Key West Gazette

[BaseballAddict32]

In this inaugural addition of the Key West Gazette, we take a look at the early happenings of the 2016 American Federation Baseball League season. The Gazette will then chronicle the rest of the season and beyond as the league owned and operated newspaper.

Frontier League News and Notes

We begin with the defending champions, the Texas Isotopes. They are out of the gate quickly, with the league's best record at 16-8, applying pressure to the rest of the Frontier League to keep up. The Isotopes, which certainly don't lack for talent, have a knack for the whole being better than the some of the parts. Outside of stolen bases they don't currently lead the Frontier League in any statistical category but are near the top in many and that sort of balance has them poised again as the favorite out of the Frontier. Though they are, it looks like, in for a battle from the Colorado Bears, who sit just a game back currently. Though they are two back in the loss column.

The Bears, still stinging from disappointment last season, vow to get by Texas this season. Texas eliminated Colorado in their quest to win the championship. This is developing into one of the most intense rivalries in the league and could very well shape the 2016 season in terms of who survives the Frontier League to compete for the title. Colorado in contrast to Texas, is offense happy, while the pitching is struggling to catch up. Colorado leads the FL in most offensive categories but sits near the bottom in most pitching statistics. For Colorado to move to the next level, they will likely need to find some answers on the mound.

One team in a unique situation this season is the Illinois Piasa. The team finds itself competing for the playoffs with an owner that has already completed a league approved sale that takes effect next season. As the 2016 campaign unfolds it will be interesting to see what latitude the present owner, who next year will be running an expansion franchise, feels he has to complete deals that impact the long term sustained success of the franchise. Never know, a key move or two might move Illinois right past Texas and Colorado.

One bright spot for the struggling Indiana Vipers is Juan Palmeiro, an early favorite for the top pitcher in the league. His .78 ERA is a boon for a team whose starters as a whole are near the bottom of the FL in ERA. He has also recorded 4 of the teams 10 wins. In his last 4 starts he has 4 wins and a .3 ERA. That is not a typo, you read correctly, a .3 ERA. Arizona, which made a blockbuster deal right before opening day, rounds out the FL standings but it could just be a matter of time before the new pieces fit together and things get going there. Certainly ownership has shown a commitment to winning that their players must follow.


Patriot League News and Notes

Where the FL has already seen some separation between its top teams and the rest of the league, the Patriot League is notable for its early logjam top to bottom where first and last place are a mere 4 games apart. Only one game differentiates the first place from the 4th place teams. New Jersey is a team whose record at this point does not reflect its production. As a team it leads or is near the top of the PL in most areas on offense and pitching wise. Its pitching staff seems to have one glaring issue early in the season and that is the 33 homeruns already surrendered. Could be the explanation between production and results, that and some early hard luck losses. They do appear to be poised to take the next step and make the championship series, this season, with a team loaded with talent and playoff experience.

That will not be easy, though. As they have West Virginia, the newly relocated Pennsylvania francise and the defending PL Champions from North Carolina all above .500 and hot on their heels. North Carolina will be making its bid this season to get back to the championship series and get over the hump this year to win it all. To get there, they will be led by their own version of the bash brothers, Greg Smith and Rory White who have combined for 12 homeruns and 45 RBIs already this season. Pennsylvania is generating excitement in its new home state with an early run at the playoffs and all indications are it will continue to be a contender throughout the 2016 season.

An interesting early rumbling comes from the AFBL's northern most team, the Ontario Blue Pirates. Despite being only 4 games out of first, there have been some rumblings from front office executives speaking under the condition of anonymity, that Ontario could be close to trading off some key players with an eye to the future in an effort to rebuild the team into a title contender. Will be interesting to watch and see how their rival, New Jersey, and their early success effects that decision.

Vegas Odds and Ends

Texas is listed by Vegas insiders as the odds on favorite to repeat at 1.5:1 odds. New Jersey comes in close behind at 2:1 and Colorado at 2.5:1. North Carolina is favored t 5:1 while Pennsylvania, Illinois and West Virginia are currently sitting at 18:1.

[mstreeter06]

Fantastic stuff!

[mikezone13]

Nice summary!

[BaseballAddict32]

Thanks guys. I'll try to keep it updated each sim as long as work doesn't get in the way.

