Season 18 Power Rankings #2

We're past the half way point of Season 18, which means it's time to check in with another edition of the power rankings!   There was a change at the top, as New Britain claims the top spot with an impressive 34-8 run since the last rankings.  Buffalo falls 1 spot to #2, while Honolulu jumps 10 spots up to #3!  Syracuse and Oklahoma City round out the top 5.  Honorable mention goes to Toronto who jumped 12 spots from 21 to 9.   Good luck to all in the second half, here are the complete rankings!

					Offense		Pitching		Last 42
	Team	W	L	PREV	Rank	Chg	Rank	Chg	W	L
1	New Britain	56	26	6	4	2	3	7	34	8
2	Buffalo	56	26	1	2	5	5	-1	26	16
3	Honolulu	50	32	13	1	3	10	2	30	12
4	Syracuse	52	30	3	3	0	11	-5	26	16
5	Oklahoma City	49	33	5	17	1	2	0	26	16
6	Tampa Bay	48	34	7	23	4	1	0	25	17
7	Atlanta	48	34	9	6	6	9	5	24	18
8	Salt Lake City	46	36	11	10	4	6	-1	24	18
9	Toronto	47	35	21	5	8	22	7	27	15
10	Tucson	45	37	8	9	-7	13	0	23	19
11	Little Rock	49	33	2	6	2	18	-3	22	20
12	Richmond	47	35	4	19	-9	4	-1	21	21
13	Burlington	46	36	20	31	-6	8	8	25	17
14	Seattle	42	40	10	17	-1	7	1	20	22
15	Boston	44	38	14	11	-3	27	-3	23	19
16	Oakland	42	40	16	8	-7	20	0	19	23
17	Memphis	45	37	25	30	-5	15	7	26	16
18	Nashville	40	42	22	14	6	19	2	22	20
19	Pawtucket	39	43	12	12	-8	24	-5	19	23
20	Louisville	39	43	24	21	2	17	6	21	21
21	Santa Cruz	42	40	15	28	1	11	-4	19	23
22	New York	38	44	17	15	2	23	-5	18	24
23	Rochester	34	48	26	22	8	14	-4	22	20
24	Helena	35	47	31	16	12	26	1	22	20
25	Charlotte	39	43	19	13	-2	29	-1	18	24
26	San Francisco	35	47	23	20	-5	21	-4	17	25
27	Detroit	34	48	18	25	-4	16	-7	14	28
28	Chicago	31	51	27	28	-4	28	-2	15	27
29	Vancouver	29	53	30	27	4	25	0	14	28
30	New Orleans	26	56	29	26	-4	30	0	11	31
31	Cleveland	22	60	28	24	-5	31	0	10	32
32	San Juan	17	65	32	32	0	32	0	9	33

Season 18 Power Rankings #1

Buffalo takes over the top spot, as Little Rock falls to #2!  Richmond catapults from 24 to 4!  Here's the full rankings!

					Offense	Pitching
	Team	W	L	PREV	Rank	Rank
1	Buffalo	30	10	3	7	4
2	Little Rock	27	13	1	8	15
3	Syracuse	26	14	6	3	6
4	Richmond	26	14	24	10	3
5	Oklahoma City	23	17	2	18	2
6	New Britain	22	18	4	6	10
7	Tampa Bay	23	17	7	27	1
8	Tucson	22	18	9	2	13
9	Atlanta	24	16	17	12	14
10	Seattle	22	18	12	16	8
11	Salt Lake City	22	18	13	14	5
12	Pawtucket	20	20	5	4	19
13	Honolulu	20	20	8	4	12
14	Boston	21	19	10	8	24
15	Santa Cruz	23	17	18	29	7
16	Oakland	23	17	23	1	20
17	New York	20	20	11	17	18
18	Detroit	20	20	14	21	9
19	Charlotte	21	19	26	11	28
20	Burlington	21	19	29	25	16
21	Toronto	20	20	19	13	29
22	Nashville	18	22	15	20	21
23	San Francisco	18	22	22	15	17
24	Louisville	18	22	28	23	23
25	Memphis	19	21	30	25	22
26	Rochester	12	28	16	30	10
27	Chicago	16	24	21	24	26
28	Cleveland	12	28	20	19	31
29	New Orleans	15	25	25	22	30
30	Vancouver	15	25	31	31	25
31	Helena	13	27	27	28	27
32	San Juan	8	32	32	32	32

