[StLee]

BNN Report

News from the CBO, Minors, CCBL, and CYL

by Nat Wright-Kawolski

15 July 2312

CBO Analysis

Now through 14 weeks of the 2312 season, we are now deep enough in the season that we think we know for sure the contenders and pretenders. We are also featuring the last four teams heading into the last legs of the 2312 season with every team finished with 88 of their 130 games. Three teams--Salem, Fort Hagen, and Roxbury--have won 50 or more games, so we are pretty sure they will be in the playoff race until the end. Here are the current team power rankings for Commonwealth Baseball Organization:

Teams (Total Points, Tendency):
1) Salem Witch Hats (119.6, o)
2) Fort Hagen Silver Shroud (113.4, +)
3) Nordhagen Beach Party Boys (105.3, ++)
4) The Slog Ghouls (105.1, ++)
5) County Crossing Bloodbugs (103.3, ++)
6) Vault 81 Dwellers (102.1, ++)
7) Roxbury Rad Sox (101.4, --)
8) FHE Yao Guai (101.3, --)
9) Concord Radstags (100.0, ++)
10) Starlight Killers (100.0, +)
11) Jamaica Plain Red Rockets (99.3, --)
12) Oberland T-51s (99.1, -)
13) Sunshine Tidings Chemists (98.0, ++)
14) Egret Ninjas (93.1, --)
15) Bunker Hill 75ers (93.0, ++)
16) University Point Deathclaws (86.1, --)
17) Cambridge Coursers (82.9, o)
18) Diamond City Swatters (82.9, ++)
19) Goodneighbor Hancocks (82.1, --)
20) Nahant Celtics (80.9, +)
21) Atom Cats (80.7, -)
22) Easy Town Assaultrons (80.7, +)
23) Southie Brews (71.8, o)
24) Malden Grognaks (70.6, ++)
25) Lexington Synths (70.4, ++)
26) Spectacle Island Reapers (66.5, o)
27) Glowing Sea Radscorpions (63.6, --)
28) Quincy Gunners (62.6, --)

Brotherhood League

Salem continues to ride atop the CBO. Though they are 5-5 in their last 10, they enter today on a three-game wining streak and an eight-game lead in the BL over both Nordhagen Beach and County Crossing. The Slog is the only other team above .500, so all of Nahant, Easy Town, and Malden are probably looking to the future to see how to compete for a championship.

Easy Town is the one team we have not featured in 2312. At 39-49 and in 6th place, the Assaultrons can be sure that they are missing the playoffs for the fifth-straight season after their four-year run in the playoffs from 2304-2307. The Trons are not the worst team in the NCA by far, but they are nowhere near in talent to lots of other teams in the NCA. In fact, looking over the current roster, current Red Rocket Rookie Award leader CF Eden Babz (.341/11/56/36 SB), 1B Baktu DaWell (.347/13/44), and SP Scott Fuhr (7-8, 4.22) are the only top players on the roster. Outside of 1B prospects in Bullet Minnow, Victor Yes, and Tiger McQuaid, the Assaultrons are also not sporting a lot of talent in their farm system. We have no answers of what to do in the next few seasons of probable misery, but developing talent will have to be the answer. Trades are not going to garner enough talent to be competitive within the next five years or so.

Institute League

Fort Hagen is tied with the Hats for the CBO's largest league lead of eight games. At 45-43, four teams are currently tied for 2nd place in the league and the 6th playoffs spot: Bunker Hill, Concord, Starlight, and Sunshine Tidings. Cambridge and Lexington have bright futures, so they can look forward to what dreams may come.

The Synths have been the CBO's most vexing franchise. Not only have they never made the playoffs in the full CBO, but they have only finished above .500 once in the CBO, in 2299 when they finished 57-51 and in 4th place. Unlike Easy Town featured above, the Synths do have a lot of talent in their farm system. Assuming the talent develops or there are capable players traded for in their place, Lexington could see itself competing for a championship in the next five years. Some excitement is already afoot with the callup of 2311 2nd-round rookie 3B Tommy Whitetiger (.294/3/9 in 22 games) who was acquired from the Chemists in a one-for-one trade for LF Family Sam Partridge. Other sparks of hope abound throughout the franchise: RP/CL Hunter Kim (3-6, 2 SV, 4.57) who may become a starter one day, 1B Eugene Jeep (.303/14/51), 2311 1st-round pick LF Campy Madrid (.335/5/22/9 SB), RF Speedy Bugg (.259/10/38), and minor leaguers, CF Packs Ton Kling, SP Diesel O'Neal, 1B Flip Solitary, 3B Tarry Chik, and CF Dude Lebowski. There is also plenty of talented players they can trade to start upgrading the CBO team as early as 2313. Lexington is currently on a five-game winning streak but still three games below Spectacle Island for the CBO's worst record.

