DMBL Mirror League

Yep it's here early this year. The DMBL Mirror League is now set up and extending its invitation. Every year, Butch Garretson sets up the Yahoo! league and tries to follow along with the transactions of the DMBL - all you have to do is sign up, you don't have to do anything more. It is a very convenient way to check up how your players are doing out there in the 2008 MLB season. It's a very handy tool when it comes to evaluating trades or deciding who to cut in order to make room for that guy you have to activate from the DL. Usually we get most of the league to sign up, but there are always a few stragglers that forget, so let's try to get all 14 members in there this time. All you need is a Yahoo! id, which by the way is free.

Finally, this is your last chance to vote for the Hall of Fame! Inductees will be announced on Draft Day.

Keeper Fallout: Vancouver Iron Fist

The last of the keeper reviews, Vancouver looks like they might put themselves back into contention after a down year in 2007. The Fist have an impressive rotation anchored by Jake Peavy and should have plenty of offense, featuring Chase Utley, David Ortiz, and newly-acquired Todd Helton. The Fist also have a lot of extra picks in the 2008 draft.

Shaky Keeper: Greg Maddux, pitcher. Maddux was probably kept for sentimental reasons more than anything else, though as a fifth starter, you can't complain. Maddux has been showing his age the last few seasons, even though he had a solid 2007 campaign.

Surprise Castoff: Jose Guillen, outfielder. Vancouver had a lot of players to protect and although Guillen would have been a nice way to round out the outfield, the Fist had to cut him. Guillen had an off year last year but should latch on with someone in the draft.

Keeper Fallout: Tampa Bay Plunkers

Bill Levesque brought DMBL baseball back to Tampa Bay after acquiring the Honolulu Sharks in the offseason. Will the Sharks return to the playoffs or will there be a learning curve? The Plunkers have a decent starting rotation and their offense has some upside. Sure they'll need a little luck and a good draft, but you never know.

Shaky Keeper: Jason Kendall, catcher. Added as a last minute move, Kendall was almost cut - and probably should have been. The catcher has been declining for the last two years and may be just about done. With Kenji Johjima already on the roster, Kendall may not make it to Opening Day.

Surprise Castoff: Jose Valverde, closer. Valverde was a surprising cut, especially since the club protected only one reliever - Pedro Feliciano.

Keeper Fallout: Sardine City Straphangers

In their first year of existence, the Straphangers were in rebuilding mode. Is that rebuilding project ready to blossom? Probably not just yet, but the Sardines ought to be a lot better than last year's dismal 13th place finish. Fans will be looking forward to Cole Hamels, Fausto Carmona, and Ryan Braun leading this very young team for years to come.

Shaky Keeper: Stephen Drew, shortstop. The Sardines have a very young team so they can afford to be patient with young prospects like Drew and Homer Bailey who normally wouldn't have found a place on more playoff-ready teams. It remains to be seen whether Drew develops into a useful player or fizzles out.

Surprise Castoff: Andruw Jones, outfielder. Jones is a hit or miss kind of player, and while he missed a lot this year, he still has a studly ceiling. Despite seemingly being in the league forever, Jones will only be 31 years old this April, so some team will take a chance with the slugger.

DC ships Soriano to Jersey

New Jersey traded their first round pick to D.C. for much-maligned outfielder Alfonso Soriano and D.C.'s seventh round pick in next year's draft. Soriano batted .274 last year for the Bushslappers with an .831 OPS. Overall, Soriano has struggled mightily in his DMBL career, despite his huge potential. Buddah GM/Owner Mike Hornick said that Soriano just "needed a change of scenery" and was confident that New Jersey was just the place for him.

Meanwhile, D.C. gets the fourth pick overall in the 2008 draft. D.C. owner Jamie Landsman had scheduled a flight to D.C. for draft day, but a last minute change of plans had Landsman staying at DMBL Draft Headquarters.

Keeper Fallout: Philadelphia Endzone Animals

The Animals were busy in the offseason making trades, trying to take the next step after winning their first division title in 2007. The offense, featuring Albert Pujols, Magglio Ordonez and Jorge Posada, looks to be strong, and the pitching staff, anchored by Johan Santana, is very young, but should be capable.

Shaky Keeper: Scott Rolen, third baseman. Rolen, a favorite of GM/Owner Anthony Pucci, seems to be on the downside of his career, putting up subpar numbers last year and could be a weak link in the otherwise strong lineup.

Surprise Castoff: Adam LaRoche, first baseman. With the acquisition of Mark Teixeira, there was simply no place left for LaRoche, so the Animals set him loose.

Keeper Fallout: Newark Sugar Bears

The Sugar Bears had a historic year in 2007, but can they repeat (yet again that is)? The short answer is, sure they can, why not? All the pieces are still there and, if anything, the rotation is stronger than it was last year. One point to make is that key offensive component Nick Johnson will miss the entire season after eating a bad box of cereal.

Shaky Keeper: Nick Johnson. Well, he's going to miss all of the season and there's not much else to pick no here. Johnson has been very injury-prone during his career, but that hasn't stopped him from winning a Mitchell Award. Known for his extreme player loyalty, it's not surprising in the least for GM/Owner Butch Garretson to retain Johnson's services.

Surprise Castoff: Nothing all too surprising. Scot Shields has been with the team for three seasons, so there was a chance that cutting the "other Shields" may have been a tad painful for Garretson, but as he said in a statement earlier "one Shields is better than none."

