... Salem Lights ... (92-70 in S10)PAYROLL: $49.9M
KEY ADDS: Koyie Fielder
KEY LOSSES: Frank Evans, Torey Ontiveros, Jaime Jefferies, David Galarraga
It's about time this team finally won the big one. After countless trips to the World Series, the Lights finally brought the trophy home. Now, time to defend it. They did more dealing for future as they said goodbye to some of their pitching (Ontiveros, Evans). They parted ways with Jaime Jefferies, as he signed a FA deal with Boston. They said hello to a bunch of rookies, including the likes of Erv Orie and Brian Yang. Oh yeah, that Denny Gaston guy is back from injury. Need we say more?
PREDICTION: AL WEST CHAMPS
... Oklahoma City Redhawks ... (92-70 in S10)PAYROLL: $98.9M
KEY ADDS: Omar Melian, Jayson Hughes, Rico Pineda, B.C. Medlen, Gary Keefe, George Kidd, Hi Priest
KEY LOSSES: Mario Tallet, Danny Lukasiewicz, Abraham Burke, Guy Fyhrie, Toby Blasingame
This Redhawk team was awfully close to representing the AL West in last season's playoffs. Then, a W16 by Salem kinda put the end to that talk. This season, OKC looks to do more of the same. There will be pitching changes, as Tallet and Lukasiewicz head west to LA. They bring in veterans like George Kidd and Rico Pineda to help out. Keep an eye on BC Medlen, who they got in the deal from LA. He's a future star, folks. Picture Medlen along with Pedro Rodriguez in the OKC lineup. So did you? We did too, and we like it a lot.
PREDICTION: 2nd PLACE
... Las Vegas Vegan Vampires ... (85-77 in S10)PAYROLL: $71.2M
KEY ADDS: NONE
KEY LOSSES: Pat Chen, Harry York, Geraldo Ozuna
The solid Las Vegas squad comes into S11 fresh off a 3rd place finish from S10, and a lot of expectations. If they are in practically any other division, we'd be talking about them competing for a division title. No changes to hardly speak of, minus a few FA losses. Nothing big, and that's fine with the Vegan Vampires. Their core nucleus remains (Mark Martin, Vladimir Johnson,) plus a healthy Louis Bunch returns.
PREDICTION: 3rd PLACE
... San Francisco VooDoo ... (83-79 in S10)PAYROLL: $95.5M
KEY ADDS: Jumbo Mendoza, Javier Montanez, Michael Kobayashi, Vance Franco, Donovan Cole, Yoo-Nah Tabaka, Rip Day
KEY LOSSES: Hi Priest, Jonathan Rivera, Donnie Bird, Larry Gonzales, Jim Bailes, Zachrey Wainhouse
A ton of changes for the VooDoo. A ton of new players, even the city they played in. The VooDoo take the trip south from Vancouver into the United States, where they setup shop in San Francisco. Lots of players leave, lots of players come in. How will they do? I have no freaking clue, so I'll stand pat with last season. They'll be over .500, but the toughness of the division rears its ugly head once again.
PREDICTION: 4th PLACE
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