2038 Predictions

[JayA]

Rising Sun
1. Toyama Wind Dancers
2. Okinawa Shisa
3. Shin Seiki Evas
4. Niihama-shi Ghosts
5. Neo-Tokyo Akira

I believe Niihama’s 1-0 against Florida…

haha! This was less a statement about Niihama and more a statement about those damn injuries and the strength of the Rising Sun.

[Shisa]

Imperial League

1. yWest Virginia Allghenies - A ho hum cake walk to 1st place in Greg's swan song season.
2. xNew Jersey Hitmen - Smart and Aggressive GM with some balls of steel = Playoffs.
3. xHartford Harpoon - They're a team, I'm going to say even a playoff team!
4. Manchester Maulers - <Your description here for only $5.99!>
5. Arlington Bureaucrats - Bizarre offseason shedding salary and talent to then massively overpay on lesser talented comp FA, bye bye competitiveness, bye bye 1st round pick, hello directionless organization.

1. yFlorida Farstriders - Petition to rename them to Florida Shipjumpers, obviously will win if Amado can keep his itchy trigger finger in check
2. xKentucky Thoroughbreds - Standard Kentucky good season incoming
3. Charleston Statesmen - Lots of talent, can they transition and be able turn the corner?
4. New Orleans Trendsetters - A few years out as they look to have a stable GM in place
5. San Antonio Calzones of Laredo - Always make me think of ordering some Pizza

1. yScottish Claymores - Long hair, dont care - made substantial changes but I think they still pull the division out
2. Havana Leones - Havana oh na na, half of my heart is in Havana oh nana
3. London Underground - The impacts of brexit continue to hit in hard and unexpected ways, London finishes 3nd but misses the playoffs.
4. Amsterdam Lions - TBD
5. San Juan Coqui - Finally a faint glimmer can be seen in the long unending tunnel?
6. Gloucester Fishermen - Some lean years ahead, sticking to the program?

IL Awards Winners
Royal Raker Winner: Gordon Knopp (FLA) - How could you Knopp?
Golden Arm Winner: Luppe van Dam (FLA) - Jean Claude can Dam, he looks good.
Wunderkind Winner:

Sovereign League

1. yCrystal Lake Sandgnats - Sneaky good offseason, could surprise.
2. Duluth Warriors - Always a threat with their strong rotation backed by Velasquez and Herrera on O.
3. Kalamazoo Badgers - Not sure the rotation has the horses ourside of Clymo
4. Fargo Dinosaurs - Good at everything, but perhaps not great at anything, still a solid team that should compete.
5. Madison Malts - Some nice young pieces in place, but still need some seasoning.

1. yAurora Borealis - What happens when you fill a roster full of low work ethic, anemic no chick digging long ball players who will small ball you to death? About 95 wins is what. This is the closest to what lining up 9 Ichiro's must feel like for an opponent, death but slow and steady paper cuts.
2. Tempe Apollos - Backed by the gods, but even divine intervention will not see them in the playoffs this year despite a talented roster
3. Reno Zephyrs - According to Scott's own stats, he needs to bring in more traded players to have that ideal champion roster construction but boy does his home grown talent impress!
4. Palm Springs Codgers - At first glance, appear to be relying on talent that is at or past their best before dates.. and while there are some interesting looking kids on the way, this appears to be a tweener year.
5. Bakersfield Bears - Rimfire is still the best nickname in PEBA.
6. Yuma Arroyos - Please autoforward all of Nihama's calls inquiring about your pitching straight to voicemail.

1. yOkinawa Shisa - We aint afraid of no ghosts. Thats right, I said it.
2. xToyama Wind Dancers - Dont let the dancing distract you, this team is stacked.
3. xNiihama Ghosts - Have to assume a move to supplement the pitching staff is coming, but will it come sooner rather than later?
4. xShin Seiki Evas - Probably still a 90 win team, but feels like a bit of a prove it year
5. Neo-Tokyo Akira - Must be happy that there is no relegation

SL Awards Winners
Royal Raker Winner: Pablo Garza (OKA) - Probably would have been him last year if he didnt miss time with suspensions and injury.
Golden Arm Winner: Jose Ojeda (REN) - Can only look at his player profile for 10s max until it starts to feel a bit too much like lust.
Wunderkind Winner:

