November, 2009

They Are the Champions, My Friends

I recently mentioned to someone in the league that I had to write this annual playoffs preview article for the web site, and his response was, "That should be easy.  Just four words: 'The Undertakers will win.'"

Although it seems a given at this point (and, actually, it seemed a given before the season even began), the eight teams who made it to the post-season still deserve some credit for getting there.  And as we've learned all too often throughout the past decade, when it comes to deciding who ultimately wins the championship, no team is a sure thing (unless we're talking about the Zoots.)

Los Altos Undertakers

Let's just get this out of the way as early as possible: the Undertakers are the overwhelming favorites to take home the BDBL trophy this season, and it would be among the league's greatest upsets if they do not.  How did any team become this dominant?  Well, as is true with the story of nearly every great dynasty in baseball history, the Los Altos dynasty began on the farm.  Beginning in 2002, GM Jeff Paulson began stockpiling his farm system with some of the most highly-coveted and highly-touted prospects in baseball.  That season, he acquired Rickie Weeks and Jeremy Hermida as mid-season free agents.  The next season, he made 16-year-old high school sophomore Justin Upton the youngest player ever selected in the BDBL, and added David Bush, Jared Weaver and Jeremy Sowers by season's end.

The Los Altos farm system was so stacked with young prospects, there was no room to fit any more, so Paulson added just four prospects to his farm over the next two years, including Mike Pelfrey in 2004 and Hunter Pence in 2005.

In 2006, Matt Garza, Elvis Andrus and Matt Wieters were added.  In 2007, Lars Anderson and Jason Heyward joined the farm.  And in 2008, Paulson added Brian Matusz and Alex White, among others.

Through trading, Paulson added Nick Adenhart, Mike Moustakas, Adam Miller, Alex Gordon, Jeff Clement, Jon Broxton and Edwin Jackson, among others.

Note that of all the players I mentioned above, only three (Upton, Weeks and Garza) made a significant contribution to the 2009 Undertakers.  This is because a prospect doesn't have to become a superstar in order to add value to a franchise.  Most often, a prospect's most significant value to his franchise is his trade value.  And Paulson sold high on nearly every one of those prospects:

• For Moustakas, Paulson received Ryan Dempster (who later was traded for Justin Duchscherer.)  While Dempster was a dud, The Duke posted a 7-3 record with a 2.84 ERA for Los Altos in 82+ innings down the stretch.
• For Adenhart and Miller, Paulson received Shaun Marcum and Moustakas.  Marcum later fetched Raul Ibanez, who has hit .326/.384/.538 with 42 doubles, 26 homers, 104 RBIs and 125.3 runs created for the Undertakers this season.
• For Hermida and Pelfrey, Paulson received Adam Wainwright, who was then flipped this past winter for Joba Chamberlain.  Chamberlain went 10-3 for Los Altos this year, with a remarkable 2.50 ERA in 108 innings, and will likely be one of the toughest pitchers in the playoffs.
• For Gordon, Broxton and White, the Undertakers picked up Chipper Jones (.301/.408/.438, 39.5 RC in 72 games and 219 at-bats), giving them yet another impact bat.
• Andrus was also traded this season as part of a nine-player deal in which valuable platoon/bench players Brandon Phillips, Nomar Garciaparra, Miguel Olivo and Ryan Shealy became Undertaker reserves.
• For Matusz, Paulson added dominant closer Grant Balfour, who posted a 2.21 ERA in 20+ innings for Los Altos, while holding left-handers to a .163/.234/.186 batting line.
• Brandon Erbe, another prospect acquired in trade by Paulson, was traded earlier this season (along with Braden Looper) in exchange for Scott Downs (3-1, 2.51 ERA in 75+ IP.)

Not all trades made by Paulson over the past several years involved his top prospects.  In fact, of the three trades that have made the most impact on the 2009 Undertakers, none involved prospects.

In the winter of 2008, with his bullpen overflowing with closers (as usual), Paulson traded one of them for Jon Lester.  A year later, Lester went 14-8 for Los Altos, with a 3.88 ERA in 199+ innings, and capped his season by pitching a no-hitter.

