Season Preview: Ireland Invaders

2017 Record: 80-80, last in Euro
Key Losses: SP Tadeshi Kawabata, RF Austin Kearns, P Chien-Ming Wang, P Brian Lawrence, RP Julio Mateo
Key Additions: Travis Blackley
2018 Prediction: 77-83

Mediocre on the field, the Invaders were punished severely. Taking a cap hit for .500 ball despite improving by 10 games, the Invaders are sitting at 60M for the 2018 season. That doesn't leave Ireland much room for error. Homegrown talent is going to have to improve last season's disappointing offense (14th in runs scored, 9th in HR) while ace CC Sabathia will be carrying the load once again for the pitching staff. Last season, Sabathia finished with a 3.42 ERA while being a workhorse at 234 IP. Fellow 36 year-old Josh Beckett returns and will have to better his 4.53 ERA. With the departure of Tadeshi Kawabata, will Ireland have the arms to improve the team ERA of 4.65? That puts them right at the middle of the pack again, and mediocrity on either side of the ball is going to get you hurt in the Euro.

So Kawabata leaves, and who does GM Tony Blake spend his dollars (excuse me, pennies) on? Pitchers Travis Blackley and John Lackey (uh oh) and 3B Barry Rosen (who the heck is Barry Rosen? I hear you asking.) When Beckett and Sabathia eat up 30.25M of a possible 60M payroll, your options are limited. Lackey won't even make the team and Blackley will be showing off his career 5.49 ERA in long relief. But the upside is that by 6 straight seasons of finishing last or 3rd, the Invaders have some serious young talent to put on the field. They'll need to step up now or Blake won't be able to afford them in a few years.

Batting Order
CF Andre Howard
SS Whammy May
RF Jerry "Turtle" Ferrara
C Al Murphy
LF Ad Collins
1B Nicholas Weglarz
2B Geoff Orr
3B Sean Burroughs
pitcher

That's against RHP, which means Boog Johnson is sitting most of the time. Is that a good use of your resources? Holy cow! Weglarz can hit too but with GM Blake also training yet another stud, C Jack Berry to play 1B, does this mean Johnson is trade bait? And catcher Earl Hickey doesn't get a sniff of playing time? Ohmigosh. With a boatload of talent at C/1B, some weaker spots on this squad have to be shored up, no? (Outfield, I'm looking at you. Marcus Giles and Geoff Orr, you too. Bullpen, I'd be renting if I were you. Like anyone trusts Orber Moreno's 3.61 ERA last year, as if.) Hickey, Murphy, Johnson, Weglarz, Collins, Howard and Ferrara are all 26 or younger, and Jack Berry looks ready. Ireland seems to have an unbalanced box of talent, something Blake will have to rectify to compete in the Euro.

Pitching Rotation: CC Sabathia, Josh Beckett, Bobby Brownlie, Steve Earle, Al Snodgrass
Closer: Orber Moreno

Rookies Steve Earle (2nd round, 2015) and Al Snodgrass (3rd overall in 2016) will get an opportunity after having great springs. Yoshi Sasaki, a 2nd rounder in 2015, got beat around in spring training and will start for Aussie but is knocking at the door. Brownlie and Beckett have to get those ERA's under 4 to earn their paycheques and keep the dreadful bullpen off the field. Moreno shocked everyone in the league with his 3.61 ERA which is well above his career 5.19 total.

Predicting the season mark for Ireland this season is difficult. It depends on GM Tony Blake pulling the trigger on some trades and shipping out a great young player or two, and if Beckett and Brownlie show that last year was a hiccup and not a sign of old age. If everything goes right, anywhere up to 2nd place is possible. The Euro isn't easy so Blake will have to be on his toes.

