The craziest days of the year are now behind us: The free agency signing period. During the week, back and forth phone calls were made to the desired player of each franchise. These negotiations can make or break a franchise, and many franchises saw this happen right in front of them. If your interested to hear what went down, here you go.
Possibly the best, most talented player in the FA class was Pedro Siqueiros. This man could not sleep, he told me that he even got a phone call at 3 AM! His bidding went all the way up to the league maximum! That is 20,000,000 for 5 years, however the first year he will only receive 18,000,000. That is still a boat load of money. ANd the team that gave him this amount was none other than the New Britain ThunderCats who also signed Damaso Plata to the exact same deal last year. This team is really building up towards a championship. And we will see if it works, I know all the ThunderCat fans are hoping.
On the other hand, there was one team that lost some of their best players during the free agency. The Pittsburgh River Rats ended up losing three Type A free agents: Tino Hubbell, Dave Richardson, and Jose Owen. However, they are awarded with draft picks in the amateur draft because these players were signed by another team, but each of these players were very good. But, maybe they have a plan in store, and they did not need the players. Nobody knows what will happen, only time will tell.
Many other teams made some signings, and each owner is hoping their new signings come up big for them this season. Each team is going into the season with new hopes, but only one team will emerge as the victor. As spring training rolls around, we begin to see a clearer picture of what teams are trying to do. So let's see which team can pull it off.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Rule 5 draft analysis
Fortunately for world Sandberg there were no obvious "studs" left unprotected for this years draft. However, there were still some players that could hang on at the ML level and even make a contribution. Boston picked up Kyle Russell and will apparently be starting him at SS with a defensive back up. Boston pitchers may like his bat but can not be thrilled about the glove, in the long run his future may be 3B. Washington picked up Darrell (wild man) Dolan also at SS - combined with their 1B he could lead the league in errant throws if he plays regularly. The 3rd SS taken was Alex Mecardo from Pittsburg - a defensive Wiz and a Wiff at the plate he should be destined as a pinebrother defensive back up for Colorodo Springs. At catcher Scranton picked up Enrique Pena who should be a solid defensive catcher with a good eye (walks). With the possible exception of Amp Sexton, who is presently injuried and therefore harder to predict, this observer expects the rest of the players to end up on the waiver wire before the year is out.
Fortunately for world Sandberg there were no obvious "studs" left unprotected for this years draft. However, there were still some players that could hang on at the ML level and even make a contribution. Boston picked up Kyle Russell and will apparently be starting him at SS with a defensive back up. Boston pitchers may like his bat but can not be thrilled about the glove, in the long run his future may be 3B. Washington picked up Darrell (wild man) Dolan also at SS - combined with their 1B he could lead the league in errant throws if he plays regularly. The 3rd SS taken was Alex Mecardo from Pittsburg - a defensive Wiz and a Wiff at the plate he should be destined as a pinebrother defensive back up for Colorodo Springs. At catcher Scranton picked up Enrique Pena who should be a solid defensive catcher with a good eye (walks). With the possible exception of Amp Sexton, who is presently injuried and therefore harder to predict, this observer expects the rest of the players to end up on the waiver wire before the year is out.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Welcome back to all old owners and to the new owners who have joined. I really don't know why we had such a large group of departing owners but I am hoping it is the last time we have to deal with that kind of an event. I feel that we are very fortunate to have recruited so many seasoned and gongho owners and look forward to the season.
I will try to post an injury report every 25 games or so for the league as a whole and look forward to reading other owners contributions.
I will try to post an injury report every 25 games or so for the league as a whole and look forward to reading other owners contributions.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Is it Christmas Time or Baseball Time?
As the season of giving and spending time with your family rolls around, it is also time for a new season on the diamond. The long anticipated season is now here. Despite some troubles throughout the off season, all the owners in Sandberg are psyched up for Season 18. The veteran owners who stuck through the hard times finally got enough new owners to take over some of the teams that had been abandoned. "It was hard to deal with, but I'm glad I stayed here. I hope that this never happens again, and that we can get over it and start a great new season of ball." stated Griv F. the owner of the Pittsburgh River Rats.
As many of you Sandberg owners know, there was lots of trouble this past off-season. However, if you haven't heard, here's the scoop:
Fans were shocked when a whopping 3 teams made it from the AL West. It was even crazier when 2 of those teams met in the AL Championship: The Colorado Canadian Red Stripers and the Las Vegas Gamblers. The Red Stripers were doubted early in the season because of their dealing of Delgado. Fans were outraged at this move, but it would end up working out. During the AL Championship, Blake Radek, owner of the Gamblers, "went all bleeding heart liberal," as a close source explained to me. The rivalry between these two teams is very heated and has been going on ever since Season 16 when Coach 34 took over the Colorado Canadian Red Stripers. The fans are relentless at these games, and many fights break out at these events. I would not recommend bringing your kid to one of these games. Never before had the owners taken part in these heated quarrels until now. This series was around the time of Thanksgiving, and these remarks made by Radek were all about Indians and Turkeys. "I have never seen such an inappropriate remark made by an owner. He was a very well-respected man, but not anymore." stated Coach 34. This may be the reason for the abandonment of several owners. After the end of the season, 2 very mysterious disappearing's happened. 2 others informed the Commissioner, but it was a very unexpected departure. Here's what the Commissioner had to say, "There's nothing we can do, we just have to move forward, forget the past, and have a great season." And let's hope he's right.