IL Wild Card Winner - Top 2 seeds get a bye
Scottish over Hartford in 5 games
Kentucky over New Jersey in 7 games

SL Wild Card Winner - Top 2 seeds get a bye
Crystal Lake over Shin Seiki in 7 games
Toyama over Niihama in 6 games

IL Division Series Winners - Top 2 seeds vs. Wild Card winners
Florida over Kentucky in 6 games
West Virginia over Claymores in 6 games

SL Division Series Winners - Top 2 seeds vs. Wild Card winners
Okinawa over Crystal Lake in 6 games
Aurora over Toyama in 6 games

League Championship Series Winners
IL: WV over Florida in 5 games
SL: Okinawa over Aurora in 6 games

PEC Winner
Okinawa over WV in 7 games

[Borealis]

Sovereign League

Great Lakes
1. Crystal Lake
2. Okinawa
3. Bakersfield
4. Yuma
5. Tempe

Desert Hills
1. Madison
2.Kalamazoo
3. Aurora
4. Niihama-Shi
5. Duluth
6. Fargo

Rising Sun
1. Toyama
2. Reno
3. Shin Seiki
4. Neo-Tokyo
5. Palm Springs

SL Awards Winners
Royal Raker Winner: Pat Watson (DL)
Golden Arm Winner: Enrique Vazquez (RET)
Wunderkind Winner: Ole Kirk Kristiansen (DEN)

Postseason

IL Wild Card Winner - Top 2 seeds get a bye
SCO over LON in 4 games
AMA over KEN in 5 games

SL Wild Card Winner - Top 2 seeds get a bye
YUM over MAD in 3 games
FAR over AUR in 5 games

IL Division Series Winners - Top 2 seeds vs. Wild Card winners
FLA over SCO in 4 games
AMA over WV in 6 games

SL Division Series Winners - Top 2 seeds vs. Wild Card winners
TOY over FAR in 6 games
YUM over CL in 7 games

League Championship Series Winners
IL: AMA over FLA in 6 games
SL: YUM over TOY in 5 games

PEC Winner
YUM over AMA in 4 games

Seriously? Seriouly?

[Hitmen]

Imperial League

Seaboard
1.West Virginia - Greg isn't going anywhere, yet. With a farm that keeps replenishing the bigs, Alleghenies is here to stay.
2. New Jersey - Is You and a more defensive minding infield to take advantage of our groundball heavy pitching enough to keep us moving upwards? I think so for now.
3. Hartford - Always cooking and have an up and coming scary rotation. Arlington's significant shuffle gives me pause that they will mesh enough with all the changes.
4. Arlington - Are they rebuilding, retooling, reshuffling, re-whichever the way the wind blows... I think it's more of a question of will McCoy and Raines go nuts waiting for that backup ever to come.
5. Manchester - Some interesting names waiting in the wings. I just feel Jeff may take one more year of rebuilding and good picks before bringing in Martinez and trying to build in prep for more of the prospects to follow.

Dixie
1. Florida - Ken, Jay, not sure it matters (not to take anything away from Jay). But Knopp, Roberts, van Wondel run that team, not the GM.
2. Kentucky - Liked the Kossan pick up, finally getting a chance to shine. Kentucky is just solid, consistent, as always.
3. Charleston - Might be time some of these youngsters start to learn some tricks in winning with Kun and Zhu primed.
4. New Orleans - Some retooling efforts in the rebuild are there, I can see the 4-5 being a dog fight.
5. San Antonio - Very focused on the rebuild, but some solid stop gaps brought in in the mean time. No complete laying over here.

Trans Atlantic
1. Scottish - Some risks taken this offseason, but I don't think it will slow them down. Risks are what's needed to take the team to the next level at times.
2. London - Another team making some nice moves, I expect the wild card to be a brawl this year.
3. Amsterdam - Only question mark is the rotation, otherwise love what the Lions have going.
4. Havana - Just hate always being down on the Leones, but it just never seems like enough is done to build around the Wizard and Ogre, but I always say this is the team that will bite my rankings in the ass and prove me wrong.
5. San Juan - Think the Coqui (one of my favorite logos) are just waiting for that excuse to go full rebuild and start fresh.
6. Gloucester - Not shy about wanting to rebuild through the draft, and I believe Andy will continue to do so until he feels he has the right mix of talent pumping through the minors.

