Las Vegas Wins World Series

The Las Vegas Gold Diggers beat Montreal 4 games to 2 to win the Season 5 World Series. It is the second championship for Las Vegas in their storied history. They get the honor of becoming Snider's first franchise to win multiple championships. Congratulations!

Enrique Diaz signs with the Nutmeg

Enrique Diaz Hartford Nutmeg Age: 20 B/T: R/R Born: LaGuaira, VE Position(s): C/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

The Hartford Nutmeg won the bidding war for one of the best catching prospects to ever grace Snider World. Enrique Diaz signed with the Nutmeg in what is a great move for a franchise that was in the dumps just two weeks ago. It took a bonus of $19.0 million to persuade the 20 year old to come to Hartford and considering the other deals that have been offered this year, it might have been a bargain. Diaz is playing for the High A team now, but look for this kid to be in the majors as early as next season. Scouts are projecting Diaz to be the Homerun Champion in years to come.

Chang Signs Monster Contract

Dante Chang has signed with the Charleston Criminals which is only fitting given the contract. Chang committed highway robbery considering he got Charleston to pony-up a $20.1 million bonus and a Major League Contract.

Dante Chang Charleston Criminals Age: 18 B/T: R/R Born: Osaka, JP Position(s): P (none) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

The 18 year old looks like he'll be a solid pitcher in a few seasons, but was he worth the $21 million bonus? Some scouts are saying that his pitches are not good enough to be an ace. He does have a great knuckleball, but his fastball and changeup are average.

Matty Johnson Traded to the Corn Stalkers

Madison traded Matty Johnson, Theodore Lennon, and Khoury Malone for P John Kondou today. At first glance the trade appears to be based on payroll flexibility. The Mallards will save approximately $13 million over the next three years. The Corn Stalkers meanwhile receive a future all star pitcher. Johnson stuff is unquestioned, he has a fastball that will top out in the 92-95 mph range and a plus slider with nasty late break. There are some GM's that feel that Johnson might not have the durability to be a starter but that doesn't concern GM robinmilesto, who feels he has a chance to win a CY Young as early as season 8. Currently Johnson is 1-1 with an ERA of 2.52 and 22 strikeouts while only walking 6.

Sammy Sosa Signs Record Deal

The Columbus Comets stirred up Snider World baseball by signing Sammy Sosa. The deal included a bonus of $24.1 million, which breaks the record for the highest signing bonus in Snider World history. The previous record was held by Tampa Bay, who signed Eduardo Cedeno in a deal that included a bonus of $19 million. The Dominican native will join the Low A Comets to start his pro career. He is projected as a #1 starter in the majors, he has an outstanding cut fastball and will be a great asset for the Comets for years to come.

Earl Clark throws No-Hitter!

Earl Clark of the Burlington Primetimers pitched a no-hitter on Saturday in front of a sold out Mustain Stadium beating the Tampa Bay Flying Fish 3-0. What makes it even more remarkable is the fact that the Fish have one of the stronger offenses in the AL, they rank 2nd in homeruns and 5th in runs scored. "I just used all my pitches and tried to keep them off balance," said the 27 year old from Alabama. The Fish never got a runner to second base as Clark was dominant the whole game. He struck out 7 and walked 2 and needed only 98 pitches to dispose of Tampa Bay. "I didn't expect it to turnout this way, especially after I walked the very first batter," said Clark. The win got Clark to 2-2 on the year.

Interview with the World Champion Manager Slimyizzy

I sat down with the Slimizzy to get to know him a little better. He is the defending World Champion so let's see if we can get inside his head and learn a thing or two.