Minutemen League

There is a three-team race in the ML with Jamaica Plain, Goodneighbor, and University Point separated by three games. After that, the rest of the ML is out of it with 4th-place Aton 10 games below .500, followed by Southier, Quincy, and Spectacle Island.

At first glance, you would think the Cats would be in the playoff race. With the 4th-highest scoring offense in the SCA (463 runs scored), and what appears to be a talented rotation, it would seem they would be competitive. However, pitching has not answered the call, currently 14th in runs allowed (523) with the 12th-best Starters ERA (4.99) and 14th-best Bullpen ERA (6.31). Atom ranks 1st in average (.296), as well as thre other offensive categories. Six of the eight batters are hitting above .300 with veteran 3B Shane Stabb (.341/12/46) leading the way. Stabb and Deer Quickwalker (.000 in 5 AB) are the only two hitters over 30 on the team, so there is a lot of hope that the Cats can turn things around in 2313, especially if they can shore up their pitching. They do not have a lot of standout players in their farm system, but could benefit by offloading a few for an uptick in pitching talent. We would recommend waiting until the offseason to do that.

Railroad League

The strongest league in the CBO, the RL has five teams above .500: Roxbury with a two-game lead, FHE, Egret, Oberland, and Vault 81. At four games under .500, Diamond City is still in the race but not really. In fact, we think that they Swatters should make a few splashes in the trade department to make a future run. With some talented youngsters on the mound, they could be a tough team to beat once their offense catches up.

The T-51s is our last team to feature in 2312. Unlike the other three teams featured, Oberland is in the playoff race and stands at only four games back of the Rad Sox. Ranked 3rd in scoring (468 runs) and 9th in runs allowed (440), Oberland knows that now is just as good a time as any to make run. The T-51s have already made a trade splash by acquiring 36-year-old SP Chris Teddybear (8-3, 3.89) from the Reapers. They already had four serviceable starters in Emperry Alizm (), Ahsoka Tano (), Zaire Inquisitor (), and Lannie Tykeson (). Now Tykeson () can concentrate on hitting in his time. The big blows to Oberland's title quest have been losing CL Aaron Geneva (8 SV, 2.25) for the season and SS Stormin Normin MacDonald (.325/4/23) for half the season. MacDonald should be back next week, though, which will again make the T-51s perhaps the best team talent-wise in the SCA.

CBO Standings



CBO Players of the Week

July 8 - One of the league's most exciting young players, Foo Fieterz of the Fort Hagen Silver Shroud earned himself North Charles Association Player of the Week honors with a standout performance in last week's games.

For the week the 24-year-old right fielder had a lofty .667 average (6-for-9), collecting 2 home runs, 9 RBIs and 5 runs scored.

To date this year, Fieterz is batting .240 with 9 home runs.

Veteran Barker Cocoa had a great week at the plate for the Deathclaws to capture the majority of votes for Player of the Week in the South Charles Association.

The 33-year-old University Point first baseman built a .381 average on the strength of 8 hits in 21 at-bats, 4 home runs and 8 RBIs.

Cocoa's current batting average stands at .309 and he has chalked up 31 home runs and 73 RBIs.

July 15 - Gavin Deux-Gas has the tools to stick in this league for many years. The 23-year-old shortstop of the The Slog Ghouls had a hot bat in the North Charles Association over the past seven days and won the Player of the Week honors.

Deux-Gas batted .560 with 14 hits in 25 at-bats, 1 home run and 6 RBIs.

Batting .323 to date, Deux-Gas has 21 home runs and 53 RBIs.

21-year-old Cyclone Bolt sent shock waves through Commonwealth Baseball Organization last week with an eye-popping performance that brought him the South Charles Association Player of the Week Award.

