Getting to Know a Few of the New Guys

Break sort of beat me to this and even interviewed two of the same people I've interviewed here in Greeme and Tempfooliz. But I've also got Dale here as well to add to what will be a collection of opinions and thoughts on BBSBL from the perspectives of the newer GM's that are here.

This was sent to the respective participants at least 2 weeks ago. With that being said, apologies for the delay on this being posted.

Here we go!

1. What have been your initial thoughts of BBSBL overall? Do you like this league a lot and think that it could have a lot of potential to last a long time? How does it compare to other leagues you may have been in?

Dale:

It’s a really fast pace. Not so much the game itself, but the board. I’m a busy man, so I keep BBSBL on a different screen and glance at it throughout the day; or I check my iPad throughout the evenings. I like this league. It has a solid core of owners that have fun interacting with each other; that should keep the league alive and well for a long time. It’s much faster. Of the other two leagues I’m in, one only sees a post every week or two. The other is a little faster, but not much. Those leagues are the ones I look at on Sunday mornings over a cup of coffee. This league requires constant observation.

Greeme:

I was only in one baseball sim before and it shut down very quickly. It is much different than basketball sims because you need more players to compete in baseball than in basketball. It also seems that it is harder to steal a stud in fa and it takes longer to develop players. It seems like a good league with solid, active GM's. Just have to play around with the game itself I think and I should be ok. I mean if Game can win...

Tempfooliz:

So far this league is mostly great. I like being able to upgrade players and reversing bad PD. It seems to have decent activity and looks to survive for along time as long as people don't get all pissed off and quit.

Shale:

I've always liked the vast majority of all the aspects here, as well as the fast paced activity, which I can certainly keep up with. It's more fun than the other leagues I'm in, although HOFFBL is becoming a lot of fun too. And yeah BBSBL should definitely last a long time. Definitely through a good number of years of just fake players. We'll how long it can last before someone suggests a restart.

2. Was there anyone in particular here that you knew before joining BBSBL? Did that person or people make you feel more welcome here? What is your general perception of the other GM's here that you didn't already know?

Dale:

Nope, didn't know a soul. I Googled OOTP5 leagues and looked for ones that needed an owner. My general perception is that many of the GM's were just slamming and dicing each other in the posts, with little much to really say. It’s like an insult contest. I’ve seen a little more respect between the owners over the past four months, however (not a lot, but a little).

Greeme:

I knew a bunch of the GM's from BBS and/or UOSL although some are under other names so I didn't realize who they were. It is always easier to go into a league in which you know some of the GM's. Everyone has been nice about answering questions and I haven't gotten really dumb offers. I expected guys to try to steal all my youth. Habes always had a reputation of ripping off new GM's so I thought I would hear from him. Maybe GM's that know me just assume that I know what I'm doing even though I don't. Yet.

Tempfooliz:

Steve1213 was the one that invited me to this league. He did make me a little more welcome here as he could answer a few questions that I had. My general perception is that a lot of GM's like to talk a lot of shit in this league and think they are the greatest GM of all time.

Shale:

Haha Temp hit the nail on the head there. BBSBL is full of many egos and personalities. And most of them honestly think they are the shit and the levels of self-confidence are through the roof. Break, DRowe and I came into this league together and we didn't really know anyone else at the very beginning. At the end of 1997, I brought in Stutter and then after that, Break and I finally got Darell to join and the NL West has been more fun for me ever since.

3. Do you like most or even all of the rules and rewards camps here? Or do you think that there are a few too many rewards? Do you have any suggestions or requests that you think could make BBSBL better for everyone?

Dale:

Yeah, I like the ones I understand. I inflicted pain on myself the first month or so I was in the league (joined mid-July 2013) because I didn't know or understand the rules. For example, 2B Josh McKinley suffered a career ending injury so I released him. Boston picked him off the FA list and applied the RNG to fix his injury. I didn't know you could do that. Or do you think that there are a few too many rewards? I don’t think there are too many. Board Cash for 200 posts was a genius idea. It keeps people engaged on the boards. For suggestions, I'd say go a little lighter on the insults. It is ok to joke with someone, or cut a little in jest, but don’t get personal.

Greeme:

It is really too early to comment on rules/rewards on most of the stuff. In general, too many rewards leads to inflation. The PD stuff is annoying. 21 yr old first rounders suddenly lose their talent and 33 yr old journeymen suddenly get better; it just doesn't seem realistic. Maybe add an option to pay a certain amount of money when a player is drafted so a guy can't get worse. Or just let somebody be franchised before reaching the majors.

