My 2 cents '08 Taste Great Division

TASTE GREAT EAST
HHA- In '07 HHA won 103 games and won the East. Then in the LCS saw a 3 games to 1 lead over SPR evaporate and lost in a hard fought 7 game series. 2008 Looks to be another 3 team race and HHA has the horses to be the lead horse. HHA has 1 of the best rotations in NASBL with C.Zambrano (20-10, 3.81era), R.Oswalt (18-7, 3.84era), Brandon Webb (15-12, 4.46era), C.Wang (11-6, 4.91era), and J.Verlander (10-6, 5.55era) all will return and hope to repeat their success of '07. HOF Closer M.Rivera (4-3-40sv, 1.60era) is back to anchor the bullpen. HHA lead the NASBL last year with a team batting average of .295. Shortstop and League Leading hitter M.Tejada .371ba 39hr with 155rbi returns along with some new faces 2B-man P.Polanco and OF'er S.Victoria who came over in trades before the draft. HHA drafted young hitters in Jame Loney and Casey Kotchman to fill in at 1B/DH. Look for Manager Stan to have HHA pick up where they left off in '07 and should be in the race the entire season.
SPR- After winning 101 games in '07, SPR went to the World Series and lost a very hard fought series to DFW 4 games to 2. One might think the Isotopes might have a 'nuclear meltdown', well according to our man Smithers that's the last thing that will happen. First Manager Doug Sherlag traded Fan Favorite Closer Joe Nathan who had 3 straight years of over 40 saves each to ILL for power hitter Adam Dunn to help protect last year's MVP Lance Berkman (.351ba, 292b, 53hr, 137rbi). Dunn will be a perfect fit in M.Burns Mem. Field. SPR also helped themselves in the draft. They drafted 3Bman Akinori Iwamura and on-base wizard OF/DH Jack Cust. The pitching staff is lead by Cy Young Winner C.C. Sabathia (19-6, 2.43era, 11cg) is coming off an outstanding '07. Also in the rotation T.Lilly (13-6, 3.65era), J.Vazquez (14-11, 4.75era). Look for AJ Burnett (7-7, 4.76era) to pick up the starts that SPR loss in N.Robinson. New Closer Jonathan Papelbon should pick up right where Nathan left off. Like '07 SPR will be a contender again in '08.

LCC- In '07 LCC won 97 games, which would have won Two Divisions, however LCC just happens to be in the East and just missed the play-offs. You can bet your last dollar that missing the play offs like that will give Manager Beard more motivation this season. '07 the Cannibals scored more runs (1039) and hit more HR's (322) than any other team in the NASBL. The offense is lead by last season's Homerun leader 'Big' Pa Pi David Ortiz (.279ba, 57hr, 140rbi). Chipper Jones (.352ba, 332b, 38hr, 107rbi) looks to improve on his '07 numbers and ROY catcher Brian McCann (.320ba, 292b, 25hr, 83rbi) will lead a very powerful lineup. Eric Bedard (14-10, 5.11era) will anchor the starting staff along with Mr. Bloody sock Curt Schilling (5-5, 5.60era), and veteran Mike Mussina (16-10, 4.37era) both hope to regain their old winning form. Jeff Francis (14-9, 4.15era), and 1st Rd pick LHP Rich Hill round out the staff. The relief staff is deep with the likes of Rafael Perez, Ryan Franklin, Derrick Turnbow, Juan Cruz, Taylor Tankersley, Brian Shouse however closer duties will be the 1st to answer the bullpen phone.

ILL- Early in '07 Manager Brad Sherlag realized it was going to be a rebuilding year and made the most of it by trading off some current talent for two 1st round draft picks. ILL looks to go from pretender to contender thanks to 1st round Draft picks in SS-Troy Tulowitzki, power hitting 1Bman Carlos Pena and 2Bman Kelly Johnson. CF Carlos Beltran (.278ba, 352b, 40hr, 84rbi) returns and the new DH ex-SS Hanley Rameriz (.265ba, 442b, 6tr, 17hr, 74rbi 37sb) looks to have a breakout season. Don't forget about the table-sitter in Chone Figgins. They pitching staff is lead by Roy Halladay (11-16, 4.70era) James Shields (2-3, 5.27era),Joe Blanton(3-13, 8.90era) Tom Glavine (11-13, 5.12era) and 4th Rd pick Micah Owings. In another big move to shore up the closer role ILL traded for stopper Joe Nathan for SPR. Sherlag to Sherlag D'OH! ILL also brought back Fan Favorites who had been cut in the likes of P Chris Capuano & 2Bman Tadahito Iguchi. The East might be the toughest Division from Top to bottom and ILL has the horses to compete this season.