Excluding all these unfortunate events, the Sandberg owners had a satisfactory season. The league even had some shocking victories. Around playoff time, it appeared that the favorites were the Austin Stunners from the NL and from the AL, the front-runner was the Omaha Buffaloes, 7 time defending champions. Anyhow, neither of them made the World Series! Surprisingly, it was between the Colorado Canadian Red Stripers vs. the Pittsburgh River Rats. And after only 4 games, the Red Stripers took the series and swept the River Rats. Here's what Coach 34 had to say about his team's victory:
"This year has been pretty crazy. Between the troubles and mystery disappearing's of owners, somehow our team stuck in there and took advantage of the lack of discipline within the other franchises. But we now have to put that behind us, and i think we did that after the parade. I've never seen a better parade than the one we put on in Colorado. We might have the strongest fan base in the country, and I believe that the Striper nation will have a strong showing at every game this year. Hopefully we can win it all again."
Those are some strong words there, the coach must have great faith in that team, and the world series can really go to anyone this year. It looks like it will be a toss up. Back to this past years championship team, the man that really changed this series was Rod Perry. Throughout the playoffs he had a Batting Average of .367 while blasting 4 Home Runs. This NL All-Star also snagged a Silver Slugger and Golden Glove Award. This man was unstoppable this season, and here was his response to his break-out season after the final out in the World Series:
" I was just out there having a blast and having the time of my life, it just so happened that my play was good enough to snatch these awards. I'm looking forward to doing it again this season, now I have to get my champagne goggles on."
All of us over here at Sandberg Gazette weren't allowed into the celebration down in the locker room, but we're sure they had a blast. Who knows what will happen this year? We all hope there will be no more problems, but we can't control other owners actions. Also, will another underdog emerge to win the World Series this year? Only time will tell, so get ready Sandberg fans, here comes the new season, and have a great Christmas.
As many of you Sandberg owners know, there was lots of trouble this past off-season. However, if you haven't heard, here's the scoop:
Fans were shocked when a whopping 3 teams made it from the AL West. It was even crazier when 2 of those teams met in the AL Championship: The Colorado Canadian Red Stripers and the Las Vegas Gamblers. The Red Stripers were doubted early in the season because of their dealing of Delgado. Fans were outraged at this move, but it would end up working out. During the AL Championship, Blake Radek, owner of the Gamblers, "went all bleeding heart liberal," as a close source explained to me. The rivalry between these two teams is very heated and has been going on ever since Season 16 when Coach 34 took over the Colorado Canadian Red Stripers. The fans are relentless at these games, and many fights break out at these events. I would not recommend bringing your kid to one of these games. Never before had the owners taken part in these heated quarrels until now. This series was around the time of Thanksgiving, and these remarks made by Radek were all about Indians and Turkeys. "I have never seen such an inappropriate remark made by an owner. He was a very well-respected man, but not anymore." stated Coach 34. This may be the reason for the abandonment of several owners. After the end of the season, 2 very mysterious disappearing's happened. 2 others informed the Commissioner, but it was a very unexpected departure. Here's what the Commissioner had to say, "There's nothing we can do, we just have to move forward, forget the past, and have a great season." And let's hope he's right.
Excluding all these unfortunate events, the Sandberg owners had a satisfactory season. The league even had some shocking victories. Around playoff time, it appeared that the favorites were the Austin Stunners from the NL and from the AL, the front-runner was the Omaha Buffaloes, 7 time defending champions. Anyhow, neither of them made the World Series! Surprisingly, it was between the Colorado Canadian Red Stripers vs. the Pittsburgh River Rats. And after only 4 games, the Red Stripers took the series and swept the River Rats. Here's what Coach 34 had to say about his team's victory:
"This year has been pretty crazy. Between the troubles and mystery disappearing's of owners, somehow our team stuck in there and took advantage of the lack of discipline within the other franchises. But we now have to put that behind us, and i think we did that after the parade. I've never seen a better parade than the one we put on in Colorado. We might have the strongest fan base in the country, and I believe that the Striper nation will have a strong showing at every game this year. Hopefully we can win it all again."
Those are some strong words there, the coach must have great faith in that team, and the world series can really go to anyone this year. It looks like it will be a toss up. Back to this past years championship team, the man that really changed this series was Rod Perry. Throughout the playoffs he had a Batting Average of .367 while blasting 4 Home Runs. This NL All-Star also snagged a Silver Slugger and Golden Glove Award. This man was unstoppable this season, and here was his response to his break-out season after the final out in the World Series:
" I was just out there having a blast and having the time of my life, it just so happened that my play was good enough to snatch these awards. I'm looking forward to doing it again this season, now I have to get my champagne goggles on."
All of us over here at Sandberg Gazette weren't allowed into the celebration down in the locker room, but we're sure they had a blast. Who knows what will happen this year? We all hope there will be no more problems, but we can't control other owners actions. Also, will another underdog emerge to win the World Series this year? Only time will tell, so get ready Sandberg fans, here comes the new season, and have a great Christmas.
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