Season 25 All-Star Recap

The All-Star break has passed for Season 25, so let's take a look back at the festivities!

On the AL team, Delino Santana of Charlotte made his 11th All-Star Appearance to lead the way.  There were 18 first-time All-Stars on the AL team, with only one other player making more than their 3rd appearance.  Boise had the most AL All-Stars with 7.

The NL team had 10 first-time All-Stars, with Durham's Valerio Baez and Honolulu's Justin Jordan leading the way, each make their 8th All-Star appearance.  Durham had the most All-Stars on the NL side with 5.

The Home Run Derby saw Durham's Julio Park dominate the Final, winning 9-3, making him the back-to-back champion, a feat that you don't see too often.

The All-Star game itself was a thriller, with the NL scoring 2 in the top of the 9th to take a 5-3 lead, only for the AL to come back with 3 in the bottom half to take the 6-5 win. Kennie Owen hit the game-winning double with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th to put him at 3 for 3 for the day, good enough to win All-Star Game MVP.

The US team dominated the Futures Game, led by lead-off man Vince Knotts who was 1 for 2 with 3 walks, 3 runs and a stolen base that earned him the game's MVP honors.

Here is the complete list of All-Stars for Season 25!

American League
Starters

	Player	Team	Appearance
C	Harry Young	New Britain	1st
1B	Jose Reyes	Charlotte	5th
2B	Tuck Chester	Little Rock	2nd
3B	Albie Latos	Nashville	1st
SS	Delino Santana	Charlotte	11th
LF	Patrick Grieve	New Britain	2nd
CF	Charles Gang	Oakland	1st
RF	Ernest Hancock	Little Rock	3rd
DH	Wendell Myatt	Oakland	2nd

Pitchers

	Player	Team	Appearance
P	Howie Lockwood	Nashville	2nd
P	Jamey Spiers	Charlotte	1st
P	Everth Almanzar	New Britain	2nd
P	Boone James	Ottawa	1st
P	Henry Colin	Cleveland	3rd
P	Roland Piper	Seattle	1st
P	Diego Campos	Nashville	1st
P	Omir Kelly	Boise	1st
P	Alex Wong	Helena	2nd
P	Nicholas Cox	Little Rock	3rd
P	Pedro Rios	Oakland	1st
P	Todd Morgan	Boise	1st
P	Jimmie Machado	Little Rock	1st

Reserves

	Player	Team	Appearance
C	Morris Washington	Boise	1st
1B	Sherman Dunston	Boise	3rd
2B	David Messmer	Boise	1st
3B	Alving Osoria	Pawtucket	1st
SS	Weldon Kendrick	Little Rock	1st
LF	Tim Holm	Boise	1st
CF	Rougned Flande	Nashville	1st
RF	Kennie Owen	Boise	1st

AL All-Stars by Team

Boise	7
Little Rock	5
Nashville	4
Charlotte	3
New Britain	3
Oakland	3
Cleveland	1
Helena	1
Ottawa	1
Pawtucket	1
Seattle	1

National League
Starters

	Player	Team	Appearance
C	Ron Bailey	New York	2nd
1B	Julio Park	Durham	5th
2B	Rodrigo Toregas	Louisville	5th
3B	Gary Castillo	Rochester	1st
SS	Gonzalez Bennett	Syracuse	1st
LF	Bert Crosby	Durham	2nd
CF	Ken Ingram	Chicago	7th
RF	Christopher Hamilton	Rochester	1st

Pitchers

	Player	Team	Appearance
P	Burke Gibson	Salt Lake City	2nd
P	Matty Prieto	Durham	3rd
P	Tim Blair	Syracuse	6th
P	Nathan Ross	Richmond	3rd
P	Ellis Brock	Salt Lake City	7th
P	Alex Rosa	Chicago	1st
P	Ralph Moseley	Richmond	7th
P	Valerio Baez	Durham	8th
P	Justin Jordan	Honolulu	8th
P	Nicholas Gil	Las Vegas	5th
P	Norberto Morales	Richmond	4th
P	Albie Tavarez	Washington	1st
P	Teoscar Alberro	Buffalo	1st
P	Douglas White	Rochester	1st

