I have been a bit busy, so I just skipped the Season Pass and Youth Leagues posts. Youth Leagues are going to probably be featured once a month. Now, onto an interesting week . . .
BNN Weekly Report
This Week in the CBO, BMU, and GBRL
by Nat Wright-Kawolski
19 May 2302
Week's Results
Players of the Week
NCA - RF Jonathan Angelou, Nordhagen Beach, 10/19, 2 HR, 6 RBI
SCA - RF Tomas Jones, University Point, 11/20, 4 HR, 8 RBI
Interesting PotW dynamics here since Tomas Jones was traded away because of the emergence of Jonathan Angelou.
Daily Top Players
5/13 - LF Young Goodman, Roxbury, 3/3, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, R, BB
5/14 - RF Matt Marketman, Warwick, 3/4, 2B, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, 4 R, BB
5/16 - SP Curt Redcoats, Sunshine Tidings, 9.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W,
No-hitter
5/17 - RF Jonathan Angelou, Nordhagen Beach, 4/4, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, BB
5/18 - CF Earthbound Bussey, 4/4, 2 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 3 R, BB
Transactions
Monday, May 19th , 2302
Warwick Mirelurks: Placed
2B Bubb Islander on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 05/18/2302.
Sunshine Tidings Chemists: Signed free agent LF Mop Lopez to a minor league contract.
Fort Hagen Silver Shroud: Signed RP Josh Kemp.
Fort Hagen Silver Shroud: Signed RP Brady Petropo.
Fort Hagen Silver Shroud: Signed RP Polly Jolly.
Sunshine Tidings Chemists: Released LF Fernando Z.
Fort Hagen Silver Shroud: Released RP Polly Jolly.
Fort Hagen Silver Shroud: Released RP Brady Petropo.
The Oberland T-51s traded 32-year old RHP Freedom Williams to the University Point Deathclaws, getting 25-year old RHP Gary Stallworth, 25-year old C Surf Jardine, 18-year old minor league 1B Judge Sharp, 22-year old minor league RHP Ronnie Messenger, and 24-year old minor league RHP Bobby Lidtke in return.
The Oberland T-51s traded 25-year old C Surf Jardine to the County Crossing Bloodbugs, getting 23-year old minor league 2B Jax Stoneman, 21-year old minor league RHP Rouge Iorres, and 18-year old minor league SS Justin Tootles in return.
Sunday, May 18th , 2302
Lexington Synths: Activated SP Zach DiGrande from the injured list.
Lexington Synths: Sent SP Zach DiGrande to Triple A Union Hope for injury rehab.
Diamond City Swatters: Released LF Mop Lopez.
Jamaica Plain Red Rockets: Signed 1B Troy Kisspeople.
Warwick Mirelurks: Signed LF Ape Murtagh.
Oberland T-51s: Signed RP Cody Graca.
Jamaica Plain Red Rockets: Released 1B Troy Kisspeople.
Saturday, May 17th , 2302
Nordhagen Beach Party Boys: SP Julian Shed returns from his rehab assignment.
Starlight Lady Killers: Placed
1B Zeldolph Violet on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 05/16/2302.
County Crossing Bloodbugs: Placed
RF Babs Rooth on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 05/16/2302.
Jamaica Plain Red Rockets: Activated
SP Chris Teddybear from the injured list.
Warwick Mirelurks: Placed 3B Aaron Sinn on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 05/16/2302.
County Crossing Bloodbugs: Signed RF Billy Yudkowsky.
Warwick Mirelurks: Signed LF Keith Beaker.
The Oberland T-51s traded 31-year old RHP Matt Udder to the Quincy Gunners, getting 18-year old minor league SS Bill Mahan and 20-year old minor league
CF Da Game in return.
The Rayburn Point Patcheyes traded 35-year old SS Josh Wanty and 18-year old minor league 1B Dax Robledo to the Lexington Synths, getting 31-year old minor league 1B Grant Mercenary in return.
Thursday, May 15th , 2302
Abernathy Adamantium: Placed C Jimjames LaFleur on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 05/14/2302.
Salem Witch Hats: Placed 2B Dan Ackerman on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 05/14/2302.
Atom Cats: Activated RP Mike Waterdrinker from the 60-day injured list.
Atom Cats: Sent RP Mike Waterdrinker to Triple A Cabot House for injury rehab.
Jamaica Plain Red Rockets: Signed 1B Peter Kaprielian.
Abernathy Adamantium: Signed C Brad Flanagan.
Wednesday, May 14th , 2302
Warwick Mirelurks: Placed CF Ginger Rogers on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 05/13/2302.
Warwick Mirelurks: Placed SP Brian Bridges on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 05/13/2302.
Standings
Team Power Rankings
Weekly Team Power Rankings: Here are the current team power rankings for Commonwealth Baseball Organization:
Analysis
There are some heavy risers and fallers this week with the polar opposites being Vault 81's nine-game winning streak, while Oberland is falling further into Oblivion with a nine-game losing streak. The T-51s have been so bad that Commissioner Nate Howard has stepped in to help them become a little more competitive. That will not happen in 2302, but we will feature the T-51s and looks at how one of the strongest teams at the beginning of the CBO may be its worst ever in 2302. For the rest, let's take a look at the BNN Top 5.
#1 University Point - The Deathclaws reclaimed the top spot after a 4-1 week with a split at Egret (#23) and a sweep of Warwick (#21). On the negative side, the Claws are a but banged up and got even worse news that they will not have C Shawn Cherry (.316/1/8) until late August after he suffered a severe ankle injury. They may need to make a move for a catcher since promoted C James Lebron is not considered to be a CBO-level catcher at this point.
