| Florida Flamingos | 1B Carlos Pena, LF Matt Holliday, RP Joaquin Benoit | None | The Flamingos' lineup has some punch to it, especially with Wright and Ten Wolde on the left side of the infield. But their pitching staff features too much inexperience and uncertainty. Expect the Flamingos at the bottom of the AC in team ERA, and probably at the bottom of the AC East as well. | D+ |
| Holbrook Hawks | RP Juan Cerros, RP Lee Gardner, LF Raul Ibanez, CF Cory Sullivan, 1B Craig Stansberry | None | The Hawks won 96 games last year but missed the playoffs. No more wins were added through acquisition, but a strong lineup featuring 4 time silver slugger Lee, plus a rotation that goes 5 deep with talent, should help keep the Hawks hovering around 90-95 wins again this year. | B- |
| Philadelphia Brotherhood | SP Juan Castillo, C Brandon Inge, SS Jose Offerman, SP Ryosei Fukuda, RF Bernie Williams, 2B Luis Castillo | 2B Jason Giambi, CF Marlon Byrd | Philly is an up and comer on the pitching side, with the lowest average age in the UBA, but are experience and probably an arm or two short of being dangerous. Their lineup features aging stars Everett, Giambi, and Lee, but could make noise if healthy. Not replacing Castillo's void will prove costly, and the Brotherhood will finish the year around 500. | B- |
| Pittsburgh Champions | CF Curtis Goodwin, 2B Alfonso Soriano, 1B Calvin Pickering, C Eli Marrero, SP R A Dickey, CF Michael Bourn, 3B Jorge Cantu | RP Scot Shields | After a thrilling WCS win in 2006, the Champions look to get back to the playoffs this year with much of the same team that got them there, which features ARod and Chipper in the middle of their lineup, plus a young Miguel Cabrera knocking down the door for at bats. It will be exciting to see if Pittsburgh, Holbrook, or both will make the playoffs this year. | B |
| Gobbler's Knob Turkeys | RP Brad Radke, RP Bryan Rekar, SS Aramis Ramirez, 2B Jose Vidro, RP Mike Johnson, 2B Cody Ransom, LF Gabe Kapler, 3B Jason Nix | None | The patient fans in Gobbler's Knob could finally be in for a winning season, as the incredible pool of starting pitching they've drafted looks to be ready to compete, and their rotation looks very strong. Not replacing Aramis Ramirez's bat will be hard to overcome, but Pujols is back and looking like himself after missing all of 2006 with injury. | C- |
| New Orleans Voodoo | C Doug Mirabelli, LF Ray Lankford, LF Melvin Mora, 1B Dmitri Young, RP Glendon Rusch, RP Steve Hill, SS Aaron Hill, RP Chris Bootcheck | RP Adam Horne | Although not making any waves in the offseason, the Voodoo are still stacked on both sides of the ball. Haren is a top 3 pitcher of the year lock should he stay healthy, and 5 tool star SS Valdez will help carry a strong offense. The Turkeys are coming, but the Voodoo are still kings of the AC Central. | B- |
| Omaha Mammoths | RP Juan Pena, RP Marlyn Tisdale, SP Ryan Drese, RP Jimmy Haynes, 3B Phil Nevin, SS Adrian Rivera, C Robinson Diaz | None | Oswalt, Shields, Ageda and Guerrero provide some star power, but the team's depth thins substantially after that. Omaha needed to make moves this offseason if they wanted to keep pace this year. | C- |
| San Antonio Armadillos | RF Brian Giles, SP Jorge Rivera, RP Steve Woodard | 1B Jose Cruz, RF Nelson Cruz | The Cruz brothers will add a lot of stability and power to this lineup, but this team is going to wait until top prospects Latos and Samardzija are ready for the show before they push all in. | B+ |
| Cardiff Bay Barrage | RF Brady Clark, CF Jay Payton, CF Antonio Aviles, 2B Orlando Perez | 3B Scott Rolen, RF Cody Ross, SP Tim Hudson | Rumor in camp was that superstar Rodriguez might be shifted to the outfield as his legs can't manage the range needed at SS. Either way, Cardiff Bay doesn't have the arms to go deep into the summer competing against Yellowknife and Portland, and will probably fall in the 70-80 win window. | B+ |
