What happened last year: Major Upgrade: a team with a winning record won the division. That said, the division was completely lame; Taipei outplayed their numbers and everyone else underperformed terribly. Lot's of offense, little pitching. Taipei got some surprising starting pitching (including Roy Higuera and RPOY Chris Fetter) to go with their young hitting. The Tai Fong were just happy to make the playoffs for the first time ever, gracefully bowing out to the far superior Paris team in the WLDS. Kyoto had the best pitching in the division, especially after landing lefty ace CC Sabathia from Ireland in July. It wasn't enough, as the Bushido blew their chance in a weak division. Chiang Mai went trade happy in July, adding Ben Sheets, Daniel Pursel and Chest Rockwell; the team went into an immediate tailspin and finished 9 back. Osaka....woof. Offense was great (Brown and Fielder were crazy good) but the pitching was almost historically bad. The "allow 8 runs but score 10" gameplan proved faulty, and the Ronin finished in dead last.
What happened in the offseason: Taipei took their first division title seriously, adding free agents El Ron Ubardo to the rotation and retaining Maple and Posedel for reasonable contracts. Kyoto lost Gudex and Sabathia to free agency and got outbid on pretty much every pitcher they negotiated with. GM Darin Keesing had to go the trade route, trading 3B prospect Shuhei Iwata to Taipei for a trio of arms, and sending Ed See to Paris for Les Beltre and Youliesky Gourriel. Chiang Mai kept Cap Jackson, and then added some minor parts like Adam Wainwright and Carl Crawford. Osaka had a ton of money to spend, and after failing to land Darren Lemming, spread the cash around to free agents like CC Sabathia, Tosekawa Mahara and their RFA's (Brown/Peppers).
What will happen this year: The top teams didn't get better, so expect another division winner with 80-86 wins. Is Taipei for real, or will they regress to rebuilding status? If the starting pitching holds up, the Tai Fong should be right in the thick of things. Kyoto always looks good on paper, but will they ever live up to their potential? Rookie Stan Ford steps in to the clean up spot in the order, giving the team 4 or 5 legit 30 HR guys. The young bullpen could be their undoing. Chiang Mai has arguably the best offense top to bottom, but the pitching took a hit. It's Krueger, Degerman, then three days of praying. Osaka will put up runs as always, but will the big ticket free agent pitchers get the team back on top? Sabathia and Mahara are a good start, but when your 3-5 are Ojeda, Lambert and Gibson, you're pretty well effed.
Division's 5 best pitchers: 1. Jordan Auerbach (KYO), 2. C.C. Sabathia (OSKA), 3. Jake Peavy (KYO), 4. Chris Fetter (TAI), 5. Eddie Krueger (CHNG)
Division's 5 best batters: 1. LF Rueben Brown (OSKA), 2. 1B Dave Peppers (OSKA), 3. LF Antonio Mule (KYO), 4. RF Joe Belinda (CHNG), 5. CF Tom Maple (TAI)
Division's 5 best prospects: 1. RF Stan Ford (KYO), 2. 3B Ben Parker (OSKA) 3. 3B Shuhei Iwata (TAI), 4. P Derrek Ballinger (TAI), 5. CF Dreshon Murray (CHNG)
Predicted Order of Finish: 1. Kyoto, 2. Taipei, 3. Chiang Mai, 4. Osaka
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