Keeper Fallout: New Jersey Team Buddah

Team Buddah had one of the worst possible keeper lists heading into the offseason but traded star outfielder Ichiro Suzuki for a large package of players. Overall they improved the number of keepable players, but overall the team is still very mediocre. With no feared hitters on offense, Buddah will have to draft an offensive monster to strike fear into enemy pitchers. On the pitching side, things aren't so bad. The rotation is pretty much set and the bullpen has three solid pitchers.

Shaky Keeper: Jorge Sosa, pitcher. There are a few other guys that could have been included, but we'll go with Jorge. He slots in as the fifth starter, and he'll probably be adequate in that role.

Surprise Castoff: Troy Glaus, third baseman. Although he seems to be breaking down, Glaus still put up decent numbers this year. With no third baseman on the roster, it was rather surprising that Glaus was left off.

Keeper Fallout: Marietta Mighty Men

The Mighty Men have just about conceded that this will be a rebuilding year for them. But with all those extra draft picks, maybe they won't be as bad as that usually implies. The Mighty Men have only four pitchers protected, with one of them inelligible, so it's likely that the Mites will have to overpower their opponents with offense. The rest of the roster is mostly young, so we all know that could go either way.

Shaky Keeper: Not much to pick on here. Micah Owings is probably the biggest question mark on the roster. After a decent rookie campaign the young pitcher showed some positive signs and may yet prove to play a pivotal role in the future rotation.

Surprise Castoff: With the departure of Jorge Posada, Bengie Molina had to be smiling ear to ear, but that all changed on Keeper Day. Molina's on base percentage probably sealed his fate, but he still has decent numbers for a catcher. The Mighty Men really didn't have much room for the backstop, however.

Keeper Fallout: Las Vegas Rat Pack

The Rat Pack was the busiest team during the offseason completing two mega-deals and completely revamping their keeper list. The Pack is already a division favorite among some pundits. Their pitching staff is more or less complete (10 already on the roster!) and the lineup only lacks a shortstop and a first baseman. And that includes two "project" players, Rich Harden and Alex Gordon. The Rats may very well be done drafting after round five!

Shaky Keeper: Brett Myers, pitcher. Every player on the Rat Pack roster has either immediate impact or has some kind of longterm upside. Myers falls more into the latter category than the first, though his numbers aren't horrendous. For this year, Myers would be a horrible keeper choice, but he does have the upside of being a decent pitcher if he makes a successful return to the rotation.

Surprise Castoff: The Rats were able to successfully deal away almost every player that had any value, so there wasn't much to cast off when all was said and done. The best player left off has to be Kevin Gregg, who had pretty decent numbers while closing last year. Without the upside for the future, it is easy to understand why he was left off the final roster though.

Keeper Fallout: Hoboken Cutters

The Cutters surprised everyone by making the playoffs last year. Will they do it again? If you take a look at the Cutters roster, you start to get impressed - "wow, Hanley Ramirez, Miguel Cabrera, Hunter Pence, Scott Kazmir!" But it soon gets bad. This is a team that hangs on a great draft. With just an okay rotation, the Cutters will need to find a great starter. The lineup will have plenty of holes to fill as well.

Shaky Keeper: Mike Napoli, catcher. If you look behind the numbers, Napoli isn't too bad - .351 OBP, .443 SLG, solid numbers against lefties. But it's hard to get past that .247 average. Jarrod Washburn is a close second (maybe even a tie).

Surprise Castoff: Not that much too surprising left off the Cutters' keeper list. We'll go with longtime fan favorite Geoff Jenkins. Jenkins has been with the Cutters for four years, but GM/owner Mark Hrywna decided it was time to cut ties and give the youngsters a chance.

Keeper Fallout: Hillsborough Hired Hitmen

The Hitmen made arguably the biggest offseason trade, dealing superstar Alex Rodriguez to the Arkansas Falcons. The Hitmen, with offense to spare, solidified their rotation with the acquisition of Dan Haren, giving them one of the top rotations entering the 2008 draft. With lots of extra talent, the Hitmen were very busy in the offseason, but also have one of the better protected lists in the league.

Shaky Keeper: Tough to make this call, but we'll go with Billy Butler. Butler spent all of 2007 in Hillsborough's minor league system, but is ready to make the leap to the DMBL in 2008. Butler just barely qualifies at first base and may spend a lot of time in the DH slot. His numbers are decent so he's not all that shaky, but the rest of this roster is pretty solid.

Surprise Castoff: We're going to go with Josh Willingham. Willingham failed to impress the Hitmen after a decent 2007 season (.252/.366/.580) in limited playing time, so he was cut loose. He's still young enough (28) that several teams will be more than happy to give him a shot.

Keeper Fallout: D.C. Bushslappers

D.C. made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history last year. They hope to build on that experience this year and hopefully advance. The club protected two of the best relievers in the game in Jonathan Papelbon and Joe Nathan. The offense has a decent starting point - a good mix of power and speed. The four starters all look to be solid, though there is no true ace among them.

Shaky Keeper: Lastings Milledge. Milledge is ineligible for the 2008 season so he'll spend the year in AAA. Milledge is far from a sure thing these days, despite putting up decent MLB numbers in limited time last year. D.C. coaches intend to work with the young hitter in not only shaping his game but also his attitude.

Surprise Castoff: Frank Thomas. Is it nearing the end of the road for Thomas? Although he was only DH-eligible for 2008, Thomas had a decent .857 OPS and provides good on-base skills and power. Other than Derrek Lee and Jeff Kent, the team will need to find some more players with good on-base percentages.