Way back in the winter of 2006, Paulson made a deal with Matt Clemm of the Bear Country Jamboree that probably keeps Matt awake at night as often as that Lester deal haunts my nightmares.  In exchange for middle reliever Russ Springer, Clemm traded Kevin Youkilis to the Undertakers.  This season, Youkilis hit .316/.389/.562 for Los Altos, with 58 doubles, 26 homers, 124 RBIs and 129.2 runs created.

That same season, Paulson acquired Adrian Gonzalez from the Cleveland Rocks in another nightmare-inducing deal, with only backup catcher Matt LeCroy heading to Cleveland.  The only thing Gonzalez has contributed to the Undertakers' 113-47 record this season is a .311/.377/.598 batting line, 35 doubles, 41 homers, 121 ribbies and 120.3 runs created.

Another key component of the 2009 Los Altos lineup, Josh Hamilton (.292/.373/.546, 33 HR, 113 RBI, 117.5 RC) was picked up in trade last season as part of a nine-player blockbuster with the Nashville Funkadelic.  Joaquim Soria (6-6, 3.36 ERA in 72+ IP) was also acquired in that deal.  Of the three players traded by Los Altos, only Ben Sheets had much of an impact.

Finally, Paulson has also used the free agent system to his maximum advantage.  The Undertakers came into the 2009 season leading the league (by a very comfortable margin) in total team VORP.  Because so many of the players on the Undertakers' roster were being paid so little money, Paulson had an obscene amount of money to spend on free agency this winter, while having very few open spots to fill on his roster.  That "perfect storm" of events led to the signing of C.C. Sabathia at a salary of $22 million in the auction.  And Sabathia (29-3, 3.20 ERA in 273 IP) has proven to be worth every penny.

In 2008, Paulson signed just two free agents -- one of whom was closer Mariano Rivera, at a salary of just $5 million.  Rivera has been stellar for Los Altos this season, going 3-6 with a 2.48 ERA in 76+ innings.  Curiously, after allowing just 6 walks in 70+ MLB innings, Rivera allowed a whopping 23 free passes for Los Altos.  But he still managed to convert 42 saves in 48 opportunities.

That deadly combination of shrewd drafting, trading and free agent signing has all led to the Undertakers' seventh division title and what may soon be their first BDBL championship.  It's been a long time coming.

St. Louis Apostles

This season, the Apostles became the first team in the BDBL to score more than 1,000 runs since the 2004 Chicago Black Sox.  In addition to runs scored, the St. Louis offense led the BDBL in batting average (.294), on-base percentage (.363), slugging percentage (.493), doubles (412) and total bases (2,807.)  How did Bobby Sylvester build such a dominant offense?

It all begins with that legendary 18th pick of the 2001 farm draft, Albert Pujols.  In his eighth year with the franchise, Pujols hit .345/.431/.598, with 48 doubles, 34 homers, 144 RBIs and 155.8 runs created.  Yawn.  Just another average season.

Incredibly, Pujols was just one of SIX players in the St. Louis lineup who created more than 100 runs this year.  The leader in that category, Dustin Pedroia (.368/.419/.630, 70 -- that's SEVENTY -- doubles, 36 HR, 162 R, 123 RBI, 179.4 RC), was acquired during the winter of 2008 in a seven-player trade with the Chicago Black Sox, in which Sylvester parted with Vladimir Guerrero and Placido Polanco.

This past winter, Sylvester made headlines when he acquired future BDBL Hall of Famer Alex Rodriguez in exchange for Hiroki Kuroda, Alexi Casilla and Adrian Beltre.  Just a few days later, Sylvester made headlines once again by trading Rodriguez in a massive 12-player trade with the Marlboro Hammerheads.  At the time, Sylvester justified that trade by boldly claiming Aubrey Huff (acquired from Marlboro) was every bit as good as A-Rod.  That claim was certainly substantiated this season, as Huff (.350/.399/.645, 62 doubles, 42 homers, 133 runs, 159 RBIs, 169.5 runs created) turned in perhaps the greatest season by any third baseman in BDBL history.