Reserves

	Player	Team	Appearance
C	Darrel Atkins	Syracuse	1st
1B	Kyle Surtain	Syracuse	5th
2B	Abraham O'Neill	Las Vegas	2nd
3B	Dingo Price	Chicago	5th
SS	Edgardo Serra	Chicago	1st
LF	Scott Serrano	Richmond	4th
CF	Ivan Veras	Louisville	1st
RF	Jarrod King	Durham	2nd

NL All-Stars by Team

Durham	5
Chicago	4
Richmond	4
Syracuse	4
Rochester	3
Las Vegas	2
Louisville	2
Salt Lake City	2
Buffalo	1
Honolulu	1
New York	1
Washington	1

Season 25 Power Rankings #2

We're past the halfway mark of Season 25, so it's time to check in with another edition of the power rankings!  And we have a new number 1!  Posting the best record since the last rankings with the #1 offense is Little Rock, and they top this edition of the rankings.  Chicago has bounced back from a slow start and is up 7 spots to #2.  Up 9 spots to #3 is the team leading the world in pitching, Salt Lake City.  Syracuse is also up 9 spots, climbing to #4 with greatly improved hitting.  Rounding out the top 5, is preseason #1 Boise, who got out of the gate slow, but is heating up.  Now for the biggest climbers and biggest falls since the last rankings!

Biggest Climbers: #3 Salt Lake City (+9), #4 Syracuse (+9), #16 Oakland (+9), #14 New York (NL) (+8), #2 Chicago (=7)

Biggest Falls: #28 Kansas City (-14), #17 Louisville (-10), #13 Buffalo (-8), #18 Honolulu (-8)

Here are the complete rankings, good luck to all in the second half!

					Pitching		Hitting		LAST 41
	Team	W	L	PREV	Rank	Chg	Rank	Chg	W	L
1	Little Rock	58	24	2	8	8	1	1	31	10
2	Chicago	46	36	9	2	5	6	4	26	15
3	Salt Lake City	53	29	12	1	5	14	2	30	11
4	Syracuse	48	34	13	4	0	15	9	26	15
5	Boise	50	32	8	17	5	2	-1	27	14
6	Durham	53	29	1	12	-10	8	0	23	18
7	Richmond	47	35	11	11	-6	9	11	24	17
8	Nashville	47	35	3	3	-2	12	-1	22	19
9	Rochester	46	36	4	13	-5	4	2	22	19
10	New Britain	46	36	16	5	9	19	0	23	18
11	Charlotte	46	36	6	17	1	11	-7	22	19
12	Pawtucket	44	38	15	16	1	10	-1	22	19
13	Buffalo	44	38	5	19	-7	7	-2	21	20
14	New York (NL)	41	41	22	10	3	23	3	24	17
15	Las Vegas	40	42	21	7	8	21	2	22	19
16	Oakland	40	42	25	22	6	12	1	25	16
17	Louisville	45	37	7	26	-1	2	1	20	21
18	Honolulu	45	37	10	15	-4	17	0	20	21
19	Helena	43	39	17	14	-11	24	4	22	19
20	New York (AL)	39	43	20	9	1	28	-3	21	20
21	Ottawa	38	44	23	6	3	32	0	20	21
22	Norfolk	40	42	27	24	3	22	5	21	20
23	Cleveland	39	43	18	23	-3	18	-6	17	24
24	Seattle	40	42	19	20	1	26	-11	19	22
25	Monterrey	37	45	28	27	2	16	2	21	20
26	Santa Fe	31	51	26	31	1	5	9	14	27
27	Burlington	32	50	24	25	-1	24	-2	15	26
28	Kansas City	32	50	14	30	-11	20	-13	10	31
29	Atlanta	30	52	29	20	3	31	-2	15	26
30	Washington	32	50	30	29	-3	29	2	15	26
31	Oklahoma City	25	57	32	28	2	30	0	13	28
32	Albuquerque	15	67	31	32	-1	27	-6	3	38

Season 25 Power Rankings #1

A quarter of the season has passed, so it's time to see how the power rankings have shifted from the preseason rankings!  And yes, there's a new #1.  First time #1 Boise couldn't hold the top spot, so they pass the baton to another first time #1, the team off to the hottest start this season, Durham! Little Rock is up 4 spots to claim the #2 ranking.  All the way up from #21 to #3 is the world's top pitching team, Nashville!  Rounding out the top 5 is two more teams making the jump from outside the top 10, Rochester and Buffalo.  Now for the biggest climbers and biggest falls since the preseason rankings!

