Opening Day has finally arrived in Braeland! The Coconut Leagues wrapped up and the Opening Day rosters are set. As usual, we’ll look at the final Coconut League standings and projections for each League.
Following which will be the various player and team rankings, followed by a slew of career leaderboards in a number of categories.
Eastern League Results
The Braeland City Monarchs ruled the roost in the pre-season, winning twice as many games as they lost. However, in the projections, the defending Eastern League Champions are destined for the second division. The Barons once again are predicted to be the team to beat, but the Red Stockings, Chiefs and Suns will not be far behind. Hopefully, that prediction holds up.
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Western League Results
The Hespeler Stars started the Coconut Leagues 9-0, holding on to finish in top spot. The Cambria Cannons meanwhile, lost their first 10 games before getting in the win column. But both are predicted to remain near the bottom of the standings in the regular season.
The Wolseley Unions are predicted to finish in top spot for the second year in a row and with the best record in the ULB. They have finished in second spot the past two seasons. Also interesting is the Balmoral Giants projected to take the wild card. They finished in 3rd place last season with 80 wins. The prognosticators also see free-agent signing SP Ricardo Cruz (62/62) having a terrific first season in the ULB, helping the Giants battle for a playoff spot. Also, its interesting to see that Giants’ 1B Damon Purcell (52/75) is projected to have a career year, even though he has lost his starting spot to free-agent signing Javier Romero (59/74). Purcell is still shown as backing up Romero in the Giants’ lineup.
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Trades
One trade was struck early in Spring Training:
August 31:
The Downie Chiefs and Queensland Eagles completed a two-player deal:
To Downie – 28-year old RHP
Joong Ling (56/57)
To Queensland – 36-year old SS
Ninfa Puzon (42/42)
Knee-jerk reaction: A modest upgrade for both teams. Ling is the walking definition of average. He is a borderline starter (stamina – 40) with average stuff and control (40-50) and good movement (60). He was penciled in as a No 5. starter for Queensland, but he has been injury prone, missing months and months of playing time due to injuries over the past few years. Nevertheless, the Chiefs have installed him as their No. 3 starter.
Shortstop is not a position of strength for the Eagles. Dermot Akers (23/24) was rated at Queensland’s best option at that position – but only No. 16 overall. The Eagles finished last season with 24-year old Bob Sobel (25/63), a 12th overall pick back in 1944-45 as their everyday starter (.263/.335/.337, 0.5 WAR, 205 AB). To try and address the situation, Queensland acquired veteran Puzon, a one-time all-star and Top Fielder Award winner. Puzon has regressed severely the past few seasons, but the Eagles are hoping he can enjoy a fresh start. This is his second stint with the Eagles – he was acquired from the Cobourg Red Stockings back in 1940, before being sent to Downie a year later. He is rated 14th overall in the ULB at shortstop and will bat in the No. 7 spot.
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Uniform Updates
Two teams updated their uniforms and logos: the Braeland City Monarchs and Cambria Cannons (with both adding black armbands for Babe Ruth this season).
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To round out the snapshot of the United Leagues, here are the top players and pitchers and top 20 prospects as updated on Opening Day. Also included are the latest leaderboards for a slew of offensive and pitching categories.
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Leaderboards
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