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reds1 · 08-16-2015, 03:57 AM

October 2, 1939

It’s Opening Day in Braeland and it’s time to block out all that’s going on in the world for a while and enjoy some baseball!
For now though, we’ll take a look at the results of Spring Training and the projections for the projected top teams. We’ll start with a look at the Eastern League:

The Wellington Athletics and Braeland City Monarchs finished tied for top spot in the Coconut League standings in the East, with Brunswick and Queensland finishing just a game back of them.
The predicted standings see the Athletics also finishing first, with the Monarchs and Eagles challenging them for first place. But six teams are projected to finish with winning records, with 8 games separating first from sixth. It definitely appears that the Eastern League is shaping up to be a free-for-all like last season.

The Athletics were rather quiet on the trade front during the off-season, completing one trade back in May that sent 29-year old journeyman 3B Datu Balsalubra (41/41) to the Wolseley Unions for a couple of middle relievers.
But Wellington did sign a free agent that same month, a promising starting pitcher from Germany (the irony!), 26-year old Soren Heinke (64/65). Scouts are raving about his stuff; his movement and control are very good as well. His two best pitches are his fastball (50/50) and changeup (45/50). Heinke is projected as Wellington’s No. 2 starter.

The Athletics are projected to finish just 7th in Runs for but 1st in Runs against. They have one hitter and one pitcher projected to finish in the Top 10:

• Quentin Stubber (.275, 12 HR, 89 RBI, 21 SB), and
• Clyde Boney (16-12, 2.89)

---------

Unlike the Athletics, the Braeland City Monarchs were quite active this past offseason, acquiring SP David Cooling, RP Noriaki Ito and 2B Finlay Ridd in trades. The Monarchs would appear to be a well-balanced team, as they are projected to finish 2nd in Runs for and 2nd in Runs against. Interestingly, they have no position player projected to be in the Top 10, but they do have two pitchers making an appearance:

• David Cooling (22-7, 2.66)
• Lenny Freke (16-14, 2.81)

---------

Projected to finish just two games back of first are the Queensland Eagles, who finished a disappointing 77-77 last season. The Eagles made two major trades back in May, acquiring 42-year old RF Toby Reakes (74/74) from Hespeler and 34-year old 2B Pat Copeman (51/51) from Stratford. They are slated to bat 1-2 in the lineup; how those veteran legs hold up during the course of the season we’ll soon find out. Curiously, the Eagles’ offense is rated only 6th in Runs for, while they are projected to finish just 5th in Runs against. So it will be interesting to see how they manage in the actual standings.

Two position players and two pitchers appear in the Top 10 for Queensland:

• Terry Aspden (.327, 18 HR, 99 RBI)
• Katsunan Chikafuji (.300, 19 HR, 114 RBI)
• Max MacColl (20-12, 2.91)
• Stewart Colcott (19-12, 2.91)

---------

Last season, the projections predicted a close three-way race for top spot in the West. In reality, it turned into a farce, with the Kingston Pelicans blowing everyone out of the water and standing as the only team with a winning record.
This season, there’s no pretense of a race for first, as Kingston is projected to win again handily. Does this mean then that there will actually be a race in the West? Let’s hope so.
But there’s no denying the fact that the talent pool overall regressed in the West, as teams switched en masse to rebuild mode in view of Kingston’s continued dominance and traded top players to the Eastern League teams.

The Pelicans did not make a single trade nor did they sign a free agent. They didn’t have to. However, Kingston will be without SP Joey Cumberledge, last season’s runner-up for the Satchel Paige award, for the entire season. Cumberledge suffered a torn labrum in the second game of Spring Training and will be out for at least eight months. Despite, the loss, the Pelicans are still the overwhelming favourite in the West. They are projected to outscore their opponents by a comfortable margin and prevent the other teams from scoring against them just as easily.

Eight Pelicans make an appearance in the projected Top 10. The nominees are:

• Fergus Chitty (.329, 36 HR, 140 RBI)
• Okura Ito (.378, 20 HR, 134 RBI)
• Jayden Tennant (.299, 38 HR, 138 RBI)
• Mo Symes (.288, 19 HR, 81 RBI)
• Brady Murdy (20-11, 2.96)
• Francis Slocock (20-8, 3.14)
• Darwin Monday (20-9, 3.55)
• Hirotada Fukushima (18-8, 3.78)

---------

While there does not appear to be much of race this year in the West, the hope here is that the projections are right in one respect: a second team finishing with a winning record. The Cambria Cannons are projected to finish with 81 wins, a total that would be good for just 4th place in the East, but it would represent a small victory for the Western League. The Cannons appear to have assembled a pretty decent team thus far. They only made one minor trade back in April: acquiring SP Hideki Matsui from the Fort Richmond Generals for a minor leaguer. He is listed as the Cannons No. 4 starter. Cambria is projected as No. 2 for Runs for and No. 3 in Runs against. They also have no less than five players appearing on the Projected Top 10:

• Ron Westmacott (.299, 17 HR, 112 RBI, 21 SB)
• Clint Jones (.295, 25 HR, 85 RBI, 18 SB)
• Owen Tautor (17-11, 3.52)
• Neil Guerin (11-13, 3.28)
• Bradley Dodson (13-13, 3.86)

---------

Let the games begin!