Season 18 - Preseason Power Rankings

Season 18 is about to kick off, so it's time to check in with the preseason power rankings!   Claiming the top spot, the defending champs Little Rock solidified their squad with a few good pickups this offseason, so they start off as the #1 team!  Traditional powers Oklahoma City, Buffalo, New Britain and Pawtucket round out the top 5.   Will anyone be able to infiltrate the top 5 this season?  It will be interesting to see.   Good luck this season, here are the complete preseason power rankings!

		Season 17
	Team	W	L	Comments
1	Little Rock	89	73	The defending champs look good and added a few players
2	Oklahoma City	98	64	Bring back pretty much the same solid group as last season
3	Buffalo	104	58	Always in the mix it seems, this season should be similar
4	New Britain	111	51	Lost a few Type A guys, but we think they'll be solid still
5	Pawtucket	92	70	Always one of the best offensive teams, should be in the mix
6	Syracuse	92	70	Made a splash in free agency, so could be even better
7	Tampa Bay	91	71	Add a few pieces this offseason to an already solid club
8	Honolulu	91	71	Dealt stud SP Mouton, but seemed to get a good return
9	Tucson	98	64	Still looking strong here, and should be in contention again
10	Boston	82	80	Made some nice moves in free agency, so should improve
11	New York	79	83	Seem to be looking to make a push this season
12	Seattle	92	70	Should be solid, the team looks the same as last season
13	Salt Lake City	86	76	Not much activity this offseason, but have a good core
14	Detroit	81	81	Had a bit of a step back last season, can they bounce back?
15	Nashville	85	77	Solid team last season, but need better pitching to move up
16	Rochester	83	79	Majorly up and down last season, but pitching looks solid
17	Atlanta	83	79	Pitching held them back last season, will it improve?
18	Santa Cruz	91	71	Under new ownership, this team has a solid pitching staff
19	Toronto	86	76	Played a bit above their numbers last season, so we'll see
20	Cleveland	78	84	Excellent offense, but need better pitching to take next step
21	Chicago	71	91	New owner signed some guys, but pitching still a concern
22	San Francisco	76	86	They've got great offense, but pitching hasn't panned out yet
23	Oakland	76	86	Another team with great offense and poor pitching last season
24	Richmond	72	90	Seem to be improving, but offense is a slight concern here
25	New Orleans	67	95	Didn't do much this offseason it seems, so we'll have to see
26	Charlotte	59	103	Pitching was an issue last season, and might be again
27	Helena	57	105	Have been in rebuild mode, can they take a step forward?
28	Louisville	68	94	Also have been rebuilding, and seemed better last season
29	Burlington	70	92	Offense is tough to come by in their park, pitching is good
30	Memphis	70	92	Lack of offense seems to be an issue for them as well
31	Vancouver	57	105	Looking to break through but not sure it will be this season
32	San Juan	57	105	Major pitching issues last season and offense was not great

Season 18 Free Agency Preview

Kenny Powers has kicked off season 18, and it's time for the first blog post of the season, the Free Agency preview.  Overall, it's a pretty week free agent class, but there are still some solid players to be had.  Here's a rundown of our top 10 Free Agents available this offseason.  Good luck to those looking to land a player to get them over the hump this season!

1. David Frias, 30, 3B
Type A Free Agent
Key Stat: .816 OPS
Salary Over/Under: 5 years, $65 million

Possible Destinations: Boston, Pawtucket, Salt Lake City, Burlington

Signed with Boston - 5 years, $45 million

Frias gets the nod as our top free agent this offseason, as he is a 5 tool player who would be above average in the field anywhere put shortstop, has good speed and baserunning ability and very good contact, power and splits to go with a decent enough batting eye.  His overall makeup puts him on top of the board, rather than dominance in any one particular area.

