Season Preview: Osaka Ronin

2017 Record: 72-88, 3rd in Far East
Key Additions: 1B Prince Fielder
Key Losses: SP Roy Halladay, SP Johan Santana, C Tony Montana, 3B Chest Rockwell
2018 Prediction: 70-90

The Ronin were absolutely one of the worst teams in SLB for the first half of last season before a surge made things uncomfortable for the Kwaan and Bushido. With some major losses to the pitching staff and lineup, it remains to be seen if GM Tom Hey can capitalize on the second-half success of 2017 and snare a playoff spot. Osaka has had three straight 3rd place finishes - nothing to brag about when you have Taipei in your division.
Last season saw the typical Ronin squad - power hitting, ridiculous in their home park, and equally silly pitching numbers. That 5.77 ERA was the worst in SLB and their 352 bombs were tops. Same old story. So will this years team be any different? Or will it be more of the same - no fun to play against but your team, if decent, will take the series? Gone are pitchers Halladay and Santana, who led the Ronin with the only ERA's under 5 and they're replaced with rookie Bobby Ojeda Jr. and a Rule 5 pick, Carlton Smith. This doesn't look promising, as even long-time Hey favourite Ben Sheets had a 6.15 mark and is now 38 years old.
All of those homeruns didn't even give Osaka the run scoring lead last season, they were in the group (everyone was behind Paris) with San Juan, London and Halifax. Winning homerun derby's doesn't translate to wins and now Rockwell and his 54 bombs, as well as Montana and his 69 shots, have left for greener pastures. What's the Ronin's answer? Prince Fielder. And I'm not mocking it, as Fielder has long wanted to move to Osaka where his skills are perfectly suited. As Fielder himself noted, "I didn't lose weight, I didn't change anything this offseason. They didn't sign me to pinch-run, they signed me to jog around the bases. I'm hitting 75 this year no doubt. I wish I played my whole career here."

Batting Order v RHP
3B Paul Matthew
RF Rueben Brown
1B Prince Fielder
LF Dave Peppers
C Elmer Kennedy
CF Jack Schalk
2B Juan Thomas
SS Mike Henderson

There's some speed on the bench with CF J Kimm and LF J Kemp, and more power with C R Doumit, veteran IF C Utley and CF K Lipton. Matthew can't hit enough to leadoff however, and the Ronin will be relying on solo shots to win games. If they're going to follow this philosophy, why not get a 3B that can jack them out too?

Pitching Rotation: Ben Sheets, Bobby Ojeda Jr, Carlton Smith, Christopher Lambert, Ryan Anderson
Closer: Brock Landers

I guess if you're not committed to putting a winning team out there, at least make it entertaining. It doesn't even look like Tom Hey cares at this point, as that's the sorriest excuse for a pitching staff I've seen - counting expansion teams as well. Run totals for Osaka and their opposition will be high this year, homerun records might fall (with the usual, "yeah but he did that in Osaka" caveat) and while they might make things difficult, they won't be in the playoffs. Hey left about 30M on the table, so maybe he'll show enough interest to trade for a big-ticket pitcher or three.

News and Notes: Friday, June 9, 2017

Around SLB this week:

- The 2017 Amateur Draft should be coming up in the next couple of days. Get your lists ready. Three rounds of 16 - the sooner your lists are in, the quicker games can resume.
- OSA fell a little closer to the pack in the Far East, dropping all 3 games to SJ. The Senadores scored 39 runs and gave up 18. Fourteen HR were hit by SJ and GM Bill Gluvna is now lobbying ownership and the league to consider moving the franchise to Japan.
- Just curious: After having their AAA team in Mexico City in 2004-05, HAL was asked to move their AAA franchise because supposedly, the high average (.324 in 2004) and high HR totals (243 in 2005) skewed stats and damaged the integrity of the league. 1B P Fielder of Mexico still holds the minor league record with 43 bombs. Yet the team record for SLB homeruns has been set by OSA (374 in 2014), the individual record by an OSA player (72 in 2014) and the Ronin have led the league in homeruns by 47 (2016), 61 (2015), 142 (2014), and 77 (2013). They are the only team to hit over 300 HR in a season and have done so 4 seasons in a row. The individual HR leader has been from OSA the past 4 seasons as well. Where is the outrage now?
- There are two teams with remarkably low slugging percentages: TAI is at .380, KYO at .393. The Tai Fong's leader in slugging is LF E Dalton (and former Bushido) at .521. LF A Mule of KYO leads his team with his .533 mark.
- KYO took 2 of 3 from ATL , another blow to the Flyers season. ATL is 3.5 games back of third place BAL in the South. "We really spanked Zambrano in the second game," said Manager Bobby Valentine. "I thought we came out a little flat in game three, the guys knew they had the series won and relaxed against Zito. You just can't do that. Savannah comes here next and even though its only June, every game is important."
- Despite getting shutout in 10 innings in Game 1 v LON, BAL took the next two games and are 7-3 in their last 10. The Knights had RHP J Weaver on the mound for Game 2 and saw his typical performance: 7 innings, 13 hits, 2 walks and 7 ER. Weaver has given up 15 HR in 13 starts (68 IP).
- CHNG took 2 of 3 from PHI, the two wins both taking place in extra innings and decided by one run. The Kwaan lost the fina game 9-7 but are just 4 back of OSA. The Fever's loser in both extra inning games was LHP M Buehrle, totalling 2 IP, 5 hits and 2 ER. Buehrle's corpse is now 0-6, 8.62.
- Despite SCO taking 2 of 3 from HAL, PAR is on the verge of running away and hiding with their 7-game winning streak. The Pimpernels swept BED behind CF R Robinson's 8-12, 4 HR, 2 doubles and a stolen base.

News and Notes: Friday, May 26, 2017

Around SLB this week:

- PAR is the hottest team in SLB right now (8-2 in their last 10) with 5 wins in a row. They moved to 2 games up on SCO in the Euro with 2 wins each over TAI and KYO, allowing just 5 runs in the four games. 3B S Dinkman went 9-18 with 2 doubles and a triple and is now hitting .352 on the season.
- Moving in the opposite direction is the former Far East leading KYO. The Bushido have fallen to third place and are now closer to last than first. The Bushido have the 4th lowest ERA (4.03) but can't hit - .230 is the lowest team batting average in SLB by 16 points.
- OSA has crushed its way to a 10 game lead and gets LF R Brown back in under a month. Brown hit 50 HR last season but had just 3 AB's in 2017. Despite being a hitters mecca, 7 teams have a worse ERA than OSA (4.64).
- CHNG 2B Cap Jackson rehabbed successfully from a broken neck and is playing the best baseball of his career. Jackson is at .281 (career .254) with 27 SB. But the Kwaan continue to struggle with LF J Belinda 58 points under his career average and only 4 HR and the 4th worst ERA in SLB (4.88).
- Is ATL finally making their move? The Flyers have played .500 their past 10 and are now just a half game back of third place BAL. "If you're going to play lousy baseball it's better to do it now then in September," said hitting coach Dennis Dennis Sr. "San Juan hasn't been able to run away and hide yet. We'll be there at the end of the year, mark my words."
- SJ's RP Edwin Jackson is up to his old tricks. He's once again the league leader in saves (12) with a 2.35 ERA. "Our guys think he's back to doctoring the ball," said ATL hitting coach Dennis Dennis Sr. "We just faced him on Tuesday and he's pitching like he was last year - not like he was doing earlier in the year. We'll catch him, don't worry. He'll get his comeuppance, if you will."
- CLE split a 2-game series with PHI and then followed HAL's lead by mistreating BAL. The Dawgs are a surprising 29-20 and just 2.5 out of first in the North. CF D Stubbs has been a total bust in Cleveland and has been sent to work on his game and mindset in AAA. "We knew he was a .300 hitter," said Manager Joe Torre. "We just didn't think it would be in Triple-A."

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?"

All-time Standings

As we head into our 14th season, I thought it would be interesting to see where we all fit in the big scheme of things. Here's the records and streaks - the amount of winning or losing seasons in a row. Expansion teams denoted by the world-famous asterisk.

