TWO-MONTH UPDATE

Standings in the second month of play (27 games, 1/6 of the season)

NL NORTH: Pittsburgh 16-10, Chicago 14-13, Syracuse 13-14, Philadelphia 7-20
NL EAST: Burlington 19-8, Wichita 15-11, Scranton 12-15, Trenton 11-15
NL SOUTH: New Orleans 17-10, Mexico City 14-13, Nashville 13-14, Jacksonville 11-16
NL WEST: Tucson 15-12, Santa Cruz 14-13, Cheyenne 14-13, St. Louis 9-17

AL NORTH: Pawtucket 17-10, Seattle 14-12, Columbus 11-16, Chicago 8-19
AL EAST: New Britain 22-5, Boston 14-12, Cincinnati 13-14, Iowa City 12-14
AL SOUTH: Austin 13-14, Houston 13-14, San Antonio 12-15, Atlanta 10-17
AL WEST: Salt Lake 16-11, Salem 13-13, Honolulu 13-14, Las Vegas 13-14

IF THE PLAYOFFS BEGAN TODAY:
NL BYES: New Orleans and Pittsburgh
1ST-ROUND MATCHUPS: Santa Cruz vs. Syracuse, Burlington vs. Chicago
AL BYES: New Britain and Austin or Salt Lake
1ST-ROUND MATCHUPS: Austin or Salt Lake vs. Seattle or Boston, Pawtucket vs. Houston

Week 8

WHO'S HOT
Seattle 6-0, Burlington 5-1, Houston 5-1, New Britain 5-1

WHO'S NOT
Honolulu 0-6, Atlanta 1-5, Jacksonville 1-5

DEALS

• Pawtucket acquired OF Tom Zambrano from Boston for IF prospect Vin Romero
• Pawtucket acquired OF Benny Cruz and pitcing prospect Damaso Barajas from Wichita for SS prospect Jordan Everett

Week 7

WHO'S HOT:
New Britain 7-0, Burlington 5-2, Cincinnati 5-2, Honolulu 5-2, New Orleans 5-2, San Antonio 5-2

WHO'S NOT:
Chicago AL 0-7, Trenton 1-6, Atlanta 2-5, Houston 2-5, Las Vegas 2-5, Philadelphia 2-5, St. Louis 2-5

TRANSACTIONS:
none this week

ROAD WARRIORS:
Pittsburgh is 20-6 on the road this season. The EL record for best road record:

• '06 Syracuse..........59-22
• '01 New Orleans...58-23
• '06 Pittsburgh.......57-24
• '01 Kansas City.....56-25
• '07 Burlington.......56-26
• '07 Pittsburgh.......56-26
• '01 Seattle..............55-26
• '02 Santa Cruz......54-27
• '02 New Orleans...54-27
• '03 Pittsburgh.......54-27

Week 6 update

WHO'S HOT:
Pittsburgh 5-1, New Britain 5-2, New Orleans 5-2, Pawtucket 5-2, Tucson 5-2


WHO'S NOT:
Philadelphia 1-6, Chicago (AL) 2-5, Scranton 2-5


ML TRANSACTIONS:

• Pittsburgh acquired P Wascar Gandarilla from Chicago (AL) for P Yamid Camacho and SS prospect Oswaldo Hernandez
  

HOME SWEET HOME:

Austin (15-4) and New Orleans (17-5) are setting a torrid pace at home in the first six weeks. Here are the best home records in EL history:

1. Syracuse '07 60-21
2. Pittsburgh '05 59-22
3. Syracuse '05 57-24
4. Seattle '02 57-24
5. New Orleans '04 57-24
6. New Britain '07 56-25
7. Chicago NL '04 55-26
8. Houston '02 55-26
9. Pittsburgh '01 55-26

Week 5 Update

WHO'S HOT:
Burlington 5-1, Salt Lake 5-1, Pittsburgh 5-2, Salem 5-2

WHO'S NOT:
Chicago AL 1-5, Seattle 2-5, St. Louis 2-5

ML MOVES:
Pawtucket acquired 1B Melvin Hudson from Pittsburgh for prospects Aurelio Hernandez, Pepe Lee and Zephyr Clement

INNING EATERS
So your minor-league staffs are fatigued? Here's some inning-eating free-agent pitchers with great stamina ratings and decent control that will accept AAA contracts:

