Thursday, February 5, 2015

Season 26 Opening Day Power Rankings

Rank- Team- (Proj W/L)

1- Kansas City (110-52)- Off-season acquisitions boost them into the number 1 spot.
2- Jacksonville (108-54) Same roster as last season should produce about the same result.
3- Las Vegas (107-55) As predicted by Mongoose, down slightly from last season.
4- Pawtucket (101-61) Solid everywhere, this could be their season.
5- Vancouver (99-63) Vancouver takes a big leap. They are clearly part of the elite now.
6- Nashville (87-75) Best of the rest anyone from this point would be a surprise WS winner.
7- Jackson (86-76) Tommy Webster and a deep stable of pitchers should lead Jackson to the playoffs
8- Durham (86-76) Unlikely to crack the top 5, but solidly in next set of teams
9- Cincinnati (85-77) Quiet off-season has them above average, but again on the cusp of the playoffs.
10- Boise (85-77) The hitting is there, but will need the pitching to over perform to challenge the best teams
11- New Orleans (84-78) Blanche has them ready for the big time.
12- Cheyenne (83-79) Kevin Hilldenbrand and Nicky Cooke lead a decent team that may be down just a little
13- Baltimore (81-81) A top 5 pitching staff makes them always a threat for the playoffs
14- Houston (80-82) While they have pushed Jacksonville to the limit each of the last 2 seasons, they are now the league's most balanced team
15- Trenton (80-82) Hopefully Trenton's big league squad plays well, as there is very little talent on the way.
16- Little Rock (79-83) Added a number of vets to make themselves competitive.
17- Burlington (79-83) Decent you talent for the new owner to build around. The ML roster is pretty average.
18- Sacramento (78-84) The numbers didn't like them last season, but they made the playoffs. We will see who is right now.
19- Chicago (77-85) Has the top end talent to match Vegas and KC, but lacks the depth to compete. Still, they seem on an up swing
20- Dover (75-87) Has added a lot of young talent and seems well into the rebuild.
21- Honolulu (75-87) Its -17 here. I wish I was there.
22- Los Angeles (74-88) Seems unlikely to repeat the failures of last season.
23- Buffalo (74-88) Played well last season, may struggle more this season.
24- San Juan (74-88) Lead by nice young pitching, San Juan lacks top line talent elsewhere.
25- San Francisco (72-90) Deepest minor leagues in Roy Hobbs. Lacks a superstar, but multiple all-stars on the farm.
26- Florida (71-91) Really lacks talent at all levels.
27- Scottsdale (72-90) Huge additions to the ML squad make me think this number is low.
28- Richmond (69-93) Best young talent in Hobbs. SF has a deeper pool, but Richmond's is better
29- San Diego (67-95) Alex Harrelson and Blake Maxwell are quite good, but the talent drops sharply from there.
30- Philadelphia (66-96) The pitching is getting close, but may struggle to score runs.
31- Santa Fe (65-97) Ken Woods may get dealt early as my numbers say Santa Fe will struggle to stay in games.
32- Syracuse (64-98) Oh how the mighty have fallen.


Future Rankings

City Score
Richmond 12
San Francisco 11
New Orleans 10
Baltimore 9.5
Scottsdale 9.5
Burlington 8.5
Kansas City 8
Little Rock 7.5
Chicago 7.5
Jacksonville 7
Las Vegas 6.5
Cheyenne 6
Dover 6
Los Angeles 6
San Juan 6
Philadelphia 6
Buffalo 5.5
Honolulu 5
San Diego 5
Jackson 4.5
Durham 4.5
Florida 4.5
Vancouver 4
Boise 4
Pawtucket 3.5
Houston 3
Sacramento 3
Trenton 2.5
Santa Fe 2.5
Nashville 2
Cincinnati 2
Syracuse 0.5