2031 Predictions!

[KenH]

Imperial League

Seaboard
1. West Virginia
2. Hartford
3. Arlington
4. Manchester


Dixie
1. Kentucky
2. Florida
3. New Orleans
4. San Antonio
5. Charleston

Trans Atlantic
1. Havana
2. Amsterdam
3. San Juan
4. London
5. Scottish


IL Awards Winners
Royal Raker Winner: Alejandro Lujan WV
Golden Arm Winner: SP Luppe van Dam FLA
Wunderkind Winner: Yosuke Morimoto FLA

Sovereign League

Great Lakes
1. Crystal Lake
2. Fargo
3. Madison
4. Duluth
5. Kalamazoo

Desert Hills
1. Palm Springs
2. Reno
3. Aurora
4. Bakersfield
5. Yuma

Rising Sun
1. Shin Seiki
2. Toyama
3. Neo-Tokyo
4. Okinawa

SL Awards Winners
Royal Raker Winner: Shane Willis--Palm Springs
Golden Arm Winner: Jorge Castillo--Shin Seiki
Wunderkind Winner: SP Colin Hopps, NT

Postseason

IL Wild Card Winner - Top 3 seeds get a bye
Hartford over Florida in 3 games

SL Wild Card Winner - Top 3 seeds get a bye
Fargo over Reno in 5 games

IL Division Series Winners - Top 3 seeds vs. Wild Card winner
West Virginia over Hartford in 4 games
Kentucky over Havana in 4 games

SL Division Series Winners - Top 3 seeds vs. Wild Card winner
Crystal Lake over Palm Springs in 4 games
Shin Seiki over Neo Tokyo in 4 games

League Championship Series Winners
IL: West Virginia over Kentucky in 5 games
SL: Crystal Lake over Shin Seiki in 5 games

PEC Winner
Crystal Lake over West Virginia in 6 games

[Evas]

Imperial League

Seaboard
1. West Virginia
2. Hartford
3. Manchester
4. Arlington

Dixie
1. Kentucky
2. Florida
3. San Antonio
4. New Orleans
5. Charleston

Trans Atlantic
1. Havana
2. San Juan
3. London
4. Scottish
5. Amsterdam

IL Awards Winners
Royal Raker Winner: Bartolo Mora KEN
Golden Arm Winner: SP Luppe van Dam FLA
Wunderkind Winner: Luis Kossan NO

Sovereign League

Great Lakes
1. Crystal Lake
2. Fargo
3. Madison
4. Duluth
5. Kalamazoo

Desert Hills
1. Bakersfield
2. Aurora
3. Palm Springs
4. Reno
5. Yuma

Rising Sun
1. Shin Seiki
2. Toyama
3. Neo-Tokyo
4. Okinawa

SL Awards Winners
Royal Raker Winner: Felix Rodriguez - Shin Seiki
Golden Arm Winner: Jeffery Mendoza - Bakersfield
Wunderkind Winner: SS Rodrigo Vasquez TOY

Postseason

IL Wild Card Winner - Top 3 seeds get a bye
HAR over FLA in 5 games

SL Wild Card Winner - Top 3 seeds get a bye
TOY over Aurora in 4 games

IL Division Series Winners - Top 3 seeds vs. Wild Card winner
West Virginia over HAR in 4 games
Havana over KEN in 7 games

SL Division Series Winners - Top 3 seeds vs. Wild Card winner
Crystal Lake over Toyama in 6 games
Shin Seiki over BAK in 5 games

League Championship Series Winners
IL: HAV over WV in 6 games
SL: SS over Crystal Lake in 6 games

PEC Winner
HAV over SS in 7 games

[Ghosts]

Imperial League

Seaboard
1. West Virginia - The powerhouse of the Seaboard does not appear to have slowed in any way.
2. Hartford - The loss of Cedeno was a dark cloud over the Harpoon, but the additions over the offseason might actually be able to cover it.
3. Arlington - There's a clear division between the top two and bottom two teams here, and Arlington could easily end up in the basement. Are they rebuilding, or trying to win now?
4. Manchester - The rotation is going to be the limiting factor here.

Dixie
1. Kentucky - The 2030 division winners lost some significant talent, but as per usual the steady stream of internal talent is poised to cover that loss.
2. Florida - Florida might have won the 2031 draft well before it started (and perhaps the League starting around 2035), but they're still looking North to Kentucky for now.
3. New Orleans - A well balanced club with some solid depth.
4. San Antonio - The splashiest free agency in recent (all-time?) history has left the Calzones with a top heavy lineup and a thin rotation, which does have some young talent. If they make the leap, so too could the team.
5. Charleston - Charleston was dealt a tough assignment in building up a club starved for talent, but may have hit the gas too early and ended up stuck between competing and rebuilding.