Biggest Climbers: #3 Nashville (+18), #7 Louisville (+11), #4 Rochester (+10), #16 New Britain (+10)

Biggest Falls: #17 Helena (-13), #32 Oklahoma City (-13) #15 Pawtucket (-12), #22 New York (NL) (-12), #19 Seattle (-11)

Here are the complete rankings, good luck to all as the season trucks on!

					Pitching	Hitting
	Team	W	L	PREV	Rank	Rank
1	Durham	30	11	9	2	8
2	Little Rock	27	14	6	16	2
3	Nashville	25	16	21	1	11
4	Rochester	24	17	14	8	6
5	Buffalo	23	18	11	12	5
6	Charlotte	24	17	2	18	4
7	Louisville	25	16	18	25	3
8	Boise	23	18	1	22	1
9	Chicago	20	21	5	7	10
10	Honolulu	25	16	13	11	17
11	Richmond	23	18	7	5	20
12	Salt Lake City	23	18	16	6	16
13	Syracuse	22	19	15	4	24
14	Kansas City	22	19	22	19	7
15	Pawtucket	22	19	3	17	9
16	New Britain	23	18	26	14	19
17	Helena	21	20	4	3	28
18	Cleveland	22	19	17	20	12
19	Seattle	21	20	8	21	15
20	New York (AL)	18	23	23	10	25
21	Las Vegas	18	23	12	15	23
22	New York (NL)	17	24	10	13	26
23	Ottawa	18	23	20	9	32
24	Burlington	17	24	28	24	22
25	Oakland	15	26	30	28	13
26	Santa Fe	17	24	31	32	14
27	Norfolk	19	22	24	27	27
28	Monterrey	16	25	32	29	18
29	Atlanta	15	26	25	23	29
30	Washington	17	24	27	26	31
31	Albuquerque	12	29	29	31	21
32	Oklahoma City	12	29	19	30	30

Season 25 Preseason Power Rankings

OK, we're a little bit into Season 25, so these are late; however, these rankings were based on Opening Day rosters, the results just weren't tallied until now.  So, here we go!

Coming in on top is a bold choice, a first time #1, and it's Boise!  The 95 game winners last season have always had a great offense and it appears their Starting Pitching looks very good, so they earn the top spot in our rankings.  At #2, we have the top rated hitting squad, Charlotte, who also has very good pitching.  The top rated team in Starting Pitching, Pawtucket comes in at #3.  Rounding out the top 5 are Helena and Chicago.  At 6 and 7 are last season's top regular season team, Little Rock and the World Series champs, Richmond.

For those that have higher than expected rankings, good luck living up to the hype, and for those that are pinning these up as bulletin board material, I hope you prove me wrong!

Here are the complete rankings, good luck to all in Season 25!

				Starting	Relief
		Season 24		Pitching	Pitching	Hitting	Fielding
	Team	W	L	Rank	Rank	Rank	Rank
1	Boise	95	67	2	12	4	23
2	Charlotte	96	66	3	25	1	12
3	Pawtucket	85	77	1	6	9	25
4	Helena	108	54	4	9	12	12
5	Chicago	91	71	14	2	3	10
6	Little Rock	112	50	11	22	1	7
7	Richmond	94	68	5	5	9	18
8	Seattle	86	76	9	10	7	1
9	Durham	104	58	10	16	5	7
10	New York (NL)	64	98	6	24	8	4
11	Buffalo	73	89	23	3	6	25
12	Las Vegas	88	74	12	4	20	16
13	Honolulu	88	74	8	21	20	10
14	Rochester	82	80	20	8	14	1
15	Syracuse	89	73	18	6	17	6
16	Salt Lake City	78	84	19	13	18	1
17	Cleveland	76	86	16	18	19	18
18	Louisville	92	70	15	29	11	25
19	Oklahoma City	68	94	22	19	13	31
20	Ottawa	86	76	7	23	28	12
21	Nashville	86	76	25	1	25	4
22	Kansas City	71	91	27	20	15	30
23	New York (AL)	83	79	21	15	26	12
24	Norfolk	51	111	28	26	16	18
25	Atlanta	74	88	24	28	23	7
26	New Britain	59	103	13	27	31	28
27	Washington	66	96	17	31	27	23
28	Burlington	69	93	26	32	22	31
29	Albuquerque	76	86	30	14	29	18
30	Oakland	68	94	31	16	30	18
31	Santa Fe	69	93	32	30	24	28
32	Monterrey	65	97	29	11	32	17

