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.