IL Awards Winners
Royal Raker Winner: Tomas Martinez - going into an option year, and requesting a very reasonable extension, time to ramp it up and drive his cost up...
Golden Arm Winner: Orlando Trujillo - he was robbed! He should have won! This year he points out why.
Wunderkind Winner: Ding-Bong Zhu - looking scary good, and coming out of a safe and solid spring.

Sovereign League

Great Lakes
1. Duluth - The pieces are there, their time for consistency is here.
2. Crystal Lake - Moves, moves, and more moves. I like the aggressiveness; I expect 1-2 to be a battle that could go either way.
3. Kalamazoo - 1-3 has shown to be a shuffle the past couple years, I don't expect K-zoo to give up either, just someone has to be listed #3.
4. Madison - I feel like we will see more of the rookies get a chance now under new leadership. Time to see what may or may not work and if the rebuild needs to continue to stretch, or it's time to start adding some pieces around the kids.
5. Fargo - Not a slouch with by any means, just this division is a battle for that mid-card title so to speak. All the teams aren't on the Rising Sun's level and are in the process of trying to put it together, but clearly this division is up for grabs and not at that elite level yet.

Desert Hills
1. Aurora - Mike finds a way always to make sure he's retooled quickly and staying near the top. I don't see him falling off, always a strong work in progress.
2. Tempe - Love what Brian has done with the Apollos, and so many of my old guys that I like to cheer for. Go Apollos!
3. Reno - Scott is always working, just it doesn't seem to click always. But how can't you be confident around Ojeda?
4. Bakersfield - I feel like the Bears are just waiting for the contracts to go away so they can properly retool and add to the team that is there waiting and trying to keep punching up.
5. Yuma - Bob is trying something other than drafting! I would have had them higher, but the blow to Sun will derail them one more season. Oh and Watson just likes the hospital too much to ever leave. Very Bob like.
6. Palm Springs - with questions at the top, I feel the Codgers are showing their age. Could surprise though.

Rising Sun
1. Toyama - Some gone, some back, retools well, I don't see them dropping much at all.
2. Niihama-Shi - Still extremely lethal and will continue to be a top contender.
3. Okinawa - Lots of solid moves, lots of my old Madison guys I love. Cheering for the Shisa and Matt.
4. Shin Seiki - Still strong, don't get me wrong, just this top four can go anyway and will be a battle.
5. Neo-Tokyo - rebuilding/retooling, more so because the rest of the Rising Sun just can't help push him down.

SL Awards Winners
Royal Raker Winner: Pablo Ortiz - probably is a huge locker room cancer and pisses everyone off everywhere he goes. But damn is he a good ballplayer.
Golden Arm Winner: Rene Padilla - Capuchin! Duluth's ace to take the Great Lakes.
Wunderkind Winner: Ryozo Kouyama - O2 unleased.

Postseason

IL Wild Card Winner - Top 2 seeds get a bye
New Jersey over Kentucky in 5 games
Scottish over London in 5 games

SL Wild Card Winner - Top 2 seeds get a bye
Tempe over Duluth in 5 games
Niihama over Okinawa in 5 games

IL Division Series Winners - Top 2 seeds vs. Wild Card winners
New Jersey over West Virginia in 7 games
Florida over Scottish in 7 games

SL Division Series Winners - Top 2 seeds vs. Wild Card winners
Aurora over Tempe in 7 games
Toyoma over Niihama in 7 games

League Championship Series Winners
IL: Florida over New Jersey in 5 games
SL: Toyoma over Aurora in 5 games

PEC Winner
Toyoma over Florida in 7 games

I'll be honest, I have no idea with the playoffs

[Ghosts]

Yuma Arroyos - Please autoforward all of Nihama's calls inquiring about your pitching straight to voicemail.

… I’ve tried

[Coqui]

OK, I think I have the playoffs right. IL is a muddled mess to me; SL has two teams (Florida and West Virginia) head and shoulders above the rest.