Buzz: Thanks for the taking the time to answer some questions Slimyizzy we realy appreaciate it.
Slimizzy: No problem thanks for asking

Buzz: So how long have you been a member of the Snider World?
Slimizzy: This is going to be my second season in Snider.
Buzz: Can you tell us where you're from?
Slimizzy: I'm from Ontario, Canada
Buzz: Canadian eh? ...sorry couldn't help it..let's move on...Have you always been a baseball fan? DId you play growing up?
Slimizzy:I'm a huge Jays fan and I still play baseball to this day.
Buzz:You won your first World Series, which means you have to have great commitment to your team, how much time do you put into Snider on a daily basis?
Slimizzy: I check my scores at all three times throughout the day and make my changes for probably 15 minutes after each game. So I probably spend nearly an hour a day doing different things involving my team.
Buzz: What's your strategy of choice....win it with pitching or slug your way to the top?
Slimizzy: I thought I had a good combination of pitching and hitting, but apparently the simulation didn't agree, so I have a great set of young bats that hammer out a ton of runs and my pitching I guess isn't fantastic, but they have their bright spots. Therefore I would have to say my bats have gotten me to where I am in this league.
Buzz: Are you more active in the free agent market or do you generally improve from within?
Slimizzy: I like to grab a player or two that can either fill a positional bench role when it's in the ending innings and I need solid defence or a good hitter to get me the hit in a pinch hitting situation. I also like trading and acquiring players that way.
Buzz: Las Vegas won season 2, you won season 3, how tough is it playing in that division and is there a rivalry brewing?
Slimizzy: The division is tough and Arizona looks like a good competitor this season as well, I started off slower than I would have liked, so we will grind it out all season and hopefully I can repeat what I did last season. I wouldn't say a rivalry is brewing, but I'm open to it haha and I'm really competitive so I watch to see if Vegas won or lost their game.
Buzz: How long do think you'll stay here at Snider?
Slimizzy: I enjoy this league so I'll be around a while.
Buzz: What do you think of the world, and do you have any suggestions for improvement?
Slimizzy: The world can be pretty talkative on the boards I read quite a few lengthy wars on there, which I like. I don't have really many suggestions to give, but I would like it if people started their scrubs when they face me so I can win some more ball games ;)
Buzz: What are your chances of repeating in season 4?
Slimizzy: I lost a key SP in Bill Peterson, not sure what happened, I wasn't able to get to a computer often where I was, so even though I put in a heafty offer, I lost him in free agency. So that will hurt my chances there, but on the other hand, my batters developed even more and I feel they will be a huge force and driving factor to get me back into the WS.
Buzz: What do you think is the key to winning?
Slimizzy: The key to winning I suppose is just paying attention. Know your park, your players and your system.

Well thank your for your time buddy and keep up the good work eh...