News and Notes: Friday, June 2, 2017

Around SLB this week:

- BED is unstoppable and has the best record in (has that ever been written before? ed.) SLB after 56 games. The Crunch swept SCO, giving up a total of 4 runs in three games, and RF M Bradley went 6-12 with 4 doubles. Game 2 saw Bradley have yet another run in with the firstbase umpire after being called out on the back end of a double play and came very close to ejection.
- KYO's lack of team speed again this season is apparent to most rival scouts. The Bushido have hit into 44 DP's (3rd most) and have just 5 triples (fewest in SLB). Making matters worse is the total lack of respect for C K Thibault's arm - opposing teams have stolen 72 SB off KYO, second most in the league. SS B BooYa has managed to steal 17 bases despite his .270 OBP.
- "Hey, we're slow too!" BAL has managed just 15 steals as a team(!) and has 39 GIDP. There are 11 players in SLB with at least 16 stolen bases.
- Meet the Slowskys: KYO C Kiel Thibault has 10 GIDP, PAR 3B Yuliesky Gourriel has 11 GIDP and SCO 1B Henry Sanchez has 12 GIDP.
- IRE didn't lie down for SJ, taking 2 of 3 from the streaking Senadores in Puerto Rico. Back-to-back gems by right-hander J Beckett and T Kawabata totaled 15K in 12.2 IP. The Invaders are tied with LON for 3rd (or last), 7 back of PAR.
- Last season, PHI LF Andy Hunter hit .318 with 41 HR and a 1.001 OPS. This season, the 28 year-old Fever player is hitting .182 with 11 HR and a .604 OPS. Last seasons World Series finalists are 24-34, 14 games out and in 4th in the North.
- BAL SP D Tankersley is making just 7M for this season and next. Brought back to the Panthers to help guide their young pitchers, Tankersley has done all of that and more. He leads the league in IP (92) and has a sparkling 2.35 ERA.

News and Notes: Monday, April 24, 2017

Around SLB this week:

- SCO pasted BAL in a 3 game series putting up 31 runs in the Panther Dome. 2B K Bristow hit his 7th HR already - his career high is 14 (HAL 2014). Bristow also leads SLB in runs scored. The sweep of the Panthers puts SCO up 1 game in the Euro and diminishes BAL's lead to just a half game in the South.
- CF Rocco Baldelli continues to work out in Arizona and practice with ASU while his agent desperately works the phones. Baldelli, a former Goat of the Year (LON 2005), hit just .228 in spot duty for TAI last season. "I may be 34 but I'm in the best shape of my life", said Baldelli. "I'm not looking for a multi-year deal, just an opportunity somewhere. I can't even get a job in Triple A right now? Come on."
- BED has scored the 5th most runs in SLB so far (110). Leadoff hitter and CF T Johnson has as many HR (5) as SB.
- After making 5 deals and revamping his roster, GM B Royer now sees his CHNG team in 3rd place, just one game up on TAI. The Kwaan have the second worst ERA (5.53) despite SP M Prior's 1.90 in 38 IP. Will Royer be able to turn this team around again? His head is on the chopping block according to league sources, with ownership upset that last year's 101-win team was remade instead of tinkered with.
- CLE LHP C Y'Barra (1-1, 7.18) outdueled CHNG RHP M Prior in the rubbermatch of their series to give the Dawgs 3rd place in the North. The game gave Prior his first loss and Dawg Closer M Towaki his 3rd save.
- IRE rookie CF J Ferrera might want to reconsider buying new plasma Hi-Def big screens and the new Apple - that Rookie of the Year bonus money might not be in his future. The Invader CF is hitting (using that term loosely, I know) .198 with 2 HR while batting 2nd in the lineup.
- KYO LF A Mule went 0-8 with 3K in the first two games v SJ (both losses) before rebounding in game three - 4-4 with 2 HR. The young Bushido outfielder is playing hurt but is being counted on to carry the team with both 1B M Hamilton and CF J Hamilton out 4-6 weeks.
- Will KYO's injury issues allow the other Far East teams to shrink the Bushido's 3.5 game lead? KYO doesn't play a Far East opponent for 9 more series.