Trans Atlantic
1. Havana - The star power is just too much to overcome for the rest of the division. #1 with a bullet.
2. San Juan - The young talent on this team is exciting. Glasser could be a difference maker, but the rotation is relatively weak.
3. Amsterdam - A great stable of arms is poised to set the Lions up for success, but will they score any runs?
4. London - It feels insulting to put London in 4th, because they could easily be second. After Havana, this division is so even that someone is going to be placed too low. It's tough to see this offense really taking flight, and Lions vs Underground could start to look a lot like Borealis vs Bears of the IL.
5. Scottish - Probably the best 5th place team in PEBA, but after a tough 2030 the Scottish look a few youngens shy of a WC run.


IL Awards Winners
Royal Raker Winner: Ricardo Mateo
Golden Arm Winner: Enrique Vazquez
Wunderkind Winner: Carl Ford

Sovereign League

Great Lakes
1. Crystal Lake - Booooring. Someone convice RJ that MacCowan and Arnold are somehow locker room cancers. Maybe that will work.
2. Fargo - Fargo has the pitching to shut down anyone, and are the clearest threat to CL's supremacy.
3. Duluth - A deep organization that just needs some star power to push it higher up the ladder. If Trujillo and Hodge make leaps, the Warriors will ruin playoff aspirations.
4. Madison - Could be 3, could be 5. Madison has made some strides, but lack the depth necessary to combat injuries.
5. Kalamazoo - Another team that could easily finish third. For now the ML squad is thin, but Megavolt and the rest of the new arrivals could power a late season surge that makes the Badgers formidable.

Desert Hills
1. Bakersfield - The Bears haven't been able to hit that last gear to move from good to great, but with the continued development of the pitching, they seem most likely to survive this year's brawl.
2. Palm Springs - The top heavy Codgers are right there with Bakersfield and could easily take the division again.
3. Reno - Reno continues to reshape a talented a roster and features some solid pitching, but has a few too many holes to contend for the division title.
4. Aurora - Probably manages to eek this spot out over Yuma. Probably.
5. Yuma - The winds of change are blowing across the desert foothills, but won't be enough to escape the basement in a division that might be likely to hold four 90+ win teams.

Rising Sun
1. Shin Seiki - Boring pick, but the class of the Rising Sun will enjoy another title before their past comes to haunt them.
2. Toyoma - Second place in the RS is going to be interesting, as will the SL WC race. Toyoma features a bevy of young talent that has been developed to the nines - now it's time for them to perform.
3. Neo Tokyo - It's hard to place a team with Tomas Martinez and Naomi Honma in third place, but the backend of the roster looks a little thinner than in Toyoma. Still a toss up.
4. Okinawa - The loss of Shirai will be felt for a while. Another new GM has the tall order of asking what the right direction is for this solid but unspectacular roster is.

SL Awards Winners
Royal Raker Winner: Shane Willis
Golden Arm Winner: Jeffrey Mendoza
Wunderkind Winner: Rodrigo Vasquez

Postseason

IL Wild Card Winner - Top 3 seeds get a bye
Hartford over San Juan in 4 games

SL Wild Card Winner - Top 3 seeds get a bye
Palm Springs over Fargo in 4 games

IL Division Series Winners - Top 3 seeds vs. Wild Card winner
West Virginia over Hartford in 4 games
Havana over Kentucky in 6 games

SL Division Series Winners - Top 3 seeds vs. Wild Card winner
Crystal Lake over Palm Springs in 5 games
Shin Seiki over Bakersfield in 7 games

League Championship Series Winners
IL: Havana over West Virginia in 6 games
SL: Crystal Lake over Shin Seiki in 7 games

PEC Winner
Crystal Lake over Havana in 6 games

[Ghosts]

It speaks to the toughness of the Desert Hills that no one except for BAK picked the Bears to finish in 2nd or 3rd. It's all 1st or 4th (or 5th, Bob).

[Lions]

My team has been picked to finish in every possible slot, 1 to 5, in the Trans Atlantic.

[Fishermen]

Darn it, I see this too late.

[Denny]

I sadly didn't have time to enter the contest for the first time in years but I can only say that I hope Michael of Madison's predictions are correct