Elim Add Hughes

Well the trio is complete. Hughes, Kennedy, and Chamberlain are united. Hughes was aquired along with a player to be named for Adam Loewen and a player to be named. Hughes had some tough luck this year and so did Kennedy, but if both were ranked higher than Joba, then his success should be an indication of whats to come out of Kennedy and Hughes. This trade has zero effect on this year. It's all about next year.

Elims Commit to Playoffs

"With all the injuries we've suffered this season trades are bound to happen. We're not giving up on this season. We are not going to hold back. This is our season" said GM/Owner Matt Caskey following the acquisition of OF Jason Bay, SP Adam Wainwright, and SP Scott Olsen. The Elims gave up prospect Chris Marrero and OF Mark Teahen with two players to be named. "This is the trade we needed. With Crawford, Hudson, Chamberlain, Young, and Bedard suffering from nagging injuries, we had to find replacements or even upgrades and we did so."

Chamberlain vs. Haren

Ok... for those of you who think Chamberlain is more of a keeper and that Haren is hands down better than him, I will post their stats lines against each other for the remainder of the season and then we'll see who has the better second half and with comparable first half's, the better season.

Chamberlein        Haren

Date   IP    H    R    ER    BB    SO    HR   ERA              Date    IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   HR   ERA

7/19   6      6     1      1       1        8      0      2.52               7/19    7      4    0    0     2      7       0     2.58

7/25   7      3     0     0      1        9       0      2.30              7/25    8     9     2    2     0      9      0      2.56

7/30  6      5     2      1      0        6       0      2.24              7/30   7      7     3    3     0      6       1      2.62

8/04 4.2   8     5      5      2        5       0      2.63              8/04  6      8     4    4     0      8       1      2.75      

Totals

GS     IP    H   R     ER     BB    SO    HR    ERA              GS    IP     H    R    ER   BB   SO    HR   ERA

3    23.2    22   8      7        4       28     0     2.66               3      28    28   9    9        2    30     2       2.89

S0... as you can see, Joba is pitching better than Haren, albeit slighty, but given that I got Morrow in the trade as well, I come out ahead.  

Chamberlain and Morrow Join the Elims

Just what the title suggests, Joba Chamberlain and Brandon Morrow are now Eliminators at the expense of Dan Haren, George Sherrill, and Joey Devine. "This was trade was difficult for us until we look at the numbers. Since 2006 Haren's ERA has risen drastically in the second half of the seasons going from 3.52 to 4.91 in 2006 and 2.30 to 4.15 in 2007. We're noticing a trend here and are predicting more of the same in 2008. Sherrill started out the season hot and has tailed off and really has no future potential. Devine has potential, but has yet to show it on a consistent basis and with him on the DL he is a nothing player on the Elims. Joba and Morrow will help my team more than Haren and Sherrill. This trade really wasn't that difficult" said GM/Owner Matt Caskey. Rumor has it that Morrow will become the teams new closer with Chamberlain taking over for Haren as the team's ace. 

Dye an Eliminator

Jermaine Dye will add a little more power to an already potent lineup. It's still being determined but it seems Dye will hit behind Sizemore, Ramirez, Crawford, and Teixeira, with Derek Lee supporting him from behind. It seems worcester now has two 40/40 candidates (Sizemore/Ramirez) and three 30+ HR candidates (Dye, Tex, Lee). There should be little doubt as to the power of the Eliminator lineup now and with its pitching being number one in the league, one has to think they are the favorites to take the east. Dye did not come cheap. Worcester has to give up streaky reliever Joaquin Benoit and two players to be named. "Dye will fit in nicely" is all GM/Owner Matt Caskey had to say about the deal.

Sizemore

Grady Sizemore is anything but platueing, like many of you in the league think. This season he has already matched his rookie season in HR with 22 and just six away from his career total of 28 set two seasons ago. Sizemore is on pace for career highs in HR (41), RBI (91), and SB (37). Currently, he ranks 1st in the AL in HR (22), 6th in BB (50), 7th in SLG. (.541), 8th in R (56), 9th in SB (20), and 9th in .OPS (.914). Not bad for a guy everyone had labeled as being predictable and washed up. Oh and by the way he is only 25 years old. Lets let him reach his prime before we say he is peaking. 