Tempfooliz:

There is only one rule that I really don't like in this league and its the rewarding GM's with 400k in board cash for 200 posts. It seems like people are just post whores and something that they could put everything in one post they spread it out in 5 or 6 posts and there are a lot of unnecessary posts. It clogs up the boards and you have to go searching a bunch or pages for one bit of information

Shale:

Although I'm by far one of the biggest posting whores, I see where Temp is coming from. It seems like Erbes did this to simply encourage forum activity and discussions, which has obviously worked for a good number of GM's in particular. There are a ridiculous number of unnecessary posts and sometimes, it can be difficult to find some of the informative posts. Maybe a few more informative posts could get stickied in the future so that seeing them could be easier? Wouldn't hurt to pay a little more attention to that. Generally speaking, I've always liked just about all the rules and rewards here. Board cash and the ability to reverse PD's is game-changing. A lot of strategy and skill is involved in so many aspects of running a team.

4. What were the first thoughts in your heads about the teams that each of you ended up taking over? Are you happy to have your team and do you particularly like your team? If you were able to choose any team as they all presently look right now, which team would you have chosen?

Dale:

I thought the Dodgers were awful. Because of the terrible records the first and second season that I had them, I got draft picks in the top 2 to 4 range, but the subsequent PD's were gruesome. Adam Jones got slammed. Joakim Soria got slammed. Every decent pick I had got slammed. I am happy to have the Dodgers because having the Dodgers got me in the league. In real life, I hate the Dodgers. I’m a Reds fan. That’s tough to decide which team I'd choose because I can’t say that I really know what the strengths and weaknesses of each team are. In this sim baseball universe, winning isn't the big reward to me. Building the winner is what gives me satisfaction. So, picking the best team when I entered the league would have left me no place to go but down. I like building a winner.

Greeme:

I like the fact that we have one of the best farm systems in the game. Always good to step into a situation in which you have quality youth. We added Verlander and hopefully my 2nd and 3rd rounders will also be decent. I have very little hitting so we are going to have to make some moves. I would definitely take Florida if I could take any team. They have a crazy amount of hitting and seem to be ready to take over the league in 2-3 years.





Tempfooliz:

My first thoughts of this team is that they had a solid team but comparing it to others they didn't seem to have enough talent to compete and they also had no minor league system so i decided to sell off some guys, reload minors, clear some salary, and make this team mine. I would rather have a team that I had to build myself then to take over a team that is set for the next 7 years or so

Shale:

All 3 of you have rebuilding to do and it's good that you're all enthusiastic to put together good teams of your own. I never thought how much having your own team you put together is valued here. I was happy to have the Rockies when I first arrived here. I obviously wanted the Mets the most, but James beat me to them by 1 day. Having the Blake Street Bombers was fun and they put up some crazy numbers, but I never thought that putting together a good pitching staff would be so difficult. Coors Field is like a complex algorithm that I keep trying to tinker with and hopefully, I can one day figure it out for once and for all.

5. As you all probably already noticed, BBSBL thrives on activity and progresses at a very fast pace. If someone is not able to keep up with the pace, they may really get left behind in multiple ways. Do you like the sim schedule the way it is? Is it too fast? Too slow? What kind of sim schedule would work best for you?

Dale:

BBSBL thrives on activity and progresses at a very fast pace. If someone is not able to keep up with the pace, they may really get left behind in multiple ways. I like the sim schedule. My other leagues sim twice a week, so I only check those games just before the sim and just after, basically twice a week. I spend approximately 15 minutes a week on each one. This schedule works just fine for me.

Greeme:

Uhhh, the draft is annoying me because it is moving too slowly. I like the sim schedule. I like seeing sims most days. When sims are inconsistent, then GM's stop checking in every day, there is less activity and it becomes harder to trade.

Tempfooliz:

Everything seems to run perfectly fine for me. Speed is good. Every once in awhile the sims seem to vary a day or two but that happens in all leagues

Shale:

I've never had a problem with the sim schedule. Then again, I'm sorta biased because I have a lot of free time and am just about always able to keep up with everything that happens here.

6. Do you like the franchising rule? Are you glad to see that it no longer applies to only homegrown players? Did this change happen to affect any possible franchising plans? Do you have a player that you might consider franchising in the near future?

