PVBL: Tucson Border Patrol
Kirk Division Preview
April 23, 2000

This division was brutal last year, and looks like it's going to be
brutal again this year.  Motor City, New Diggens, the MapleDogs, and
Border Patrol all have a legitimate shot of winning the division.  One
can make the argument that this division is the best in the PVBL.

Medina Mustangs

Worst in the division last year, and probably will again finish in
last place this year.  This is not because this team still sucks, but
because it hasn't improved enough.  Lots of good-excellent young
players, but they still for the most part need to mature a bit.

Lineup: Cruz and Ledesma are pretty good top of the order hitters, but
after that it's all downhill.  Helton isn't really your prototypical
#3 hitter, though he will be eventually.  Huskey is the best cleanup
hitter on the team, but not because he's a great cleanup hitter
unfortunately.  He's solid, but not spectacular, and never will be.
The rest of the lineup doesn't have a lot of contact, and sports no
power and no speed to make up for it either (with the exception of
Wojcik).  Overall this lineup suffers severely from lack of speed,
though that problem will go away in a few years.

Grade: D  Probably should be lower, but hey, I'm generous :)

Rotation: Unquestionably the strength of this team.  The acquisition
of both Erickson and Lopez really makes this a solid rotation.
Erickson is a legit ace, and Lopez is nearly as good.  Tomko is an
excellent #3, and Hess is a solid #5.  I don't like having Jarvis in
the rotation myself, I'd stick Prieto in there.  Other than that
though, this rotation is solid.

Grade: B+ In this division, not good enough most likely.

Bullpen: Percival is a good closer, and Prieto makes a nice long
reliever.  Overall, the bullpen is solid.  
Grade: B

Bench/Farm:

This farm system is just amazing, stacked with hitters.  No pitching
prospects whatsoever, but Cloud, Kaat, Burrell, Abreu, and Encarnacion
make for an excellent future for this team.  Unfortunately, that
future is currently all in LOW. Rick Helling and Hank Gill make for
great fillin in case of a pitching injury.

Grade: A+

Overall:  C

This rotation is not good enough to make up for the terrible lineup.
This team will be tough to beat in a few years though.


Mississagua MapleDogs

Leading contender for the Kirk Division crown, this team is loaded on
offense.  It's not an old team, though some key players are
approaching the late stages of their careers.  Should be part of a
strong 3-horse race for the division title.  The bullpen is
questionable, and is probably the only true weakness on the team.

Lineup: When Dean Palmer is your #8 hitter, you've got a great lineup.
The only thing this lineup lacks is speed, but when you've got that
kind of contact and power, you probably don't need much.  As long as
you can walk around the bases, you're fine :).  Not many old guys on
this team either, so the Dogs ought to be a powerhouse for a long
time.  The infield (other than Nomar) is suspect defensively, but the
offense should more than make up for it.

Grade: A  (would be an A+ with better defense)

Rotation: Brown, Schilling, and Arrojo head an excellent rotation.
Possibly the best in the division on paper.  Rose hasn't had good
career numbers, but he's still young and should improve over his
career numbers.  Arrojo will need to step it up over last season for
the Dogs to win this division.

Bullpen: Plunk seems like a suspect closer to me, and his career
numbers bear that out.  Dave Steib is 200 years old, and can't have
much left in the tank.  Pleasac is a good lefty setup guy, and Lira
and Duncan provide some insurance incase of injury to a starter.  No
flamethrowers in this bunch, but good control guys for the most part.

Grade:  B -

Bench/Farm: Other than the guys in the majors, there isn't much depth
to speak of on this team.  The farm system is mostly depleted, though
Blasigame and Pelouse may be ML pitchers someday.

Grade: D

Overall:  A-  


Motor City Madmen

Division champ every year so far.  Not this year.  Free agency has hit
the Madmen hard.  Losing Hitchcock to New Orleans this year may be the
straw the breaks the Motor City Back.  The rotation has always been a
strength of this team, but repeated defections has really taken a
heavy toll.  This team still has a lot of good players, but is clearly
a step down from last season.

