Maple finished the 2019 season with an impressive 85-77 record considering what the expectations were going into the year. For the first few months, Maple had their ups and downs but, things started to change around the trade deadline. Maple acquired several players to help their stretch run when management felt no team in the TML Billy Martin division was going to run away with the division title.
Maple acquired SP Jake Nelson from Eureka, SP Maurice Gould from Montreal, MR Dennis Inman from San Francisco & MR Domingo Pena from Eureka. The key difference makers were definitely Nelson and Gould who combined for 20-10 W/L record down the stretch.
In the post season, Maple went up against Jacksonville the #1 seed in the TML. It was a hard fought series losing 4-2 in games with each of the 4 losses by 1 run. Jacksonville has been renamed "walk off city".
The outlook for the 2020 season looks promising. Marty Silver was acquired from Brooklyn and will most likely see time at 1B, OF and DH throughout the year. Bartolo Valentin was acquired from Dallas and will hold down the starting CF job as Maple looks to improve the defensive efficiency in 2020. Outside of players such as Gould, Pena and 1B Reynolds nobody on the Maple active roster is older than 30. This team should be competitive for the next few years.
Down on the farm, the #1 ranked minor league system took a hit making those blockbuster trades. Currently ranked #17th overall with Rick Hill SP the top prospect. CL Zeus Hallman is the 2nd highest rated prospect followed by Gabresilassie Cherono SP ranked as the 3rd highest in the organization. Some may remember a couple of seasons ago Maple opening the vault to land some big names in the International Free Agency Frenzy. Cherono was one of those names that signed for a whopping $4.4M to leave South African and join the Maple International Complex. It was nice to finally see someone make an impact in our organization from that spending spree.
HOME OF THE 10TH MAN
HOME OF THE 10TH MAN
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Maple management goes for it!
After "hanging" around through the allstar break in the Billy Martin division, Maple made a huge splash in the ABL acquiring top notch SP Maurice Gould. The price was high in terms of top prospects being sent back to Montreal but, the Maple organization was poised to end their 4 year playoff drought.
Maple sent to Montreal SP Ramu Pavi, SP Jesus Ramirez, SP Yoshiaga Ueno and MR Manny Palma. All 4 of these pitchers were either R1 picks and/or top 100 OSA prospects at one point in their careers. In return Gould landed in Maple and is arguably one of the best all time players in the ABL history and without a doubt its most dominant pitcher during that time.
The addition of Gould along with SP Nelson, OF Dave Carlisle and MR arms Inman and Pena make Maple a true contender for a title this year in the ABL. Since the end of June, Maples record is 16-8 in July, 15-13 in August and 1-0 in September (32-21). Maple sits 1 game behind South Carolina and 2 games ahead of Jersey who is also "hanging" around.
The Schedule for September features:
1 @ JERSEY, 3 HOME vs. JERSEY
3 @ SOUTH CAROLINA, 3 HOME vs. SOUTH CAROLINA
3 HOME vs. MILE HIGH
3 HOME vs. GEORGIA
3 @ CABO SAN LUCAS
3 @ KANSAS CITY
4 @ SAN FRANCISCO
14 on the ROAD and 12 at HOME. The final 3 games at HOME vs. SOUTH CAROLINA should be a deciding factor for a playoff spot in the TML.
There is a chance that 2 teams in the Billy Martin Division may qualify for the post season. The Wild Card hunt is very close right now.
Maple / Georgia tied for the lead
Jersey / Boston 2 games back
Las Vegas 3 games back
Anything can happen in the ABL down the stretch as we have learned many times before.
Maple sent to Montreal SP Ramu Pavi, SP Jesus Ramirez, SP Yoshiaga Ueno and MR Manny Palma. All 4 of these pitchers were either R1 picks and/or top 100 OSA prospects at one point in their careers. In return Gould landed in Maple and is arguably one of the best all time players in the ABL history and without a doubt its most dominant pitcher during that time.
The addition of Gould along with SP Nelson, OF Dave Carlisle and MR arms Inman and Pena make Maple a true contender for a title this year in the ABL. Since the end of June, Maples record is 16-8 in July, 15-13 in August and 1-0 in September (32-21). Maple sits 1 game behind South Carolina and 2 games ahead of Jersey who is also "hanging" around.