Season 25 Free Agency Recap

It's time to kick off blog coverage for Season 25 with a recap of the top free agent signings this offseason!

1. Howie Lockwood, 28, RP
Previous Team: Burlington
Signed with Nashville - 5 Years, $63.8 Million

Relievers getting paid was a big theme this offseason, and Lockwood tops the list.  Looking at his ratings, it's not hard to see why, as it's tough to find any weaknesses.  He boasts a career 2.82 ERA, showing it translates to on-the-field success.  He's also just 28 years old.  Nice pickup for Nashville.

2. Gio Navarro, 28, SP
Previous Team: Albuquerque
Signed with Nashville - 5 Years, $55.8 Million

Navarro has elite ratings across the board as well.  If it weren't for one key rating, his durability, he would be a sure fire max contract player.  His extremely low durability will greatly limit his innings compared to your conventional starter (126.1 is his career high), but a 3.16 career ERA indicates those innings should be highly effective.

3. Allan Blackley, 36, SP
Previous Team: Chicago
Signed with Pawtucket - 5 Years, $54 Million

It's not often you see a 36 year-old get a 5 year deal, but if anyone deserves it, it's Blackley.  His ratings remain outstanding, Cy Young caliber even, and will be a huge boost to the Pawtucket rotation. Age-related decline may be a concern for the later years of the deal, but it may well be worth it for what he'll do the next couple of seasons.

4. Raul Alburquerque, 26, RP
Previous Team: Burlington
Signed with Syracuse - 5 Years, $54 Million

Alburquerque is the other RP to really cash in this offseason, and you can't really blame Syracuse for offering him such a lucrative deal.  He has pretty amazing ratings with no real weaknesses, and is only 26 years old.  Looks like Syracuse has found their bullpen anchor for the next several seasons.

5. Jesus Johnson, 28, SP
Previous Team: Burlington
Signed with Cleveland - 4 Years, $37.2 Million

Johnson has worked out of the bullpen most of his career, but is certainly a capable starter.  It looks like he will get that opportunity in his new home, Cleveland.   His durability is a touch low, but high stamina should make up for it, and he did go 185 innings last season.  With his excellent ratings elsewhere, there's no reason to think he won't succeed.

6. Omir Kelly, 32, SP
Previous Team: Oakland
Signed with Boise - 5 Years, $40 Million

Kelly is nice SP, with a ceiling a bit better than his 4.59 career ERA may indicate.  His RH split and mediocre out pitch seems to be his weaknesses.  Still, he should put forth solid numbers and is capable of eating a ton of innings with an excellent durability-stamina combination.

7. Juan Cervantes, 32, LF
Previous Team: Cleveland
Re-Signed with Cleveland - 3 Years, $23 Million

And a non-pitcher finally appears on the list!  Cervantes is a nice lead-off type with very nice contact and batting eye ratings with nice speed.  He's a plus LF and passable at CF.  Cleveland re-upped this solid contributor for three more seasons.

8. Hiroyuki Masato, 29, 3B
Previous Team: Boise
Signed with Durham - 4 Years, $29 Million

Masato is a plus defensive 3B, with an average bat and some nice speed.  Playing in Durham may boost the offensive stats a bit.  Overall, this appears to be a nice signing.

9. Darrel Atkins, 31, 1B
Previous Team: New York
Signed with Syracuse - 5 Years, $35.8 Million

At the plate, Atkins has a great contact/batting eye combo and a strong RH split that should lead to some nice AVG and OBP numbers.  He has a little bit of pop too.  Catcher seems to be his natural position and he's a decent one at that.  He is a bit of an injury risk.