As the draft was underway, Sylvester connected with BDBL whipping boy Jim Doyle and negotiated another trade that paid huge dividends for the Apostles this season.  In exchange for Adam Jones and Kelly Shoppach, St. Louis received Randy Wolf and Nick Markakis.  In his third BDBL season, Markakis enjoyed a career year, hitting .317/.412/.512 with 58 doubles, 22 homers, 147 runs scored and 146.1 runs created.

Also this past winter, Sylvester took what was believed to be a tremendous gamble at the time by placing his prized young pitching prospect, Joba Chamberlain, on the block.  The Los Altos Undertakers came callling, and St. Louis ended up with three Undertaker stars, including shortstop J.J. Hardy (.313/.357/.510, 43 2B, 26 HR, 95 R, 145 RBI, 109.3 RC.)

And the sixth member of the St. Louis 100-RC club, Matt Holliday, is a product of the Apostles farm system.  A mid-season free agent pick-up way back in 2004, Holliday hit .301/.393/.450 with 39 doubles, 16 homers, 101 runs scored and 108.5 runs created in his final season under contract.

That's how you build a world-class offense.  But what about the pitching?  Well, as we all know, Bobby Sylvester isn't a big believer in pitching.  The Apostles ranked 14th out of 24 teams in the BDBL this season in ERA (4.72), yet they finished with 103 wins.  So you tell me how important pitching is.

In addition to Wolf (16-7, 4.65 ERA in 186 IP), Sylvester also acquired Adam Wainwright (12-7, 4.17 ERA in 138 IP) in trade this past winter (as part of the Joba Chamberlain deal with Los Altos.)  42-year-old fossil Tim Wakefield (13-8, 4.06 ERA in 184 IP), however, was arguably the team's best pitcher.  Wakefield was signed as a free agent for what seemed to be an absurd salary of $5.5 million two years ago, which locked him into a two-year contract.  So far, so good.

As for his closer, the team leader in saves for St. Louis this season was the obscure Jim Johnson, who saved 37 games despite allowing just one fewer walk (29) than strikeouts (30.)  And how was the team's saves leader acquired?  Would you believe in the 27th round of the 2008 draft?

The age-old baseball axiom is that "good pitching beats good hitting."  But for the past two seasons, the Apostles have proven that mediocre pitching will do just fine, as long as you have the league's most dominant offense at your disposal.

San Antonio Broncs

The Broncs have averaged just 74 wins over the past three seasons, topping out at 80 wins in 2006.  So how did they get to a franchise-high 102 wins this season?  It begins with pitching.  The Broncs finished the season with a 3.83 ERA -- the third best in the BDBL.  They allowed just 11.9 base runners per nine innings -- the best mark in the entire BDBL -- and struck out an average of 7.3 batters per game.

Just one year ago, the Broncs ranked 11th in ERA.  Where did these guys come from?

Well, the ace of the San Antonio staff, Dan Haren, is the gift from the New Milford Blazers that just keeps on giving.  Haren (20-8, 3.60 ERA in 237+ IP) was acquired in exchange for free-agent-to-be Chris Carpenter during New Milford's "all-or-nothing" 2006 season, and he has anchored the San Antonio starting rotation ever since.

The following winter, Matt Clemm of the Bear Country Jamboree got tired of waiting for his $3 million flier, Edinson Volquez, to put it all together.  So he traded the young fireballer to San Antonio in exchange for Kevin Mench and Travis Ishikawa.  Two years later, Volquez went 16-11 for the Broncs, with a 3.93 ERA in 215 innings.

John Lackey, Greg Newgard's $17 million investment in the 2008 auction, went 12-7 this season, with a 4.72 ERA in 179+ innings -- his second straight disappointing season.  But that performance was offset by the extraordinarily surprising season by little-known starter Ryan Rowland-Smith.  In just 130 innings, the man with two last names posted a sparkling 3.18 ERA and a 10-5 record, while allowing just 7.2 hits per nine innings on average.