The Schedule for September features:
1 @ JERSEY, 3 HOME vs. JERSEY
3 @ SOUTH CAROLINA, 3 HOME vs. SOUTH CAROLINA
3 HOME vs. MILE HIGH
3 HOME vs. GEORGIA
3 @ CABO SAN LUCAS
3 @ KANSAS CITY
4 @ SAN FRANCISCO
14 on the ROAD and 12 at HOME. The final 3 games at HOME vs. SOUTH CAROLINA should be a deciding factor for a playoff spot in the TML.
There is a chance that 2 teams in the Billy Martin Division may qualify for the post season. The Wild Card hunt is very close right now.
Maple / Georgia tied for the lead
Jersey / Boston 2 games back
Las Vegas 3 games back
Anything can happen in the ABL down the stretch as we have learned many times before.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Maple allstars & June Update 2019
The TML allstar team was announced for the 2019 season early in July and the following Maple Marauders made the team:
SP Jeff Nelson (acquired from Eureka); 7-2 record; 3-1 with Maple.
CL John Jones; 6-2 record, 10 saves
Maple struggled in June going 12-15 and have opened July a better at 4-2. We stand in 3rd place in the Billy Martin Division 2.5 GB after entering June with the division lead. This past month Maple was involved in a couple of trades that brought prime time ABL SP to a team that has struggled to have any consistency from their front line starters. Maurice Gould and Jeff Nelson had a solid 1-2 punch to the rotation and should be a dangerous pair if Maple can find a way to make the post season this year.
One of the bright spots in the Maple organization this season is Bill Nelson LF. Bill is batting .314, .401 obpct and .453 slugging with 34 SB in 48 attempts. Maple hasn't seen too many players like him in terms of stealing a bag or two in a game.
Down on the farm, Astoria AAA, is in 2nd place, Sandy Springs AA, leads the division and Kingwood A, is in 1st place.
The minor system ranking has dropped due to the two blockbuster trades. The system was ranked as high as #1 overall but, now sits at #15. Rick "BOY" Hill SP selected in the Rookie Draft a few weeks ago is the highest ranked prospect according to OSA at #11.
It should be an interesting stretch run in the Billy Martin Division. The race is wide open between all four clubs. South Carolina and Maple have been the most active in the trade front but, I am sure that Jersey and San Francisco haven't shown their cards yet.
SP Jeff Nelson (acquired from Eureka); 7-2 record; 3-1 with Maple.
CL John Jones; 6-2 record, 10 saves
Maple struggled in June going 12-15 and have opened July a better at 4-2. We stand in 3rd place in the Billy Martin Division 2.5 GB after entering June with the division lead. This past month Maple was involved in a couple of trades that brought prime time ABL SP to a team that has struggled to have any consistency from their front line starters. Maurice Gould and Jeff Nelson had a solid 1-2 punch to the rotation and should be a dangerous pair if Maple can find a way to make the post season this year.
One of the bright spots in the Maple organization this season is Bill Nelson LF. Bill is batting .314, .401 obpct and .453 slugging with 34 SB in 48 attempts. Maple hasn't seen too many players like him in terms of stealing a bag or two in a game.
Down on the farm, Astoria AAA, is in 2nd place, Sandy Springs AA, leads the division and Kingwood A, is in 1st place.
The minor system ranking has dropped due to the two blockbuster trades. The system was ranked as high as #1 overall but, now sits at #15. Rick "BOY" Hill SP selected in the Rookie Draft a few weeks ago is the highest ranked prospect according to OSA at #11.
It should be an interesting stretch run in the Billy Martin Division. The race is wide open between all four clubs. South Carolina and Maple have been the most active in the trade front but, I am sure that Jersey and San Francisco haven't shown their cards yet.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Maple back in 1st place!
Maple has climbed back to 1st place in the Billy Martin Division through June 9th, 2019 of play. We are tied with Jersey meanwhile the other two teams San Francisco and South Carolina are not far behind at 1 and 3 GB. Maple has been very solid in Extra Inning games; 5-2 so far this season. Winning the close games is something we haven't done in recent years. We are also playing a lot better within the division.