Dale:

I think I like it, but LA doesn't have a franchise player right now. That rule change seems reasonable and had no effect on any franchising plans for the Dodgers. I'm thinking of designating Drew Henson if he develops in spring training and early in the season. I may take Play’s advice and TIA his doubles.

Greeme:

I like the rule because I can't think of something more annoying then a stud on a long term contract having a really bad PD. I actually liked the rule applying to home grown players because I remember following players up through the minors. But I don't really care either way. I was going to franchise Sabin but obviously that won't happen now. Maybe Verlander in the future but I don't see anybody else.

Tempfooliz:

I have not used the Franchise Rule yet so have not looked into it a lot but from what i have seen it seems like a good thing and better now that the player doesn't have to be homegrown. I don't know if there is someone i will franchise soon or not.

Shale:

I was happy to see the franchise player rule change, but it does not have much of an effect on me because Wright is still gonna be my franchise player of the future, although Buck's presence is sorta tempting.

7. What is your perception on the way tanking is handled here? Are the punishments too much? What do you think is the best way to deal with this issue?





Dale:

I kind of like it. I tanked the Dodgers last season in order to get higher drafts picks to help in rebuilding; but then I traded away the #1 and #3 to get some starting pitching for LA. When I say I tanked them, I didn't have to do much. They were really bad. The punishments are not too bad. I don’t really have an opinion on dealing with tanking. Ask me again in a few seasons.

Greeme:

It is really too early to tell. Personally, I hate tanking because I hate losing. I think the rules prevent out and out tanking for too long because they bump down picks which is the reason for tanking. I'm not sure how the market change affects things, but eventually I will figure it out.

Tempfooliz:

The only thing that I don't like is the dropping 5 spots of the teams draft pick. The other rules are great but a team that is losing shouldn't have their pick drop that much

Shale:

The dropping 5 spots in the draft order was not always here. By 1997 or 1998, some of the records got so bad that Erbes felt it would be best to have all teams at least try to be somewhat competitive. I think if people want to tank and rebuild and draft certain players, let them do it. I'd prefer a financial hit of some sort though over a loss of draft positioning. But I've been on both ends of the dropped picks spectrum. Habes tanked too hard in 2000, which helped me get the #1 overall pick in the 2001 draft after making a trade with the Tigers and enabled me to fulfill my dream of drafting David Wright. Then, in 2001, I unfortunately lost over 110 games for the second consecutive season and blew my chance to draft Joey Votto. Nanz certainly cashed in on his opportunity to snag him.

8. Do you like how the draft classes look and how the draft itself functions? Do you enjoy being able to have real MLB players that are either current or from the recent past? What's your take on eventually using all fake players down the road?

Dale:

I’d like to see the talent go a little deeper into the draft. It seems that everyone’s first pick, as least, should be a player that has potential to help a team out. But, I don’t have any real complaints about how the draft classes have been. My picks have been solid enough, until the game PD’d them into mediocrity. It doesn't matter much to me. Real or fictional, it’s about the same. Fake players would be ok with me, but what I’d really like to do is get into a historical league. A spin off of a historical league with this group of owners would be great. I’d like to see the Mantles, Berras, Spahns, Robinsons, Marichals, Banks, Musials, etc. of baseball in my ideal OOTP league.

Greeme:

I think the draft should go much faster. The game seems to do a good job of ordering players so it really isn't hard to make a list. At this point I would rather have real players. It is more fun to have players who I recognize. Maybe when I understand the game better then I could get into fake players also but I would much rather go retro and start with guys in the 1900s. Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, three fingers Brown etc. One of the fun things about sims is the matchups of players from different eras.

Tempfooliz:

Draft classes look pretty good and that the player tries to mirror their real life counter part a bit. However I will like all fake players down the road because people value certain players based on their name alone. So with all fake players you cant base a players value on their name.

Shale:

The drafts have been great so far in just about every way. Some people get too impatient with the progress, but that's bound to happen no matter what. I'm a historical baseball junkie, and the 90s are my favorite era because I grew up in that era, so that's been awesome to see in particular. Fake players will be ok and there definitely won't be any more value due to a player's name, which will be an interesting twist. I worry though that eventually, some people here will want a restart. Long Baller is now in 2038 and became a dull league, but is finally going to undergo a restart very soon. I'll be impressed if this league gets to 2050 without at least one person asking for a restart. Hopefully this issue will not tear apart this league.

