Gentleman, once a year, my contribution to the league is our annual Biz-Rankings report! I do this because this league has moved past the infantile stages where many leagues fold and what we have is a very dedicated core of managers who have taken a random league with weird settings and turned it into a wonderful year in and year out competition!

Welcome back to our 3rd season of the illustrious MLFB Biz-rankings! The MLFB is completely unique to other Sandbox leagues as its league settings mimic a real life franchise. From its 30 man farm system to its intensive 10 round prospect draft, you really have to think like an organization to prosper in this league. Our ranking system is based on a complex criterion which includes current overall MLB skill set, Minor League organization projections, managerial makeup and organizational methodology. Below you will find each team’s ranking, there previous ranking, a 2009 analysis, a farm report and an overall assessment of each franchises organization. It’s lengthy as I did 1 organization every few days until it was completed.

Championship Caliber Organizations

Rank: 1
Team: St. Louis Perfectos (12-2)
Previous Rankings: (1st / Even)

Analysis: For years, The St. Louis boys have owned the top spot mainly on its team future projections. But in 2009, the Perfectos #1 Biz-Ranking spot has been earned by on the field merit and a brutally intimidating roster grid. It seems like all of this teams rookies have begun to emerge and all of there prospects have finally arrived. Now there are some sporadic area’s which are not living up to potential. The middle infield is a tad slow to come around, the back end of the outfield hasn’t been all world, but every area of the field has an ubber talented player occupying it with a backup plan or 2 at most positions. The area that stands out the most on this team is the staff, like a Puerto Rican street gang this group runs 15-17 deep with 12 of them averaging in double figures! (Grienke, King Felix, Josh Johnson, Bedard, Ben Sheets, Carpenter, Wainwright, Kazmir, Garza, Joba, Kershaw, Porcello, Miller, Smoltz, Holland) oh my!

Future: For the 1st time in 3 years, you can see a little daylight at the bottom of there minor league system, none the less it’s still a top 3 farm system and probably still the best inspite the influx of prospect promotions. But let’s be honest, it will be way harder for Brian to keep his system as top notch as it’s been, as he can no longer rape and pillage the prospect database like he did early in this leagues inception.

Overall: The Biz-Rankings is not a pom pom squad for the Perfectos, but it’s hard to not to admire the skill of this team and the patience its manager has shown over the years. The perfectos have yet to make the playoffs in the MLFB as they waited for the youth movement to blossom. They will make the playoffs this year and the years to come. But the Biz-rankings must point out that through 3 years; this team’s manager has never won a big game in the MLFB. He’s still wet behind the eras and untested. Will he make the correct moves towards the playoffs? Will he start the right guys? And how will he handle injuries in important games? All things for the MLFB to watch closely, but it may be the only thing the league has left on the Perfectos.

Rank: 2
Team: Toronto Titans (8-6)
Previous Rankings: (4th/-2)

Analysis: “On paper” This Titans team in 09 may be the only team that can give the perfectos skill set a run for its money. A playoff team in 08, The Titans easily boast the best young hitting core in the league (David Wright, Braun, Markakis, Sizemore, Mccann, Snider) as well as a very deep, very strong MLB staff including 2 of the best young closers in the game in Broxton and Soria. But mind you, I started this analysis off saying “On Paper” the Titans have been decimated by injuries to there pitching staff through the first 2 months of the season. Currently injured are John lackey, Justin Duchscherer, Shaun Marcum, Rickey Romero and Joakim Soria! That’s an AL-All star staff sitting on the pine!

Future: There were allot of good teams vying for the 2nd ranking position, but what seperated the Titans was there farm system and its manager’s methodology. Cory Sharpe’s farm was deep in blue chip hitters, but understanding it’s MLB teams strengths and weakness’s, Cory went out and teamed up with the PLAYBOY organization on a pair of trades to send off some hitters to re-vamp what was a dreary set of prospect pitchers. Coming in after the trades were high upside talents like Kelvin De La Cruz, Michael Pineda and Wilfredo Boscan. The farm hitters are still impressive, but the system is now much more diversified. This is clearly a manager with an understanding of its needs, strengths and more importantly has the no how to pull the trigger and implement a strategy.

Overall: If this team gets healthy in time, The Toronto Titans are a playoff team with a co-favorite badge to win it all. But the Titans are in a brutal division, a very good team will not make the playoffs, and right now there are an awful lot of good pitchers not pitching for them. Moving beyond 2009, there talent and direction should have this team’s rankings between 1-5 for the immediate future.