Maple made a major trade to enhance their SP rotation by acquiring from Eureka Jake Nelson who is 3-1 on the year with a 3.32 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. He will face SoCAL in his debut with the Marauders next sim. Maple gave up promising hurler Pedro Perez who was ranked a top the OSA and also sent packing 1B Braden Murphy who had hopes of making the team within the next couple of seasons playing behind FA acquisition Blake Reynolds from Seattle. Murphy was also part of the $10M trade with Dallas. Maple trade winds are still swirling as management as made a decision to go4it this year and see how far we can ride this momentum. After the first three years in the ABL, Maple has not made the playoffs.
The Annual Rookie Draft has just been completed and Maple only had one selection in the first two rounds after acquiring FA Colin St. John (formerly with Las Vegas). In the first round with pick #3 - Maple took highly touted phenom Rick "The Franchise" Hill, SP from the CBL Calgary organization. The fans cheered #GOLDI, #GOLDI after making this pick. You have to appreciate the spirit of the 10th man in Maple. Hill only played one season in the CBL posting 117 Ks in 86.1 IP with a 6-4 record, 2.08 ERA and a modest WHIP of 1.23. He also was the main work horse in their Lester B. Person Championship Cup win. Unlike past drafts we didn't land a bunch of solid players that we have very high hopes in eventually making the ABL one day. Hill will be our make or break draft this year.
In the minors, all three teams are poised to win their divisions again, Astoria in AAA, Sandy Springs in AA and Kingwood in A ball all are in the lead or withing 1 game of the leader. A ton of players demanding a promotion with really no where to put them in general. We have been less patient with the veterans in order to give some of the youngsters a chance to move up in the organization.
Maple dropped to 4th overall in the Top Minor League Organizations after the trade with Eureka this past sim. The new entry into the top five for Maple is Zeus "BIG THUNDER" Hallman, CL in AAA Astoria. He sits at #51 overall and has 20Ks in 10 IP in AAA since his promotion.
Maple is looking forward to the next ABL event - International Free Agency which takes place end of June just prior to the ABL Allstar game.
Maple made a major trade to enhance their SP rotation by acquiring from Eureka Jake Nelson who is 3-1 on the year with a 3.32 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. He will face SoCAL in his debut with the Marauders next sim. Maple gave up promising hurler Pedro Perez who was ranked a top the OSA and also sent packing 1B Braden Murphy who had hopes of making the team within the next couple of seasons playing behind FA acquisition Blake Reynolds from Seattle. Murphy was also part of the $10M trade with Dallas. Maple trade winds are still swirling as management as made a decision to go4it this year and see how far we can ride this momentum. After the first three years in the ABL, Maple has not made the playoffs.
The Annual Rookie Draft has just been completed and Maple only had one selection in the first two rounds after acquiring FA Colin St. John (formerly with Las Vegas). In the first round with pick #3 - Maple took highly touted phenom Rick "The Franchise" Hill, SP from the CBL Calgary organization. The fans cheered #GOLDI, #GOLDI after making this pick. You have to appreciate the spirit of the 10th man in Maple. Hill only played one season in the CBL posting 117 Ks in 86.1 IP with a 6-4 record, 2.08 ERA and a modest WHIP of 1.23. He also was the main work horse in their Lester B. Person Championship Cup win. Unlike past drafts we didn't land a bunch of solid players that we have very high hopes in eventually making the ABL one day. Hill will be our make or break draft this year.
In the minors, all three teams are poised to win their divisions again, Astoria in AAA, Sandy Springs in AA and Kingwood in A ball all are in the lead or withing 1 game of the leader. A ton of players demanding a promotion with really no where to put them in general. We have been less patient with the veterans in order to give some of the youngsters a chance to move up in the organization.
Maple dropped to 4th overall in the Top Minor League Organizations after the trade with Eureka this past sim. The new entry into the top five for Maple is Zeus "BIG THUNDER" Hallman, CL in AAA Astoria. He sits at #51 overall and has 20Ks in 10 IP in AAA since his promotion.
Maple is looking forward to the next ABL event - International Free Agency which takes place end of June just prior to the ABL Allstar game.
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Maple outlook looking good!