| Palo Alto Pranksters | SP Geraldo Padua, RP Ken Trapp, LF Donzell McDonald, RP Jason Isringhausen, LF Ross Gload, SP Gil Meche | C Kurt Suzuki, SP Jorge Rivera, 1B Frank Thomas, SP Barry Zito | Palo Alto shocked the UBA a bit by spending some money this offseason, but they're still looking towards 2009 and beyond with their rebuilding plan. | B- |
| Portland Beavers | C Johnny Estrada, SP Eric Stults, RP Mark Dewey, SP Tom Ohka, 2B Joe Inglett, RP Jamie Brewington, SP Ismael Valdez | SP Victor Santos, RP Randy Flores | Portland had a relatively quiet offseason, but has positioned themselves well with a younger more versatile core than they've had over the past few years, and will challenge Yellowknife down the stretch. | B |
| Yellowknife Targaryens | SP Josh Beckett, RF Nelson Cruz, C Saul Soto, 3B Olmedo Saenz, RP Juan Cruz, 1B Daniel Garcia | C David Ross, 2B Alfonso Soriano | The Targaryens shed some dead weight this offseason, but still sport one of the best lineups in baseball with Valadez and Mauer, and have a shut down bullpen that goes very deep. Plans to go to the pen early and often, in addition to a 6-man rotation, will be an interesting strategy to track, but should keep the starting rotation fresh for down the stretch when they can punch the gas and cross the finish line at top speed. | C+ |
| Atlanta Bandits | None | 3B Aramis Ramirez, 2B Orlando Perez, 1B Craig Stanberry, RF Brian Giles, CF Coco Crisp, RP Jesus Gonzalez, RP Michael Wuertz, RP Steve Woodward, LF Chris Dickerson | The expansion Bandits played it safe during the expansion draft, avoiding veterans and large contracts. In turn, they had the resources to land one big free agent in Aramis Ramirez and a few others to supplement. No expansion team has high hopes, but the Bandits should have a respectable inaugural season. | B+ |
| Charleston Rebels | 3B Freddy Sanchez, SP Barry Zito, 2B D'Angelo Jimenez, RP Jason Grilli, RP Glenn Woolard | RP Lee Gardner, 3B Miguel Tejada, 1B Carlos Casimiro, RP Joaquin Benoit | Waino, King Felix, Weaver and Hamels is an unbelievable 4 ace staff, all under the age of 26. The Rebels won 85 games last year and look to push 90+ wins should the pitching stay healthy. | B |
| Coney Island Whitefish | SP Diego Quintana, 1B Carlos Casimiro, C AJ Pierzynski, RF Dave Roberts, 2B Keith Ginter, 2B Ronnie Belliard | SP Johan Santana, RF Endy Chavez, RP Yoshinori Tateyama | The Whitefish have a talented lineup, even after allowing Belliard to leave via expansion. Their pitching isn't as strong as it once was, and not enough moves were made here to keep Coney Island in contention down the stretch this season. Look for another 83 win season in 2007. | C |
| New York City Baseball Club | 2B Roberto Morillo, SP Lucio Ramos, 2B Quilvio Veras, 3B Scott Rolen, CF Coco Crisp, RP Victor Santos, RP Brad Clontz | SP John Maine, SP Gil Meche, LF Carlos Valderrama, SP Masami Jouda, 3B Freddie Sanchez | More big moves for NYC this offseason, namely extending Broadway, and trading #1 prospect away for Maine, which drastically improved an already scary rotation. The Baseball Club is a team with few holes, should hit the 100+ win mark and is an early favorite to emerge from the RC once again. | B+ |
| Old Bridge Titans | RP Yoshinori Tateyama, SP William VanLandingham, SP Aaron Sele, SP Hiroki Kuroda, 1B Casey Blake, 3B Eric Hinske, RP Doug Slaten | None | The Titans are nearing bottom of their rebuild; but will need to add even more depth to their prospect pool with this year's draft and through trades if they want to be able to compete with NYC in the next few years. | C- |
| Dallas Daredevils | 1B Ken Harvey, 1B Jim Thome, C Brandon Harper, SP Cliff Lee | C Mike Sweeney, RP Marlyn Tisdale | The Daredevil rotation will be as good as any in baseball if top prospect Max Scherzer can live up to his billing in his first full season in the bigs. The RC Central is still ultra competitive, but Dallas looks to be the team to beat again for the title. | C |