Eliminators in the All-Star Game

Starters

C Joe Mauer

SS Derek Jeter

SS Hanley Ramirez

Reserves

George Sherrill

Dioner Navarro 

Grady Sizemore

Team Leaders- Through 88 Games

# Batting Average P AVG

1 Joe Mauer C 0.325

2 Dioner Navarro C 0.318

3 Garret Atkins 3B 0.309

4 Derek Lee 1B 0.306

5 Hanley Ramirez SS 0.304

# Home Runs P HR

1 Grady Sizemore CF 22

2 Hanley Ramirez SS 21

3 Mike Jacobs 1B 18

4 Mark Teixeira 1B 16

5 Derek Lee 1B 15

# Runs Batted In P RBI

1 Mark Teixeira 1B 66

2 Derek Lee 1B 53

3 Garret Atkins 3B 50

4 Grady Sizemore CF 50

5 Mike Jacobs 1B 50

# Stolen Bases P SB

1 Carl Crawford LF 22

2 Hanley Ramirez SS 21

3 Alex Rios RF 21

4 Grady Sizemore CF 20

5 Derek Jeter SS 5

# Wins- Starters W

1 Tim Hudson 9

2 Dan Haren 8

3 Jesse Litsch 8

4 Jon Lester 7

5 Erik Bedard 6

# ERA- Starters ERA

1 Dan Haren 2.83

2 Tim Hudson 3.19

3 Jon Lester 3.21

4 Jeremy Guthrie 3.61

5 Erik Bedard 3.67

# Strikeouts- Starters SO

1 Dan Haren 103

2 Jeremy Guthrie 80

3 Jon Lester 76

4 Tim Hudson 73

5 Erik Bedard 72

# Wins- Relievers W

1 Heath Bell 6

2 Matt Guerrier 4

3 Joey Devine 3

4 Joaquin Benoit 3

5 George Sherrill 2

# ERA- Relievers ERA

1 Joey Devine 1.23

2 Scott Downs 1.80

3 Heath Bell 2.23

4 Pedro Feliciano 2.88

5 Matt Guerrier 3.06

# Strikeouts- Relievers SO

1 George Sherrill 41

2 Heath Bell 39

3 Mark Lowe 37

4 Scott Downs 36

5 Matt Guerrier 33

Worcester Starters Shining

With seven very capable starters, its easy to be confident in the Eliminators ability to win games.

Name	ERA	W	L	GS	IP	H	BB	SO
Tim Hudson	3.01	7	4	13	83.2	76	19	51
Dan Haren	3.40	6	4	12	76.2	67	14	65
Jesse Litsch	3.45	7	2	11	70.1	76	11	38
Jeremy Guthrie	3.58	2	6	13	83.0	78	24	53
Jon Lester (L)	3.67	3	3	13	76.0	69	36	49
Erik Bedard (L)	4.47	4	4	10	56.1	49	26	49
Chris Young	4.50	4	4	10	54.0	50	30	51

Bedard and Young will turn their seasons around. Young has often been called, by the very wise commissioner of BARB, "of the best pitchers in baseball" and Bedard has proven, over the last two seasons, to have been able to buckle down and pick up some wins (the strikeouts through 56 INN aren't bad either). Even if they take a little longer than one would like to turn their seasons around, it's nice to have litsch (11 BB), Guthrie (amongst the league lead in QS) , and Lester (threw a no hitter) to choose from.

Eliminators Relievers Pitching Well

Looks like some of my "mid 30s" relievers are panning out. shocking.

Name	ERA	W	L	S	IP	H	BB	SO
Joey Devine	1.23	3	0	0	22.0	16	7	28
Scott Downs (L)	1.93	0	1	5	23.1	21	8	21
Heath Bell	2.23	2	3	0	32.1	24	10	25
Pedro Feliciano (L)	2.38	0	1	0	22.2	22	11	16
Matt Guerrier	3.00	3	1	1	33.0	32	15	23
Mark Lowe	3.09	1	2	1	23.1	23	15	22
George Sherrill (L)	3.16	1	1	19	25.2	15	14	23

Good strikeout numbers and balance between righties and lefties, low WHIPs, and lowering ERAs. These guys seems poised for a run at the post season.

Worcester Lands Fourth Ace

Tim Hudson will be wearing an Eliminator uniform from now on. He will step in and provide yet another punch to an already lethal 1-2-3 combo. When asked how Hudson felt about going from an ace of a staff to a number four man he said, "hey as long as we win I'm happy." Owner Matt Caskey says, "that's just the kind of winning spirit we need around here. Hudson comes at the price of young talent in Mark Reynolds and Kurt Suzuki, but lets face it, they weren't going to play over Atkins and Mauer. This trade helps, but we're certainly not done. I want my team to be the unanimous favorites to win any and every series."

