Capra Hardball Dynasty League

Around the League (NL) Minnesota has already signed 8 IFA's this season, including SS Juan Feliz ... NL North is looking like it will be a bruiser this season, with Pittsburg, NY and Minnesota already reaching 10 wins... Several teams are waiting impatiently for 20 minor league games to be played so they can call up some youngsters while gaining a year in arbitration eligibility... All-time CAPRA great Brett Tracy finally hung 'em up. Who's Hot Little Rock has come out of the gate with a vengeance . They are second in the league in both .OPS and ERA. If they keep this up, the Travelers may run away with their division... And no surprise to anyone, Anaheim is sitting comfortably atop the NL West. Speaking of the Anteaters, Al Perez is crushing the ball (1.239 OPS) and is among the league leaders in several offensive categories... Sicilians Buzz Andrews is doing his best Brett Tracy impersonation (0.43 ERA)... and Seattle's Che Hasegawa is liking the NL so far (zero r...

NL North Minnesota North Stars (100-62) Newcomers Darren Owens and Jorel McGlinchy should propel Minnesota into the upper echelon of NL teams. Explosive offense, air-tight defense and just enough pitching. Pittsburg Typhoon (80-82) Led by Christian Grim, Pittsburg easily boasts the best rotation in the division. Offense gets on base a lot, but the team is missing the power bats to drive them in. However, Pittsburg could be a dark horse come playoff time. New York Yanks (80-82) Zachary Grace and co. supply plenty of offense, rotation filled with solid innings-eaters. Unless ownership decides to hold a fire sale at mid-season, the Yanks might challenge for a WC spot. Toronto Beavers (74-88) Quietly picking up some quality players, but probably still a year away from making some...

Overview S17 was a magical year for the Picards as they won the world championship in dramatic fashion. However, the team returned to earth last season. While they still won 100 games, they lost the division to hated rival Anaheim and then got bounced in the first round of the playoffs. Much of the same group returns for another try in S19. Expectations are high. Anything less than winning the division and a return trip to the World Series will be deemed a disappointment. And for this group of players, it might be their last chance to win another championship in Seattle. Big changes loom on the horizon. Several veterans’ contracts expire and/or club options are up next season. C - Long-time catching duo Julio Concepcion and Blade O'Donnell are back for at least one more season. Concepcion (.305 avg) brings a solid bat and .obp, while O'Donnell provides solid catching behind the plate and excellent game calling skills. 1B – Hayes Corino may have gotten...

The World Champion Anaheim Anteaters are still loaded for the season 19 campaign. In season 18 they were number one in ERA and fielding percentage and 6 th in runs scored. Set up man Julian Furcal was lost to free agency, who will replace his 117 IP? Expect to see AAA starter Al Lima in the rotation with Mitch Johnson going to the pen. 3B Julio Martin left via free agency. Will Al Cedeno replace him or will Paul Feng move from 2B to free up a roster spot for Anthony Clinton. How much longer can Sid Watson be an elite closer? Will the loss of Groucho Lesher as fielding coach cost a few wins? The Seattle Picards had 100 wins in Season 18, second in the NL in runs scored and ERA. Che Hasegawa arrived via trade, is he ready from prime time? Is the promotion of bench coach Fred Huckaby an improvement over the departed Wilfredo Martin? Paul Dong tested the free agent waters and was re-signed. Expect AAA phenom Aramis Granados to find a spot in the ML roste...

The following are my views on this season’s nominees. I’ve put them in 5 categories: No Doubt, Good Chance, Borderline, Short Career, and No Chance. The thing I noticed most is how hard it is to narrow down your last couple of votes. There are many deserving candidates, and it’s very hard to differentiate between them. No Doubt Al Ontiveros – 598 HR and a .965 OPS from a SS. Add 5 Silver Sluggers and 6 All Stars, and despite inflated stats in San Juan he should be a lock. Dennys Yamakazi – The numbers might not be staggering, with 190-133 W-L and a 3.89 ERA, but this was the best pitcher not named Tracy in the early years of the league. 3 CYA and 6 All Stars tell part of the story. Being 5 th all-time in IP and 2 nd in K’s, and putting up those numbers in the AL tell more. Henry Menechino – Others might find his career too short, but 500 HR and a 1.054 OPS are enough for me, even from a 1B. Not to mention his back-to-back 80 HR campaigns. Don’t forget he’s...