Of all the pitchers on San Antonio's roster, however, none was more surprising this season that closer Cory Wade.  Wade, who was plucked off the free agent scrap heap by the Bear Country Jamboree in the fourth chapter of 2008, and later traded to San Antonio in exchange for Eric Byrnes, didn't record a single save during the 2008 MLB season.  But for the Broncs, Wade became the go-to man in the late innings unlike any other in BDBL history.  In 73+ innings, Wade allowed just 59 hits and 8 walks, and shattered the BDBL record by saving 63 games.

Offensively, the Broncs ranked just 10th in the BDBL in runs scored (800), and hit just .270/.336/.438 as a team -- very close to the league average of .267/.335/.427.  But the player who carried the San Antonio offense since his acquisition on March 10th, was Alex Rodriguez.  In 127 games as a member of the Broncs, A-Rod hit .309/.425/.593, with 34 homers and 106.4 runs created.  Despite the fact that he didn't play a single game for the Broncs in the first chapter, A-Rod led the team in runs created.  Not only did he lead the team, but he blew away the competition, as the next-highest total on the team belonged to Connor Jackson, who totaled just 68.2 runs created.

The Broncs roster did include one other player, however, who created more than 100 runs in 2009.  Brian Roberts was acquired at the final trading deadline of the season, from the team the Broncs will be facing in the Division Series, New Milford.  In exchange, Newgard parted with Jayson Werth and Darren Oliver.  Roberts has been spectacular for San Antonio since his acquisition, hitting .354/.434/.528 as a Bronc.  On the season, he hit .307/.381/.459 with 122.6 runs created.

The Broncs (along with the Atlanta Fire Ants) are the polar opposites of the St. Louis Apostles this post-season when it comes to team-building philosophies.  It just goes to show that there is more than one way to reach the playoffs.

Kansas Law Dogs

Ultimately, the goal of any baseball team is to score more runs than it allows.  This may be accomplished by assembling a stellar offense and a mediocre pitching staff (as the St. Louis Apostles have done), or by assembling a stellar pitching staff and mediocre offense (as the San Antonio Broncs have done), or by assembling a balanced team that excels both offensively and defensively (as the Kansas Law Dogs have done.)

Kansas ranked #4 in the BDBL in ERA this season (3.94) and #4 in runs scored (884) -- a perfect symmetry.  The key to the lineup, as has been the case for the past three years, is David Wright.  Wright, a third round farm draft pick in 2002, led the team with 125.2 runs created, and hit .301/.389/.562 this season, with 41 doubles, 36 homers and 128 RBIs.

The team's second best hitter (in terms of runs created), Carlos Quentin, was famously included as a "throw-in" as part of the infamous Papelbon-for-Cain trade with the Manchester Irish Rebels in 2008.  That "throw-in" hit .289/.412/.526 with 29 homers, 103 ribbies and 106.6 runs created -- all at a minimum-wage salary of $100,000.  Oddly enough, the other half of that trade -- Matt Cain -- was a huge disappointment for Kansas this year, as he went just 11-12 with an ugly 4.78 ERA in 216+ innings.

Back in 2006, when the Sylmar Padawans were making a last-ditch effort to win the division title, Kansas GM Chris Luhning made a seven-player trade that included Lyle Overbay coming to Kansas.  In the final year of his four-year contract, Overbay ranked third on the team in runs created (102.4), while hitting .326/.430/.512 with 36 doubles and 13 homers.

David DeJesus, a product of the Kansas farm system who was acquired as a free agent way back in 2003, also made a significant contribution to the Law Dogs this season, batting .275/.355/.436 with 17 homers and 84.3 runs created.  Another Kansas farm product, Ryan Sweeney (a 5th round pick in the 2004 farm draft) made a big contribution in part-time play, batting .328/.409/.420 in 338 at-bats.

Luhning's big mid-season acquisition, catcher Ryan Doumit, hit .325/.349/.532 with 10 homers in 203 at-bats for the Law Dogs, and hit .340/.368/.548 with 20 homers overall.  That same chapter, Luhning also added Jose Reyes (.296/.349/.457 in 348 AB) and Ben Sheets (7-1, 4.15 ERA in 84+ IP) in a deal with the Nashville Funkadelic.