Season 4 Highest Paid Players

1. Len Cashman $21 million-Pittsburgh

2. Ernie Franco $20.4 million-Baltimore

3. Kiki Perez $20 million-Baltimore

4. Lance Urich $20 million-New York Mets

5. Kris Gray $16.9 million-San Antonio

6. Damian Jenkins $16.5 million-Hartford

7. Joel Oliver $15.2 million-Cleveland

8. Vasco Mesa $15 million- San Antonio

9. Matthew Reese $14 million-Cleveland

10. Chipper Miles $13 million-Huntington

Top Prospects

Below are the top prospects in the Snider World

Name Team POS Level
Jorel Knowles Little Rock SS AA
Thomas Crespo New York SS Low A
Buddy Whitaker Las Vegas 2B AAA
Artie Isringhausen Montreal 3B High A
Tom Cambridge Arizona SP AA
Lou Locke Las Vegas SP AAA
Bernie Lewis Ottawa SS AA
Bob Waltman Charleston SS AA
Alex Picasso Fargo SP High A
Derrick Flanagan Cheyenne RF AAA
Macbeth Palmer Indianapolis SP AAA
Louis McCall Fargo 2B AA
Rigo Castro Kansas City 2B Rookie
Pablo Prieto Las Vegas SS AAA
Fausto Perez Arizona SP AA
Harry Benitez Colorado SP High A
John Sanders Durham SP AAA
David Arias Los Angeles 3B AAA
Diego Franco Atlanta SS AAA
Vladimir Mercado Cincinnati 2B Low A
Damaso Beltran Las Vegas LF AAA
Harry Encarnacion Oklahoma LF AAA
Solly High Philadelphia SS AAA
Chris Simon Salt Lake RF Low A
Kirt Simon Los Angeles 2B AAA
Wiki Barrios Arizona SS AA
Charlie Mahomes Atlanta 2B AAA
Richie Byrne Atlanta LF Low A
Louie Palmeiro Durham SP AAA
Einar Cela Memphis SP AA
Anthony Taylor San Antonio CF High A
Sun-Woo Yamaguchi St. Louis SS Rookie
Fausto Vega Baltimore 2B AAA
Efrain Wulf Burlington LF AAA
Alex Yamaguchi Fargo RP Low A
Wilt Magee Salt Lake SP AAA
Steve Moore Los Angeles 1B High A
Norberto Espinoza Charleston 3B AAA
Nick Basile Cincinnati 1B AA
Thumper Irwin Cleveland SS AAA
Alvin Leslie Durham 2B High A
John Ledee New York SS AA
Shawn Mack Ottawa 2B Low A
Kevin Schmidt Pittsburgh SP Low A
Eric Glass Cheyenne SP High A
Phil Mori Montreal RP High A

Payroll vs Winning %

Below is the payroll of all teams and their respective winning %. Based on last year's data there does not seem to be a correlation between winning and payroll. This is a 1 year sample and may change in the following seasons. Stay Tuned!


Team Payroll W% Playoffs
Minnesota Icefishers 112 0.562 *
Baltimore Iron Birds 110 0.586 *
San Antonio Gunslingers 107 0.358
Tacoma Spotted Ferret Bats 105 0.463
Jacksonville Sandsharks 105 0.469
Honolulu Longboards 105 0.352
Huntington White Trash 103 0.556 *
St. Louis Slither 121 (103) 0.284
Philadelphia Forever 102 (100) 0.531
Oklahoma City Oklahoma 113 (99) 0.407
Pittsburgh Punishers 94 (92) 0.599 *
Milwaukee Hurricanes 109 (91) 0.512
Burlington Primetimers 91 0.605 *
Las Vegas Gold Diggers 91 0.648 *
Colorado Cornholes 91 0.525
Tampa Bay Flying Fish 100 (90) 0.481
Boston Poppies 89 0.623 *
Cincinnati Copperheads 88 0.475
Cheyenne Winds 105 (87) 0.420
Memphis Madmen 92 (86) 0.531 *
Syracuse Polar Bears 90 (85) 0.438
Atlanta A-town Ballers 105 (85) 0.438
Ottawa Otters 84 0.494
Los Angeles Penetrators 88 (82) 0.586 *
San Diego Touristas 88 (82) 0.549 *
New York Yankees 79 (80) 0.599 *
Durham Spider Pigs 103 (79) 0.451
Charleston Criminals 82 (75) 0.457
Hartford Heartbreakers 84 (72) 0.531
San Francisco SENSHUKEN's 79 (71) 0.488
Portland Links 69 (70) 0.537 *
Iowa City Maize 74 (62) 0.444

ML Playoffs

After 162 games the real season begins today with the Wild Card round of the Snider World playoffs. Here's a breakdown of the matchups.

#4 Huntington White Trash vs #5 New York Yankees- What a great opening round series. On paper this teams are virtually even, the Yankees had the 6th best pitching staff in the AL while the White Trash were 7th. The Yankees scored the 2nd most runs in the AL while the White Tash were 4th. Both have superstar lineups with players who can change the outcome of the game with one swing. The teams split their regular season series with each winning 5.

Prediction
New York in 5

These games will be won by the bullpens and this is where the Yankees have a true advantage. Both teams feature explosive lineups that will expose pitchers especially late in games.

