[damientheomen3]

Just a little heads up. I will very rarely be posting anything on weekdays, as I have a lot more time on the weekends. Also, sorry for such a long delay between posts, school is actually getting somewhat difficult now and I never really got around to this. That being said, let's get into the offseason!

The excitement has mounted around the league, and all that really stands for the offseason are the award announcements, and looking in on trades. It will be a long process for the fans to deal with, but once the six months pass and their favorite teams are back into action, it is sure to have a much greater beginning than it had last season. Anyway, we shall get on to announcing award winners!

The first awards being announced are the gold glove awards. Many factors go in to selecting the best fielders at each position, and there are always a couple of players who find themselves feeling snubbed of deserved hardware. Anyway, the pitcher who won the gold glove was Cole Jefferson of Tucson, who committed 3 errors and had a range factor just below three (to be honest I have no clue what range factor is). Bob Dean of Kansas City won the gold glove at catcher, throwing out 51.2% of runners and committing 8 errors in 145 starts at the diamond's roughest position. The gold glover at first base was San Francisco youngster John Mobley, who fielded .990 and was part of 159 double plays. The second base gold glove went to another member of the Terror, this time Chris Miller. He committed 11 errors, fielded .990 and had a range factor of 7.17. Third base gold glover was yet another San Francisco player, 35 year old Ben Little. He started a game at 5 different positions, and was really pretty bad fielding third base, making his winning the award quite a surprise. He committed 22 errors in 125 games at 3B, fielding .955 with a range factor of 4.02. Nick Beeman won the gold glove at shortstop after a terrific campaign in which he had just 9 errors and a range factor of 5.79 (again, I have no clue what significance this stat has, or what a 'good' mark is). Brendan Hixson, Dan Southerland, and Alan Gibbons won the three outfield gold gloves, with Southerland having just 1 error in the entire regular season.

The best rookie award will be skipped this season, as it was the first year of the league, and I won't ever post the manager of the year award winners.

There was much speculation when it came to the best pitcher award. Does it go to Ronald French, the gritty young starter who led the league in wins, and was the ace of the league's champion? Or does it go to another player, such as Ralph Perry, who won 23 games and posted the third lowest ERA in the league on an Austin team that nearly won the championship? Will veteran Everett Baker get any love for his solid 22 win, 4.68 ERA performance, seeing as how he pitched on the second worst team in the league? It turns out that the voters decided to give the award to Ronald French after all. He won 29 games, many more than any other player in the league, and finished 6th in the league in ERA.

The race for the best hitter award has, really, only three players with realistic shots at winning the award, and even then, it's still pretty obvious who the frontrunner is. Dennis Hewlett dominated the leagues' leaderboards, leading the league with a .412 batting average, having the highest OBP, the highest OPS, and the highest VORP.He went deep 23 times, drove in 125 runs, and scored 118 times as well. His team also won the league championship, earning him some huge bonus points. However, Detroit star slugger Columbus Perry hopes that his leading the league in homers, RBI, and slugging percentage can get voters to look his way. He hit 49 home runs, 14 more than the second most in the league, along with 174 RBI, 31 more than the second place guy. He slugged .665. The third MVP candidate is Alan Gibbons. The Kansas City star hit 35 homers and drove in 143 runs, while hitting .364 and posting a 1.081 OPS. He also drew 113 walks, the most in the league. However, besides that and leading the league in runs with 153, he finished middle of the pack in the league in most statistics. The voters had a tough time deciding, but the player who looked to be the leading contender for the award won it, as Dennis Hewlett took the award home.

And thus, the awards are done. All that's left for this offseason are the trades that are to happen, but they are definitely going to be scarce. However, there will be some interesting deals happening. The first one occurred on November 20th, when Memphis shipped center fielder Dave Lee to Detroit for starting pitcher Ethan Porter. Porter went 15-16 with a 5.77 ERA, but lacks stamina to be a part of a contenders rotation. Dave Lee is 27 years old, a great fielder at all three outfield positions, a speedy player, and can post a solid batting average. Surprisingly, he only took one at bat for Memphis this past season. The second trade was announced on January 12th, with Charlotte shipping shortstop Ray Bullen to San Francisco for reliever Fletcher Loring. Bullen isn't a great offensive player, but can field all around the diamond solidly, making him a solid addition for San Fran as they push for the title. The deal wasn't a great one for Charlotte, but they did address a need by fortifying their bullpen.

Well, the offseason is now officially over and the new season is set to begin. Get ready for some great action in the American Baseball Coalition!