This past winter, Luhning added a major piece to his championship puzzle when he signed Derek Lowe to a $15 million salary.  Lowe led all Kansas starters with 19 wins (against 10 losses) and a 3.57 ERA in 224+ innings.  Lowe joined a starting rotation that included Cain, Gil Meche (who was acquired in a 2008 trade in exchange for Gavin Floyd) and Randy Johnson (acquired this past winter, along with several others, in exchange for Carlos Beltran and Mike Jacobs.)  The 45-year-old Johnson had a stellar year, going 14-7 with a 3.99 ERA in 189+ innings, with 171 K's and only 41 walks.  Meche, however, was a disappointment, as he went 10-13 on the season with a 4.70 ERA in 210+ innings.

The two pitchers on the Kansas roster who made perhaps the biggest impact on the team this season were relievers Matt Thornton and Joe Nathan.  Together, they compiled a miniscule 1.41 ERA through 134 innings.  Thornton, a 30th round draft pick in 2008, went 9-0 out of the bullpen, with a 1.29 ERA in 70 innings.  He allowed just 51 hits and 12 walks on the year, and struck out 70 batters.  Nathan, who was picked up this past winter in trade from the Chicago Black Sox (in exchange for Takashi Saito), went 5-2 with a 1.55 ERA in 64 innings and a league-leading 42 saves.

With their balanced attack, the Law Dogs will be facing another balanced competitor in the Division Series: the Southern Cal Slyme.

Southern Cal Slyme

While Kansas ranked #4 in runs scored, SoCal ranked third with just three more runs scored.  But while Kansas relied more on the longball (173 home runs vs. 146 for SoCal), the Slyme relied more on their speed, with 130 stolen bases vs. just 45 for Kansas.

The two teams were also similar on the mound, as SoCal ranked sixth in the BDBL in ERA, and allowed just nine runs more than Kansas this season.  It should make for a very interesting Division Series.

SoCal's starting rotation features a pair of 17-game winners: James Shields and Jamie Moyer.  Shields (17-8, 3.90 ERA in 228+ IP) was acquired during GM Bob Sylvester's infamous white-flag-waving-wild-card-winning 2007 season, in exchange for short-time-rentals Raul Ibanez and Tim Salmon.  Moyer (17-7, 4.70 ERA in 207 IP) was picked up this past winter from the New Milford Blazers in exchange for three SUS's.

Joining them in the rotation at the Chapter One deadline was Shaun Marcum (9-9, 3.30 ERA in 158+ IP), who was considered needless excess on the pitching-rich Los Altos Undertakers roster.  Marcum was acquired at the expense of Raul Ibanez and two others.

Another big pitching acquisition by the Slyme this season was supposed to be Jake Peavy.  Peavy came over from the Allentown Ridgebacks in a Chapter Five deal, along with reliever Carlos Marmol, at the expense of three players -- the most significant of which was catching prospect Carlos Santana.  Although he was expected to be a huge addition to the rotation, Peavy went just 3-1 with a 5.34 ERA in 28+ innings as a member of the Slyme.  (His CERA, however, was a much more reasonable 3.64.)  Marmol joined SoCal's closer-by-committee, and led that committee in saves (9) through the final two chapters.  Eight different pitchers recorded a save for the Slyme this season.

Offensively, the big story for the Slyme during the first half of the season was the unexpected dominance of Ryan Zimmerman.  A product of the SoCal farm system since his acquisition as a free agent in 2005, Zimmerman hit an astounding .352/.414/.590 over the first half of the season -- blistering numbers compared to his MLB triple-slash line of .283/.333/.442.  He settled down in the second half, hitting .304/.356/.436 in that time to finish with a line of .327/.384/.510 with 15 homers and 85.7 runs created.

Another product of the Slyme farm system, Hanley Ramirez, enjoyed another fine season, hitting .285/.362/.513 with 44 doubles, 29 homers, 134 RBIs, and a team-leading 117.5 runs created.  Ramirez, of course, was acquired in the hotly debated Roy Halladay trade of 2003.