9. It seems like each sim league has a section devoted to articles. But I'm not sure if any other league besides BBSBL (and HOFFBL) gives actual rewards for writing up various articles. Does the article rewards give you more of a desire to write articles? Is it all still not enough to really get you to write a lot of articles? Or do you just not have enough free time in your life to possibly devote toward articles and earning more board cash?

Dale:

I generally don’t have time, but I thinks it's good and I'm glad other write them. My other leagues have article awards.

Greeme:

I would never write articles if I wasn't getting cash. It gives a little reward for taking the time for doing something which makes the league better. It seems to make sense. Obviously if GM's are writing too many articles and hoarding too much cash then the system needs to be tweaked and if there aren't enough articles then some cash should be added but the amount of articles at this point seems like a good balance.

Tempfooliz:

I have never been an article writer in any of the leagues that I am in. The rewards seem ok but if someone puts a lot of hard work in on a big article there doesn't seem to be a lot of difference between say a power rankings article and just a basic questioner.

Shale:

The article system is obviously one of my favorite aspects of BBSBL. It is meant to be taken advantage of, and it's a shame that only Spencer and I are really the only GM's that are consistently putting up articles. I really wish at least half the league would take some time to put together more articles. The more articles, the better in my opinion. However, when I've asked others if they wanted an interview, just about all of them were willing to do so and it worked out well. It seems like more people are more interested in just answering questions than being the ones asking them. A lot of people have busy lives though, so you can't really blame them too much.

I know I've recently been criticized for all the interviews I've done, and to be honest, I've even gotten sorta burnt out with them myself. You all just needed to ask for more variety, which I plan on providing going forward. But just so you all know, from my perspective, I felt like I was being generous by giving interviews to help out other GM's. Some interviews I specifically gave to certain people to help them in urgent situations. For example, the interview I gave Dan was right after Griffey took a PD hit to his homers. Thanks to my interview with him, he was able to pay for the reversal and that was my goal with that interview all along...to help Dan do the reversal on Griffey without giving board cash out of my own pocket. I try to be a good friend like that. Obviously, some of you may have never considered or realized that, but now you know.

10. Speaking of board cash, some GM's in the past have not been in favor of the concept of trading board cash for in-game cash in order to help another team get through any potential financial problems. Are you in favor of such trades? If not, what do you think could be another solution for teams with financial problems that could lead to financial probation?

Dale:

I am in favor of it, but that’s maybe because LA’s market is huge and the Dodgers should generate plenty of game cash if they can start winning games.

Greeme:

I don't mind the trades. Don't forget that some teams are at a disadvantage because of their markets. Also the idea is not for them to be stuck in financial problems. GM's who mess up their teams that much will eventually quit if you don't help them find another way out.

Tempfooliz:

I think its good and bad to be able to trade board cash and in game cash. It seems like there are some buddies that trade with each other so when a buddy helps out another friend its not really fair to others that might need help but at the same time the trading of cash helps out teams with money


Shale:

This is yet another reason why board cash is so valuable. The teams with a lot of board cash can be able to trade some of it in order to maintain a high payroll at all times. Spencer would be Exhibit A because making board cash and flipping it for in-game cash has been his bread and butter. I've also found such trades to be useful for the Rockies. The Rockies have a mid-level market and can't always handle massive payrolls. Being that I can make over $20-25 million board cash per season through articles, posts, various awards and other events, I use this to my advantage to make sure I never get into financial probation. On the other hand, the GM's that don't tend to write as many articles and accumulate much board cash will more than likely have a lot of in-game that they can trade for board cash, and that's how those teams make their board cash. It's really a great system that helps just about everyone in different areas.

11. If each of you were to pick 3 veteran GM's here as the best role models for putting together a solid winning organization from top to bottom, who would they be and why?

Dale:

There are more than 3, but since I’ve only been here for three seasons, I’ll go with (in no particular order) Play, Erbes and Spencer. Those teams have been solid and I’ve watched them make good trades and get good player development. One thing they have in common is not banking of youth and picks to make the team successful. They may trade established talent for youth and picks, but then they flip the youth and picks for better established talent. I tried that a little this season by moving high draft picks, McLouth, Cabellero, Rodriguez, and a couple of others for Cordova, Schmit, Shields, Chouinard and Varitek. That should bring me 12-15 more wins next season. The young guys may not develop for several seasons, if at all.