2. Alving Machado, 30, CF
Type A Free Agent
Key Stat: .802 career OPS
Salary Over/Under: 4 years, $40 million

Possible Destinations: Santa Cruz, Syracuse, Burlington, San Juan

Signed with Chicago - 5 years, $41 million

Machado's bat is solid, but not spectacular, with nice power and batting eye, good splits and decent contact.  In the field, he has plus range, but his glove is a bit questionable.  With his bat, you might stick him out in CF and see what happens.

3. Rodney Long, 3B, 29
No Designation
Key Stat: Ratings over past numbers
Salary Over/Under: 4 years, $32 million

Possible Destinations: Tampa Bay, Boston, Memphis, Little Rock

Signed with Pawtucket - 1 year, $6.24 million

Long's career numbers at the plate do not particularly impress, but he has good contact, power and batting eye, although his splits are mediocre.  In this free agent class that is lacking beyond 1B/DH types, his ability to play a good 3B along with potential for better offensive numbers gets him a high spot on our list.

4. Tommy Stoddard, 29, SP
Type A Free Agent
Key Stat: 3.40 career ERA
Salary Over/Under: $4 years, $44 million

Possible Destinations: Rochester, Salt Lake City, Vancouver, Oakland

Signed with Syracuse - 5 years, $65 million

Stoddard is the top free agent pitcher on our board this offseason, thanks to his outstanding control and splits, and solid pitch selection.  He has excellent velocity and keeps the ball down well.  His only downside is limited stamina/durability which will limit him to 160-170 innings per season, but those should be quality innings that he contributes.  His age, at only 29, is also a plus.

5. Achilles Sadler, 32, DH
No Designation
Key Stat: .951 career OPS
Salary Over/Under: 3 years, $21 million

Possible Destinations: Detroit, Oklahoma City, Memphis, New Orleans

Signed with Atlanta - 2 years, $7.8 million

Sadler has a nice combination of excellent power, splits, particularly vs. LHP, and an elite batting eye to go with decent contact.  A slight decline in power, and a bit of a drop off in numbers last season are a bit of a concern, but his ratings indicate he still has an elite bat.

6. Carlos Mercedes, 30, C
Type B Free Agent
Key Stat: .852 career OPS
Salary Over/Under: 3 years, $20 million

Possible Destinations: Rochester, Burlington, New Orleans, New York

Signed with Honolulu - 4 years, $21.3 million ($16.65 million guaranteed)

Mercedes is another big power bat with plus splits and decent contact and batting eye.  He'd make a serviceable catcher, although his zero range is of slight concern.  Whether at catcher of DH, his huge bat will be a nice asset for any lineup.

7. Ron Wilkinson, 35, SP
Type A Free Agent
Key Stat: 3.70 career ERA
Salary Over/Under: 2 years, $20 million

Possible Destinations: Syracuse, Memphis, Oakland, Louisville

Signed with Tampa Bay - 1 year - $8.5 million

Wilkinson is a solid righty who was put up multiple consecutive solid seasons, putting up an ERA below 4 while throwing over 200 innings.  He's outstanding vs. right handed hitters, and has plus control.  His pitches are good, but not elite, and age is a slight concern, but he should have a few more solid seasons left in him.

8. Butch Borland, 34, LF
Type B Free Agent
Key Stat: .921 career OPS
Salary Over/Under: 2 years, $17 million

Possible Destinations: Detroit, Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City, Little Rock

Signed with Syracuse - 3 years, $20 million ($14 million guaranteed)

Borland is a pure power hitter with nice splits and a pretty good batting eye.  His contact isn't great, but that hasn't stopped him from posting a most impressive career OPS.  He is at the age where hitters start to decline, so a long term contract probably isn't in the works, but he should continue his great hitting for at least a couple of more seasons.