Mike, I gotta say when I was working on this I don't think I've ever seen a record as deceiving as yours. I mean your team is dominating statistically. Record usually catches up to production if that maintains. I had that with my fantasy football team this year. Had a couple of tough luck losses and wasn't even in a playoff spot for a while despite having the most points in the league. It will be interesting to see where that goes this year.

[mikezone13]

Thanks guys. I'll try to keep it updated each sim as long as work doesn't get in the way.

Mike, I gotta say when I was working on this I don't think I've ever seen a record as deceiving as yours. I mean your team is dominating statistically. Record usually catches up to production if that maintains. I had that with my fantasy football team this year. Had a couple of tough luck losses and wasn't even in a playoff spot for a while despite having the most points in the league. It will be interesting to see where that goes this year.

Yeah our team just seems to under perform in one area every year, 2013 was with the bat, and this year our starters have been poor (relative to other years) while our bats and bullpen have been on fire.

But I've got faith in our rotation, we have some skilled and experienced guys in there.

[BaseballAddict32]

Frontier League News and Notes

Who is hot in the Frontier League these days? Well for starters your reigning, defending league champions the Texas Isotopes. Texas is team that continues to win at a clip over .700 and does so with great team effort. Solid across the board the Isotopes do not look like a team satisfied with one title but rather with the look of a team that wants to become a dynasty. One player, who seems to be getting better each year, leading the way this year, is Jorge Rosado. Hitting 34 HR and driving 106 runs can be hard to top but he has already gone deep 10 times this young season and has driven in 36. If he continues to be the elite hitter Texas can build around, there is no reason to see them slowing down any time soon.

While the top of the FL standings is familiar there has been a lot of recent change from there. In their last year in the FL before moving leagues and locations to Maryland, the California Golden Eagles have made a strong move to get into second place and first place in the wild card race. Kevin Reynolds is out to a red hot start with 5 wins with a 1.69 era while striking out 64 in 53 1/3 innings. Considering their offense is dead last in the FL, they will need him to maintain every bit of that dominance. The question California needs to answer is this; can they sustain success with so little contribution from the offense? If not one has to think some moves are in their future.

Colorado, which was so close to competing for a title last year, got out to a quick start this year but is in a current slide that has brought it back to the middle of the pack competing for the wild card. It?s learning the old baseball adage the hard way, offensive puts fans in the seats but pitching wins championships. Colorado is almost a negative image of the Golden Eagles, where its offense is dominant but its pitching has struggled in many ways in the early going, in particular its bullpen. Colorado will need to iron out some of those details because it will be tough to match them run for run if they can find some pitching fixes. In the meantime look for teams to try to slow the trio of Foley, Flannery and Rojas, as lethal a trio as there is in the league.

Oregon has moved into contention while Illinois is lingering around but the questions loom there with ownership that has its hands tied on moves to compete this year. One owner that has to be frustrated is Arizona, which made a significant move to compete this year but whose team has not lived up to his efforts.

Pioneer League News and Notes

New Jersey continues to be a complete team, at or near the team of most all statistical categories both in pitching and on offense. Yet there has to be some frustration that this has not translated into any significant lead. They now find last year's Pioneer League champions, North Carolina, nipping at their heels only a game back. New Jersey is interesting for its lack of a single super star. Instead it boasts 6 players who have between 5 and 8 homeruns already.  Also several players have already driven in at least 20 runs. That sort of consistent production up and down the order makes it tough on pitchers with no easy outs. As patient as they are, leading the league in walks drawn, perhaps the one area needing to be worked on is their strikeouts. If they managed to reduce that, their line up could be even more dangerous.

North Carolina refuses to loose contact with first place New Jersey, continuing to keep pace with them, trailing by slim margins in the standings. Their rotation is the model for consistency with 3 pitchers in the 2's in ERA and a 4ths in the 3's. Combine that with their 1-2 combination of Smith and White producing runs and they should again be a team contending for a chance at the title. And after falling short off the big prize last year they might be the only team able to match New Jersey's determination to take the next step in the playoffs.