Greeme:

Spencer, Play and Ashes. They seem to be capable of having a plan and sticking to it. Spencer is the type that will learn the game inside and out and figure out how to use the game to his advantage. He seems to want to keep a winning team for as long as possible. Ashes is building a team from zero and seems to have gotten a bunch of studs. Play is Play. Tries to be annoying but he always has success.

Tempfooliz:

Play seems to have a great team and his team looks like it will be good for awhile
Erbes also looks to have a good team and anytime you can try to suck up to the simmer its worth a shot
Steve 1213 has done a great job it looks like building his team with a combination of seasoned guys and up and coming guys

Shale:

I gotta agree with Greeme here. Spencer, Play and Ashes would be my picks as well.

As one of the most notable OOTP/sim league veterans, it's no surprise that Spencer knows what he's talking about and has used various aspects to his advantage. It really isn't surprising that he has already 3 championships and could win even more in the future for sure. He may value aging talent a bit much and get called out on it quite a bit, but the bottom line is he finds ways to win.

Play has found a lot of success...unfortunately most of it has just been in the regular season. After that, the Billy Goat curse appears and the Cubs have one long offseason after another. Play did start out with an amazing group of pitching spects and also got lucky with being able to draft Santana, much to the disapproval of Chris, our original Astros GM. Play has constantly made trades and has actively kept trying to put together the best team possible, but even when he has had the best team out there, he has still fallen short in the postseason. Nonetheless, the Cubs have always been loaded with talent and Play does not value anyone high enough to make them untouchable, which is good. Eventually, he'll figure out how to get over the postseason hump.

What Ashes has done is quite amazing. He won the 1997 World Series, tore the team down, did a mini rebuild, put together another strong contending team soon after, tore that one down and now has a young team loaded with stud hitters. This league is very pitching heavy and the fact that Ashes has a lot of young hitting talent definitely gives him quite a bit of leverage in trade talks, which could help his cause. Ashes even spent two months in the military with Play watching his team for him, and yet, after returning, Ashes is back to his usual self and putting together a team that could eventually run the NL East for a very long time.

Erbes, Broph, Waldo, Steve1213, Styro, Habes and Nanz are all among the more skilled GM's here as well in my opinion. I hope to one day be on that list as well, but I know that would take a long time before it could ever happen.

12. If you could pick 3 current players in this league right now and 3 players that are not yet in BBSBL, but will be in future drafts going forward, who would all those players be and why?

Dale:

There are too many good players in BBSBL and in MLB for me to pick three specific ones, but if I had to pick for this league, then I’d take bats that can field and steal bases over pitching arms.

Greeme:

Out of guys that are in the game currently, I would take Hanley Ramirez, Miguel Cabrera and Gerik Baxter. 2 stud young hitters and a pitcher that has all brilliant ratings. Seems like that would be a great start to a team. Off course Ashes' youth might still be better. As far as guys that will be in future drafts, I¡¦m hoping that eventually we will get back to the mid 80s mets. I'm a big Mets fan from back in the day. I would love to get Dr K, Cone and Darryl. Also HoJo. I miss those Mets!





Tempfooliz:

Hanley Ramirez--Great up and coming player that have great defense
Todd Helton--One of my favorite baseball players and MVP Candidate
CC Sabathia---Great young dominant pitcher
Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, Mike Trout

Shale:

If I could choose any 3 current BBSBL major league players, it would be Hanley Ramirez, Jayson Werth and Gerik Baxter. All three are young and very talented. Ramirez has 30/30 potential each season and will score a ton of runs as well. Werth could go up to a 12 or 13 in home runs by the time he fills out and will be the face of the Expos/Nationals for a very long time. Baxter is yet another great Jays pitching spect and is brilliant in all the important categories. Future ace for sure.

I'd also consider Todd Helton, Vladimir Guerrero and Johan Santana as the 3 most valuable seasoned veterans that are in their prime, even though Santana is still very young.

For future players in later drafts, I'd take Matt Harvey, Mike Trout and Bryce Harper. Harvey will be brilliant across the board and one of the best pitchers around when fully developed. Trout will be one of the best hitters in the league and could easily be a consistent 40/40 threat at the right stadium. Harper could be even more valuable because he will be able to catch as well from the start. He will be a great hitter himself.













13. Some GM's here (myself included) in the past have made certain trade decisions based on personal attachments to certain players, for better or worse. Are you the type of person that has personal attachments to certain players on your favorite real life? Or would personal attachments not be an issue for you when making business decisions?

