couldn’t find anyone worth keeping. Mab444 also said to watch out for his team in a couple years as the Triple-A level is pack with good young talent and when there ready we will explode. I couldn’t agree with him any more then that.

The poll question for the week came out with 47% believing that the New Britain Fisher Cats will win the National League North, while 23% believe the Detroit Demolition will win it. 14% of the vote went to the Fargo Woodchippers, while the Milwaukee Melders got 9%. It should be an interesting race till the very end to see who will win the division. Thank you for all who voted.

Vawt BS Ranking
1. Atlanta Brave Vawts
2. Madison Lasers
3. Colorado Sky Sox
4. Detroit Demolition
5. insert your team here because Vawt only named four teams in his top five.


Starting on the 1st of May a big series between as Anaheim Beefpound will visit the Colorado Sky Sox. On May 5th the Colorado Sky Sox will be welcoming the Jackson Blazers to Colorado for another big series. On May 2cd the Blazers will be traveling to Texas to face the Talley Whackers for four games. Also on May 2cd the Detroit Demolition will welcome the Madison Lasers for a three game series.

Trades:

Toledo Tornados traded Benjamin Connelly to the Santa Fe Sidewinders for Willis Howell. This was a good minor league trade for both teams as some day both players should make a major league roster soon. There both will probably be a middle of the pack starting pitchers with maybe Howell being slightly better.

Toledo Tornados traded Tommie Romero, Joaquin Ozuna and Banana Rupe to the Fargo Woodchippers for Eduardo Rivera, Harry Blanco and Chin-Hui Takahashi. The Woodchippers got Tommire Romero mostly because Toledo didn’t want to pay almost 5.0mil that was remaining on his contract. Banana Rupe will probably never get out of the minors for any team. Joaquin Ozuna will become a stud for the Woodchippers in the near future and it makes me wonder why Toledo would trade him. The Tornadoes got two good young arms, with Takahashi I believe won’t get very far in his career. Rivera in a couple years will probably make it to the majors and become a good reliable starter for his team. Harry Blanco is still young but he will be a good starter as well and could become a big part of the pitching staff in the future. This trade I believe was a good trade for the Woodchippers as they got two good hitters to add to there lineup in Romero and Ozuna.

Cheyenne Featherwound traded Charles Petersen to the Tacoma Pioneers for Andrew Bryant. The Featherwound got Bryant is a young pitcher that has some control issues and has been bounced from the major leagues and Triple-A the last two season when he was playing for the Pioneers. The Pioneers got Petersen who is just as young as Bryant but has better control. This was a good minor league trade for both teams with Petersen being slightly a better pitcher and more of a chance of sticking with a major league roster.

Tucson Xpress traded Julio Rincon & Bill Good to the Toledo Tornados for Christopher Newhan & 2.0mil. The Xpress got one of the best closers in the game in Newhan and 2.0mil dollars to come with him. Newhan is still a young pitcher and should be closing games for a couple more years for the Xpress before is options run out. The Tornados got Rincon is going to be a good center-fielder in a couple years as he has good speed and a quick bat at the plate. They also got Good who is a good solid all-around left-fielder but may be the odd man out for this team in a couple years. I would say the Xpress got a good deal out of this as they only had to give away a couple good outfielders for a young closer that has a very good future for him plus they also got 2.0mil to help sign him to a long term contract.

Richmond Wrecking Crew traded Benjamin Gomes to the Ottawa Crawdaddies for Max Wood. The Crawdaddies got an average third baseman will probably be a good back up when he makes it to the majors in about four years. The Wrecking Crew got Max Wood is still trying to recover from his injury from last season but he’s still a good hitter that will have no problems producing some good numbers for the Wrecking Crew. I believe that the Wrecking Crew got a great deal out of this even though there taking on the contract for Wood that still has 22.5mil left on it.

Toledo Tornados traded Charlie Broome to the Tucson Xpress for Whitey Rizzo. The Xpress once again added help to there bullpen when they added Broome to there roster. For Broome this is already the third different team he will be pitching for this season. Rizzo will help the Tornados pitching staff in the minors has he’s a good game caller and he’s a good power hitter when facing left-handers but will struggle a whole lot against right-handers. I believe that the Tornados got the slight advantage in the trade as they got a young catcher that can help there pitching staff in the minors and get them ready for the majors where he might make it as a pinch hitter against left-handers.

Atlanta Brave Vawts traded Ira Walsh and Ramiro Bournigal to the Toledo Tornados for Howard King. The Brave Vawts got a good veteran pitcher in King that will be a good spot starter and long reliever for the Brave Vawts this season but they have to eat his 4.0mil contract for the next two seasons. The Tornados got a didn’t get the greatest hitting catcher in Walsh but when the way he can help a young pitching staff with his pitch calling it may be worth the below average hitting that he has. Bournigal looks to just be filler for the Tornados minor league system as I don’t see him being anything but a pinch hitter against left-handers if he ever makes it the majors. I believe that this trade was an even trade as the Tornados got a good pitch calling catcher, while the Brave Vawts got someone to help add depth to there bullpen and be a decent spot starter.

Santa Fe Sidewinders traded Andrew Hampton, Jeff Shipley and 1.7mil to the Ottawa Crawdaddies for Al Jordan. The Sidewinders got a very young pitcher in Jordan who might have a major league career after spending some time in the minors, as I believe that it’s too early to tell what kind of career he might have. The Crawdaddies got a decent shortstop in Hampton who continues to hit for a great average in his career. The Crawdaddies also got bullpen depth when they added Shipley to the staff. Shipley can save if the team needs him or become a solid setup man. The slight advantage went to the Crawdaddies as they may have given a future top pitcher but there’s still a lot of unknowns about him in Jordan as they got a solid shortstop and bullpen depth but they have to take the two big contracts that both players have with the 1.7mil helping very little.

Will’s Opinion:
The first half the season seems to be going nicely as teams are beginning to show which have legitimate shots of making it to the post season and which might have to start looking to next year. The amateur draft is a very exciting time for any team looking to improve there team for the future and look back at what stupid decisions that you made for the free agents that don’t seem to be working out for you and losing a draft pick. As for me a I find it difficult to decide on what I should focus on more this season pitching or offensive as my team needs both but it’s hard to find that certain type of player that will work for my ballpark as I believe that a lot teams have a hard time figuring that out. There’s so much uncertainty about what kind of player that you will get out of this draft, how quickly can you get your stud first-rounders to the majors without hurting there development. By the end of the week it should be interesting to see what kind of direction that certain teams went and how well they did at filling the holes that the teams might face in the future. I hope that everyone has a good draft as I know that not everyone will be happy with who they drafted but I believe everyone will see a bright future for there team.