BARB UNIVERSE "TOPSY-TURVY" AS BREAK APPROACHES
It’s a “brave new world” half-way through the tenth season of Bullard Alternative Reality Baseball. Both of last year’s Central playoff teams are below .500 and rapidly falling from contention. Five-time champion Frostbite Falls is not only below .500 (39-43), but dead last in the Eastern Division! Especially shocking, given that since 2003 the Flying Squirrels have never finished below .500 and are usually in the playoffs. And, out in the West, there’s a new sheriff in town. At 50-31, the New England Yankee Stompers boast the loop’s best record, and a two-and-a-half game lead on Yuma, which has won the West seven of the last nine seasons along with two world championships.
Thus, three of the four playoff teams from 2011 are below .500 as the break approaches, and the team that led the league with 100 wins last season (the Yuma Firebirds) are not leading their division, either. A lot of teams that are normally ‘buyers’ in late July and early August are about to become... sellers!
THE RISE OF THE YANKEE STOMPERS!
New England’s latest move is to add a top-flight reliever (RHP Mike Adams) to their bullpen to help get the ball to closer Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon is tied with Casselton reliever Heath Bell with a BARB-leading 21 saves, and while Jon Axford and old-timer Latroy Hawkins have been surprisingly effective in a setup role, the acquisition of Adams strengthens the hand of James Herndon’s club, which is 37-3 when leading after seven frames.
The rotation has been less sterling, with the absence of Roy Halladay (6-2, 2.19, but injured ) keenly felt. Left-hander Ricky Romero (8-3, 2.37) has been earning his paycheck, but Gio Gonzalez has been very inconsistent, bookending a pair of complete-game shutouts around some mediocre starts, and an overall record of 4-4, 3.79. Kyle Lohse, Alfredo Aceves and Drew Pomeranz have been tried the rotation, as well, but have not distinguished themselves. It seems likely that New England will be in the market for rotation help even if Halladay returns at full strength (as expected).
On the offensive front, New England’s off-season moves have paid off nicely. RF Carlos Beltran (.309, 9 HR, 46 RBI) has been excellent in every way, rookie 3B Will Middlebrooks has been sensational in his first 84 plate appearances (.352, 4 HR) and solidified the defense, and SS J.J. Hardy leads all BARB infielders with 17 round-trippers. New CF Michael Bourn brings speed and savvy to the top of the lineup, and when you add all that to the usual solid hitting of 1B Miguel Cabrera ( .329, 13 HR) and LF Corey Hart (16 HR), you’ve got yourself an offense. Barring an historic collapse, the club seems likely to earn its first-ever playoff berth. If there is a fly in New England’s ointment, it is the fact that their farm system is nearly bare and they will have a tough time pursuing a top-flight starter down the stretch without prospects to deal.
WORCESTER MOVES PUT THEM BACK IN THE GAME
Buried at the bottom of the East at the end of May, the 2010 champions and perennial contending Worcester Eliminators have made many moves, and for right now, it appears to be paying off. Worcester GM Matt Caskey cut LHP Tony Sipp after acquiring IF Neil Walker, and picked up a pair of veteran bats for the infield (Adam Dunn and, in his swan song, 3B Chipper Jones).
The presence of Jones allowed Caskey to trade back-up 3B Chris Johnson and RHP Dan Cortes to Casselton to acquire minor-leaguer Aaron Hicks, but in his biggest move, the Worcester GM cashed in slugging rookie 1B Paul Goldschmidt, and packaged him, OF Jason Kubel and RHP Jair Jurrjens in a deal with the Arizona Rattlesnakes. After a promising second half in 2010 that helped put Worcester in the Series, Jurrjens (2-5, 5.29) had been a disappointment, while Goldschmidt was blocked by switch-hitting slugger Mark Teixeira at first. Both were clearly expendable.
Worcester, for their part, got a pair of prospects (Jameson Taillon and Anthony Renaudo), five-tool (and affordable) OF Jason Heyward, and perhaps most critically, a potential #1 starter in Josh Johnson. While Johnson has been placed on the DL many times in his short career, when healthy has been one of the top pitchers in BARB. In 14 starts this year, Johnson is 6-1 with a 2.27 ERA and a pair of shutouts, and has been the biggest reason that Worcester has pulled within two games of sibling rival (and East-leading) Brooklyn.
FRIARS REPEATEDLY DENIED
The St. Francis Friars were repeatedly rebuffed in their attempts to add talent through the free agent market, eventually settling on up-and-down lefty reliever J.P. Howell to fill a gap in their bullpen created by (gasp) injuries to their rotation. St. Francis had terrific depth in starting pitching this year, but when Shawn Marcum, Joe Saunders and Derek Holland all went down at the same time, their long men (Clayton Richard and Edinson Volquez) moved into the rotation, creating holes in the pen. You would’ve thought that the club would’ve been in a good position to acquire some free agents in the interim, with LHP Jorge De La Rosa an obvious candidate to be released.
St. Francis even toyed with pursuing a minor-leaguer, such as OF Jackie Bradley, Jr., but instead watched Yuma acquire Bradley, IF Alberto Callaspo and RHP A.J. Burnett.
St. Francis would’ve loved to have signed RHP Ryan Dempster.....but they were beaten to the punch by Los Angeles, who signed Dempster and Yuma castoff Brian Matusz to fill their underperforming rotation (more on that later).
St. Francis also would’ve loved to take a flier on RHP Edwin Jackson.....but they were skimmed weeks earlier by savvy Pottsylvania GM Jeff Moore, whose team is chasing Central-leading Casselton.
St. Francis would’ve even been willing to bring back former reliever Ryan Madson.....but he had been scooped up by Arizona, along with IF Ryan Theriot, after the Rattlesnakes had cut OF Alexis Rios and LHP Ted Lilly.
Poor St. Francis!
*Ford Frick
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