| Eden Prairie Landsharks | SP John Maine, SP Masami Jouda, RP Adam Horne, C Trey Lunsford, RP Mike Holtz, 1B Miguel Tejada, SP Bronson Arroyo, CF Corey Patterson | 2B Roberto Morillo, RP Sang-hyuk Park, LF Matt Holliday, 3B Jose Bautista, SP R A Dickey, C JC Boscan, 3B Russell Branyan, RP Juan Pena | Moving Maine will be looked at as a risky play, but the Landsharks felt comfortable with the talent they had lined up for their rotation without him, and have now taken their lineup to the next level with the addition of Morillo. The Landsharks snagged some good depth this offseason as well, and will make a strong play for the wild card and division title. | A |
| Fargo Rage | RP Randy Flores, C David Ross, LF Alex Sanchez, CF Luis Matos | 1B Carlos Pena | The Rage have a better than average rotation, but probably needed to add more than Pena to keep pace with Dallas and Eden Prairie. But we've seen them play their division strong, and should be a tough team to beat in 2007. | C+ |
| Toledo Troutheads | 1B Frank Thomas, 1B Oscar Salazar, RP Scot Shields, RP Jason Lane, C Robby Hammock | SP Diego Quintana, 3B Jose Roman, SP Brandon Duckworth, SS Miguel Suarez | Toledo is a team stuck in the middle, and playing in the RC Central doesn't help. They have a well balanced offense and a strong bullpen but don't have a strong enough rotation to get enough leads. They will outplay their 63 wins last year, but look for them to stay below 500. | B- |
| Hollywood Stars | SS Mike Aviles, RF Cody Ross, SS Miguel Suarez, SP Chris Capuano, SP Tim Hudson, 1B Russell Branyan, RP Michael Wuertz, RP Jesus Gonzalez | 1B Jim Thome, 1B David Ortiz, SP Juan Cruz, RF Bobby Abreu | Hollywood had a quietly successful offseason, led by the acquisition of Cruz to lead their rotation. Beltre and Ramirez will continue to wreck havoc together, and the Stars are the favorite to pick up another division title in the weaker RC West. | A- |
| Oregon Ducks | SP Chad Ogea, RP Mark McLemore, RP Scott Linebrink, 1B Jose Cruz, RF Jose Bautista, SS Flavio Romero, RP Jason Frasor, CF Shannon Stewart, RP Justin Speier, RF Roger Cedeno, 2B Jason Giambi, LF Cliff Floyd, RF Richard Hidalgo | RP Jason Lane, CF Chone Figgins, CF Milton Bradley, LF Gabe Kapler, SP Hiroki Kuroda, 3B Bobby Hill, 2B Joe Inglett, SP Juan Castillo, SP Tomo Ohka | The Ducks have finally moved on from Giambi, and came to camp with a lot of new faces. Their rotation is solid and they can boast the 4th best minor league system. But their lineup lost too many pieces and will not be able to put enough runs on the board in 2007. | B- |
| Phoenix Firebirds | LF Steven Smitherman, SP Mike Sirotka, C JC Boscan, RP Josh Towers, LF Edgar Quintero | None | The Firebirds hit the bottom and are now beginning to climb back up, but have years to go. Another year of Butler and Upton should help build a good foundation, but they won't hit their stride as a team until McCutchen and Goldshmidt reach the show. | C- |
| San Francisco Spartans | None | 2B Ronnie Belliard, C Yadier Molina, LF Cliff Floyd, SP Bronson Arroyo, SP Ismael Valdez, SP Cliff Lee, SP Glendon Rusch, SP Sergio Mitre, RP Chris Bootcheck, RP Mike Johnson, 3B Jayson Nix, SS Mike Aviles | The Spartans opened their wallets during the inaugural draft snagging proven veterans Belliard, Arroyo, Valdez, and Floyd. But they're still an expansion team, and no where deep enough to compete any time soon. Look for them to top out around 75 wins. | B |
| Seattle Steelheads | C Yadier Molina, LF Carlos Valderrama, LF Chris Dickerson, SP Sergio Mitre | None | Although missing a couple pieces from last season's team, the Steelheads could be hitting their stride in 2007. Their rotation has a lot of talent and depth, and their lineup will be strong if and when top prospect Jay Bruce reaches his potential. Seattle could take the division from Hollywood, but will more likely end a few games short. | C- |