10. Ellis Brock, 35, SP
Previous Team: Oklahoma City
Signed with Salt Lake City - 2 Years, $13.5 Million

The 35 year-old righty sports phenomenal career numbers, but there are some questions whether or not he is losing some of his effectiveness with age.  He should still be very solid, and a 2 year deal seems about right for him at this point.

11. Max Acevedo, 31, 1B
Previous Team: Helena
Signed with New York - 4 Years, $26.8 Million

Coming off an outstanding run with Helena, which saw him break the World's RBI record last season and pound 62 Home Runs, Acevedo, a pure power hitter, heads to New York.  He also has great splits, but low contact and batting eye, which means a lot of strikeouts, but when he connects, look out.

12. Anthony Wilkinson, 34, SP
Previous Team: Durham
Signed with Little Rock - 3 Years, $19.9 Million

Wilkinson goes from an NL powerhouse to an AL powerhouse this offseason, as the 34 year-old righty signed with Little Rock.  He's coming off a very nice season in Durham, and his ratings are very good, so it wouldn't be surprised to continue his good fortunes in Little Rock.

13. Willy Lester, 32, 3B
Previous Team: Pawtucket
Signed with Salt Lake City - 3 Years, $18.9 Million

Lester is still a very solid defensive 3B at this point in his career, although he's been playing mostly in RF for SLC.  Nice Batting Eye, Contact and Splits, with some speed but low power.  Still a nice player to have for sure.

14. Patrick Grieve, 31, 2B
Previous Team: Louisville
Signed with New Britain - 1 Year, $6.1 million

Grieve is a terror on the basepaths with a nice batting eye and splits.  He doesn't have much power and his contact is average, but with a .371 career OBP and his baserunning and speed, he definitely adds value.

15. Sal Nelson, 36, SP
Previous Team: Honolulu
Signed with New Britain - 1 Year, $6 Million

Nelson is a nice SP, who's still going strong at age 36.  His splits are only good, not great, but other than that, the rest of his ratings are outstanding.  He's definitely capable of putting up some good number this season for New Britain.

Season 24 Wrap Up - Richmond Comes Out on Top!

Richmond Manamfasha (NL) TXLnghrn View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Richmond Wins Their Third Title in Five Seasons!

The Season 24 Playoffs were a battle yet again, and it's Richmond, ranked #7 in the final power rankings, that came out of it with their 3rd Kenny Powers title in 5 seasons.  Richmond defeated Boise in the World Series in 5 games.  Perhaps Boise didn't have much left in the tank after defeating the top 2 teams in the final power rankings, Helena and Little Rock, in the previous 2 rounds.  The Richmond bats stepped it up in the postseason, clubbing 24 Home Runs in 14 games and finishing with an OPS 77 points higher than their regular season totals.  When the bats get going for the world's top ranked pitching team, they are going to be tough to beat, which was the case during the playoffs, as Richmond's #1 staff continued their excellence with 3.06 playoff ERA.  It was an impressive run for Boise as well, as their pitching staff also majorly stepped it up in the playoffs, which allowed them to topple two 108+ win teams on their way to the World Series.  They couldn't get over that final hump, but congratulations to bubbleboy and Boise on a great run.

That does it for Season 24.  See you back soon for Season 25!

Season 24 Award Winners

Here is your Awards recap for Season 24!

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
American League - Sherman Dunston, Boise - .335 AVG 52 HR 165 RBI
It's just another MVP trophy for Dunston, his 7th.  He did win a batting title in Season 24, the only category he led, and put up very impressive numbers; however, it seems there may have been more deserving candidates this season.  Some must auto-vote for him any time they see him on the ballot. Dunston did not earn any other honors this past season, but he was MVP nonetheless.

National League - Julio Park, Durham - .298 AVG 51 HR 151 RBI
Park, one of the elite power bats in Kenny Powers, put up stellar numbers in leading Durham to their best record in franchise history.  This resulted in him winning his 1st MVP award in Season 24.  Park led the NL in RBI, Slugging and OPS.  He made the All-Star Team, won the Home Run Derby, won a Silver Slugger award and a Gold Glove.  What a season!  He truly did it all in Season 24.

