WBA 2111 Season Preview

[Huckleberry]

Monday, February 16, 2111
Santo Domingo
by Odin Locks

It's time for our annual WBA Preview edition. As always we bring you the official Huckleberry Predictor 3000™ results.

First, the ABL.

NORTH AMERICAN DIVISION

Team W L PCT GB Northwest Emeralds 105 51 0.673 - Los Angeles Stars 80 76 0.513 25 Mexico City Aztecs 70 86 0.449 35 Ottawa Whiskey Jacks 68 88 0.436 37 Carolina Flight 58 98 0.372 47 LATIN AMERICAN DIVISION Team W L PCT GB Sao Paulo Toucans 92 64 0.590 - Buenos Aires Dolphins 91 65 0.583 1 Rio de Janeiro Jaguars 76 80 0.487 16 Puerto Rico Coqui 70 86 0.449 22 Santo Domingo Palmchats 70 86 0.449 22 The Predictor 3000 is selling Rio hard. Of course last year it way underestimated the Jaguars. Maybe I should check the code for an anti-Echo bias. But the real news here is that if Andy blows it this year he will never live it down. EVER. And not just the division but the ABL pennant. Can you imagine the shame if he doesn't win it this season? Not only is there the internal pressure that he must feel knowing it would take a complete choke job to fail this season, but there's also the concern in the back of his mind that if he does blow it he will be heckled mercilessly during a mid-February weekend in Houston. The pressure is intense. Now, the IBL: AFRO-EUROPEAN DIVISION Team W L PCT GB Black Forest Foxes 99 57 0.635 - Rome Generals 92 64 0.590 7 Barcelona Bulls 89 67 0.571 10 London Monarchs 82 74 0.526 17 Paris Fleur-de-Lis 29 127 0.186 70 ASIAN DIVISION Team W L PCT GB Mumbai Cobras 90 66 0.577 - Karachi Falcons 89 67 0.571 1 Melbourne Meteors 76 80 0.487 14 Shanghai Sharks 67 89 0.429 23 Seoul Brothers 67 89 0.429 23 Paris' extended tanking gives a benefit to the other 4 Afro-European teams when it comes to the wild card race but it's offset by the fact that there are 4 strong teams in the division. Black Forest enters the 2111 season as the favorites to win an unprecedented third straight pennant. Meanwhile in the Asian Division there should be a close race but it looks possible that the team failing to win the division might miss the playoffs entirely. There was not nearly as much drama in Melbourne this offseason but the computer doesn't like the Meteors' chances to get back into the playoff hunt.

[Huckleberry]

Full WBA Power Rankings:

	WBA POWER RANKINGS
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1.	Northwest Emeralds	102	54	0.654	-
2.	Black Forest Foxes	95	61	0.609	7
3.	Sao Paulo Toucans	92	64	0.590	10
3.	Buenos Aires Dolphins	92	64	0.590	10
5.	Rome Generals	91	65	0.583	11
6.	Mumbai Cobras	89	67	0.571	13
7.	Barcelona Bulls	88	68	0.564	14
8.	Karachi Falcons	87	69	0.558	15
9.	London Monarchs	81	75	0.519	21
9.	Los Angeles Stars	81	75	0.519	21
11.	Rio de Janeiro Jaguars	77	79	0.494	25
12.	Melbourne Meteors	75	81	0.481	27
13.	Puerto Rico Coqui	73	83	0.468	29
14.	Santo Domingo Palmchats	72	84	0.462	30
15.	Mexico City Aztecs	70	86	0.449	32
16.	Ottawa Whiskey Jacks	69	87	0.442	33
17.	Seoul Brothers	67	89	0.429	35
17.	Shanghai Sharks	67	89	0.429	35
19.	Carolina Flight	60	96	0.385	42
20.	Paris Fleur-de-Lis	32	124	0.205	70

Recall that these rankings are calculated by assuming a perfectly balanced schedule across the entire WBA.

[Huckleberry]

And now, introducing for the first time the Division Rankings. This is based on the expected winning percentage in games played outside the division if there were a full round robin including interleague play.

	WBA DIVISION RANKINGS
#	Division	WPCT
1.	Latin American	0.527
2.	Afro-European	0.495
3.	Asian	0.492
4.	North American	0.486

[Echo127]

I'm not that surprised by Rio' s ranking. Every time I look at someone else's roster I can't figure out how I win games at all. I dont know where y'all are finding all those 5 star players.

[Bob_Meteors]

Being pretty fair to Melbourne, I think. But still, 13 games out of a WC spot isn't terrible. If there are injuries (I mean, aside from when Stone, Abedi, and Renaud get hurt), or someone steps up, I could be in decent shape.

[squaredrive]

the huck-o-meter is BROKEN i tell ya, completely off base. MC will ride their pitching staff to a healthy .500 record.

[AndyHustle]

My thoughts --

1. Holy regression for Mexico City and Rio. I could see a small step back, but I think they both have pretty solid squads.
2. I think Puerto Rico is better than the prediction. I could see them battle for the last playoff spot. Probably depends on the youth, though.
3. Latin-American and Afro-European divisions look like dog fights once again this year. Is Black Forest ever going to be bad?
4. Did anybody see Clap is supposed to win 29 games...?
5. If I don't win the pennant this year, it will be my greatest failure.

[Coop]

Responding to the question about whether Black Forest is ever going to be bad ... well, the team was pretty bad when I took it over, in October 2103.  I started a rebuild that took a few years, but now it appears to have worked out.  We've got a young team with a low payroll and a good farm system, so I think we should remain strong for a while, though obviously at some point in the not-too-distant future our young studs are going to reach the point where they're demanding big bucks (especially Salim Tuncay, who will probably want a Brink's truck backed up in front of his house).  So eventually the realities of the marketplace will probably take us down a few pegs.  But I think we should be pretty strong for the foreseeable future.  Still, I realize that everybody goes through down phases, and I'm sure ours is coming at some point.  I'm in no hurry for it to arrive, though.

[JohnC]

More doom predicted for Carolina and rightly so, but I really like where our organization is. When I took over this team it was kinda stuck in that middle ground of not being a contender but not really being bad. I stripped it down and knew that last season and this one would be tough. There is some light for us after this season though. We have some good prospects at the AAA/AA level who should hopefully be making their way to the ML level next year. Our farm system is pretty solid now and will only get better after this season.

There is light at the end of the tunnel....way, way at the end but it is still there.

[claphamsa]

My thoughts --

1. Holy regression for Mexico City and Rio. I could see a small step back, but I think they both have pretty solid squads.
2. I think Puerto Rico is better than the prediction. I could see them battle for the last playoff spot. Probably depends on the youth, though.
3. Latin-American and Afro-European divisions look like dog fights once again this year. Is Black Forest ever going to be bad?
4. Did anybody see Clap is supposed to win 29 games...?
5. If I don't win the pennant this year, it will be my greatest failure.

im a firm believer that if you are not contending for a title you should pick #1

[Gomer]

im a firm believer that if you are not contending for a title you should pick #1

+1