Dale:

No, personal attachments have no influence at all. As Freddie Mercury said, “Is this the real life, is this just fantasy? I know the difference.

Greeme:

The years that we are currently in are years that I followed baseball a lot less. I loved the 80's and if we went back to those years I would end up overpaying for former Mets, as I'm sure you figured out from the last answer. It is true that it makes no real sense, especially bc the sim player is not necessarily the same as the real player, but it is always more fun to have players that we rooted for irl.

Tempfooliz:

For the most part I don't have personal attachments to players but every once in awhile there is one or two players you have to have or that you will never move....So basically never say never.

Shale:

My personal attachments have obviously been well documented and I have made certain moves just to satisfy the diehard Mets fan in me. The Alfonzo trade with the Mets really ended up working well for me because Fonzie has become one of the best second basemen in the National League. Franco was a solid closer in the late 90s for the Rockies. And of course, drafting Wright was one of my happiest moments here. It's tough, but I'm honestly trying to not let personal attachments get in my way going forward. There won't be any real life Mets to look forward to in future drafts besides Harvey and maybe Syndergaard and Wheeler, but yeah the names are nice, but the results are even better. Gotta trust my brain sometimes over my heart. That's what it really comes down to in a way.

14. Which GM's do you find most entertaining on the forum so far and why? Have you ever seen the same amount of posting and discussions on other forums for other leagues you may have been in?

Dale:

I have never seen this amount of posting. Many BBSBL GM's are clever, smart and witty in their posts, like Spencer, who (like Erbes) has been kind to me since I’ve walked in this BBSBL room, but one of my favorites is Stutter. I’ve said it before, there’s more to this guy than he portrays on the boards. Each of us has a persona here that is not really who we are. It’s a character we've created. Look closer at the board persona or the game character that each of us puts out there and you’ll see glimpses of the real guy.

Greeme:

Posting is similar to BBS and UOSL. I like when there are guys on a lot. There are also guys that are around during the morning my time which is good. Shale, Steve, Stutter and Play are entertaining. Spencer is entertaining occasionally also though he seems to talk to himself too much.

Tempfooliz:

There are some interesting things posted but for the most part it seems like there is a lot of unnecessary posting by a lot of GM's just to get that board cash. So if i have to pick one person i would have to say Crazymike just for his babe of the day posts.

Shale:

BBSBL has by far the most forum activity of any league or forum I've been involved in. It's not even close. Sure, the board cash helps, but it really seems like a lot of us really enjoy chatting about different things. This isn't just an online league...it's actually in a way an online community that isn't directly through Facebook or Twitter. How rare is that? The usual suspects (Steve, Habes, James, Stutter, Darell, Nanz, Waldo) always keep things loose and humorous, which is necessary here at times.

15. Which teams would you put as the top 5 most likely to win the 2004 World Series? And give us at least 1 reason why your team will be more relevant in 2004.

Dale:

In no particular order:
1. Toronto
2. Chicago Cubs
3. San Francisco
4. New York Yanks
5. Pittsburgh

I’ll give you more than one reason for the Dodgers:
1. SP Cordova
2. SP Schmidt
3. 1B Varitek
4. SP Chouinard
5. OF Higginson
6. The pending development of Jason Bay
7. The pending development of Drew Henson
8. The pending development of Wainwright
9. The pending development of CJ Wilson
10. A better bullpen (moving Thompson and Mills out of the rotation and into the pen) and the development of Medders and Madson.
11. LA has board cash for TIs
12. Just because it’s about time for LA to make some noise.

Greeme:

I'll go with the Jays, Mariners, Mets, Padres and Giants. The Rays won't be good, so don't expect much from them.

Tempfooliz:

Giants,Pirates, Mariners, Jays, and Mets

My team isn't going to make a lot of noise because I am in the process of rebuild this teams minors and will have a few years to get the team where I want it to be


Shale:

My picks would be the Jays, Mariners, Pirates, Padres and Giants. The Rockies will be better this season because I've got some speed at the top of the order in Everett and McCracken, plus a rookie catcher named John Buck, who will be the next big thing. If the pitching can do reasonably well and the bullpen doesn't blow too many leads, the Rockies should be able to contend for at least most of this season.

Thanks for taking the time to share your opinions and insights with the rest of the league!

Until next time...