9. Enrique Rivera, 32, RP
Type A Free Agent
Key Stat: 4.14 career ERA
Salary Over/Under: 3 years, $16 million

Possible Destinations: Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Vancouver, Tucson

Signed with Little Rock - 2 years, $9.2 million

Rivera gets the nod as the best reliever in this season's free agent class, thanks to his outstanding control, solid pitches, and very good splits.  He was roughed up a bit last season, which is a concern, but we think he can bounce back and post decent numbers while working 100+ innings.

10. Javier Bonilla, 33, SP
Type B Free Agent
Key Stat: 3.98 ERA last season
Salary Over/Under: 3 years, $26 million

Possible Destinations: Pawtucket, Santa Cruz, Vancouver, San Juan

Signed with Boston - 2 years, $12 million

Bonilla is a workhorse right-hander, with two excellent pitches and solid splits.  His velocity and ability to keep the ball down are good.  His control isn't that of an elite starter, but Bonilla will eat up a ton of innings and has the potential to post solid numbers like he did last season.

Season 17 Wrap Up - Little Rock is your Champion!

Little Rock Urban Achievers (AL) frae View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Little Rock takes the Season 17 title!

In the final regular season power rankings, we noted for #9 Little Rock "Numbers are pretty good, so could make waves in playoffs".  Well, they ended up doing a lot more than that, as they took the whole thing!  They swept their way through Toronto in the Play In Round, and then also took three straight from #1 New Britain in the LCS.  After a grueling 7-game LCS vs. Seattle, they beat the #1 NL seed Buffalo in five games.  Everything came together for Little Rock in the playoffs with the offense click (.809 team OPS) and solid pitching (3.52 team ERA).  Congrats to frae and Little Rock on their first Kenny Powers title!

The individual awards were handed out, let's see who took home the hardware!

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
American League - Sherman Dunston, San Francisco - .343 AVG 56 HR 148 RBI
Dunston had another amazing season for San Francisco to bring home his 2nd straight MVP trophy.  He led the league in Batting Average, OBP, Slugging and OPS and was 2nd in Home Runs and RBI.  Needless to say, he was a runaway winner.  It will be interesting to see how many more MVP's he can rack up, given that he is just 25 years old.  He also won his 2nd Silver Slugger award this season.  Interestingly enough, he has never made the All-Star team!

National League - J.C. Ganzel, Honolulu - .324 AVG 54 HR 154 RBI
Quite interestingly, both MVP's go to players from teams who didn't make the playoffs.  It was too hard to deny Ganzel though, the NL leader in Home Runs, RBI, Hits and Runs, of his 3rd MVP in 4 seasons and 2nd straight.  The 29 year-old slugger made his 5th All-Star appearance and won his 5th Silver Slugger this season as well.

CY YOUNG AWARD
American League -  Valerio Baez, New Britain - 24-7 2.54 ERA 174 K
In by far the closest race of any of the awards, Baez edged out Matty Posada by two votes for the AL Cy Young trophy.  This is the 25 year-old's 2nd win in three seasons, in which he led the league in Wins, Innings Pitched, Quality Starts, and Shutouts, and his 3rd All-Star team.  Baez should be a stud for seasons to come, and could challenge the record of 4 Cy Youngs.

National League - Justin Jordan, Tucson - 21-3 2.15 ERA 205 K
The only first-time winner of a major award this season, Jordan took home the NL Cy Young by a landslide.  Jordan led the NL in Wins, and his ERA and strikeout totals were amongst the best in the league as well.  He also made his 3rd All-Star team this season.  At age 28, Jordan certainly is capable of becoming a repeat winner himself, as are all the other major award winners this season.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
American League -  Elmer Miller, Atlanta - .282 AVG 41 HR 83 RBI
It was quite the rookie campaign for Miller, the 21 year-old Atlanta slugger who was the #5 pick in the Season 14 draft.  You don't see too many rookies top the 40 home run mark.  Miller has outstanding power and excellent splits that should keep him a relevant slugger for seasons to come.  He also made the All-Star team in his impressive rookie campaign.

