[ayaghmour2]

We have to wait until Monday for games, but it is now time for baseball again in the FABL universe! The new OSA predictions don't give us any more love, somehow just 77-77 and good for just third place. Combine that with OSA's prediction of 2nd and TFSJ's prediction of 1st, and we have all the medals covered! My totally non-biased opinion thinks we'll finish first, which is just as likely as us finishing third, but I truly think we have the roster of a pennant winner and we'll at least challenge throughout the season. The new prospect rankings were also announced, and we rank 4th in the league with 148 points, just 7 ahead of the Gothams while 8 below the Pioneers. We have a pair of top 25 prospects, with the Jones brothers lining up at 9th and 10th with 5 others in the top 100. A new add is last year's 5th Round selection Lou Eaker bouncing all the way up to 59. We have 20 in the top 250 and 44 in the top 500, with our system still as deep as ever.

Enough about that, check out our 24-man roster!

RHP Joe Brown
RHP Pug Bryan
RHP Milt Fritz
RHP Jim Lonardo
LHP Dick Lyons
RHP Pete Papenfus
RHP Harry Parker
RHP Allen Purvis
RHP Eddie Quinn
C Harry Mead
C Mike Taylor
1B Ray Ford
2B Freddie Jones
2B Ollie Page
3B John Lawson
3B Johnny McDowell
SS Freddie Bennett
SS Billy Hunter
LF Rich Langton
LF Leo Mitchell
CF Aart MacDonald
CF Carlos Montes
CF Orlin Yates
RF Leon Drake

I did have to cut a few players, sending Rule-5 Picks Mickey Fulton back to Montreal and Luke Conway back to Boston. I had a lot of non-optionable players, so I couldn't hang on to them, as I was also forced to waive Dutch Leverett, Lou Kelly, and Oscar King. I couldn't waive Freddie Bennett, his defense and versatility is too valuable, and at just 25 he has far more upside then Kelly, Fulton, or King, and as much as I like Conway, I couldn't cut Brown or Bryan. Regardless, I don't think losing any of those five will hurt us too much, but it would have been nice to be able to find a buyer for a few of my fringe roster players.

Our season starts in Brooklyn, with a two game series against the Kings. Last year was an unexpected drop off for the Kings, finishing just 70-84 after trading top players like Al Pestilli, Mike Murphy, Joe Shaffner, and Frank Vance, and after a GM change, they're likely to deal with their second losing season since 1933. Still, Brooklyn has a lot of good youngsters, and the might get full seasons of Jim Lightbody, Rats McGonigle, and Tim Hopkins with the potential debut of top prospect Chuck Adams. Brooklyn hasn't set their roster yet, but Rats is currently hitting cleanup less then a year after being selected 4th overall last year. He hit a strong .295/.336/.475 (110 OPS+) with 8 doubles, 12 triples, 4 homers, 3 steals, and 36 RBIs in his first 268 FABL PAs. Brooklyn will also look for a bounce back from Al Wheeler, who shockingly hit just .243/.334/.395 (90 OPS+) with 22 doubles, 3 triples, 19 homers, and 76 RBIs in the first below average offensive season of his career. Another guy in need of a bounce back is Tom Barrell, who's now the #2 to Art White after the 32-year-old finished the year on the DL. When healthy he was 7-6 with a 4.94 ERA (89 ERA+), 1.47 WHIP, 27 walks, and 49 strikeouts in just 109.1 innings pitched. Brooklyn has a lot of question marks, and just Harry Barrell (1st) ranks in the top 8 of their positional rankings, and I hope we can get off to a hot start by taking both in Brooklyn.

After that we get our first off day of the season, we get our home opener against the Montreal Saints. Montreal finished below .500 in each season since 1930, and we'll look to keep them under at least for the beginning. Montreal made a few moves in the offseason, including adding a new ace in veteran Ed Baker. He'll turn 35 in July, but is coming off a 14-12 season with the Keystones. He had a nice 3.46 ERA (118 ERA+), 1.43 WHIP, 69 walks, and 68 strikeouts in his eighth consecutive season with 200 or more innings pitched. This is the first time he won't suit up for the Keystones, making 313 starts with them since 1928. He finished his Philly career 149-120 with a 4.21 ERA (104 ERA+), 1.45 WHIP, 678 walks, and 895 strikeouts in 2,399 reliable innings pitched. He'll anchor a rotation that needed a boost, as former ace Jake DeYoung was really roughed up last season, going just 13-15 with a 5.45 ERA (81 ERA+), 1.45 WHIP, 40 walks, and 112 strikeouts in 242.2 innings pitched. The lineup has a new face, as former 15th Rounder from Alberta Frank Belair, who hit .299/.361/.382 (94 OPS+) in his first 159 PAs last season. Montreal has a strong lineup, led by Mark Burns with a tough 3-4-5 of Bert Lass, Red Bond, and Adam Mullins, and they are expected to score a ton of runs this season. Our pitchers will have to be effective if we want to win this series, but I like our chances of starting the season on the right foot.