OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post

Craig Costello · 10-20-2008, 02:15 PM

1993 Preview

March 31st 1993 - The Berlin Dragons can probably legitimately call themselves the first dynasty of the EBL. Their win in the 1992 European League Series gave them three titles in four seasons and their four titles overall is twice as many as the next best team. All eyes will be on them to see if they can make it four titles in five and extend the EL's winning streak to 5 years.

They made a decent pick up in the offseason of Artemis Vlakhou in free-agency. He might struggle for playing time behind Gunnar Rippner, but he averaged nearly 20 homers a season in his 6 full years in Oslo.

Elsewhere in free-agency a couple of also-ran EBL franchises made the biggest moves. The London Crocs signed 3-time WL Pitcher of the Year, Alexander Schimpf, to a 5-year, $21.7M deal in the hopes of turning around their fortunes. The Zurich Jesters made three interesting acquisitions in Eduardo Aguilar, Francisco Pena and Joakim Tronstad (the last two both being heavily involved in Barcelona's turnaround last season).

The best hitter on the market was undoubtedly Raul Marroquin and he got paid to the tune of $24M over 4 years by the Barcelona Iguanas.

Below is a detailed list of the biggest free agent names -

Code:

Player (age)                -- Old Team    -- New Team  -- Contract

SP Tahvo Ahonen (31)        -- Madrid      -- Prague    -- 5 years, $19.0M
SP Alexander Schimpf (28)   -- Paris       -- London    -- 5 years, $21.7M
SP Helmuth Seipel (35)      -- Athens      -- Budapest  -- 2 years, $6.8M
CF Francisco Pena (34)      -- Barcelona   -- Zurich    -- 2 years, $3.6M
LF Raul Marroquin (27)      -- Dublin      -- Barcelona -- 4 years, $24.0M
CF Eduardo Aguilar (34)     -- Lisbon      -- Zurich    -- 2 years, $10.1M
C Phil Cockx (30)           -- Oslo        -- Lisbon    -- 5 years, $20.7M
SS Joakim Tronstad (28)     -- Barcelona   -- Zurich    -- 5 years, $11.4M
SP Panos Metrofanis (36)    -- Vienna      -- Glasgow   -- 3 years, $9.8M
1B Artemis Vlakhou (31)     -- Oslo        -- Berlin    -- 3 years, $13.5M
SP Yoan Lelievre (35)       -- Zurich      -- Budapest  -- 2 years, $7.9M

Not a lot of activity on the trade market. The two biggest names changing teams as part of swaps were Claudio Lwenholm and Lage Sahlstein. Lwenholm hasn't been the player he once was since he first left Amsterdam in free agency and less than 2 seasons after getting him back via trade, the Selects have shipped him onto Madrid for infielder Luis Diaz. Sahlstein has been a middle of the road EBL perfomer, but a good showing for Sweden in the European Championships convinced Oslo to part with one of their better prospects for his services.

10-20-2008, 02:15 PM	#115 (permalink)
Craig Costello Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 295 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1x in 1 post	1993 Preview March 31st 1993 - The Berlin Dragons can probably legitimately call themselves the first dynasty of the EBL. Their win in the 1992 European League Series gave them three titles in four seasons and their four titles overall is twice as many as the next best team. All eyes will be on them to see if they can make it four titles in five and extend the EL's winning streak to 5 years. They made a decent pick up in the offseason of Artemis Vlakhou in free-agency. He might struggle for playing time behind Gunnar Rippner, but he averaged nearly 20 homers a season in his 6 full years in Oslo. Elsewhere in free-agency a couple of also-ran EBL franchises made the biggest moves. The London Crocs signed 3-time WL Pitcher of the Year, Alexander Schimpf, to a 5-year, $21.7M deal in the hopes of turning around their fortunes. The Zurich Jesters made three interesting acquisitions in Eduardo Aguilar, Francisco Pena and Joakim Tronstad (the last two both being heavily involved in Barcelona's turnaround last season). The best hitter on the market was undoubtedly Raul Marroquin and he got paid to the tune of $24M over 4 years by the Barcelona Iguanas. Below is a detailed list of the biggest free agent names - Code: Player (age) -- Old Team -- New Team -- Contract SP Tahvo Ahonen (31) -- Madrid -- Prague -- 5 years, $19.0M SP Alexander Schimpf (28) -- Paris -- London -- 5 years, $21.7M SP Helmuth Seipel (35) -- Athens -- Budapest -- 2 years, $6.8M CF Francisco Pena (34) -- Barcelona -- Zurich -- 2 years, $3.6M LF Raul Marroquin (27) -- Dublin -- Barcelona -- 4 years, $24.0M CF Eduardo Aguilar (34) -- Lisbon -- Zurich -- 2 years, $10.1M C Phil Cockx (30) -- Oslo -- Lisbon -- 5 years, $20.7M SS Joakim Tronstad (28) -- Barcelona -- Zurich -- 5 years, $11.4M SP Panos Metrofanis (36) -- Vienna -- Glasgow -- 3 years, $9.8M 1B Artemis Vlakhou (31) -- Oslo -- Berlin -- 3 years, $13.5M SP Yoan Lelievre (35) -- Zurich -- Budapest -- 2 years, $7.9M Not a lot of activity on the trade market. The two biggest names changing teams as part of swaps were Claudio Lwenholm and Lage Sahlstein. Lwenholm hasn't been the player he once was since he first left Amsterdam in free agency and less than 2 seasons after getting him back via trade, the Selects have shipped him onto Madrid for infielder Luis Diaz. Sahlstein has been a middle of the road EBL perfomer, but a good showing for Sweden in the European Championships convinced Oslo to part with one of their better prospects for his services.