Mid 30s Relievers

so far they haven't disappointed;

		ERA		IP	SO
Peter Moylan		1.6		5.2	5
Heath Bell		1.04		8.2	2
Scott Downs (L)		0.00		6.0	4
Matt Guerrier		4.15		4.1	3
George Sherrill (L)		0.00		4.2	3
Joaquin Benoit		2.25		4.0	8
Pedro Feliciano (L)		0.00		3.1	5
Chad Cordero		0.00		0.2	1

The New Bullpen

Worcester goes heavy on pitchers who sport dominating statistics. GM/Owner Matt Caskey says that "the objective of the draft was build a deep reliable bullpen since going into it, the pen was too empty. We've learned from our mistakes. Last year, we had the best team in BARB and lost in the first round of the playoffs. We put our stock in three relievers and they let us down. That was not going to happen this year. We think our pen is pretty steady now." The steady pen includes; Joaquin Benoit, Heath Bell, Peter Moylan, Matt Guerrier, George Sherrill, Scott Downs, Chad Cordero, and Pedro Feliciano.

Reliever		ERA		INN		SO
Peter Moylan		1.80		90.0		63
Heath Bell		2.02		93.2		102
Scott Downs (L)		2.17		58.0		57
Matt Guerrier		2.35		88.0		68
George Sherrill (L)		2.36		45.2		56
Joaquin Benoit		2.85		82.0		87
Pedro Feliciano (L)		3.09		64.0		61
Chad Cordero		3.36		75.0		62

The Three Aces

#	Rotation	W	L	S	ERA		INN	BB	SO
1	D. Haren	15	9	0	3.07		222.2	55	192
2	E. Bedard (L)	13	5	0	3.16		182.0	57	221
3	C. Young	9	8	0	3.12		173.0	72	167

Probable Lineup

#	Lineups	P	G	AVG.	R	HR	RBI	SB	2B	H
1	C. Crawford (L)	LF	143	0.315	93	11	80	50	37	184
2	H. Ramirez	SS	154	0.332	125	29	81	51	48	212
3	M. Teixeira (S)	1B	132	0.306	86	30	105	0	33	151
4	D. Lee	DH	150	0.317	91	22	82	6	43	180
5	J. Mauer (L)	C	109	0.293	62	7	60	7	27	119
6	A. Rios	RF	161	0.297	114	24	85	17	43	191
7	R. Cano (L)	2B	160	0.306	93	19	97	4	41	189
8	G. Atkins	3B	157	0.301	83	25	111	3	35	182
9	G. Sizemore (L)	CF	162	0.277	118	24	78	33	34	174

Protected Players

RHP Dan Haren, RHP Chris Young, 2B Robinson Cano, SS Hanley Ramirez, and 3B Garret Atkins will be protected by the Worcester Eliminators. They will join 1B Mark Teixeira, 1B Derrek Lee, OF Carl Crawford, LHP Erik Bedard, OF Alex Rios, C Joe Mauer, and CF Grady Sizemore as the core of the team that will win the 2008 world series.

Bye Bye Hardy

Worcester trades disgruntled third string SS for two third round draft picks. "The logic is simple", said by owner/newly self-named GM Matt Caskey, "Hardy wasn't going to play ahead of Hanely and Derek nor was he going to be protected or even drafted back during the draft. It just wasn't going to happen. Honestly, we would've been happy with another team taking him and giving up a compensation pick at any point in the draft. All this trade did was, basically, give us two more third round picks for virtually nothing. Where could we have gone wrong?"

Worcester Adds Derrek Lee

Derrek Lee is an Eliminator. He was targeted by upper management for quite some time and it is a relief to finally make him one of us. Lee fits the mold of arguably the best lineup in BARB perfectly. A high average, gap power hitter with more than enough ability to punch 30 HR out of the park and enough speed to swipe a bag if necessary. Now, with Mauer, Sizemore, Teixiera, Lee, Rios, and Crawford locked up for the season, the Worcester lineups seems to be on the verge to carry the team to the series.

Franchised Players

With the two contract players established, the next question the Eliminator's need to address is which players will be in Worcester for the whole season regardless of the circumstances. Those players will be 1B Mark Teixeira, 1B Derrek Lee, OF Carl Crawford, LHP Erik Bedard, and OF Alex Rios. All have put up all-star caliber seasons and are entering the prime of their careers. We just can't see them playing for any other team nor would we want them too.

Contract Players

The Worcester Eliminators are proud to name OF Grady Sizemore and C Joe Mauer the organizations two contract players. Sizemorewill be an Eliminator until 2011 and Mauer will make a home in Worcester until 2010. Amongst the two they have three all-star appearances, a gold glove award, a batting title, and a minor league player of the year award. They also have a couple top 5 league most valuable player finishes.