Maple finished the opening month of the 8th season of ABL baseball in winning fashion going 14-13. Maple after finishing .500 in the 2015 season has had 78, 68 and 58 wins seasons. Currently Maple is at 17-15 after the 1st week in May and looks poised to return to their glory years in the ABL (2012-2014) when they won divisional titles in the first three seasons of the ABL.
Starting in 2015, Maple has had some decent success building through the draft as the team has drafted current 40 man roster players; Jesus Ramirez SP/RP, George Evans DH/OF, John Jones CL and Brad Thomas OF. The immediate future looks promising too with Zeus Hallman CL, William Lee 1B and Ramu Pavi SP waiting in the ABL wings to make a mark in the league.
Maple is scoring 5.4 R/G this season which is their all time high pace. The previous best was 5.2 R/G in 2015. Pitching wise the team is giving up 4.8 R/G which is their best mark since 2016 (4.7 R/G).
Leading the way for Maple so far has been; Garrett Bennet 3B, .302 bavg, 9 HR, 30 RBI. Garrett was acquired from Las Vegas in 2017 in a trade for MR Pancho Romero. Pancho is currently in the AAA farm system of Las Vegas after a short successful stint at the ABL last year.
In the rotation, the waiver claims of SP Luis Lopez from SoCal and Diogo Negreiros from Jacksonville have been stabilizing as the Starters ERA has improved to 8th overall in the TML. John Jones the CL from the University of South Carolina who pitches with a chip on his shoulder after divisional rival GM Gary Altman refused to put the Gamecocks in their draft pipeline; has been effective with 5 saves and a ERA of 0.55 / WHIP 1.22. How does Gary sleep at night knowing his team is in South Carolina?
The minors are all playing very well especially in Single A where the Kingwood Knights the defending league champions are off to a torrid 25-7 start and 1st place in their division! AA Sandy Springs is in 1st place in the division at 20-12 and AAA Astoria is in 3rd place in the division sitting 4 games back at .500, 16-16.
The Maple minor league system has moved up again ranking 3rd overall with 126 points and the following players on the list: Ramu Pavi SP (A) - 9th, William Lee 1B (AA) - 25th, Pedro Perez SP (AA) - 37th, Yoshiago Ueno SP (AAA) - 46th and Jeff Kimball SP (AA) - 50th. The potential is no doubt there but, statistically speaking these players are off to very slow starts and it will be something to watch moving forward. William "CANNON" Lee has already been demoted to AA after starting the season at AAA.
In the International Complex, we have trimmed our prospects to 20 players after nearly reaching 50 last year. The reasoning being that Maple management agreed to pour much more money into player development and scouting this year. We are hoping to find higher initial raw talent than before. Our best prospect is Hayden Capel SP ($4.1M) signing bonus. He should make the ABL as a 4/5th type starter. The other higher ranked prospects have been called up to Single A Kingwood starting this season. We don't expect to be very active in the International Free Agent signing period this year so we will have to count on our scouting department to get it done.
Maple with the 16th highest payroll and some cash available and a ton of specs could be an interesting team to watch come trade deadline if they are hanging around in the Billy Martin division in late July!
Starting in 2015, Maple has had some decent success building through the draft as the team has drafted current 40 man roster players; Jesus Ramirez SP/RP, George Evans DH/OF, John Jones CL and Brad Thomas OF. The immediate future looks promising too with Zeus Hallman CL, William Lee 1B and Ramu Pavi SP waiting in the ABL wings to make a mark in the league.
Maple is scoring 5.4 R/G this season which is their all time high pace. The previous best was 5.2 R/G in 2015. Pitching wise the team is giving up 4.8 R/G which is their best mark since 2016 (4.7 R/G).
Leading the way for Maple so far has been; Garrett Bennet 3B, .302 bavg, 9 HR, 30 RBI. Garrett was acquired from Las Vegas in 2017 in a trade for MR Pancho Romero. Pancho is currently in the AAA farm system of Las Vegas after a short successful stint at the ABL last year.