Yet another member of the Slyme farm system, Jacoby Ellsbury, also created more than 100 runs this season.  Acquired in a 2005 trade with the Salem Cowtippers (in exchange for Octavio Dotel), Ellsbury hit .304/.347/.476 this season, with 21 homers, 123 runs scored and 48 stolen bases.  Ellsbury was joined in the outfield by Torii Hunter -- a free agent signing in 2006.  Hunter had a remarkable season, hitting .335/.403/.551 with 48 doubles, 17 homers and 103.4 runs created.

Last season, the Slyme set a new BDBL record for wins in a single season.  Then, they were swept by the Chicago Black Sox in the first round of the playoffs.  This year, Bob Sylvester is seeking a little redemption.

New Milford Blazers

The Blazers aren't the first team to make the playoffs with a roster comprised almost entirely of short-usage pinch hitters and platoon players.  But they are without a doubt the most annoying of all the teams that have employed this strategy.

Of the 16 batters who finished the season on New Milford's roster, only four had more than 450 at-bats this season.  Assembling a lineup filled with platoon players is a bit more difficult than the traditional, non-cheesy way of acquiring full-time players, because you have to find two players to fill those positions instead of one.  The advantage of this strategy is that it's generally less expensive to acquire platoon hitters than it is to acquire legitimate, full-time players.

For example, at second base, the Blazers featured a platoon of Bill Hall and Martin Prado.  Combined, the two created 95.3 runs at a combined salary of $3.1 million.  Prado was acquired in exchange for Jayson Werth, while Hall was picked up in the 7th round of the draft.  If one were to acquire a full-time second baseman capable of creating 95.3 runs, the price paid (both in salary and trade) would certainly be much higher.

GM Anthony Peburn's strategy was clear from the beginning, as he spent a total of $11 million in the draft for three hitters who had only 830 at-bats in MLB '08 combined.  Later in the season, he traded three full-time players (Troy Glaus, Brian Roberts and Werth) in exchange for two short-usage relievers (Arthur Rhodes and Brian Bruney) and Prado.

New Milford has gotten huge performances in a small number of at-bats from several players, including Prado (.370/.431/.588 in 216 AB), Gabe Kapler (.345/.392/.545 in 165 AB), Ryan Spilborghs (.331/.443/.453 in 139 AB), Ronnie Belliard (.290/.368/.494 in 310 AB), Jim Edmonds (.281/.359/.577 in 366 AB) and Alberto Gonzalez (.292/.333/.573 in 89 AB.)  But not every hitter on the New Milford roster was a part-time player.  For the second year in a row, the team's best full-time hitter was Jack Cust.  Cust, who was acquired in a 2007 trade with the Las Vegas Flamingos as part of an eight-player trade involving mostly short-usage platoon players, followed up his 2008 OL MVP season by hitting .289/.437/.643 with 49 home runs, 127 RBI's, 136 walks and 151.5 runs created.  This, despite the fact that he hit just .231/.375/.476 in MLB '08, with just 33 homers and 94.2 runs created.

New Milford's home bandbox also helped Dioner Navarro (.308/.366/.445) outperform his MLB numbers.  Curiously, however, Carlos Delgado (.269/.351/.460, 29 HR, 101 RBI) was a disappointment compared to his MLB performance, despite playing in a drastic pitcher's park in MLB.  Another full-time player, Skip Schumaker, hit .320/.366/.460 with 86.6 runs created.  Navarro was acquired in the infamous Roger Clemens trade of 2008.  Delgado was signed as a free agent in the '08 auction.  And Schumaker was picked up off the free agent scrap heap in 2007.

On the hill, Roy Halladay was absolutely dominant for the Blazers (15-4, 2.46 ERA in 179 IP) after he was acquired at the Chapter Two deadline from the Ravenswood Infidels in exchange for Adam Lind.  Halladay was the only Blazers starter to finish with a sub-4.00 ERA.  The team's second-best pitcher in that category was rookie Clayton "Asswipe" Kershaw, who went 6-4 with a 4.14 ERA in 100 innings while curiously walking only 37 batters (compared to 52 in MLB.)

