NL North Preview: Season 6

Milwaukee Twindyans Season 5 record- 102-60 NL North Champs.

Milwaukee has never finished lower than 2nd in the NL North and has made the playoffs in 4 of the 5 seasons. Lead by arguably, top players at their positions in Hector Santos and Vic Alfonzo Milwaukee made it to World Series this year, which was their second appearance in franchise history. Milwaukee's 2 biggest stars maybe old but don't think that the Twindyans are an old team Dennis Nelson, Pete Skinner, Pat Bowen, Neil Byrne and Ted Simpson will all start season 6 25 or younger. It seems that Milwaukee took a step back in season 4 to take a step forward into the future and the future looks bright.

Milwaukee has no real weaknesses, an upgrade at third base and an additional bullpen arm wouldn't hurt but the need is not that pressing. Look for the Twindyans to compete for a first round bye and a World Series appearance again next season.

Prediction 97-65

Kansas City Monarchs Season 5 record 81-81 second in NL North.

What word best describes the Kansas City franchise? Mediocre is probably best. The franchise has never won more than 87 games or lost more than 88. An off-season trade for Bud Jones improved the offensive last year and rookie Tony Cela should improve it further next year but if the Monarchs want to make a playoff run the guys that toe the rubber will have to improve. In season 4 the Monarchs had a top 5 pitching staff and despite returning almost every pitcher from that staff the Monarchs ranked in the middle of the pack this season. Most notably Troy Roberts went from great to bad to injured although he'll be back in time for next season some within the organization question whether he'll ever be the pitcher he was in season 3 and 4 again.

The Monarchs could use an upgrade at first base, SS and they will also need to add at least 4 pitchers between the rotation and bullpen if they want to compete for a playoff spot. Prediction 84-78.

Sioux Falls Gunslingers Season 5 record 77-85 3rd in the NL North.


Sioux Falls won the division in last season but fell back to 3rd in season 5. Their pitching was poor and the offence wasn't any better. The team allowed 857 runs and only scored 736 for an expected winning percentage .428, Sioux Falls should have been worse than they were. On the bright side there were a couple of starters gave Sioux Falls reason for hope Joey Mitchell and Derek Boone had good seasons at age 30. On offense Carlos Carreras, Tomas Carrasco, Dennis James and of course Chris Kirkland lead the way other than these four there isn't a position that couldn't use a upgrade for Sioux Falls.

Sioux Falls doesn't seem to to have many top prospects close to the majors so I'm sure the question will be asked, does Souix Falls need to rebuild or is it just a couple players away from jumping near the top of the division?
Prediction 74-88

Vancouver Vigilantes Season 5 record 62-100 4th in the NL North

The ownership in Vancouver has been urging fans to "Get Vigilant" for a couple seasons now but frankly there hasn't been much to look forward to the last 3 years with 98, 94 and 100 losses in that time. Star prospect Turk Badilla is still a couple years away and last years failure to sign Howard Palmer, a player who would have brought star potential to Vancouver, was not what this franchise needed. Vancouver has the 4th pick in this years draft and has to make signing this pick a top priority. Vancouver does have some pieces to build around in Douglas Coleridge, Billy Ray Perry, Paul Wilson, Brandon Sheffield and Darrin Murphy. But none are really stars and most are really complementary players.

Vancouver was 2nd worst in the league in runs allowed and 6th worst in runs scored so there is no where to go but up. The rebuilding project will likely last into season 8 or 9 with no end in sight. It will take some creative thinking and bold management to compete before then. Prediction 65-97.