A newcomer to the league, Bolt made the establishment sit up and take notice, punishing opposing pitchers with a .545 average, 6 hits in 11 at-bats, 2 home runs and 8 runs batted in.

Where the FHE Yao Guai third baseman goes from here, only the baseball gods know for sure, but Bolt certainly made his mark last week.

Bolt on the season is batting .412 with 2 home runs. His totals include 8 RBIs and 5 runs scored. He has played in 5 games.

CBO Noteworthy News

July 6 - The Concord Radstags had no answer for Malden Grognaks pitcher Ty Gibbs. They failed to score a single run against him, losing, 2-0. Concord managed only 2 hits off Gibbs, who had 9 strikeouts.

The extraordinarily popular Gibbs got a standing ovation from the hometown crowd as he left the field, the applause continuing until he returned from the dugout to tip his cap to the crowd.

"Grognaks fans are the best fans, in my opinion," he said. "It's a great feeling to throw a shutout under any circumstances, but to do it with the crowd behind you like that is just incredible."

Over the season Gibbs has thrown 109.2 innings and dished out 88 strikeouts with a 4-8 mark and a 3.53 ERA.

July 7 - After the game the Sunshine Tidings Chemists outstanding reliever Cush Baker celebrated his 300th-career save by reminiscing about his first save. "I remember it clearly. I was a rookie and the last one standing in the bullpen in an extra-inning game. Our staff was worn to a frazzle and was desperate for a pitcher. So they put me in. I faced four batters, rung up the victory and took the first step toward 300 saves."

The 35-year-old Baker got number 300 by preserving the Chemists 2-1 win over the Nordhagen Beach Party Boys.

So far in his career, Baker has appeared in 520 games and saved 300 games. His lifetime record is 33-49 with 476 strikeouts and 225 walks in 555.2 innings and his ERA stands at 3.22.

July 8 - Deathclaws right fielder Aesed Hayjen never thought his name would be associated with some of the great players in league history. Now that he has reached the 2000-hit threshold, that's all but guaranteed. Hayjen collected his big hit in a 3-2 loss to Easy Town.

Afterward, he thought about the achievement: "Overwhelmed," he said. "That's how I feel about it right now."

Hayjen went 2-for-4 for the game.

Hayjen has chalked up a career batting average of .321 with 2001 hits, 325 homers and 974 RBIs.

CBO Transactions

Monday, July 15th , 2312
Salem Witch Hats: Released C Evil Monkey.
The Slog Ghouls: Placed SS Gavin Deux-Gas on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 07/14/2312.
Sunshine Tidings Chemists: Placed SP Doug Creep on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 07/14/2312.
Oberland T-51s: Placed SS Stormin Normin MacDonald on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 07/12/2312.
Sunshine Tidings Chemists: Signed RF Flowertop Zo.
Oberland T-51s: Signed SS Julian Roughneck.
Glowing Sea Radscorpions: Signed SP Tony Vampire Frazier.
Glowing Sea Radscorpions: Released RP Kristian Frederiksen.

Sunday, July 14th , 2312
Nordhagen Beach Party Boys: Activated LF Gorgeous DiGiacomo from the injured list.

Saturday, July 13th , 2312
University Point Deathclaws: Activated SP Tony Bertha from the injured list.
University Point Deathclaws: Sent SP Tony Bertha to Triple A Graygarden for injury rehab.
Goodneighbor Hancocks: Placed 2B Avrusa Sarethi on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 07/11/2312.
Malden Grognaks: Signed RF Twomey Miller.

Friday, July 12th , 2312
Spectacle Island Reapers: Placed CF Hondo Ohnaka on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 07/11/2312.
Spectacle Island Reapers: Signed C Geoff Hollowtree.
Spectacle Island Reapers: Released C Nickles Czerniewski.
Sunshine Tidings Chemists: Signed RF Mark Knight.
Sunshine Tidings Chemists: Released RF Mark Knight.
The Lexington Synths traded 29-year old RHP Ahsoka Tano to the Oberland T-51s, getting 28-year old minor league 1B Jumping Jehoshaphat Cobb, 28-year old minor league RHP R.J. Shepherd, 18-year old minor league CF Dude Lebowski, and a 3rd round draft pick in return.
Oberland T-51s: Released RP Tony Vampire Frazier.
Oberland T-51s: Released RP Mad Mike Parisi.
Lexington Synths: Placed SP R.J. Shepherd on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 07/09/2312.