Mark Guthrie, Peburn's $13.5 million dollar off-season investment, was a horrific disappointment, going 14-12 with a 5.34 ERA in 207+ innings.  And after starting the first half with a record of 11-4 and a 3.28 ERA, David Bush finally came crashing back to earth in the second half, going 6-5 with a 5.59 ERA in 95 innings.  The team's #4 pitcher in the playoffs (assuming they use a four-man rotation) will be Brian Moehler, who posted a 6.03 ERA this season.  If Moehler does start for the Blazers, it will probably set a BDBL record for the highest ERA of any starting pitcher in post-season history.

Like their starting lineup, New Milford's bullpen is filled with part-time players with drastically lopsided split stats, which is sure to cause some late-inning pain to San Antonio Broncs manager Greg Newgard.  With ten of the Blazer's fourteen hitters limited in usage this post-season, Peburn's strategy may come back to bite him in the ass (if we're lucky.)

Atlanta Fire Ants

For awhile this season, it appeared as though the Fire Ants would challenge the 2002 Los Altos Undertakers record of a 3.26 team ERA (the same record the 2008 Cowtippers missed by less than a hundreth of a percentage point.)  At the all-star break, Atlanta's team ERA stood at 3.19.  But a poor Chapter Four performance (4.02) put a damper on things.  By the end of the season, Atlanta's team ERA stood at 3.60 (second in the BDBL to the Undertakers' 3.32 mark.)  Just one year ago, the Fire Ants owned the worst ERA (5.44) in the BDBL.  So how on earth did GM Gene Patterson build a dominant pitching staff in just one year?  With a little help from his friends.

Patterson, who deserved more than the seven votes he received in the 2008 EL GM of the Year award balloting, did a tremendous job at the trading table in 2008.  He began by acquiring Ervin Santana (15-10, 2.85 ERA in 230+ IP, 241 K's) and Joey Devine (4-2, 1.99 ERA, 32 SVs in 45+ IP) in a pre-season deal with the Southern Cal Slyme.  Any time you can acquire your starting rotation's ace and your bullpen's closer in one trade -- at a combined salary of $2.2 million, no less! -- you're doing quite well for yourself.

Later that winter, as the free agent auction was wrapping up, Patterson acquired John Danks (16-4, 3.41 ERA in 203+ IP) from the Salem Cowtippers in exchange for Mike Cameron and Fred Lewis.  At a salary of just $100,000, Danks was one of the biggest (if not the biggest) bargains in the BDBL this season.

The team's #3 starter, Andy Sonnanstine, was also acquired in trade during the 2008 season.  In 205 innings this season, Sonnanstine went 15-11 with a 3.73 ERA.  Like Danks and Devine, Sonnanstine earned the league minimum ($100,000) this season.  That's three starting pitchers -- all with ERA's under 3.75 -- and a closer, making $2.4 million combined, all acquired in trade during the same season.  In the realm of general managing, this accomplishment is equivalent to winning the MVP and the Cy Young in the same season.

With pitching like that, you don't need much offense.  Which is a good thing for Atlanta, because they didn't have much offense this season.  The Fire Ants ranked just 14th in the BDBL in runs scored (757) this season.  Their team batting average (.262) and slugging percentage (.428) were both below the league average, and their on-base percentage (.336) was exactly league-average.

The team leader in runs created (91.6) was Jason Giambi, who was picked up this past winter in exchange for Jon Niese and Dallas Braden (a pretty cheap payment for your team's RC leader, eh?)  It was one of only three trades made by Patterson this winter, and the only one of the three that had any impact on the 2009 team.  Giambi (.259/.368/.523, 31 HR, 81 RBI) was later joined in the lineup by Troy Glaus, who hit .261/.353/.382 with 4 homers in his two chapters with the team.

Patterson made his biggest trade during that same chapter, adding Carlos Beltran (.294/.352/.550, 15 HR, 45 RBI in 56 games) from the Allentown Ridgebacks in a gigantic 11-player trade in which Atlanta sacrificed Gary Sheffield, Jeremy Hellickson and an ineffective Kevin Slowey among others.