Rank: 3
Team: Haymarket Hawks (6-8)
Previous Rankings: (3rd / Even)

Analysis: Don’t let the 4-6 start deceive you. Not much has changed for our defending champ. This Haymarket team still possess the best top half of a staff in the MLFB with 5 aces leading the way in (Cole Hammels, Jon Lester, Cliff Lee, Dice K and Kelvin Escobar) and actually Rich’s staff may be even stronger then last year’s with Jon Neise and Jordan Zimmerman both being called up. This team still possesses a great bullpen in Paps and Cordero but still runs a very average hitting group, although come back years from Vic Martinez and Hunter Pence have helped. What has changed for the Hawks is a rash of early injuries and poor play to his pitching. Similar to the Titans, the Hawks have or had Dice K, Escobar, and Wagner all on the DL, with Hammells and Lester MIA through the first 7 weeks. But un-similar to the Titans, without a healthy pitching core, the Hawks have no chance to compete for a playoff spot in 09. There just isn’t enough hitting to compensate.

Future: Coming into 09, the Hawks boasted a handful of prospects that should end up being productive major leaguers. 3 of them are now with the big leagues, so some retooling does need to accrue. But Rich Williard is an active manager who usually cuts himself a small piece of the pickups pie and is as oppertunistic a manager as there is in the league. He should be able to continue on with his organizational plan and be successful, “as long as the hitting doesn’t take a further step back.”

Overall: Starting 10 pitchers makes SP’s vital in the MLFB, and rich has a ton of great pitchers. But the Slow start combined with a very strong American League division may not give Rich much more time to heal. Odds are the hawks will end up in the top 3 in there division, but the possibility is there that only 1 team may make it from the NL. Moving beyond 09, there are teams behind Rich that will most likely pass him, but as long as his current players stay within there potential, he should continue be a viable playoff contender, even if he moves down to the 5-8 range.

Playoff Caliber Organizations

Rank: 4
Team: BBQ Carp (10-4)
Previous Rankings: (6th/+2)

Analysis: The BBQ Carp moves up 2 spot to our 4th ranked team in 2009. The analysis of this team is still similar to what was said last year. A tremendous offensive lineup from top to bottom. As a matter of fact, we may rank the titans as having this leagues best core of hitters, but for overall hitting talent including depth easily goes to this team. (Soto, Puljols, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jeter, A-Rod, Cameron, Quentin, Soriano, Laporta, Morales, Cantu, Delgado, Furcal) The Biz-Rankings would even go as far as saying that barring injury, the Carp may not need to make a single offensive move for the next few years. Now similar to last seasons review, this team lacks pitching strength and depth and as of yet, has not made any moves to enhance the staff. But, to Carp’s advantage, some of his starters he had last year have improved including Wandy Rodriguez, Kevin Millwood and the promotion and solid start of Sharon Mairtis. When you add those 3 with Gallaraga, Harden and a couple of relievers, you potentially have a good staff, and a team good enough to compete and perhaps be the favorite for a NL division title.

Future: Laporta, Martis and Morales have all graduated to the big leagues and have contributed to BBQ’s 8-3 start. The Carp farm still has a handful of promising players down there, but none other then Walden at positions he needs. It’s not a deep farm and manager Stephan Neboyski has not shown as of yet a willingness to use trade and pickups to his advantage.

Overall: The BBQ Carp 2009 is the front runner for a division title. But this team’s ultimate success will depend on the fragility of his teams pitching staff. If things go right... Where as his overachievers continue to perform, Plus Harden can stay healthy... He has a chance to go deep into the playoffs. But this is a staff that can go either way, and if it goes south, there wont be enough talent there to do much more then fight for NL division supremacy. Moving beyond 2009, The Carp should hold steady in the top half the rankings, but how Mr. Newboyski manages and the moves he makes is something to keep an eye on.

Rank: 5
Team: THE BUSINESS PLAYBOY (9-5)
Previous Rankings: (2nd/-3)

Analysis: This is not your mothers BUSINESS PLAYBOY. Losing in the world series to the underdog Hawks began a whirlwind of off-season moves all centered around trading players in there prime, at the end of there prime and or valuable veterans for ready to go prospect hitters. The outcome was a completely different looking BP squad... with a lot less fire power; allot less depth but a much larger window of opportunity. Manager BP didn’t stop there, with only a handful of 2009 games in the books, BP began to focus on his pitchers. In a 2 week period, the playboy’s best starter (Jake Peavy)... Best hitter (Manny Ramirez)... and best young prospect (Delmon Young) were all traded in what now looked like an open house fire sale! (Hold the BBQ sauce) But there was a strategy to the sell offs. In came 5 AA and AAA starters each considered top pitching prospects. With the Business Playboy already having a handful of solid farm SP’s .. This system is now stacked with ready to go pitchers. The 2009 BUSINESS PLAYBOY’s are one of the younger teams in the MLFB anchored by a core of young hitters (Sandoval, Iannetta, Votto, Chris Davis, Adam Jones, Nelson Cruz) good relief (Brian Wilson, Bobby Jenks) a small group of reliable starters and a perfectos like SP core in the farm. What’s remarkable is through this end to end system overhaul, the Playboy organization continues to win as they sit tied for first in the NL (8-3).