In the rotation, the waiver claims of SP Luis Lopez from SoCal and Diogo Negreiros from Jacksonville have been stabilizing as the Starters ERA has improved to 8th overall in the TML. John Jones the CL from the University of South Carolina who pitches with a chip on his shoulder after divisional rival GM Gary Altman refused to put the Gamecocks in their draft pipeline; has been effective with 5 saves and a ERA of 0.55 / WHIP 1.22. How does Gary sleep at night knowing his team is in South Carolina?
The minors are all playing very well especially in Single A where the Kingwood Knights the defending league champions are off to a torrid 25-7 start and 1st place in their division! AA Sandy Springs is in 1st place in the division at 20-12 and AAA Astoria is in 3rd place in the division sitting 4 games back at .500, 16-16.
The Maple minor league system has moved up again ranking 3rd overall with 126 points and the following players on the list: Ramu Pavi SP (A) - 9th, William Lee 1B (AA) - 25th, Pedro Perez SP (AA) - 37th, Yoshiago Ueno SP (AAA) - 46th and Jeff Kimball SP (AA) - 50th. The potential is no doubt there but, statistically speaking these players are off to very slow starts and it will be something to watch moving forward. William "CANNON" Lee has already been demoted to AA after starting the season at AAA.
In the International Complex, we have trimmed our prospects to 20 players after nearly reaching 50 last year. The reasoning being that Maple management agreed to pour much more money into player development and scouting this year. We are hoping to find higher initial raw talent than before. Our best prospect is Hayden Capel SP ($4.1M) signing bonus. He should make the ABL as a 4/5th type starter. The other higher ranked prospects have been called up to Single A Kingwood starting this season. We don't expect to be very active in the International Free Agent signing period this year so we will have to count on our scouting department to get it done.
Maple with the 16th highest payroll and some cash available and a ton of specs could be an interesting team to watch come trade deadline if they are hanging around in the Billy Martin division in late July!
Sunday, April 20, 2014
2018 Season - Year VII in Review - Maple Marauders
Maple finished with their worst season in seven years. At 58-104 the Marauders for the 2nd straight season finished dead last in the TML Billy Martin Division. GM Goldberg said after the season was over, "When you finish 35 games out of 1st place you can't do any worse". Maple did show some promise with the bats this year returning back to the playoff years for a team batting average of .263 but, the pitching continued to struggle posting their worst ever team ERA at 5.23 and BABIP at .325. Overall Maple is now 565-569 in sever seasons of ABL action. Attendance has taken a strong hit as well. Only 2.4M~ fans showed up to see the Marauders play this year. That is 700K worse than last season and the lowest mark in seven seasons. Fans have questioned team spending or lack of it this year as team payroll dropped from $122M~ down to $59M~. The good news is that management has aligned the balance sheet to go after highly touted INT FA, leverage player contracts and pour funds into Player Development and Scouting as the team tries to build from the minor leagues up. Maple's exact finances are not know but, speculation has it that they made close to $38M~ this year and if correct it would be the 2nd highest profit in seven seasons.
The 2018 Draft was a successful one for the Marauders. They landed SPs Pavi & Kimball and OFs Huanu & Tenegesdal & 2B Reaveley all of which look poised to jump to the next level in 2019. This represents the 2nd consecutive season for Maple in the draft arena where they have had favorable results. In 2017, Maple landed 1B Lee and Knaus both look like future starters in the ABL and SS Omori is already playing in Maple after being called up this past season.
Outlook for 2019 is promising due to a promising rookie emerging in the OF. Brad Thomas in his first season with Maple posted statistics that put him on the all time single season leader board for the team. His .320 bavg was good for 5th, his .381 obpct was good for 9th, his .518 slugging pct was good for 9th, his .899 OPS was good for 5th. John Jones also took over the CL role for the Marauders this year. His 24 saves was good for 4th all-time in a single season. Meanwhile there is still uncertainty with former R1 pick Jesus Ramirez out of University of Florida. He did pile up the Ks as predicted with 185 this season good for 2nd all-time in a single season sitting 2 Ks behind Mr. Roboto Martinez who had 187Ks in 2012. The issue with Ramirez is his control. The depth at SP coming along to Maple in the next 1-3 seasons might result in Ramirez finishing his career off as a solid MR.