Because he was spending so little money on his stellar pitching staff, Patterson had more money to spend in this winter's auction ($42.9 million) than any other GM in the league.  But instead of shelling out big bucks for an impact hitter, Patterson spread his money around.  He spent a combined $7.5 million in the auction on two of his hitters, Orlando Cabrera (.261/.329/.341, 62.5 RC) and Paul Konerko (.239/.332/.569, 34.1 RC in 197 AB.)And for $9 million combined, he signed relievers Ryan Madson (3-1, 2.75 ERA in 55+ IP) and Jason Grilli (6-2, 3.61 ERA in 67+ IP.)

After finishing with the worst record in BDBL history in 2008, Patterson had the #1 pick in every round of the draft.  He used that position of power to select Denard Span (.279/.354/.427, 61 RC) in Round 3, Matt Joyce (.236/.336/.504, 45.2 RC) in Round 4, and Mark Ellis (.266/.364/.470, 19 HR, 77.7 RC) in Round 6.

To go from the worst record in BDBL history to the playoffs in the span of only one year is a remarkable accomplishment.  The Fire Ants could go very far in the playoffs given their strong pitching staff, but even if they don't, the 2009 season has to be considered an amazing success.

Las Vegas Flamingos

The Flamingos own the inglorious distinction of being the only team in BDBL history to win a division title with a losing record.  Their 79-81 record this season was enough to win the pathetic Benes Division title, and they now face the impossible task of defeating the Los Altos Undertakers to advance past the Division Series.

The Vegas offense ranked 18th out of 24 BDBL teams in runs scored, with just 730.  I'm too lazy to do the research, but I'm willing to bet that's the lowest runs scored total of any team in BDBL playoffs history.  The Flamingos hit just 131 homers this season (the third lowest total in the BDBL) and they drew just 461 walks (the fourth lowest total.)

The entire Las Vegas lineup revolves around two long-time Flamingos: Johnny Damon and Chase Utley.  Damon, who was signed as a free agent in this winter's auction and is now playing his tenth straight season with the Flamingos franchise, hit .319/.411/.490 this season, with 28 doubles, 12 triples, 18 homers, 121 runs scored and 130 runs created.  Utley, who is a product of the Las Vegas farm system, hit .294/.361/.531 with 41 doubles, 32 homers, 100 runs, 112 ribbies and 120.8 runs created.

Together, Damon and Utley created more than a third of the team's total runs.  Another big contributor was Xavier Nady, who was signed to a gutsy $6 million salary in the auction.  Nady hit .273/.329/.462 on the season, with 35 doubles, 23 homers, 93 RBI's and 82.7 runs created.  And Mark DeRosa -- a 23rd round draft pick in 2006 -- created 83.9 runs while batting .243/.338/.424.

GM John Bochicchio has never been very active on the trading front, and this season was no exception.  He didn't make a single trade this past winter, and made just two deals all year -- both at the final deadline of the season.  But the trades were significant, in that Vegas added Derek Jeter (.288/.361/.380), Ryan Spillborghs (.273/.363/.341), Chad Durbin (1.50 ERA in 30 IP) and Javier Vazquez (4-4, 3.74 ERA) while giving up little in return.

Perhaps the quietest dominating performance of the season this year was by Chien Ming Wang.  Another product of the Vegas farm, Wang went 12-1 on the year, with a 1.73 ERA in 104 innings.  Joining Wang and Vazquez in the playoffs rotation will be rookie Greg Smith, who went 11-12 with a 3.94 ERA in 208 innings.  Another rookie, Nick Blackburn (16-13, 4.50 ERA in 210 IP) fills out the rotation.

While the Undertakers will trot out seven or eight dominant, interchangeable closers out of their bullpen, the Flamingos will rely on Russ Springer, who saved 29 games for Las Vegas this season despite an ugly 35/45 BB/K ratio and 12 homers allowed in only 54 innings.

The BDBL playoffs have seen plenty of mismatches throughout our ten-year history, but none have ever matched this one.  You could make a decent argument that the Undertakers the most dominant team in BDBL history.  But there is no debate whatsoever that the Flamingos are the weakest team in BDBL post-season history.  While it's true that "anything can happen in the post-season," it would be remarkable if this series were anything but a bloodbath.