TASTE GREAT SOUTH
OJW- '07 was a year that had it all for OJW. Let's start with the Good, OJW finished 2nd in the South just 2 games behind TTB. Alfonso Soriano while batting just .237 had a great run production with 95r, 402b, 40hr, 116rbi and stole 43 bases and was thrown out 10 times in becoming a 40/40 man! Manny Ramirez didn't have his MVP type numbers (.285, 36hr, 93rbi). LHP Scott Kamir was the only starter with a winning record (11-7, 3.93era). The Bad, only won 68 games. Jake Peavy and Tim Hudson went a combined 19-30, 5.68era. The Ugly, every team in the South finished under .500 and OJW was next to last in the NASBL in Team Batting. The Outlook for '08 looks to be a lot more of the Good this year. It started when OJW drafted 2Bman Dustin Pedroia with their 1st Rd pick and hit it big again with their 2nd Rd pick in Closer Joakim Soria. OJW hopes that CF'er Willy Taveras (.279ba, 39sb) improves on his '07 numbers and is truly an OF'er the pitching staff enjoys playing behind them. Look for pitchers Jake Peavy and Tim Hudson to have bounce back seasons. Mark has all OJW fans feeling lucky and of course got them saying 'Do you feel lucky?'

NJT- '07 saw NJT winning only 60 games. Well management wants to get back to the winning blueprint days of the teams that won over 90 games year to year. The first thing that John Moscariello did was trade for the Top pick in the Draft where they selected young fireballer pitcher Tim Lincecum who they hope will be in he rotation for years to come. Along with Jemery Bonderman (16-14, 4.57era) and converted reliever Chad Billingsley (0-1, 8.23era) and NJT hopes Oliver Perez can find his old form of '06 when he was with OJW and posted an 11-5 record, 3.50era. Veteran Francisco Cordero holds down the Closer duties and has 89 saves the last 4 seasons for NJT. NJT are lead by 'All-World' 3Bman Alex Rodriquez (.316ba, 33hr, 117rbi) who had a down year in '07. Wait DOWN YEAR? That's my kind of down year! After an injury '07 year SS J.J.Hardy looks to join a fine young DP combination with 2Bman Howie Kendrick or Ian Kinsler. DH Gary Sheffield looks to improve on his '07 numbers of .344ba in just 44 games. OF Nick Swisher (.267BA, 38HR, 104) looks to pick up where he left off last season. 2nd Rd pick Delvin Young was a steal. Look for NJT to improve this season and with a few breaks will be in the race all year.

GRK- After a miserable year in '07 GRK looks to regain their Championship form of '06. The offense is lead by OF'er Vladimir Guerrero (.354ba, 218h 442b, 39hr, 122rbi) who is coming off a Monster '07 year. Look for Alex Rois, Magglio Orddonez and Nick Markakis to pick up their production for long time Fan Favorites Jim Edmonds and Ray Durham both were released prior to the Draft. SS Jimmy Rollins looks to have a breakout season too. Manager Johnny Miller made the most of this year's draft by taking P Yovani Gallardo with the 2nd overall pick. In Rd 2 they nabbed P Dustin McGowan and then in a traded made with MSU they grabbed Closer Manny Corpas. In Rd 3 they got Carlos Villanueva, all 4 players drafted will be a big part of GRK success or downfall this year. The starting staff also includes veterans Noah Lowry (2-9, 5.70era) and Kelvim Escobar (7-14, 5.54era). Back in '06 when it was Roger Clemens (23-2, 2.37era) who had an Incredible year to lead GRK. This year GRK need all their young arms to come to gather.


LVI- Without even playing a game new NASBL Manager Kevin Burns made two big changes. First he took over TTB and moved them to their new home in LVI. The big change their was that TTB was a very hitter friendly ballpark where you saw balls flying over the fences left and right. Well new LVI is a pitcher's park where those long homeruns will turn into long flyball outs. The second was a big 6 player deal that saw LVI getting Chase Utley, Carl Crawford, and Matt Capps for Jered Weaver, Matt Holliday, and Mark Ellis from TRY. Manager Burns also had an excellent 1st year Draft by picking Daisuke Matsuzaka (Dice-K) with the 11th overall pick, which will be a perfect fit for 'The Pig Pen' (which is the name of LVI Stadium----Charlie Brown), and in Rd 2 they picked up Josh Hamilton who could become the Best OF'er that comes out of the '08 Draft. 1Bman Ryan Howard looks to repeat his '07 stats of .297ba, 54hr, 133rbi, should have alot of RBI opportunities with Carl Crawford and Chase Utley reaching base ahead of him. LVI will have a big say who comes out of the South this year!