The 2018 Draft was a successful one for the Marauders. They landed SPs Pavi & Kimball and OFs Huanu & Tenegesdal & 2B Reaveley all of which look poised to jump to the next level in 2019. This represents the 2nd consecutive season for Maple in the draft arena where they have had favorable results. In 2017, Maple landed 1B Lee and Knaus both look like future starters in the ABL and SS Omori is already playing in Maple after being called up this past season.
Outlook for 2019 is promising due to a promising rookie emerging in the OF. Brad Thomas in his first season with Maple posted statistics that put him on the all time single season leader board for the team. His .320 bavg was good for 5th, his .381 obpct was good for 9th, his .518 slugging pct was good for 9th, his .899 OPS was good for 5th. John Jones also took over the CL role for the Marauders this year. His 24 saves was good for 4th all-time in a single season. Meanwhile there is still uncertainty with former R1 pick Jesus Ramirez out of University of Florida. He did pile up the Ks as predicted with 185 this season good for 2nd all-time in a single season sitting 2 Ks behind Mr. Roboto Martinez who had 187Ks in 2012. The issue with Ramirez is his control. The depth at SP coming along to Maple in the next 1-3 seasons might result in Ramirez finishing his career off as a solid MR.
Monday, March 31, 2014
News from Maple
Maple closes out this season as the teams worst season of all-time in the ABL. We are currently 50-86 and a substantial 29 games out of first place in the TML - Billy Martin Division. However, the future looks very bright in Maple as our farm system is stacked with incredible talent. Maple has been showcasing some of the youth this season with the inclusion of Jesus Ramirez SP, Rob Young SP, Ovidio Montanio MR, Manny Palma, MR, Ju-Wei Yuan MR, John Jones CL, Ronnie Talley 2B, Taro Omori SS, Bill Nelson OF, Brooks Petersen OF and Brad Thomas OF who might have a chance at finishing in the top 3 for ROY in the TML.
Injuries took away any momentum Danny Burris SS had after winning the Gold Glove at SS in the TML. He is scheduled to return just before the season but, likely we will be sent for a rehab stint at AAA Astoria all but ending his 2018 campaign. A few weeks ago, more disappointing news hit Maple as OF Martin Petersen suffered a CEI. In order to shore up the middle infield moving into 2019, Maple acquired SS Archie Sandeson from San Francisco. GM Goldberg said, "SF has been the cream of the crop in our division, maybe he can help us steal some signs...."
The most exciting news comes from our SP rotation in Single A Kingwood. We feel we have an elite staff of up and comers that in the next 3 seasons will be a force in the ABL for years to come. We are speaking of; Ramu Pavi SP, Pedro Perez SP and Jake Robinson SP.
Meanwhile in our International complex where the PS4's are buzzing til midnight, watch out for SP Gabresilassie Cherone (say that 10 times to win a prize!).
So Maple will continue to play hard, slide with passion and HR trot with pride until the end of the season. We will give some valuable play time to some youth to see if they are ready to make the jump to the big leagues. Until then, we await for the Rookie draft and hope that there is a superstar in ready to play in the ABL at our selection!
Injuries took away any momentum Danny Burris SS had after winning the Gold Glove at SS in the TML. He is scheduled to return just before the season but, likely we will be sent for a rehab stint at AAA Astoria all but ending his 2018 campaign. A few weeks ago, more disappointing news hit Maple as OF Martin Petersen suffered a CEI. In order to shore up the middle infield moving into 2019, Maple acquired SS Archie Sandeson from San Francisco. GM Goldberg said, "SF has been the cream of the crop in our division, maybe he can help us steal some signs...."
The most exciting news comes from our SP rotation in Single A Kingwood. We feel we have an elite staff of up and comers that in the next 3 seasons will be a force in the ABL for years to come. We are speaking of; Ramu Pavi SP, Pedro Perez SP and Jake Robinson SP.
Meanwhile in our International complex where the PS4's are buzzing til midnight, watch out for SP Gabresilassie Cherone (say that 10 times to win a prize!).
So Maple will continue to play hard, slide with passion and HR trot with pride until the end of the season. We will give some valuable play time to some youth to see if they are ready to make the jump to the big leagues. Until then, we await for the Rookie draft and hope that there is a superstar in ready to play in the ABL at our selection!
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