08-16-2015, 03:57 AM	#127
reds1 Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2002 Location: Winnipeg Posts: 3,919	October 2, 1939 It’s Opening Day in Braeland and it’s time to block out all that’s going on in the world for a while and enjoy some baseball! For now though, we’ll take a look at the results of Spring Training and the projections for the projected top teams. We’ll start with a look at the Eastern League: The Wellington Athletics and Braeland City Monarchs finished tied for top spot in the Coconut League standings in the East, with Brunswick and Queensland finishing just a game back of them. The predicted standings see the Athletics also finishing first, with the Monarchs and Eagles challenging them for first place. But six teams are projected to finish with winning records, with 8 games separating first from sixth. It definitely appears that the Eastern League is shaping up to be a free-for-all like last season. The Athletics were rather quiet on the trade front during the off-season, completing one trade back in May that sent 29-year old journeyman 3B Datu Balsalubra (41/41) to the Wolseley Unions for a couple of middle relievers. But Wellington did sign a free agent that same month, a promising starting pitcher from Germany (the irony!), 26-year old Soren Heinke (64/65). Scouts are raving about his stuff; his movement and control are very good as well. His two best pitches are his fastball (50/50) and changeup (45/50). Heinke is projected as Wellington’s No. 2 starter. The Athletics are projected to finish just 7th in Runs for but 1st in Runs against. They have one hitter and one pitcher projected to finish in the Top 10: • Quentin Stubber (.275, 12 HR, 89 RBI, 21 SB), and • Clyde Boney (16-12, 2.89) --------- Unlike the Athletics, the Braeland City Monarchs were quite active this past offseason, acquiring SP David Cooling, RP Noriaki Ito and 2B Finlay Ridd in trades. The Monarchs would appear to be a well-balanced team, as they are projected to finish 2nd in Runs for and 2nd in Runs against. Interestingly, they have no position player projected to be in the Top 10, but they do have two pitchers making an appearance: • David Cooling (22-7, 2.66) • Lenny Freke (16-14, 2.81) --------- Projected to finish just two games back of first are the Queensland Eagles, who finished a disappointing 77-77 last season. The Eagles made two major trades back in May, acquiring 42-year old RF Toby Reakes (74/74) from Hespeler and 34-year old 2B Pat Copeman (51/51) from Stratford. They are slated to bat 1-2 in the lineup; how those veteran legs hold up during the course of the season we’ll soon find out. Curiously, the Eagles’ offense is rated only 6th in Runs for, while they are projected to finish just 5th in Runs against. So it will be interesting to see how they manage in the actual standings. Two position players and two pitchers appear in the Top 10 for Queensland: • Terry Aspden (.327, 18 HR, 99 RBI) • Katsunan Chikafuji (.300, 19 HR, 114 RBI) • Max MacColl (20-12, 2.91) • Stewart Colcott (19-12, 2.91) --------- Last season, the projections predicted a close three-way race for top spot in the West. In reality, it turned into a farce, with the Kingston Pelicans blowing everyone out of the water and standing as the only team with a winning record. This season, there’s no pretense of a race for first, as Kingston is projected to win again handily. Does this mean then that there will actually be a race in the West? Let’s hope so. But there’s no denying the fact that the talent pool overall regressed in the West, as teams switched en masse to rebuild mode in view of Kingston’s continued dominance and traded top players to the Eastern League teams. The Pelicans did not make a single trade nor did they sign a free agent. They didn’t have to. However, Kingston will be without SP Joey Cumberledge, last season’s runner-up for the Satchel Paige award, for the entire season. Cumberledge suffered a torn labrum in the second game of Spring Training and will be out for at least eight months. Despite, the loss, the Pelicans are still the overwhelming favourite in the West. They are projected to outscore their opponents by a comfortable margin and prevent the other teams from scoring against them just as easily. Eight Pelicans make an appearance in the projected Top 10. The nominees are: • Fergus Chitty (.329, 36 HR, 140 RBI) • Okura Ito (.378, 20 HR, 134 RBI) • Jayden Tennant (.299, 38 HR, 138 RBI) • Mo Symes (.288, 19 HR, 81 RBI) • Brady Murdy (20-11, 2.96) • Francis Slocock (20-8, 3.14) • Darwin Monday (20-9, 3.55) • Hirotada Fukushima (18-8, 3.78) --------- While there does not appear to be much of race this year in the West, the hope here is that the projections are right in one respect: a second team finishing with a winning record. The Cambria Cannons are projected to finish with 81 wins, a total that would be good for just 4th place in the East, but it would represent a small victory for the Western League. The Cannons appear to have assembled a pretty decent team thus far. They only made one minor trade back in April: acquiring SP Hideki Matsui from the Fort Richmond Generals for a minor leaguer. He is listed as the Cannons No. 4 starter. Cambria is projected as No. 2 for Runs for and No. 3 in Runs against. They also have no less than five players appearing on the Projected Top 10: • Ron Westmacott (.299, 17 HR, 112 RBI, 21 SB) • Clint Jones (.295, 25 HR, 85 RBI, 18 SB) • Owen Tautor (17-11, 3.52) • Neil Guerin (11-13, 3.28) • Bradley Dodson (13-13, 3.86) --------- Let the games begin! __________________ United Leagues of Braeland Last edited by reds1; 07-02-2017 at 08:21 PM.