Memphis looking for season V

The Blues start their first season in Double Mendoza with a team record of 111 wins. Since that, their wins total is decreasing.
The last season was their worst season, with 94 wins, but they manage to win their division title.

The fifth season is starting soon, and the Blues will be on the run to win another division title, but the improvements of Nashville may give them hard time.

The Blues GM made some interesting moves. He decides to trade the second baseman Felipe Gonzalez, and catcher Hideo Suzuki for starting pitcher Timothy Lanning.
Gonzalez is a future ML infielder, and Suzuki may reach the same level soon.
Memphis has improved their pitching staff with Lanning, but this one may start the season in AAA. Therefore, there's a big chance to see him in the ML rotation somewhere in the season.

Also, the Blues recently trade Del Marquez for Will Koehlert and D'Angelo Castro. The trade is in the process to be approuve by the other owners of Double Mendoza.

On the free agent market, Memphis gave a two years contract to third baseman Nigel Kelly for a total value of 10.8 millions. A recent addition was Louie Villano who may help the ML bullpen as a setup man or closer.

Rico Parra, Roosevelt Gant and Christy Gold will be the top 3 starting pitchers for the Blues. The remaining spot are still not decided. Napoleon Tapani will start as the official closer of the team. Tapani got more than 40 saves in his last three seasons.

The Blues got some power at bat with Donte Kirwan, Andres Vizcaino, D.T. James and Pablo Suarez. Three of them hit more than 40 home runs, and Kirwan was near to reach that stage with 38.
Rafael Montanez and Nigel Kelly may produce a lot of RBI. With his new contract of 22 millions for three years, Von Byrne will have a more important role this year.

Bryan Guerrero and Victor Bonds may split time in the left field and also as leadoff hitter.

With all this being said, the Blues are looking positively at the fifth season of Double Mendoza. There will be a race with Nashville for the division title.
We may also see New Orleans and Little Rock involve in that race. In any case, it will be interesting.

New faces in Nashville.

Lots of changes in Nashville this winter, they trade one of the best hitter in both leagues, Danny Brunette, in order to improve their rotation.
They gave a lot? But, they hope they get a lot in return too.

Let's take a look.

Brunette, Ray Randolph, Steve Withem, Sal Saunders, Glenn Sisler and Taylor Black are all gone.

But Coco Casey, Benji Reyes, Robert Knight, Marino Berroa and Bonk Lieber are coming.

Of course, Brunette, a 2 times All-Star, a 1 time MVP and in the top 5 in hits, runs and RBI's, will be hard to replace but the Sounds GM, thinks that Christopher Goldberg, Adam Huff, Dernell Carpenter and Cy Crawford should lead the offence, with help coming from rookie power hitting catcher Tim Barnes and newly acquire Reyes and Berroa.

The rotation should be much better with the acquisition of Casey and Knight who will join Ron Moran in one of the best top three SP in both leagues.

The Sounds also lost Bartolo Ortega to free agency, but they hope Lieber will be able to replace him effectively.

After 4 seasons finishing second to Memphis in the AL South, the Sounds hope this year they will finish first and that they will play late in the playoffs.

The Race for 125 -- Update!

With 69 games on the books in season three, several teams have already won 125+ games for seasons two and three combined. They have immunity and cannot be voted off the Double Mendoza Ranch. Eleven other teams need less than 25 wins and are vitual locks to reach the magic mark. That leaves five teams on the "less-than-a-sure-thing" bubble. Two teams -- Cincinnati and Richmond -- need to post significantly higher winning percentages the rest of the way than they have so far this season (note that I included Charlotte in the table for reference, but because they are now owned by Animal7 they are not on the bubble):

Payton's Historic Day

Minnesota Antichrist LF Matthew Payton's major league career is only 19 games old, but already he has earned a distinction that few hitters achieve. In a 4-0 win over the Jackson Magnolias, Payton came to the plate 4 times: triple, double, single, home run. The cycle.

The game itself didn't have the feel of one in which a cycle was in the making. Minnesota SP Damaso Carrasco and Jackson SP Storm McCallum were dueling to a scoreless tie through the 5th inning. Each had given up just 5 hits. But already, Payton was on pace.

Batting 3rd, he ripped an opposite field triple deep into the right field corner in the 1st inning. But with 2 outs already, 1B Rob Springer couldn't get him home. Payton did not get a chance to hit again until the 4th, when he recorded another extra base hit. This time it was a 1-out double, and despite RF Alex Gonzalez' single later in the inning, McCallum still preserved the shutout.

When the 6th inning rolled around, Payton had to lead off. His approach at the plate was selfless, as he inside-outted a ball through the hole for a single instead of swining for the fences. His hitting would finally be rewarded, as the Antichrists loaded the bases 2 batters later. After McCallum struck out the next two batters and looked like he might get out of it, C Kevin Nichols got Minnesota on the board with a 2 RBI single.

His teammates were buzzing between innings about what he was on the verge of accomplishing, but he still had to hit one out of the park--something he had not done all season. RP Jody Allen was on the mound for the Magnolias when Payton got ready to take his 7th inning cuts. Allen knew what Payton needed to complete the cycle, and was determined not to give him anything on the inner half, where he likes it. But on a 1-1 count, Allen tried to bury a curveball, only to have it hang up on him. Payton's eyes lit up as he turned the pitch around in a hurry. As he finished his follow through, he put both hands in the air, pumped them a couple of times, and started his jog to first base with a huge smile on his face.

Payton has a long, bright career ahead of him. But he may be hard-pressed to generate a baseball memory he'll be more fond of than the night he hit for the cycle in front of the Minnesota crowd.

Team Profile: Arizona Flip-Floppers

Between the Oklahoma City Kingfishers being the defending National League West Champs, and the Los Angeles Dodgers making the most noise in Free Agency, many people overlooked the Arizona Flip-Floppers this preseason. But those in the know have seen a steadily-increasing team since the Double Mendoza League's inception that is ready to take the next step. A quiet, but impressive offseason has Arizona ready to challenge in the NL West, and their 11-5 start means they are well on their way.

Their highest profile offseason move was acquiring SP John Burroughs from the Nashville Sounds in a 3-player trade. Burroughs is a young, developing ace, who has pitched for both the Atanta Crackers and the Sounds in the past. A year ago he went 13-12 with a 3.32 ERA--very solid numbers for a 24-year-old. Since heading west, he's started this season 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA, and has been the workhorse Arizona wanted and needed. They sent some promising young talent to the Sounds, but this move was meant to signal Arizona's desire to contend at the big leauge level, and it has panned out well for them so far.


Of course, you can't talk about the Flip-Floppers without mentioning 1B Joe Thompson, who bagged not only National League Rookie of the Year honors last season, but also National League Most Valuable Player. Sometimes it can be hard on a player once his expectations are lofted to such heights, but not Thompson. He's started April off on fire, hitting .373 with 7 home runs and 13 RBIs in 16 games. His OBPS is a stratospheric 1.237. He'll be anchoring this Arizona lineup for years to come, but his supporting staff is pretty impressive too. Across the diamond, 3B Jose Pujols has 6 long balls of his own, and LF Sherm Ledesma, a long-time Flip-Flopper, is mashing balls out of parks as frequently as ever.

Losing SP Hooks Perisho in Spring Training was quite a disappointment, but this young squad looks prepared to fight for the NL West title without him. It may be early, but seeing their names perched atop the leaderboard has to be pretty good motivation for a team used to lounging in the cellar. The dogfight between Los Angeles and Arizona is going to be tight throughout the campaign, and is one worth keeping an eye on as the season continues.