[StLee]

Analysis

After seven weeks of the 2298 season, there are three tiers that look to be the top teams competing for a title, teams that could be there depending on how they do in the next third of the season, and then some also-rans. We are going to approach our weekly look with a different feature, "Contenders, Pretenders, and Offenders." These are based on the Weekly Team Power Rankings.

Contenders

1) Oberland T-51s (168.3, o) - The best team in the league. There is no reason to believe they will not defend their 2297 title. Oberland is not allowing anyone to score on them, and they do what needs to be done on offense to keep the pressure on teams.
2) Goodneighbor Hancocks (139.4, o) - The second-best team benefitting by an overall week association. The Hancocks are a great offensive team, near the top of everything in the SCA except home runs. Their pitching is also good, with the benefit of having the best fourth starter in the CBO in Bill Little (8-0, 3.99). A Little pitching day is typically a victory.
3) Nordhagen Beach Party Boys (121.3, o) - Showing 2297 was not a fluke. Has become one of the top balanced teams in the CBO. A tough game every game. Easy Town is close, but we feel that the Party Boys are going to pull away at some point and win the Brotherhood League easily. Maybe not as easily as Oberland will win its league, but easily.
4) University Point Deathclaws (111.0, +) - Good team but needs to be much better on offense to challenge the T-51s and Hancocks.
5) Easy Town Assaultrons (109.0, o) - Benefitting from close victories. Here because they are winning two out of three but the most likely to fall out of this category.
6) Quincy Gunners (102.9, +) - Seems like they should be challenging Goodneighbor for the league title, but not getting the breaks. An improvement in pitching puts them in Oberland territory.
7) Abernathy Adamantium (96.9, --) - Fool's gold? They do not seem to be a head above Fort Hagen, but they are. Just a few players are keeping this team as a winning one. Something tells us that the Institute League will come down to the final weekend for both the league title and the playoffs wildcard spot.
8) Fort Hagen Silver Shroud (96.7, o) - Struggling as of late, but they seem to be a team that will return to the playoffs. They are in the middle in runs scored and runs allowed, which seems to indicate they will be closer to a .500 team over the course of the season. That could become a problem if Abernathy remains strong and Concord and Lexington turn their tides.

Pretenders

9) Diamond City Swatters (95.4, ++) - This team keeps swinging up and down but currently holds second place in the Railroad League, thus would qualify for a playoff position if the playoffs were now. At their consistency, they would be swept in the first round by Oberland.
10) Concord Radstags (89.3, ++) - How does a 16-19 team tied for last place in the Institute League get here? Underperformance! This team is among the most talented offensively in the CBO and ace Chris Radsco should be back in June. Abernathy and Fort Hagen had better watch out.
11) Warwick Mirelurks (86.7, ++) - This team seems to be on a downward spiral in the Minutemen League compared to the 2296 and 2297 seasons, but they seem to be picking up momentum heading into the next third of the season.
12) Sunshine Tidings Chemists (86.4, -) - This team is perpetually .500 (30-30 in 2296 and 2297, 17-18 in 2298). They could pick up the pace but likely fourth at best in the IL.
13) Jamaica Plain Red Rockets (85.3, -) - They may be tied for fourth in the ML, but the Red Rockets seem to get closer and closer to significance every day. This year is probably not their year, but they will start breaking hearts sooner rather than later.
14) Lexington Synths (85.3, -) - This year's version of the 2297 IL champions is confusing. Though the team is mostly intact and its pitching is pitching well (2nd in NCA in runs allowed), they just are not winning games. Maybe they will pick up that scaled balance Easy Town currently possesses and start moving up, but can they do enough to pass up Abernathy, Fort Hagen, and Concord?
15) Starlight Lady Killers (85.3, ++) - The Lady Killers had a killer dive to mediocrity last season but seem to be more balanced this season. Still, they are going to fight and still finish 5th or 6th in the IL.
16) County Crossing Bloodbugs (83.3, o) - County Crossing needs to outscore their opponents rather than play great baseball. Their pitching staff is not bad, just not pitching well. Their best hope is for the pitching to do better, and then they will see more wins than losses. That could benefit the Bloodbugs if Easy Town does start to fade.

Offenders

17) The Slog Ghouls (79.3, ++) - The 2296 champions are looking like they will be sellers around the All Star break. Though there are really good players on the team, like Millioncap Go and Lernz Tentsleep, the rest of the lineup is mostly below average. The pitching staff excites no one, even if they are 4th in the NCA in runs allowed.
18) Egret Ninjas (78.3, --) - This team loves the bomb, but they bomb in the wins category. Even with the really good Phlip Wallace, this team is just not playing well overall. While they could win the wildcard spot, we would expect Diamond City to edge them in a truly weak Railroad League.
19) Finch Farm Four Leafs (77.1, +) - This team went from first to almost worst in the 2296 and 2297 seasons. This season seems to be an exercise in hitting home runs and nothing else. Finch Farm leads the CBO in home runs (56) but they are not good in any other category. We expect them to be sellers within the next month or two.
20) Salem Witch Hats (69.1, --) - This team is in disarray and may find themselves at #24 in the Power Rankings at some point. They traded away their best player yesterday, and we would not be surprised to see more guys moved to help this team find some leadership and locker room peacefulness. The bats have been terrible.
21) FHE Yao Guai (68.9, +) - After their run to the playoffs last season, we thought the Yao Guai were here to stay. This season has been an exercise in poor all-around play. Hose Wallcralwer is awesome. Otherwise, it is hard to point out where they are good.
22) Vault 81 Dwellers (65.3, --) - A nine-game losing streak is the reason we see Vault 81 here. They could and probably will challenge for the wildcard spot in the RL. However, they are just not playing well as of late and barely showed up against Oberland this past weekend. Jason Personhood may still not be the manager the team needs to find its success.
23) Atom Cats (39.4, -) - After a wildcard spot in 2296, Atom seemed to be a competitive team, but they have not looked that way at all in 2297 and 2298. There are some questions about the management's ability to recognize good baseball talent with some noted non-moves in potential trades that could have helped them. Commissioner Howard probably needs to intervene and get this team to sell off middle talent for a few good prospects.
24) Roxbury Knuckle Punchers (38.3, o) - With the change in team name from Shaw HS to the Rox, we expected this team to continue making progress. Instead, they have responded by being the absolutely worst team in the CBO. The Punchers have no punch. They cannot score and they cannot stop teams from scoring. They need to sell and sell and sell and make this a team of 18-year-olds ready to grow together.