A lot of the big name free agent signings saw AL studs move to the NL, including Jorel McGlinchy and Darren Owens to Minnesota, Preston Keller and Deacon Philips to Louisville, and Rudy Hayes to Atlanta. Very few Type A Free Agents moved from the NL to AL. Only the Martin McCartney signing in Madison broke up a shutout. AL North Cincinnati Roses (94-68) Ariel Cortez anchors a pitching staff has been the strength of the team, but the loss of Preston Keller might be tough to overcome. Top teams excel on both offense and defense and the Roses will be counting on Season 18 co-MVP Damaso Colome and the continued emergence of Coco Hentgen in order to try to keep their offense in the Top 10 in scoring. The loss of Rudy Hayes is going to be troublesome. Small steps back on both offense and pitching will cause the team to regress. Ottawa Ice (88-74) Ottawa filled a key void with by signing Willie Bacsik . They are still slightly above average in run scoring and run prevention. The d...

After seven consecutive division titles, including four straight since management changed after season 14, expectations are high again in Monterrey. Here's how the defending AL champions line up for this year: C: Ralph Daniels returns to help cement his place as one of the top offensive catchers in the league after hitting .325/.378/.640 last year. He'll be spelled by rookie defensive wizard Orlando Javier. 1B: Four-time American League MVP Darren Owens got $80 million to head into the frozen north, which makes room for experimentation. Former Ottawa DH Don Bonilla, utility man Seth Knowles, and rookie Juan Brogna will battle it out for the starting nod. 2B: Sparkplug Julian Colome was signed to play center field in midyear last season in the wake of Alfonso Cortez' injury. He's been brought back this year, and will move to 2B to replace the disappointing Crash Durocher. SS: Three-time All-Star Alfonso Cortez returns for another season, providing punch at a traditionall...

All Dynasty teams go through a cycle of boom and bust. Young, cost-controlled players win games for rising teams. Expensive veterans win titles for veteran teams. Overpaid veterans drag losers into mediocrity. So, I took the win totals and salary totals from every team from Capra for the past two years, calculated each teams' standard deviations from the mean for wins, salary and wins per dollar of salary. Each team was then categorized upon where they wound up. The categories and descriptions are below. Teams were assigned to a month of year to demonstate where they were in the dynasty cycle: teams rise in spring, mature in summer, grow old in fall, and are moribund in winter. June These are teams that are winning more than average, getting more bang for their buck than average but whose total salary is below average. These are the teams in their prime. June teams should win now and win in the future. Helena, Minnesota, Syracuse, Little Rock and Anaheim. August These are t...

This is a sequel to the original entry, 85 and over in Season 7 . I've always assumed there was ratings inflation, so it was interesting to see that there were 24 players that were 85 and over, very similar to the 22 of Season 7. I'll update if I missed anyone. Please tell me. Team Player Ranking Position Anaheim Anteaters Al Perez 87 (RF) Atlanta Aces Rudy Hayes 90 (LF) Atlanta Aces Louie Hayes 88 (2B) Cleveland Spiders Michael Dransfeldt 90 (3B) Cleveland Spiders Enrique Astacio 98 (SS) El Paso Suns Geraldo Johnson 87 (SS) El Paso Suns Bob Wallace 85 (SS) Helena Howling Sukebe Esteban Abreu 85 (3B) Jackson Rage Bruce Dellucci 89 (SP) Jacksonville StoneWallers Victor Lee 85 (SS) Louisville Redbirds Don Barnes 92 (CF) Louisville Redbirds Antonio Martin 85 (SP) Madison Mad Dogs Bruce Kent 87 (LF) Minnesota North Stars Dmitri Stafford 85 (CF) Monterrey Campeónes Alfonso Cortez 87 (SS) New York Yanks Trenidad Meadows 85 (CF) Pittsburgh Typhoon Wesley Smith 93 (SS...

Luis Herrera Cleveland Spiders Age: 35 B/T: S/L Born: Colon, PA Position(s): P (SP2) Luis Herrera is the very picture of a successful major league pitcher. He is a Cy Young winner and a 2-time All-Star. He is a 20-game winner. He has won 6 post season games and holds the Capra record for most wins by a pitcher from Panama with 146. (San Jose reliever Tomas Ramirez is second with 27). He has the adulation of his Panamanian countrymen and close to $70M in career earnings. Fellow Panamanian and Anaheim third baseman Al Cedeno says: "In the last few years, Luis Herrera has become to Panama what Dennis Martinez is to Nicaragua. More than a legend, he is an idol. Men are afraid to name their children Luis for fear of the crushing expectations that will be placed upon them." Life is good for Luis Herrera, but it hasn't always been like that. Luis Herrera was signed by the Montreal Royales as an International Free Agent from Colon, Panama for $6.3M in Season 2. With v...