National League - Tim Blair, Syracuse - 9-7 2.44 ERA 168 K
Blair, a 24 year-old hurler who was the top pick in the Season 15 draft, also was tops in the NL Rookie of the Year voting.  His impressive ERA as a rookie speaks to his talent.  He has elite control and splits, nice velocity, and a strong pitch selection, other he lacks a truly dominant pitch.  That's nitpicking though, Blair certainly should be in the mix for future Cy Young awards, he is truly an elite arm.

FIREMAN OF THE YEAR
American League -  Orlando Ortiz, Seattle - 49 SV, 4.66 ERA (1st win)
National League - Markus Nelson, Tampa Bay - 45 SV, 1.79 ERA (1st win)

That's a wrap on Season 17 - congrats again to frae.  See you next season!

Season 17 League Leaders

With Season 17 in the books and the playoffs under way, it's a good time to look back at this season's League Leaders in Kenny Powers.

OFFENSE
In the American League, Sherman Dunston of San Francisco led the league in batting average, OBP, slugging percentage and OPS.  His slugging percentage of .694 and OPS of 1.130 were each the 4th best single season totals in Kenny Powers history. His season was one for the ages. He also finished 2nd in home runs and RBI, trailing Javier Sivilla of Pawtucket in each category.  Sivilla racked up 57 HR and 155 RBI this season.

In the NL, J.C. Ganzel of Honolulu dominates the league leaders listing, leading the league in Home Runs, RBI, Hits and Runs. He finished 4th in batting average, missing the Triple Crown by 13 batting average points. Jeremy Randall of Buffalo led the league and OBP and OPS, his omission from the top 5 MVP candidates in the NL is truly baffling.

Here are the complete Offensive League Leaders!

American League
Batting Average	Sherman Dunston	San Francisco	.343
Home Runs	Javier Sivilla	Pawtucket	57
RBI	Javier Sivilla	Pawtucket	155
Stolen Bases	Weldon Rando	Toronto	91
Hits	Luis Vega	Pawtucket	199
Runs	David Frias	Scranton	127
OBP	Sherman Dunston	San Francisco	.435
SLG	Sherman Dunston	San Francisco	.694
OPS	Sherman Dunston	San Francisco	1.130
National League
Batting Average	Quilvio Limon	Oklahoma City	.337
Home Runs	J.C. Ganzel	Honolulu	54
RBI	J.C. Ganzel	Honolulu	154
Stolen Bases	Pedro Ibarra	Burlington	68
Hits	J.C. Ganzel	Honolulu	205
Runs	J.C. Ganzel	Honolulu	122
OBP	Jeremy Randall	Buffalo	.423
SLG	Trenidad Franco	Salt Lake City	.638
OPS	Jeremy Randall	Buffalo	1.054

PITCHING
The AL pitching league leaders were dominated by two hurlers. Matty Posada of Nashville led the AL in ERA, Strikeouts, and WHIP.  He missed out on the pitching Triple Crown by three wins, as he was topped in that category by Valerio Baez of New Britain, who in addition to leading the league in wins, led the league in Innings Pitched, Quality Starts, and Shutouts.  His 24 wins tied for the 4th best total in Kenny Powers history, while his 283.2 Innings Pitched was 2nd all-time, and his four shutouts tied for 3rd all-time.

In the NL, multiple category leaders include Ellis Brock of Tampa Bay (WHIP and tied for the lead in Shutouts), Clyde Hurst of St. Louis (Strikeouts and tied for the lead in Quality Starts), and Jim Forbes of Burlington (Innings Pitched and tied for the lead in Shutouts).

Here are the complete Pitching League Leaders!