• Ray Anderson, 26, 80 stamina, 81 control
• Butch Roberts, 28, 83, 65
• Rabbit Grace, 27, 80, 55
• Wes Booker, 29, 84, 54
• Trevor Rivera, 23, 80, 54
• Omar Samuel, 29, 82, 53
• Spud Eldred, 28, 70, 63
• Glen Glanville, 28, 71, 63
• Neifi Soto, 29, 76, 62
• Brett Hartman, 26, 73, 60
• Tomas Machado, 29, 73, 57
• Billy Jacobs, 27, 73, 56
• Carter Robinson, 27, 76, 55
• Donovan Dorsey, 28, 76, 54

AA level

• Vic O'Shea, 26, 71, 54

Rookie level:

• Jamie Stephenson, 21, 70, 57

One month checkpoint

Standings after 1/6 of the season:



NL NORTH: Pittsburgh 20-8, Syracuse 17-10, Chicago 15-12, Philadelphia 13-14

NL EAST: Burlington 15-12, Scranton 11-16, Wichita 11-17, Trenton 8-20

NL SOUTH: New Orleans 20-7, Jacksonville 14-13, Nashville 13-14, Mexico City 7-20

NL WEST: Santa Cruz 21-6, St. Louis 13-15, Cheyenne 11-16, Tucson 9-18



AL NORTH: Columbus 17-10, Seattle 16-12, Pawtucket 15-12, Chicago 3-24

AL EAST: New Britain 16-11, Boston 16-12, Cincinnati 11-16, Iowa City 10-18

AL SOUTH: Austin 20-7, Houston 18-9, San Antonio 14-13, Atlanta 10-17

AL WEST: Salt Lake 17-10, Salem 15-13, Honolulu 11-16, Las Vegas 9-18



IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY:

NL BYES: Santa Cruz and New Orleans or Pittsburgh

NL FIRST ROUND - New Orleans or Pittsburgh vs. Chicago, Burlington vs. Syracuse

AL BYES: Austin and Columbus or Salt Lake

AL FIRST ROUND - Columbus or Salt Lake vs. Seattle or Boston, Houston vs. New Britain

Week 4 update

WHO'S HOT:
Columbus 7-0, Syracuse 6-0, Houston 6-1, Philadelphia 6-1, Salt Lake City 5-1, New Orleans 5-1, Austin 5-2, Chicago NL 5-2,

WHO'S NOT:
Chicago AL 0-6, Trenton 0-6, Cheyenne 1-5, Iowa City 1-5, Cincinnati 2-5, Las Vegas 2-5, Salem 2-5, Scranton 2-5, St. Louis 2-5

ML TRANSACTIONS
There were no major-league trades in the past seven cycles

ALL-UNEMPLOYED TEAM
Best veteran players that remain as free agents:
C: Andres Pulido, 33 - Decent defensive catcher who hit .240 last season
C: Chris Cooper, 27 - Strong arm, hit .285 last season, career SLG of .460
1B: Will Hill, 27 - .291 career hitter with .452 SLG in eight ML seasons
3B: Nolan Martin, 35 - hit .320 last season
CI: Nelson Rivers, 27 - career .297 hitter over 1,446 ABs
2B: Murray Byrne, 28 - hit .282 with 87 RBIs last season
SS: Phil Baek, 27 - 92 range, 82 glove
MI: DT Rushford, 30 - good glove, great arm, hit .282 last season
LF: Juan Urbina, 30 - career .275 hitter with .521 SLG
CF: Quilvio Rivera, 33 - career .289 hitter with 21SB last season
RF: Wes Finnesey, 32 - hit .317 with 26 HR and 92 RBI last season
OF: Jose Marin, 33 - former All-Star and Gold Glove CF
DH.: Stephen Osborne, 32 - hit .314, .494 SLG last season

SP: Galahad Moss, 33 - 8-11 with 1.45 WHIP last season
SP: Bill Higginson, 34 - 9-5, 1.51 WHIP
SP: Sam Callaway, 28 - 6-7, 1.46 WHIP
SP: Robert Randolph, 31 - 12-14, 1.55 WHIP
SP: Vic Winchester, 30 - 7-3, 1.29 WHIP
LRP: Dave Davis, 31 - lefty with 1.49 WHIP
LRP: D.T. Myers, 31 - lefty with 1.52 WHIP
LRP: Lazy Clayton, 28 - lifetime 30-30 with 1.53 WHIP
RP: Rudy Purcell, 37 - WHIP of 0.93 last season
RP: Quilvio Gil, 33 - 26 saves lifetime with WHIP of 1.38
RP: Steve Ojeda, 34 - 1.40 WHIP in 425 ML games
RP: Teddy Farr, 29 - 1.50 WHIP in 301 ML games

