BNN Report
News from the CBO, Minors, BCAC, and CYL
by Nat Wright-Kawolski
4 April 2310
The April Super Post
CBO Predictions
The 2310 season begins today. As always, our trusty assaultron PAM delivers her analytics of how the 2310 season may shake out. Granted, there is a larger "fog of war" with the addition of four new teams, each of which that have been more than willing to trade away currently serviceable CBO players for future prospects in the months leading up to their first season. In other words, do not expect competitive teams from the expansion teams for several years to come. With that stated, let us take a look at which teams PAM sees to be the contenders.
In the Brotherhood League, PAM has the defending champion Nordhagen Beach Party Boys returning to the top in 2310 with the league title and the NCA's top record at 83-47. Other playoff contenders in the BL are County Crossing, The Slog, Easy Town, and Salem. The Bloodbugs are picked to finish just two back and have the NCA's second-best record.
In the Institute League, PAM sees Bunker Hill taking the league in a tight race, just two games up on Starlight and Sunshine Tidings, in what looks to be a repeat of recent years for good versus bad. None of the other four teams are expected to be contenders, and the Cambridge Coursers are predicted to lose 98 games.
In the Minutemen League, University Point is expected to run away with the league title yet again with an 11-game advantage over second-place Spectacle Island. Other playoff contenders are Quincy and Jamaica Plain. The Southie Brews are picked to have the CBO's worst record at 29-101.
In the Railroad League, the Vault 81 Dwellers are the pick to also win their league by 11 games. Other teams in the playoff hunt are Egret, Oberland, and Roxbury. In a surprise pick perhaps, the Glowing Sea Radscorpions are picked 6th in the league with FHE picked 7th. This comes after the Yao Guai made a surprising trade of their ace pitcher, Paul Stains, to Diamond City, which is also not considered in contention despite having two of the CBO's top starters in Stains and Sheng Kawolski.
Top awards pick winners look familiar. For hitters, County Crossing's RF Babs Rooth is the pick to win the NCA Nuka Hitter Award. Other top contenders include Salem's RF Brian DeLong, Lexington's LF Family Sam Partridge, Malden's 1B Andy Stamey, and Easy Town's newly-acquired RF Baktu DaWell. In the SCA, 1B Barker Cocoa is expected to win his seventh SCA Nuka Hitter Award in the past eight seasons. Other top contenders in the SCA include CF Missile Crews of Goodneighbor, the Deathclaws' LF Chris Hirshfield, Vault 81's CF Stu Gains, and Jamaica Plain's LF Ken Debate.
For pitchers, PAM has Digger Vadim of Starlight winning the NCA Vim! Pitcher Award in 2310. Other top contenders include eight-time winner SP Beachboy Nut of Nordhagen Beach, County Crossing's SP Gavin Eviritts, the Party Boys' SP Ugio Church, and Concord's SP Leyden Aigg. In the SCA, PAM predicts Roxbury's SP Nuke Laloosh to return to the top for the third-straight year and sixth overall. Other top contenders include Diamond City's newly-acquired SP Paul Stains, Vault 81's SP Scruffy Taguchi, Goodneighbor's SP Heaven Fontenot, and Oberland's SP Emperry Alizm.
Prospects to Watch
The 2310 Top Prospects List has been published in anticipation of the 2310 season. 1B Cy Sutcliff, the 2308 1st-overall pick, was named the #1 prospect. He is one of just five of the top 10 starting the season in the minors.
That means there are several contenders for the 2310 Red Rocket Rookie Award. Let's take a look at some of the top players beginning the 2310 season with the CBO club.
The #2 prospect is 1B Hax Kim of Vault 81. The 198th overall pick (9th round) in the 2305 Rookie Draft, Kim made a huge leap in 2309 when he batted .343/31/79 in 73 games with the Dwellers' BMU squad, the Covenant Refractors. Kim is expected to start at 1B and bat 7th in the Dwellers lineup.
The #7 prospect, selected 7th overall in the 2309 Rookie Draft, is SP Sham Killarney of Southie. Though he will struggle to win games in 2310, Killarney is expected to learn by fire with the expansion club. Last season with Sudbury of the CYL, Killarney was 5-5 with a 2.85 ERA. He is expected to start in the bullpen in 2310 but could work his way into a start or two early in the season.