Imperial League

Seaboard
1. West Virginia
2. New Jersey
3. Hartford
4. Arlington
5. Manchester

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

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


IL Awards Winners
Royal Raker Winner: 1B Vito van Wondel, FLA
Golden Arm Winner: P Hen-to Tse, FLA
Wunderkind Winner: SS Gerald Contaldo, SJ

Sovereign League

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

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

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

SL Awards Winners
Royal Raker Winner: 3B, Antonio Herrera, DUL
Golden Arm Winner: P Jose Ojeda, REN
Wunderkind Winner: P David Garcia, FAR

Postseason

IL Wild Card Winner - Top 2 seeds get a bye
Scottish over London in 5 games
Kentucky over New Jersey in 4 games

SL Wild Card Winner - Top 2 seeds get a bye
Okinawa over Kalamazoo in 5 games
Toyama over Reno in 5 games

IL Division Series Winners - Top 2 seeds vs. Wild Card winners
Florida over Kentucky in 7 games
West Virginia over Scottish in 5 games

SL Division Series Winners - Top 2 seeds vs. Wild Card winners
Aurora over Okinawa in 5 games
Duluth over Toyama in 7 games

League Championship Series Winners
IL: Florida over West Virginia in 5 games
SL: Duluth over Aurora in 7 games

PEC Winner
Florida over Duluth in 4 games

[Leones]

SEABOARD
West Virginia Alleghenies
New Jersey Hitmen
Hartford Harpoon
Arlington Bureaucrats
Manchester Maulers

DIXIE
Florida Farstriders
Kentucky Thoroughbreds
New Orleans Trendsetters
San Antonio Calzones of Laredo
Charleston Statesmen

TRANS ATLANTIC
London Underground
Scottish Claymores
Havana Leones
Amsterdam Lions
San Juan Coqui
Gloucester Fishermen

IL Awards Winners
Royal Raker Winner: 1B Vito Van Wondel (FL)
Golden Arm Winner: SP James McCoy (ARL)
Wunderkind Winner: RP Manny Garcia (WV)


GREAT LAKES
Kalamazoo Badgers
Duluth Warriors
Crystal Lake Sandgnats
Fargo Dinosaurs
Madison Malts

DESERT HILLS
Aurora Borealis
Tempe Knights
Bakersfield Bears
Reno Zephyrs
Palm Springs Codgers
Yuma Arroyos

RISING SUN
Toyoma Wind Dancers
Niihama-shi Ghosts
Shin Seiki Evas
Okinawa Shisa
Neo Tokyo Akira

SL Awards Winners
Royal Raker Winner: DH Pablo Garza (OKA)
Golden Arm Winner: SP Jose Ojeda (REN)
Wunderkind Winner: SP Tetsui Suzuki (TEM)

POSTSEASON
IL Wild Card Winner - (5) Top 3 seeds get a bye
Kentucky Thoroughbreds over Scottish Claymoresin 4

SL Wild Card Winner - (5) Top 3 seeds get a bye
Niihama-shi Ghosts over Shin Seiki Evas in 5


IL Division Series Winners - Top 3 seeds vs. WC
West Virginia Alleghenies over Kentucky Thoroughbreds in 5
Florida Farstriders over London Underground in 6

SL Division Series Winners - Top 3 seeds vs. WC
Toyoma Wind Dancers over Niihama-shi Ghosts in 6
Aurora Borealis over Kalamazoo Badgers in 6


League Championship Series Winners
West Virginia Alleghenies over Florida Farstriders in 7
Toyoma Wind Dancers over Aurora Borealis in 7


PEC Winner
West Virginia Alleghenies over Toyoma Wind Dancers in 6

[Sandgnats]

Lowest Score Wins

Brian - -12.5
Jay - -8.5
Michael (NJ) - -7.5
Sean (KY) - -6
Patrick - -3.5
Dan - 0
Sean (Sco) - 0
Chuck - 1
Jaime - 3
Mike - 4
Dylan - 5
Frank - 7.5
James - 9
Matthew - 10
Bob - 26

[Apollos]

Lowest Score Wins

Brian - -12.5
Jay - -8.5
Michael (NJ) - -7.5
Sean (KY) - -6
Patrick - -3.5
Dan - 0
Sean (Sco) - 0
Chuck - 1
Jaime - 3
Mike - 4
Dylan - 5
Frank - 7.5
James - 9
Matthew - 10
Bob - 26

Hooray for me!

[Trendsetters]

Lucky guess……es