Week 3 update

Who's hot: Austin 5-1, Salem 5-1, Cheyenne 5-2, Pittsburgh 5-2, Santa Cruz 5-2, Seattle 5-2

Who's not: Chicago (AL) 1-6, San Antonio 1-6, Cincinnati 1-5, Tucson 1-5

This week's ML moves

• Pittsburgh acquired 1b Rigo Miranda from Toronto for prospects Juan Valdes and Zephyr Clement.

Week 2 update

WHO'S HOT:
Austin 6-0, Burlington 5-1, Houston 5-1, New Britain 5-1, Santa Cruz 5-1, New Orleans 5-1

WHO'S NOT:
Chicago (AL), Iowa City, St. Louis, Trenton, Jacksonville all 1-5

There were no ML trades in the past seven cycles.

Week 1 update

WHO'S HOT (6-1): Pittsburgh, Santa Cruz, St. Louis, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Pawtucket, San Antonio
WHO'S NOT (0-7): Tucson, Mexico City

THIS WEEK'S TOPIC: BENCH COACHES
The W-L records of each active bench coach with:

7 YEARS
671-463 - Hugh Goulet, Seattle
666-468 - Will Thome, NO, Bos.
614-520 - Pablo Villa, KC, Jax, Chi.
611-523 - Ken Seaver, SLC, NO, Tor., Paw.
530-604 - Ricardo Nieves, LAA, Col, Aus., LA, Bos., Clb.
468-666 - Al Sanchez, Cin., MC, Jax., Pitt
Note: Bryan Fabregas was 665-469 with Houston, now retired

6 YEARS
521-451 - Rabbit Lamb, Texas, Pitt., Burlington
508-464 - Vicenzo Lloyd, LA, Hon, NB, Jax
471-501 - Ralph Hubbard, SLC, Burlington, Hartford, Wash., Atlanta
455-517 - Javier Merced, SAL, LV
Note: Dale Jacobsen is 447-525 with five different teams, now in minors

5 YEARS
345-465 - Fred Collins, Durham and Chicago

4 YEARS
330-318 - Will Clemens, Philadelphia
318-330 - Lefty Michaels, Atl., Trenton, Austin
290-358 - Louie Crespo, Syracuse and Tucson

3 YEARS
284-202 - Bing Schneider, SCZ, Bos.
236-250 - Walt Coomer, Cheyenne
199-387 - Ted Simmons, SWB, Cin.

2 YEARS
186-138 - Ismael Moreno, Omaha, NB
183-141 - Carlos Lucano, LA-StL
144-180 - Benji Sojo, Texas, Wic.
142-182 - Willie Soto, MC

1 YEAR
82-80 - Jose Sardinha, Hon.

Down on the farm

So how does WIS decide where your minor-league teams are located? Is geography a concern, or is it completely random?



By comparing our AAA ballpark effects to the master list of stadiums available, we find there are only 21 different ballparks in our AAA, some repeated several times. That leads to the "random" theory:

• St. Louis, Honolulu, Salt Lake, Cheyenne, Jacksonville, Mexico City, Cincinnati, Wichita, Trenton and Santa Cruz are all in the neutral park group that could play in Vancouver, Richmond, Rochester, Ottawa, Little Rock or Charlotte


• Chicago AL, Columbus, Pawtucket and Seattle are in Omaha, Sioux Falls or Sacramento


• Pawtucket park (Philadelphia, Nashville)


• Oklahoma City (Las Vegas, Salem)


• Jacksonville park (Houston and Atlanta)


• Fresno, Cal. (Pittsburgh and Chicago)


• Mexico City (New Britian, Iowa)


• Honolulu (Boston, Austin)


• Scranton and Burlington are in a park that could be in D.C. or Toledo


• Norfolk, Va. (Syracuse)


• Jackson, Miss. (N.O.)


