1999 Pretenders [Partial]

Well, after a long delay here is the first installment of the Contenders 1999. First installment? Yes. Hey, I'm a busy guy and I've got to get things in order before I leave for Spain. Anyway here are the picks for #3&4 compliments of "The Man". Installment number #2 to follow later this week. Remember, chicks love the long ball.

4TH Place: The Waverly Warthogs; GM Craig Haskell

History: Ever since the Hogs entered the league with the Shadowcasters back in 96' they have been the whipping boy of The Man in the annual predictions. After a series of miscues (Felipe Crespo?) the Hogs have entered contender status for the first time thanks to GM Haskell's deft trading and drafting over the past year.

Keys to Success: Even with both Edmonds and Clark on the DL, the potent Hog offense continues to put up solid numbers. GM Haskell has quietly put together one of the best MI in CARP. The emergence of Feebles as a legitimate ROY allowed the trade of Tejeda for Milton and Edmonds. Easley and Offerman have already combined for 6hr 9sb and 35rbi. Catcher is also an asset. Greene and Sweeney might be the best in CARP right now based on the stats. The corner is a little light, but Clark shouldn't be out much longer and when Edmonds returns the Hogs will be fairly deep at the corner.

Keys to Distress: Offense alone can't carry the Hogs past 4th. The starters on this team are in trouble. Let's just ignore Brian "scuffy" Moehler for now. Wakefield has lost it once again; Appier, once a sure thing, is now pure roulette ever time he takes the mound; Henry out for the year; Mendoza back to the pen when Clemens is back; Clark an utter disaster, and Doc looks like he could use more than just a little pick-me-up. Halama and Kida are not the answers to these types of problems.

Player to watch: Encarnacion is going to have a hell of a season. Now that Hunter is gone the Det. OF is pretty much set with Kapler and Higgy. Encarnacion has matured since that mound charging incident and his #'s .279 3hr 15rbi 8sb point to much bigger things down the road. He will be a 30/30 type player soon, just not this year. Look for .290 15hr 75rbi 80r 25sb for starters this year and lots of Sportcenter face time.

Grab a beer when: The Doc gets handed the ball. In a year in which we have witnessed the graceful exit of sport superstars Gretzky, Jordan, and Elway...some guys just don't get it. Dr. K's career is not ending with a bang but rather a 6.53era/1.984whimper. Look for him to be out of the Cle rotation as soon as they can trade for a pitcher in the stretch run.

3rd Place: Capital City Brewers: GM Pierre LaTour

History: My, how the mighty have fallen. Just one year removed from back to back championships, the Brewers are picked for third. Despite making some clubs nervous with a major offseason deal which brought the Brewers Rivera, Tino, and Omar Oliveras it appears that they will fall short of a record third CARP title.

Keys to Success: Strangely enough, pitching, namely starting pitching.
Once the achillies of this club, it is now its strength. Not only can the Brewers field a respectable 8-1 rotation they have two starters on the bench Pena and Florie, and two other potentially better starters in Greisinger and Hamilton ready to come off the DL. While only Radke and Mussina have the stats to be rated true number 1's, Pettitte, Helling Baldwin and Olivares have all recently put up good numbers. Rivera is the first top closer the Brewers have ever had and both Koch and Moreno will be closing games before the end of the season.

Keys to distress: The infield. Where is the power? This team set a CARP record for HR's last year. 5 weeks into the season the Brewers are last in HR's (36hr out of first) and tied for last in RBI's (56! out of first). While Tino and Coomer haven't been horrible at the corner they only have 23rbi between the two of them. The real disaster so far has been future star Chavez. Expected to fill some of the void left by Palmeiro, Chavez has struggled badly at they plate (0hr 4rbi) and has now fallen into a platoon role. Even with A-Rod on the horizon (and yes that too has contributed to the Brewers slow start if you were wondering) the Brewers may have already fallen too far behind the Creeper and Steak machines to ever catch up.

Player to watch: Carlos Beltran. Give him the trophy now. Fresh from AA the kid is on pace for a .300 20hr 90rbi 30sb season, and this is playing for a crappy team. In a few years Beltran and Mateo will dominate the highlight shows.

Grab a beer when: Jason Varitek waddles towards the plate. Did you see the highlight when he couldn't get the donut off his bat? How strangely appropriate. Varitek won the golden spikes award twice in college, he then held out for bigger bucks (paging Scott Boras) and since then the baseball gods have rightfully punished him at the plate. Even with moderate power at the plate his average was a killer last season. Now even the power is gone. Given the full time job when Hatteberg went down, Varitek responded with career stalling numbers .218 0hr 7rbi 6r. Doesn't Boston have some catching prospects in the minors?