Thursday, July 11th , 2312
FHE Yao Guai: Placed 3B Rocket Arm Espinosa on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 07/10/2312.
Lexington Synths: Placed 2B Rabbit Forest on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 07/10/2312.
Atom Cats: Activated 2B Root Beer from the injured list.
Atom Cats: Sent 2B Root Beer to Triple A Medford for injury rehab.
Nordhagen Beach Party Boys: Activated CF Michael Fogcrawler from the injured list.
Concord Radstags: Signed RF John Millertime.
Nahant Celtics: Signed LF Kyle Quickfingers.
Nahant Celtics: Released LF Alex Hopp.

Wednesday, July 10th , 2312
FHE Yao Guai: Activated RP Vick Green from the injured list.
Spectacle Island Reapers: Released RP Tamp Uhbay.(Career-ending injury)
Lexington Synths: Released CF Manny Kays.
Nahant Celtics: Signed LF Dana Torres.
Nahant Celtics: Released LF Gains Baker.

Tuesday, July 9th , 2312
Spectacle Island Reapers: Activated RF Dan Squirrel from the injured list.
Concord Radstags: Signed RF Bright Eyes Pounder.
The Vault 81 Dwellers traded 19-year old minor league 3B Roo Kid Cunningham to the Concord Radstags, getting 25-year old RHP Loan Khong in return.

Monday, July 8th , 2312
Concord Radstags: Released LF Amari McCoy.
Roxbury Rad Sox: Activated 3B Scott Dourque from the injured list.
Southie Brews: Released 1B Tuna Lockpick.
Glowing Sea Radscorpions: Activated RP Thrifty Tony Malacara from the injured list.
Cambridge Coursers: Signed RP V108 Robinson.
Goodneighbor Hancocks: Signed LF Matt Settler.

Sunday, July 7th , 2312
Southie Brews: Activated SP Sham Killarney from the injured list.
Southie Brews: Released RP V108 Robinson.
Glowing Sea Radscorpions: Placed RP Keith Bralley on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 07/06/2312.
Spectacle Island Reapers: Signed C Justin Rivard.
Sunshine Tidings Chemists: Signed RF Elijah Breezedup.
Oberland T-51s: Signed RP Art Noyes.
Oberland T-51s: Signed RP Mad Mike Parisi.
Oberland T-51s: Signed RP Wee Hughie.
Oberland T-51s: Released RP Dan Redplate.
Oberland T-51s: Released RP Sterling Neeley.
Oberland T-51s: Released RP Justin Wierzbicki.

Saturday, July 6th , 2312
Cambridge Coursers: Placed RP Freon McMahan on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 07/03/2312.
Malden Grognaks: Activated SS Noctyss Eternus from the injured list.
Malden Grognaks: Sent SS Noctyss Eternus to Triple A Plymouth for injury rehab.
Sunshine Tidings Chemists: Released RF Mark Knight.
The Oberland T-51s traded 22-year old minor league SS Ike McRae to the Spectacle Island Reapers, getting 36-year old RHP Chris Teddybear in return.

Friday, July 5th , 2312
Lexington Synths: Placed SP Josh Woods on the 60-day injured list.
Nahant Celtics: Signed LF Aaron Goodale.
Malden Grognaks: Signed RF Vic Vaati.
Lexington Synths: Signed SS Bill President.
Nahant Celtics: Released LF Matt Settler.
The Starlight Killers traded 33-year old 2B Looter Knol, 35-year old LHP Bill Sarnacki, a 6th round draft pick, and a 9th round draft pick to the Roxbury Rad Sox, getting 23-year old RHP Oliver Oil, 27-year old 2B Emerald Sapphire, and a 12th round draft pick in return.

Thursday, July 4th , 2312
Nordhagen Beach Party Boys: Placed CF Michael Fogcrawler on the 7-day injured list, retroactive to 07/03/2312.
FHE Yao Guai: Signed SP Santee Ahgo.
Nahant Celtics: Signed LF Heston Prynne.

Wednesday, July 3rd , 2312
Concord Radstags: Signed RF Flowertop Zo.
Concord Radstags: Released RF Flowertop Zo.

Tuesday, July 2nd , 2312
Oberland T-51s: Released RP Rouge Iorres.