More coming soon....

AAA Playoffs

The AAA playoffs have reached the League Championship round and I'm here to break down each series.

American League

#4 Hartford Heartbreakers @ #3 Huntington White Trash- After sweeping Burlington in the first round, Huntington faced the #2 seeded Baltimore Iron Birds. Huntington lost the first two games then came back to win the last three to secure their place in the LCS. Powered by Kenny O'Keefe and Octavio Cabrera the White Thrash look to continue their playoff run against the Heartbreakers. Hartford swept Los Angeles in the opening round and then defeated the #1 Seeded Honolulu Longboards to get to the LCS. The Heartbreakers are led by David Wang who is having an amazing postseason (.417, 9, 15) so far.

Prediction
Hartford in 6

The Heartbreakers have gotten solid starting pitching from Melendez, Miliard, and McClellan and with the way Wang is hitting the ball, Hartford is one tough team. Teams have hit only .245 against them this postseason while they've hit .326 against opposing pitchers. Look for this trend to continue. Huntington needs to get better performances from their starting pitching as Brett Buddie is the only one who has been dominant. Teams are hitting .273 against the White Thrash pitchers and that will be the undoing for this squad. Their offense is hitting .283 against opponents but it won't be enough against Hartford.

National League

#1 Ottawa Otters vs #6 Syracuse Polar Bears- Ottawa survived a tough series in the Divisional Championship and will look for a berth in the World Series against Syracuse. Vinnie Barrett and Chance McConnell shined in the series vs Oklahoma and will look to continue that vs Syracuse. Syracuse came into the post season with the worst record of the playoff teams, but they have surprised everyone with their performances so far. After upsetting #3 Cincinnati in the first round, they went on to sweep #2 Las Vegas. Rock Meyers has pitched great allowing a mere .211 batting average to opposing hitters.

Prediction

Ottawa in 6

Ottawa played a bad series against Oklahoma and still pulled out the victory. Tim Jacquez will wake up and start giving this team more production. The Ottawa offense will propel this team into the World Series. Syracuse will make it a series because of the inconsistency of the Otters pitching. However, Syracuse will not have enough firepower to stay with Ottawa as the pitching won't be able to carry them to the World Series.

Final Day

The second season of the Snider World will conclude with tonight's games. With one game left, there are still plenty of questions that need answering. The playoff brackets are not yet determined as a few teams are still battling out for position. Here's what we got going in the AL.

#1 Seed- Burlington Primetimers- The Primetimers will enjoy a bye week as the have clinched the #1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs by defeating the Yankees.

#2/3 Seed-Pittsburgh Punishers/Los Angeles Penetrators- This race will come down to the final game of the season. If Pittsburgh wins they get the first week bye, if they lose and Los Angeles wins, the Penetrators get the bye due to the divisional records.

#4 Seed- Huntington White Thrash- Will face the Yankees or Iron birds in the Wild Card Round

#5/6 Seed- Baltimore and New York are separated by one game in the Wild card race. If New York loses and Baltimore wins, the Iron Birds would get the #5 seed due to head to head records.

In the NL it shapes like this:

#1 Seed- Las Vegas Gold Diggers- They are the hottest team right now having won 8 straight and clinching the best record in baseball.

#2 Seed- Boston Poppies- Will get the bye week and come into the final day with their own 7 game win streak.

#3 Seed- Minnesota Icefishers- Will face the Portland/Philadelphia depending on the outcome of those games.

#4 Seed- Memphis Madmen will face the San Diego Turistas in the wildcard round.

#5 Seed- San Diego Turistas- They have lost 4 straight and 7 of their last ten but have secured the #5 seed. They'll look to end on a positive note and gain some momentum heading into the playoffs.

#6 Seed- Philadelphia and Portland have the same record going into the last game. Portland owns the tiebreaker in case both are tied at the end of the year.