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Austin Steelers

The Austin Steelers are a pretty good team. Their best hitter, 34 year old 8th round draft pick Walt Hill is ranked by the game as the second best hitter in the league. He is a terrific offensive player (8/8/8/7/9 on a 1-10 rating scale) but is a bad fielder (2/10 in LF, 5/10 in RF) and very slow. He is also the only really good hitter on the team. 30 year old starting pitcher Andrew Kinsler is rated as the third best starting pitcher in the league, and has the15th richest contract in the league as $11,250,600. However, like with Walt Hill compared to the rest of the players, Kinsler is the only really good pitcher on the team. The team is sixth in the league in payroll and hopes to have a great season.


Baltimore Colonels

The Colonels are a similar team to the Steelers, except the Colonels have a bit of a better offense. Starting pitcher Ronald French is rated as the fourth best starting pitcher in the league, but I'd say he's better than Andrew Kinsler. Kinsler has great movement, but decent control, while French is good in both categories. Anyway, second baseman Dennis Hewlett is rated as the league's best hitter, a surefire .350 hitter with 25 home run potential and incredible fielding skills to go along with it. The team will also get solid contributions from players like 25 year old leadoff hitter and center fielder Tim Easley, who could easily put up a 20-20 season. The team is filled with veterans who can hit the cover off the ball, making this a pretty dangerous team this year.


Charlotte Bulldogs

32 year old New Jersey native left fielder Todd Hawk is a catalyst for this team. He is primed to have a .315 season with 30+ home runs, no more than 25 strikeouts, and at least 50 walks. He is also a solid fielder, making his lack of speed his only downfall. However, besides Hawk, there is nothing to be excited about with this offense. However, the team has the second best starting pitcher in the business in Raymond Nall, who is a very durable veteran arm who has pinpoint accuracy and gets solid movement on his pitches. Charlotte also has a better rotation than Baltimore and Austin overall, as it's less top heavy.


Detroit Maroons

This offense is going to be an exciting one to watch. 30 year old first baseman Columbus Perry is a terrific offensive player, with potential to hit .320 with 40+ home runs. Shortstop Nick Beeman is another terrific player, with potential to hit .350, but needs to work on his eye. He is, however, a solids fielder at one of the toughest positions on the diamond. However, the team decided that offense was first priority, and thus is severely lacking in the pitching department. Top starter Sam Pickard, at age 24, is solid and could potentially be an ace, but the other two pitchers in the rotation probably wouldn't make it in any other rotation in the whole league. This team is gonna be an interesting one to follow, that's for sure.


Kansas City Mastodons

Probably the best team in the league. They have some terrific young hitters, and while they have no real ace, they have, easily, the most balanced rotation in the league. Centerfielder Alan Gibbons, the first overall draft pick, is just 23 and yet he could hit .315 with 30+ home runs, but he's slow and a bad fielder. 23 year old catcher Bob Dean is a very hard worker, and a solid offensive player. He could easily hit .330, and would probably hit 10-15 home runs in a season. He isn't a great fielder though. 25 year shortstop Harry Steele will contend for the batting title, and just might win it, but he's slow and a below average fielder. The rotation consists of durable veterans Adam Johnson, Rich Smithey and Randy Turner. This is going to be one hell of a team if they can get past their shortcoming, which is easily defense.


Memphis Pirates

Talk about cashing in! The Pirates decided to draft a lot of the veterans that other teams stayed away from because of their age and now have a terrific offense and a great defensive team as well! Third baseman Danny Hearne is a good fielder, and will definitely be at least a .300 hitter with at least 20 homers. Not bad for a 26 year old. First baseman Geoffrey Fahey is really the only bad fielder, but he is also an offensive catalyst, as he will be slated to hit .330 with 25+ dingers. The pitching rotation consists of two solid veterans in Bob Cobb and Bobby Button, but third starting pitcher Edwin Swain is downright terrible.


San Francisco Terror

They aren't going to be the flashiest team in the league, but this team embodies baseball to the fullest, with its solid contact hitters, great defense and hardnose pitching staff. First round draft pick John Mobley, 23, will be the best hitter on the team this year no doubt. 28 year old Earl McCafferty is, according to the reports, the best pitcher in the league, although in my mind he's the third or fourth best. He has decent movement and control, but doesn't really do anything really, really well. This team is going to be all about fundamentals, but will it be possible for them to compete with all of these flashy offensive teams? Only time will tell.


Tuscon War Dogs

Last but not least, we have the War Dogs. One thing that I like a lot about this team is that there isn't a star player, just a lot of good players who fit together to make a solid team. This team's obvious offensive strategy will be to get on base and make things happen from there, with Darin Bennett and Eric Irvin leading the way. Pitching-wise, their top pitcher, Everett 'zoom zoom' Baker, is a clean shaven 30 year old gentleman. He's a leader, works hard, and won't ever be the guy on the receiving end of that big scandal. Youngsters Cole Jefferson and Brian Doyle finish off the rotation.

Okay, that was a preview of all of the teams in the league! Next post, we will have an update from midseason!