American League
ERA	Matty Posada	Nashville	2.25
Wins	Valerio Baez	New Britain	24
Strikeouts	Matty Posada	Nashville	212
Saves	Orlando Ortiz	Seattle	49
WHIP	Matty Posada	Nashville	1.02
Innings Pitched	Valerio Baez	New Britain	283.2
Quality Starts	Valerio Baez	New Britain	29
Complete Games	Ted Wagner	Pawtucket	10
Shutouts	Valerio Baez	New Britain	4
National League
ERA	Brad Miles	Tampa Bay	1.94
Wins	Justin Jordan	Tucson	21
Strikeouts	Clyde Hurst	St. Louis	247
Saves	Markus Nelson	Rochester	45
WHIP	Ellis Brock	Tampa Bay	0.94
Innings Pitched	Jim Forbes	Burlington	258.1
Quality Starts	Alberto Campos	Syracuse	27
	Clyde Hurst	St. Louis	27
Complete Games	Erubiel Troncoso	St. Louis	6
Shutouts	Jim Forbes	Burlington	3
	Ellis Brock	Tampa Bay	3

Season 17 Final Power Rankings

The Regular Season has ended for Season 17 and the playoffs are right around the corner, but before they kick off, it's time for the final power rankings of the season!   In a rarity in the power rankings era, the entire top 5 remained the same since the last rankings.  #1 New Britain was clearly the most dominant team in the 2nd half and it will be interesting to see what they do in the playoffs.  NL powerhouses Buffalo, Oklahoma City and Tucson remained 2-4, while Pawtucket stayed at #5.  The defending champs Tampa Bay jump up to 6, winning a tiebreaker to earn a shot to defend their title.  Should be an interesting postseason, good luck to all involved!  Here are the complete rankings!

	Team	W	L	PREV	Comments
1	New Britain	111	51	1	Most dominant team in the second half by a wide margin
2	Buffalo	104	58	2	The NL's top seed will have a number of tough opponents
3	Oklahoma City	98	64	3	Just another great season for them, looking solid for playoffs
4	Tucson	98	64	4	Pitching not as good as other NL elites, but great offense
5	Pawtucket	92	70	5	Solid down the stretch with the best offense in the world
6	Tampa Bay	91	71	11	Great stretch run gets the defending champs in as the 6 seed
7	St. Louis	91	71	7	Great comeback for this squad, miss playoffs on tiebreaker
8	Syracuse	92	70	8	Ended season on W6 to get wild card spot, great pitching
9	Little Rock	89	73	9	Numbers are pretty good, so could make waves in playoffs
10	Honolulu	91	71	6	Tough break missing the playoffs on tiebreaker in tough NL
11	Salt Lake City	86	76	13	They're making a progress, a team to watch next season
12	Seattle	92	70	14	Offense fell off down the stretch, so we'll see in playoffs
13	Chicago	82	80	16	Great last 40 puts them over .500, good sign going forward
14	Detroit	81	81	21	Played better down the stretch, but finish is disappointing
15	Rochester	83	79	10	Completely fell apart the 2nd half after a blazing start
16	Florida	79	83	23	Over .500 the last 40 with numbers up across the board
17	Toronto	86	76	15	Made it in as an AL Wild Card, but numbers down the last 40
18	Nashville	85	77	17	Also an AL Wild Card, but pitching numbers are suspect
19	Atlanta	83	79	20	Nice debut season by new owner, they have potential
20	Oakland	76	86	19	Better the last 40, with both offense and pitching improved
21	San Francisco	76	86	12	Pretty awful down the stretch, but they've got great offense
22	Cleveland	78	84	18	They won their division, pitching improved down the stretch
23	Scranton	71	91	25	Pitching improved significantly the last 40, nice offense too
24	Memphis	70	92	27	They've got great pitching, but offense remains an issue here
25	Richmond	72	90	26	Played .500 ball down the stretch, as the pitching improved
26	Burlington	70	92	22	Pitching fell off the last 40, and the offense didn't produce
27	Louisville	68	94	28	.500 since the last rankings, the pitching improved a lot
28	New Orleans	67	95	24	Pitching was better, but batrs dropped off, so rough last 40
29	Vancouver	57	105	32	Winning record the last 40, numbers improved a lot overall
30	Charlotte	59	103	29	Numbers were up a bit the last 40, but still went 16-24
31	Helena	57	105	30	Pitching was really bad all season, but better the last 40
32	San Juan	57	105	31	Awful pitching down the stretch lands them at the bottom