Pennsylvania will continue to lean pretty heavily on MVP candidate Tim Schroeder to lead them in their quest to make the playoffs. Schroeder leads the team in all 3 Triple Crown categories. He and ace Rob Phillips need to be leaders on and off the field to make their first year in their new home an exceptional one. Meanwhile West Virginia also continues to hang around with a chance to work itself into the post season. The Hollers rely on solid pitching and decent hitting to contend but the lack of a hitter putting up major run production could be an issue as the year goes on. For Kentucky, Ontario and New York, a move to compete may need to be made soon or management may be asking them selves what they need to do to begin thinking about the future in each case.


Vegas Odds and Ends

Texas is still the odds on favorite (1.5:1) to win but after that New Jersey and North Carolina are near even in the eyes of odds makers with both sitting 2.5:1. Colorado is still viewed as a solid favorite at 10:1 with California is sitting at 12:1.

[BaseballAddict32]

Recently KeyWestGazette.com had a chance to sit down with league commissioner and Colorado Bears owner, Matthew Streeter. Here is what he had to say.


Q: Take us back to last season. You are in the league championship series with a chance to advance beyond and play for it all. What was it like coming off that loss to Texas? How did that impact your team and your moves coming into this season?




A: We actually lost in the Wildcard Series in a full 5 games. Each team won all its home games. Homefield advantage is such a big factor for our team. It was definitely a tough loss and a hard fought series. Texas was the better team and they showed that winning the FCS Cup. This offseason we focused on improving SS, C, and our pitching depth which we feel as we certainly did if you look at our club's offensive power. I like our chances this season to win a title. That's goal every season.


 

Q: Recently you made a series of moves, some seemed to focused on the future. With a competitive team, how do you balance an aging roster that can win now v making sure you remain competitive going forward?




A: You are certainly correct in your point about the deal which sent Bender to WV for 2 AAA SPs and 2 RL prospects. It was a tough decision to trade away a talented veteran SP but we felt that our top pitching prospect, Rod Pritchard, was ready for the majors. Rod wouldn't be automatically protected in the upcoming expansion draft and given his successful climb through our system, we are confident that he will make a successful transition to the majors.




It is very tough to balance an aging roster core like we have here in Colorado along with keeping our minor league system continually developing young talent to either trade away for quality major league players or plug into our lineup in years to come. I am always looking for ways to make deals that improve our big league club along with keeping a strong farm.


 

Q: Do you see Colorado's moves as done for now or should we potentially expect some more deals from your franchise?




A: I think right now we are like done making any trades this season but that is always dependant on if we suffer any more injuries to our major league team. We recently lost SP Jerry Hunt for the season but I am confident that our young arms can fill the 4 and 5 spots in our rotation for the season. If we would make a deal, it would be to add another SP if another veteran goes down. I like our offense and bench as it currently is constructed.


 

Q: Obviously one of the more intriguing rivalries in the league is the one between Colorado and Texas. What can you tell us of the rumored rift between you and the Texas owner? How badly do you want to beat Texas this season?




A: I have nothing but respect for Aitor the Texas GM. Texas is a very talented and deep team that has been a pain in our side since the league's beginning. I know Colorado fans are not too fond of Texas and their fans however. I would love to get past them to win the Frontier League and more importantly a FCS Cup. We are very excited about our team.

 

Q: Of course you are not only the owner of Colorado but also the commissioner of the league. What is it like balancing those different priorities and responsibilities?




A: It is always my first priority to see what is in best interest for the league before my team in Colorado. It is was a different challenge as this is my first league that I have been the Commish so it has been a learning experience but I'm lucky to have Chappy (NC) and a great find in Mike (NJ) to help me along.


 

Q: Along the lines of being commissioner, gives some insight into the steps of deciding to expand and what making expansion reality is like?




A: It was alway part of my vision for this league to expand from 16 franchises to 20 franchises in our first 8-10 years but we had such a high interest in the league from prospective owners that we were able to move forward with the first phase of expansion earlier than my original plans in our 5th year. I'm excited about where our league is currently at and where we are getting to with expansion and beyond. I think my ultimate goal is to get to 24 then eventually 28 franchises down the line.



Q: This last question was  fan submitted question on Twitter, from @ColoradoAFBL#1Fan. "Were dying for a title here. When we gonna win one? #ColoradoRules"




A: Thanks for the response and the fandom. I think we have a great team and a fantastic chance to win that title this year! Go Bears!