• El Paso (Tucson)


• Buffalo (San Antonio)

TRADE UPDATE

A few more deals have occurred during spring training:

• Pittsburgh acquired left fielder Albert Valdez and pitcher Yamid Camacho from Salt Lake for outfielder Lorenzo Ozuna, a two-time All-Star
• Honolulu acquired catcher Stephen King from Burlington for pitching prospect Eduardo Rincon
• Iowa City acquired 3B Miguel Franco and pitching prospect Willie Carrasco from Pawtucket for pitching prospect Pepe Lee.
• St. Louis acquired pitcher Scott Gordon and prospect Pat Huang from Pawtucket for pitcher Napoleon Fossum
• Iowa acquired reliever Luis Mendez from Burlington for prospect Benji Prieto

No Commitment Issues

When Houston bench coach Bryan Fabregas retired after seven seasons with the Toros, it raised the question: how many coaches in eight seasons of HBD have stayed with the same team?

An unofficial count finds six major-league coaches with the same team all eight seasons:

• Cheyenne pitching coach Harry Campbell
• Chicago Hound Dogs hitting coach Billy Helms
• Las Vegas base coach Al Jose
• Salem hitting coach Pascual Gutierrez
• Salem fielding instructor Joshua Conway
• Seattle bench coach Hugh Goulet

Five other coaches are on major-league staffs this season and have remained in the same system all eight seasons:

• Cheyenne bench coach Walt Coomer
• Honolulu bench coach Darryl Cohen
• Houston third base coach Al Valenzuela
• Las Vegas hitting coach Andre Fordham
• Santa Cruz hitting coach Goose Gordon

Five coaches would have been on this list last season and joined a new team this year after seven seasons with the same franchise:

• Boston pitching coach Bum Taylor to Columbus
• Seattle 3B coach Vinny Scott to Pittsburgh
• New Orleans 1B coach Patrick Coco to Salem
• Los Angeles hitting coach Diego Bonilla to Salt Lake City
• Cheyenne bullpen coach Ned Crosby to Seattle

The Blog will take a closer look at coaches, specifically bench coach W-L records, in a later edition.

MORE WINTER TRADES

• In case you missed it, the biggest commotion of the offseason came from St. Louis pitcher Rudy Jacobsen, a three-time Cy Young winner who was 25-2 last season. The Coyotes attempted to trade Jacobsen to Pawtucket, but Jacobsen has a no-trade clause and declined to move north.
• The Penny Pinchers did get three-tme All-Star outfielder Oscar Edmonds from St. Louis for three players - left fielder Lefty Torres, a four-time minor-league All-Star, right fielder Diego Palmeiro and minor-league first baseman Darryl Castillo
• The Coyotes also acquired one-time All-Star SP Vladimir Blanco from Pittsburgh for infield prospect Miguel Ortiz and pitcher Kordell Carew
• The Coyotes acquired pitcher Carl Cooper, infielder Benny Castro and prospect Tim Fultz from Philadelphia for pitching prospect Tomas Javier and catching prospect Angel Barcelo
• Burlington received SP Dan Christensen, 10-14 last season, from St. Louis for pitcher Damaso Rodriguez (10-2 last season) and pitching prospects Gerald Kendall and Dee Dee White.
• Burlington also reliever Osvaldo Tavarez from Syracyse, along with infield prospects Sean Green and Ed Flanigan, for 1B prospect Cory Wiggington.

FREE AGENCY HIGHLIGHTS (for more details, see transaction page)

• Jacksonville signed Mexico City catcher Wilfredo Navarro, a former All-Star
• Pawtucket signed Blake Carlson, a two-time All-Star left fielder, from Atlanta, and pitcher Steve Richard, a one-time All-Star pitcher from Boston, plus Frank Zambrano, once an All-Star infielder with LA
• Wichita signed Alfonso Juarez, a one-time All-Star pitcher from Chicago, and infielder Jesus Campos, a three-time Gold Glove winner with Seattle.
• Iowa signed pitcher Orlando Rosario, once an All-Star with Pittsburgh, former All-Star pitcher Moose Minor, last with Atlanta, and Charles Wainhose, a two-time All-Star last with Syracuse
• Chicago (Wavelands) signed pitcher Billy Mayne, once an All-Star with Honolulu
• Chicago (Hound Dogs) signed former All-Star and Gold Glove outfielder Jose Marin
• Santa Cruz signed former Mexico City All-Star pitcher Albert Flores
• St. Louis signed Samuel Sheldon, a former Gold Glove catcher for Pawtucket
• Columbus signed second baseman Benito Mondesi, a former Silver Slugger and All-Star with Pittsburgh
• Austin signed pitcher Marco Jackson, a two-time All-Star with Seattle
• Salem signed former Columbus closer Taylor Wickman, a three-time All-Star and once Fireman of the Year