CY YOUNG AWARD
American League - Shawn Olson, Helena - 21-3 2.48 ERA 162 K
The 26 year-old lefty earned his first Cy Young award in Season 24 leading a stellar Helena staff that accumulated an impressive 108 wins.  Olson, the AL's leader in ERA and WHIP, also made his 1st All-Star team in Season 24.  It wouldn't be a surprise to see Olson compete for future Cy Young awards given his impressive ratings, age and the fact that he is on a very strong Helena team.

National League - Tim Blair, Syracuse - 20-2 1.76 ERA 215 K
It's Cy Young award #2 for Blair, who also took the honors in Season 19.  The NL ERA leader tied for the 5th lowest ERA in Kenny Powers history in Season 24, also posting healthy strikeout total.  He also made his 5th All-Star team this past season.  What's even more impressive is that Blair is the career leader in both ERA and WHIP in Kenny Powers, a feat that probably better describes how stellar his career has been.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
American League - Hiram Freeman, Madison - .297 AVG 51 HR 145 RBI
It was quite the season for the Madison rookie Right Fielder, showing that the impressive power he demonstrated in the minors translates over to the big leagues.  The #2 pick in the Season 21 draft, Freeman was up for a short stint in Season 23 before getting to play the full year for Madison in Season 24.  Going forward, he's going to get a lot of K's, as he doesn't have the best batting eye, but when he connects it's a good bet the ball could be leaving the yard.

National League - Shooter Perkins, Durham - 12-4 2.67 ERA 91 K
The Durham righty earned his way into the rotation for a very good Durham team in Season 24 and he did not disappoint, taking home Rookie of the Year honors in the NL with 12 wins and a very good ERA, particularly in the hitter-friendly confines of Durham.  Perkins was the #12 pick in the Season 21 draft.  His ratings indicate he should be solid going forward.  If you were to nitpick, his LH split is average, and doesn't have that one great out pitch, but everything else looks great.

FIREMAN OF THE YEAR
American League -  Butch Gray, New York - 2.12 ERA 41 SV, 1st win
National League - Gene Bonilla, Chicago - 4.30 ERA 43 SV, 1st win

SILVER SLUGGER AWARDS
American League

DH	Wendell Myatt	Oakland	2nd
C	Richard Tateyama	Little Rock	3rd
1B	John Greer	Boston	2nd
2B	Sean Lewis	Helena	3rd
3B	Geovany Batista	New Britain	1st
SS	Delino Santana	Charlotte	5th
LF	Al Hughes	Helena	1st
CF	Brett Puckett	Nashville	2nd
RF	Ernest Hancock	Little Rock	2nd

National League

P	Nate White	Washington	1st
C	Deven Hernandez	Honolulu	2nd
1B	Julio Park	Durham	2nd
2B	Albert Valenzuela	Buffalo	7th
3B	Elmer Miller	Honolulu	1st
SS	Brendan O'Neil	Oklahoma City	3rd
LF	Damon Duran	Honolulu	2nd
CF	Norm Hodges	St. Louis	4th
RF	Vic Hall	Louisville	2nd

GOLD GLOVE AWARDS
American League

P	Che-Bang Uchida	Charlotte	1st
C	Mule Raymond	Seattle	1st
1B	Manuel Paez	Madison	1st
2B	David Meng	Little Rock	3rd
3B	Armando Vincente	Cleveland	2nd
SS	Noah Straily	New York	2nd
LF	Charles Gang	Oakland	1st
CF	Miguel Cruz	Monterrey	1st
RF	Walt Silva	Boise	3rd

National League

P	Floyd Glenn	Durham	1st
C	Alfonso Estrada	Rochester	2nd
1B	Julio Park	Durham	1st
2B	Tim Howard	Durham	1st
3B	Dingo Price	Chicago	2nd
SS	Joaquin Ugueto	Honolulu	2nd
LF	Bert Crosby	Durham	1st
CF	Saul Santos	New York	3rd
RF	Darryl Matthews	New York	1st