#2 Nordhagen Beach - The Party Boys did not dominate, but they did have a decent 3-2 week in splitting with Concord (#12) and winning two of three over County Crossing (#14). RF Jonathan Angelou earned Player of the Week honors, and the Boys are probably going to run away with the Brotherhood League. Now with a five-game lead over second-place County Crossing, Nordhagen Beach will probably not look back with the NCA's 2nd-best runs scored and the CBO's best in runs allowed.
#3 Fort Hagen - The Silver Shroud remain on pace with Nordhagen Beach for the NCA's top record with a 4-1 week. The Shroud split with Salem (#20) and then swept the reeling Abernathy Adamantium (#22). Fort Hagen also has a comfortable lead in the Institute League, leading both Lexington (#9) and Sunshine Tidings (#10) by four games.
#4 Vault 81 - As mentioned in the introduction, the Vault Dwellers have won nine straight, including all five this week on the road. Vault 81 won both games at Quincy (#19) before dismantling the Ninjas on the weekend. Already considered to be a good pitching team (tied for 2nd in the SCA in runs allowed), the offense has suddenly exploded across the board and is in the top 4 in the SCA in all offensive categories, including 1st in stolen bases (30). With the return of star RF Aesed Hayjen to the lineup, they may be the favorites in a tight Railroad League with Roxbury (#6) currently a game up on Vault 81 and Diamond City (#8).
#5 Jamaica Plain - Another hot team in the SCA, the Minutemen League's Red Rockets have won four games for the second-straight week. This week, they split at Roxbury and then swept the Gunners, who went 0-5 on the week. The Rockets' offense exploded this week, scoring at least 8 runs in all four wins with their sole loss being a 5-2 final.
Feature Story: Oberland on a Major Decline to Nowhere
The Oberland T-51s are currently 6-29 (.171) and look to get worse by the day. This past week, Commissioner Nate Howard stepped into the team facilities and with the help of some of the top OSN scouts started looking at ways to help this Oberland team win a few more games, or at least make this season the worst shape they will be in.
One of the first questions that Howard had for the team was regarding owner August Oberland and the amount of money he is currently investing in his team. With the opening of Oberland Stadium, Owner Oberland has seemed to be short on caps. Some speculate that the shortage may have been due to unseemly loans, but we will not pursue that as fact at this moment. One fact is for sure, something has gone quite wrong in Oberland.
From 2296-2298, the T-51s won the Railroad League all three years. Since then, they have finished 3rd, 5th, and 5th, and seem to be entrenched in 6th for the first time this season.
Looking at the 2298 team, it seems obvious how the team started its decline. In that season, 7 of its 13 pitchers used were 30 or over. Though it is not possible for there to be trade value for players over 30, many of the top value players, especially among pitchers, seem to be in their lower 20s. The only pitcher from that team considered still at top value is SP Sheng Kawolski now with the Diamond City Swatters.
The hitters were younger in 2298, but not entirely. Among regulars in 2298, 1B Curtis Slingshot was 32, 3B Jeremy Bugs was 28, and C Dan Neo was 27. Of the young stars of that time, CF B.J. Perez was just 21, but he was traded this offseason to Sunshine Tidings, along with CF Ricky Ticky Laughy, for the rights to the 2nd-overall pick. That may turn out to be a good move in the future since they landed the expected future star, SS Cope Kearns, with that pick.
Overall, though, looking at the 2298 team gives a window on how the T-51s were looking to win it all right away, but made no concessions for their future. This week, Howard started setting up deals by giving incentives to other teams to participate in those deals. If there was some slight disagreement in the weight of the deal, Howard awarded cap compensation to the owners of those teams with no deal rated as a "steal" by the OSN scouts.
Howard started with a deal to help Quincy now and set up Oberland with a couple of future prospects when they sent SP Matt Udder to the Gunners for prospects CF Da Game (11th overall pick in the 2300 Draft) and SS Bill Mahan (4th-round pick in the 2301 Draft).
Howard then had Oberland send CL Freedom Williams to University Point in exchange for some guys who could contribute to the 2302 T-51s. They included SP Gary Stallworth, C Surf Jardine, 1B Judge Sharp, SP Ronnie Messenger, and RP Bobby Lidtke. Stallworth and Messenger are expected to enter the Oberland rotation.
Finally, Howard had the T-51s flip Jardine to County Crossing for three more prospects in 2B Jax Stoneman, SP Rouge Iorres, and SS Justin Tootles.
Looking at the team, they will need more help, especially at pitching, but they probably need to consider using Howard as a consultant since GM Y4-25 Godlike has not seemed to be able to improve on the original T-51s teams. Starting pitching has been an abysmal 2-26 (7.95) with only injured ace Ben Rodgers (2-1, 4.86) getting any starting victories before suffering a season-ending injury.
Minor League Report
BMU
Standings
Players of the Week
All-star game:
C Silvam Fourteen, Fiddler's Green (Oberland), 2/3, 2B, R, 2 RBI
CA: 3B Greg Wash, Corvega (Sunshine Tidings), 11/19 (.579), 3 HR, 6 RBI
MA: 1B Jeremy Nicholson, Boston Common (University Point), 9/16 (.562), 5 HR, 9 RBI, 8 R
GBRL
Standings
Players of the Week
All-star game: SS Cope Kearns, Lynn Fortune (Oberland), 2/3, HR, R, 4 RBI
NL: LF Preston LeClerc, Walden Pond (Nordhagen Beach), 8/17 (.471), 5 HR, 6 RBI
SL: RF Scout Haynes, West Roxbury (FHE), 7/15 (.467), 5 HR, 8 RBI