SP Ma'Khail Redstick of Egret, the 10th overall pick in 2306, is the #8 prospect. Like Killarney and the other prospect pitchers mentioned below, Redstick is expected to start in the bullpen in 2310. In four seasons in the minors, Redstick has shown the ability to strike out a lot of batters. He finished 2309 with the Brookline Bandoliers of the MML where in six starts he was 4-1 with a 3.69 ERA and struck out 42 in 39.0 innings.
#9 is Sarthis Idren of Fort Hagen. Idren was the Silver Shroud's 4th-overall pick out of Harwich in 2307. He played with the Shroud's GBRL team, the Pioneer Park Hackers, where he compiled a record of 23-13 with a 3.65 ERA in 45 starts.
1B Tray Morgueman of Jamaica Plain is the 10th-ranked prospect and also with the CBO club. Morgueman is expected to start at 3B in 2310 and bat 8th in the Red Rockets' lineup. The 16th-overall pick by Spectacle Island in the 2307 Draft, Morgueman was a part of the deal that sent star C Ayag Mour to the Reapers. Morgueman has shown lots of potential, including playing most of 2309 with the GBRL's Greentop Nursery Night People where he hit .310/24/71 in 74 games.
The complete list is below.
Early Draft Pool Top Players
There was somewhat of a shortage of players eligible in the 2309 Rookie Draft, leaving few undrafted rookie free agents overall. Some CBO teams are still trying to fill out those roster spots as we begin the 2310 season.
For those eligible for the 2310 Draft, there are 961 eligible players, and a lot of talent this year and next. In other words, the expansion teams have chances to pick up a few good players that they can use or trade for decent players.
With that stated, we will take a quick stab at a few draft-eligible players to continue watching leading up to the draft.
CF Packs Ton Kling, West Quincy - Kling is a great defensive outfielder and projects as a top glove in CF. He is great at making contact with the ball and shows some potential for being a heavy hitter, too, though he will probably be a top-of-the-lineup prospect for the CBO.
RF Naga Arakaki, Concord - Arakaki has a strong personality and all the tools to be a great hitter. He could turn into a HR leader in the CBO once his body fills out more in his 6'4" frame.
CF Jay Gabby, Wellfleet - Gabby lacks in speed compared to many top outfielders, so he is likely to move to a corner OF position in the CBO. He shows a tremendous knack for finding his pitches and driving them to a gap or over the fence. Gabby projects to be a mid-lineup player for a CBO team.
SP/LF Alchemist Hall, New Bedford - A two-way player, Hall's greatest asset may be at pitcher though he will need to better develop his circle change before he will be a top pitching prospect. Hall's bat is pretty good as a contact hitter, and he will probably bat around .333 in his senior season.
SP Tarzan Rogers, Sandwich - A really good prospect, Rogers struggled a little in 2309 when he tried to expand upon his pitching regimen. This season, Rogers is expected to have realized some of that potential, making him a probable 1st-round pitcher pick in the 2310 Draft.
CYL Analysis
The 2310 season is still early as we enter the second month, and it is showing a lot of competition for the 24 playoff spots. Divisional leaders are listed below:
Franklin - Sudbury Celebs
Emerson - Lexington Minuteboys
Fuller - South Charles Bank Moonies
Revere - Woburn Diners
Adams - Hope Firestarters
Alcott - West Quincy Atomatoys
Morse - Brockton Claws
Attucks - Truro Hatchlings
CYL Players of the Month
NR Hitter - Rockport Seafarers fans believe they've got a talented young star in Johan Honus.
He did nothing to dissuade that notion in March, as he hit .390 with 8 home runs, 14 RBIs and 18 runs scored.
The end result was the first baseman being named the North Region Batter of the Month.
SR Hitter - Not known for his offensive prowess, Bubbler Mayhem set the league afire in March and took home the South Region Batter of the Month award.
The Brown left fielder posted a steady .397 batting average, 7 home runs, 19 RBIs and 17 runs.
NR Pitcher - Like father, like son. Marlin Samm is the latest North Region Pitcher of the Month award winner. The Diamond City freshman starter shone on the hill in his debut season repeatedly last month and finished March with a sparkling 4-0 record.
In 4 starts he tossed 31 innings, posted 32 strikeouts, and put up a 0.58 ERA.
SR Pitcher - Herbie Popnecker of the New Bedford Whales strung a bunch of high-quality starts together in March to earn the South Region Pitcher of the Month trophy.
For the month he finished with a superlative 4 wins and no losses and a 1.41 ERA. The New Bedford star started 4 games, pitched 32 innings and struck out 20.