1920 Record: 76-68 (3rd in the East Division)
1921 Prediction: 85-59 (1st)
Notable Losses: SS Tristan Lyngstrad (Free Agent), LF Clayton Fleming (Trade),
Notable Gains: SP Jeremiah Hinton (Free Agent), CF Finn Komoroski (Free Agent), Roswell Sherman (Free Agent)
The Polar Bears are gunning for it this season with a lot of unfinished business on their plate. They narrowly missed out on playoff action and star Jon Jackson narrowly missed out on the MVP award (despite receiving more first place votes than Lehn) by the slimmest of margins.
You can expect a lot of home runs from this team with RF Jon Jackson and 1B Richard Maxwell leading the way with 40+ each to their name. The team as a whole got 263 dingers last season -- 30 clear of the next best team (the Spice District Roosters). A combo of the big hitters on their team and a home run friendly park really let the dingers fly.
The loss of Shortstop Tristan Lyngstrad to Hadestown will hurt but the pickup of Roswell Sherman to a minimum deal looks like a shrewd move from Northlands GM Evan Goff. Sherman, while not going to contribute much with the bat is an excellent defender and baserunner.
Elijah Shumate is one of the best pitchers in the business. Pitching in a home run friendly park, he only gave up 16 home runs over 304.2 innings. His FIP of 1.99 translated to a FIP- of 45, best in the league.
The acquisition of Jeremiah Hinton also helps shore up the rotation. This is definitely a side ready to take on the rest of the league.