Capra Hardball Dynasty League

A recent trend in the HBD forums has been to attempt to rank all 150 or so HBD Worlds using varying methods. Somebody devises a statistical methodology and then punches in data for all the worlds and posts the results, which are followed, of course, by many pages of debate on the validity of said rankings. tecwrg recently posted his rankings which are based upon the # of -(minus) plays within each world's most recently completed season. His theory is that quality worlds care about defense and will not either play people out of position or in spots that will be detrimental to the team's ability to execute the fundamentals. Out of 142 worlds, his system ranked Capra at #18. Not bad. Another way to think about his rankings, though, is to consider the positive difference between + plays and - plays(see his chart). If his rankings were ordered that way, Capra would come in at #5 overall. Now that's more like it. 98greenc5 posted a different set of rankings this morning that is ...

Will feature the following players: P Sammy Reyes , Ottawa Ice. $4.8m bonus. C Raul Ortega , Little Rock Travelers. $4.8 bonus. P Michael Li , Toronto Beavers. $4.5m bonus. P Orlando Armas , Pawtucket Patriots. $3.9m bonus. P Ugueth Rosado , St. Louis Archers. $3.5m bonus. 3B Julio Wilfredo , Chicago Vipers. $3.3m bonus. P Matty Calvo , Buffalo Hunters. $3.2m bonus. SS Del Gabriel , Oklahoma City Drunken Ducks. $2.9m bonus.

Round 2 of the I.S. Report Card covers 8 more players listed in descending order of signing bonus. Remember, the grades are not reflective of merely said player's projections, but rather the cost of acquiring that set of skills. And again, my projections are based on a $14m advance scouting budget. Please feel free to disagree with my grades in the comments section. 1B Ismael Maduro , Anaheim Anteaters. $15.9m bonus. -We may be a little partial here, but Maduro projects to us as a near Hall-of-Fame masher and is a good deal at almost any price. His only offensive category that projects under 82 is his lefty-split, the one weakness we would cherry pick if we could. We are especially fond of his potential future success against righties(94) and his eyeball at the plate(100). His durability, at 78, could be better as he'll have to sit out a few games every season. And it's a shame Maduro doesn't play a tougher position to fill, but otherwise, the Anteaters have found a wor...

NL North: No news here. Fargo will cruise to their 9th straight division flag and is currently on pace for their best record yet, in spite of Ozuna, Henderson, etc. all getting old enough to need Viagra prescriptions. Minnesota looks very strong for the first wild card seed. NL East: Chicago(formerly Atlanta) is on pace for their 8th straight division title, though Syracuse is coming on hot and heavy and currently just a game behind. This looks like the first time since S1 that this division will have two better-than-.500 teams in a race. NL South: Little Rock has been leading El Paso by a nose all season long it seems. This is a close, two-pony race that should come down to the wire. Stay tuned. NL West: Anaheim hosts a comfortable, eight-game lead, though, considering their collapse late last season, they're not likely to get complacent. Division-rival St. Louis features too many weapons and will be in the playoff hunt, one way or another, at season's end. AL North: Montreal ...

In the S5 Amateur Draft, 3B Trenidad Rios was selected with the 19th overall pick by the Anahaim Anteaters. That same season, Anaheim paid a whopping $12.3M bonus to sign 18 year-old 3B Moises Guzman from the Dominican Republic. Both right-handed sluggers with solid defense at the corner, Rios and Guzman are similar physical specimens, with Guzman just 1 inch taller and about 10 pounds heavier. The big difference is that Guzman has better health and durability, but otherwise it'd be hard to tell them apart. The following season, Anaheim traded Guzman to Jacksonville for soon to be All-Star SS Delino Julio . Guzman proceeded to rip apart minor league pitching for the next few seasons and is currently in his first campaign at the big league level, much like his old 3B competition, Rios. Since both these young studs are in their first big league season, let's compare the stats and soon just how alike they really are: Trenidad Rios: 270/341/601. 27hrs, 70ribbies, 29/60 bb/k ratio i...

The Pic above is Smith-Wills Stadium, the minor league park in Jackson, Missisippi. This is, of course, in honor of Season 8 champion, the Jackson Riverdogs.