- What is going on with LON SP Jered Weaver? After going 17-4, 3.80 in 213 IP in 2016, Weaver has been rocked in all 4 starts for the Knights in 2017. Zero quality starts, an ERA of 23.14 and 34 baserunners in 9.1 IP. (Not a typo: 4 GS totalling 9.1 IP). One theory coming out of the Euro division is that Weaver is spending too much time being "mentored" by such upstanding citizens as Knight's hitting coach Darryl Strawberry and pitching coach Dwight Gooden.

News and Notes: Friday, April 14, 2017

Around SLB this week:

- BAL flew out of the gate this season with a 7-3 mark. That matches KYO for the best record in the league. 26 year-old 3B T Gammell is hitting .400 with 5 HR. "That's up there in Rockwell territory," said Gammell. "I plan on doing this all year long."
- Last year's champion PAR has limped out to just a 6-5 record so far, dropping their last 3. Pimpernel pitchers have been grooving pitches at an alarming rate; B Kim has given up 4 HR in 9.2 IP, H Kuo 4 HR in 8 IP, and D Arizmendi 4 HR in 6 IP.
- CLE waived LHP T Lare in order to send the 29 year-old to Hawaii. Manager Joe Torre, bundled up in his winter parka, was misty-eyed after informing Lare of the decision. "It's not that I feel bad for the kid," said Torre. "I just wish I could go with him. Instead I have to stay here, freezing, and watch Towaki pitch. You know what that does to me?" RHP M Towaki, the highest paid Dawg at 3/18M, has a 6.75 ERA so far.
- SCO CF Darin Ford is providing some pop in the Rebel lineup. Ford has a 1.061 OPS with 5 HR in 11 games with the Rebels in front of LON, PAR and IRE. How long Manager Rollie Fingers continues to give RHP E Degerman chances is anyone's guess - Degerman has a 7.62 ERA with 5 HR in his 2 starts.
- OSA lost RP C Sadler (2-4 weeks) and LF R Brown (6-8 weeks) in the first game of the season. And on Tuesday, 2B P Matthew left the game early with a strained back and is out 4-6 weeks. Manager Sadaharu Oh, known for his tough practice schedule, refuses to lighten the workload despite the constant injuries to his players. "They are not in shape and show no discipline. When they accept my methods the team will perform better. I will show no mercy to weak players."
- BED LF N Swisher is struggling with his new team - not that it has hurt the Crunch so far - batting just .214 with 0 HR and a league-worst 15 K's. LHP S Kazmir has shown an affinity for pitching in Bedford, however, with a 2.25 ERA and 10 K in 12 IP.
- SJ's bullpen has been putting gas on the fire early this season. Last year's surprise of a reliever, Edwin Jackson, has a 6.75 ERA (4.74 career). Setup man J Colome has a 7.50 ERA with 11 baserunners in 6 IP.
- LON is behind SCO by a game and has lost LF J Russell for up to 2 weeks. The Knights won't be getting much help from their AAA affiliate in Queens, as they can't even compete at that level. Queens is 0-11, hitting 6 HR so far as a team and allowing 15.
- IRE is 3-8 and last in the Euro, which isn't surprising. What is surprising are the weak performances by pitchers C Sabathia (1-2, 4.12), J Beckett (0-1, 7.71) and FA signee T Kawabata (0-1, 5.25). Look for pitching coach Roger Clemens to be shown the door if this continues.
- New KYO SS B BooYa (acquired from PHI) leads SLB in batting avg (.441) and had a 1.031 OPS with 5 SB. "Right now, he's making up for Jeremy Reed," says Manager Bobby Valentine, trying to bite his tongue. "Reed has .... has not .... lived up to expectations, frankly. My sister can hit better." RF J Reed is at .189 so far while making 8M per season. Says one rival GM, still bitter over the Oswalt/Mule trade to the Bushido, "Maybe they can send Reed to their Triple-A team - that's Taipei, right?"