Lineup: Pride, Burks, Greene, Griffey, and Sosa are a solid middle of
the lineup.  These guys match up with the best in the league.
Unfortunately, the rest of the lineup is much worse.  Eric Hall can't
hit, and I have no idea what Arthur Benard and Ernie Cheeves are doing
in any lineup.  I expect this lineup to have a lot of trouble scoring
more than 2-3 runs in a game, which means the rotation better be A+.

Grade: B-  With those middle guys, it can't be much worse than this.

Rotation: John Smoltz is probably the most dominating pitcher in the
game.  Baldwin is a solid #2 (if not spectacular).  Gubicza is doing
it with smoke and mirrors (and 30AS) so I don't expect him to make it
all season at a high level.  Olivares and Wells are decent #4-5
pitchers.  I'd put Bigbee or Fernandez in the rotation instead of
Gubicza.

Grade: B

Bullpen: Tim Crabtree looks like a tolerable closer, though he lacks a
great out pitch.  Crouch is a very good setup guy, and none of the
rest of the guys are bad.  Of course, they aren't terribly impressive
either.  We'll see how they turn out this season.

Grade: B+

Bench/Farm: Zeke Slagel might be ok someday.  That's it.  Nothing in
the minors worth mentioning.  If an injury hits this lineup, it could
get ugly in a hurry.

Grade: F

Overall: B- Not as good as last year.  Won't contend without some
changes most likely.


New Diggens Budweiser Frogs

This team name is too damn long.  It messes up the standings, dammit!
:) Was in the division race until the end of the season, and in the
end managed to hold off the Maple Dogs for the the Frog's first trip
to the playoffs.  Lost Allen Watson in the offseason, and didn't do
much to make up for that, but is probably going to be in it until the
end again.


Lineup: Glanville is a very good leadoff hitter, Vizquel and Bonds
make up a top three that compares well with anyone.  Not as impressive
after that, however.  Delgado is a pretty good cleanup, but it goes
downhill from there.  None of the starters is bad, but none of them is
tremendous either

Grade: B+

Rotation: Smiley is very excellent.  Jose should be #2, and Navarro is
good.  This season may ride on the young arm of Scott Elarton,
however.  Haney has poor career numbers, and that doesn't inspire
confidence as a #5 starter.  Probably better than Wengert though.

Grade: B (may be a B+ or A- if Elarton pans out).

Bullpen: Borbon is a nice closer, and Harvey and Wendell make good
setup guys.  Wagner probably ought to be in the rotation instead of
Haney.

Grade: B+

Bench/Farm:

Not much youth in the minors, so what you see is what you'll get for
the next few years.

Grade:  D

Overall:  B+  Should contend for the title.


Tijuana Border Patrol

Fell to 4th place in the division last year, after winning the
wildcard the year before.  Randy Johnson lead the list of
underperformers, but was by no means the only one on the list.  Lost
several key players (read Andy Benes) to injury.  Lots of quality on
this team, and addressed the major weakness (bullpen) with the free
agent signing of Kerry Lightenberg (no apparent relation to the Braves
closer seen on TV).

Lineup: Without Rondell White, this lineup struggled some at home.  If
Damien Jackson matures into a good leadoff hitter, this lineup is
probably the second best in the division.  Solid power and contact all
the way up and down the lineup.  Still a very young lineup, but in my
estimation one that should put up quite a few runs.  (Of course, that
doesn't explain the terrible offensive start.)

Grade: B+  Not as much contact as I'd like, but solid.

Rotation: Randy Johnson, Andy Benes, and Andy Pettite are rank right
up with the best 3 in baseball.  Jaret Wright had a bad season last
year, but his control jumped 20 points in the offseason, so I expect
him to have a good year.  Jeff D'Amico is a very good #5.

Grade:  A-  (could be better if I get production from Wright and D'Amico)

Bullpen: A major weakness last year, but should be better this year.
Ternasky had a bad season last year, the change in altitude should
help him.  Lightenberg looks like a good closer, and I like the 60 GF
rating.  Frank Allison and Hippolito Pichardo will be very good setup
guys, when they get back from injury (not for a while in Allison's
case).

Grade: B

Bench/Farm: There are still a number of solid contributors for
platooning and to fill in for injuries.  The minors have several very
good prospects, such as Mark Kotsay, Javier Vasquez, and Gary Muich.

Grade: A

Overall: A-

Hey, I could be biased, but I think I've got the best team :)

--written by Scott Watterson