PAR 1178-921 (.561) 3W
OSA 1128-971 (.537) 1L
HAL 1118-982 (.532) 1W
KYO 1115-985 (.531) 2W
IRE 1069-1029 (.510) 5L
*SJ 325-316 (.507) 1W
SAV 1057-1041 (.504) 2W
BED 1056-1042 (.503) 2L
ATL 1051-1047 (.501) 7W
PHI 1045-1055 (.498) 4W
CHNG 1043-1055 (.497) 2W
SCO 993-1095 (.473) 1L
LON 891-1048 (.460) 2W
CLE 953-1135 (.454) 5L
BAL 944-1154 (.450) 1L
*TAI 258-382 (.403) 4L

Something that may jump out at you is that OSA, led by GM Tom Hey, has no titles despite having the second best winning percentage. That's got to be depressing. And for all of Atlanta's GM Jim Masters chirping and criticism in the press of other teams, he has barely won 50% of his teams games.
Four teams have one SLB World Series trophy: LV (now Scotland), PHI, HAV, ATL and SJ.
Multiple Series winners: PAR, SAV, HAL.

Osaka Ronin

2016 Record: 73-87
Projected Record: 66-94
Key Additions: Tim Spooneybarger (free agent)
Key Losses: Rafael Furcal (retired), John Webb (retired)

Consecutive 3rd place finishes for the Ronin have Osaka fans clamoring for change. The powerhouse that was Ellas promised great things when bargaining for a new home in Domukun Field but GM Tom Hey hasn't been up to the task. Two playoff appearances followed by two dogshit performances is going to result in a lot of fans dressed up as empty seats - that's going to look horrible on TV as the place seats more than 57,000.

Last season saw more of the same - lazy fly balls floating over the short porches in left and right - inflating Ronin batting numbers and stretching games over the four hour mark. Great place to play if you're going to be a free agent hitter. Seriously, if you can't slug .500 in Osaka you belong in the minors. Four players hit more than 44 homers last season and the team hit 315 - 47 ahead of second place Philly (268). Those league-leading bombs resulted in just a 4th best total in runs scored however. Time to reevaluate, right?

How warped is this squad? Their 13M pitcher, Johan Santana, put up a sparkling 4.71 ERA. Roy Halladay has to be frustrated as well, he's stuck pitching there for two more seasons and had a 5.17 ERA last season. They were one of 3 teams with an ERA over 5 last year - none of them had a winning season. So what's been done this winter? Well, Rick Ankiel is back for 3 more seasons. Phew. A career 5.88 ERA is just what the doctor ordered. What else? Let's see .... 2B Paul Matthew anyone? Okay, a pinch runner is a good pickup, right? Jon Rauch? Larry Pappas? Oh, look! Tim Spooneybarger is back. He dominated in 61 innings last season with a 3.54 ERA. They'll be turning his middle relieving shoulder into hamburger if Hey doesn't fix this team immediately. Is this squad going to contend in the Far East? Not with Kyoto and Chiang Mai around. Buddha help us.

The Ronin are up against the cap but instead of blowing it up, realizing they're not contending, they're using hope, faith, band aids and praying to statues of Benten (oh just look it up!) that everything will break right for them this year. It's doubtful the fans will buy it this year. No more excuses will pacify this crowd, not injuries, not accounting errors. Let's see this franchise return to what it once was, okay?


Projected Lineup
CF Jerry Kimm
SS Mike Henderson
1B Dave Peppers
3B Chest Rockwell
LF Reuben Brown
C Tony Montana
2B John Thomas
RF Hideki Matsui

Alright, if octogenarian Matsui is starting anywhere, you have problems. There's some nice pieces here to work with - he's not one of them. GM Hey should be on the phones early and often to straighten this roster out. Will Thomas get the nod over Hey favorite Alfonso Soriano? I'm being optimistic here.

Projected Rotation
Johan Santana
Roy Halladay
Ben Sheets
Carl Sadler
Brandon Lyon

Closer
Dwight Schrute

Uh-oh. These guys have to be begging for the fences to be moved back. The 'pen features most of last year's "meat into the grinder" that was part of this debacle. Will rookies Sean Morgan or Bobby Ojeda Jr. get a shot this season? They have to be hoping they don't.