Future: You can make the case that the Playboy farm is the deepest and possibly the best farm in the MLFB. 5-7 very strong prospect hitters including a couple of Blue Chippers as well as a deep SP farm with runs 10-12 deep. In the past, BP has not shown any sort of patience in grooming prospects. Some would say that manager BP has the online version of A.D.D. The plan is for the Playboys to corner the market on this next round of ready to go prospect pitchers... But the question is, will he be able to sit back and allow his players to fail while they learn how to win? The Biz-Rankings are unsure if he will.

Overall: If we are looking simply at overall MLB talent, then the Playboy’s probably move down towards the 6th or 7th ranked team. But when you add the farm system plus the activity of the manager, the playboys find themselves very high even during rebuilding. If you’re not paying attention it looks like the Playboys make trades simply to trade. But if you look closer, this team’s overall had a strategy and it was implemented. This team has enough good young talent to keep him around the top 5 for a few years. BP is the most active manager in the MLFB and should be able to compensate for some failures with player pickups and active managing.

Rank: 6
Team: Double Probation (6-8)
Previous Rankings: (10th/+4)

Analysis: Our most volatile team, The Double Probation finally gets the respect that they have been after for 4 years now in the MLFB. This team is our biggest mover upward as they went from 12th on 2007, to 10th in 2008 and now currently holding the 6th spot in 2009. Before we discuss this team’s skill set, the biz-Rankings must point out that the biggest attribute this team has is the growth of its manager, who 3 years ago did not an organizational plan, and at times was very impatient with his players. But through hard work and paying attention to what works, V-Dogs Bad Boyz have steadily increased its talent pool while keeping his eye on the future. Now as we look over this team, there are still holes in key area’s which will hinder this teams chances of moving towards the top of the league, such as this teams outfield potential and the need for a few more high level starters. But many of the pieces are now in place; including a great infield (Molina, Tex, Callaspo, reyes, Aramis Ramirez) and a deep pitching staff of mid level starters, Plus a farm system which has the potential to fill up any holes that the parent club has.

Future: What separated V-Dog from the other 4 teams vying for the 6th ranks spot was his farm. This is an above average system, definitely top 5 and perhaps even top 3. Now it’s not particularly deep, especially at the staff level where he needs to most help, but they do boast a blue chipper or 2 in most critical areas. This next wave of prospects and how they perform for the probation will determine whether this team will be a contender for a divisional title or a contender for a league championship.

Overall: V-Dog’s bad boyz are not the most talented team in the division, and yes, there is still more work to be done for them to compete for even a playoff spot, But V-Dogs an active manager and has the chips to get into the game if he decides to … it will be up to him whether he wants to make moves to go for it this season or stay as is ,, where this team is probably a year away from making real noise in the MLFB.

Rank: 7
Team: London Lynx (11-3)
Previous Rankings: (5th/-2)

Analysis: The Lynx was 1 of those teams competing for a top 5 showing, but end up sitting in the 7th spot of our 2009 Biz-Rankings. Let’s start with what really works; The Lynx has a small army of starting pitchers. In total, 16 starters take the mound with 11 of them averaging over 10ppg. In a 16 team league, to have that many reliable pitchers is a huge asset. There will be games where the opposing team have a stronger offense and more relievers, but will only have 5 starters going to Lynx’s 10, so clearly this is London’s bread and butter asset. Looking at the staff more idepthly, Roy Halladay is the only legitimate top tier starter in this arsenal of pitchers, the rest are blue collar inning eaters with the potential for a big game on occasion. “give or take a few with a bit more upside like Lariano” The Lynx’s 2 best prospects have come up and contributed to the staff in 09 (Cahill and Cecil) The future of the Lynx may be determined by what type of starters these 2 turn out to be. Both are projected to be mid-level or maybe better type starters, If they can become strong compliments to Halladay and that small army of blue collar starters, then that may be the difference between a window of opportunity which has the Lynx compete for a division or a window of opportunity which has them competing for a championship. Looking over the hitting, There is a group of strong ageing hitters on this team (Chipper, Berkman, Lee, Polanco, Drew), coupled by some players who have surprised us in 2009 (Scutero, Cuddyer, Branyan) Ultimately this is a very good compliment of hitters to his staff , but on there own merit this is an average hitting core.

Future: Lynx’s farm is the main reason why they sit in the 7th position and not the 4th or 5th spot. With Cecil and Cahill graduating, there just isn’t much down there to admire. The farm hitters have only 1 player which stands out as a MLB contributor. On the pitchers side, 1 maybe 2 have a shot to make it to the bigs and help, but no guarantees there either. Overall this is a below average farm system.

Overall: The Lynx have the chips at hand to compete for a playoff spot this season and next year as well. But this team is built more around depth then talent, which tells the BP-Rankings that the future of the Lynx may be dependant on peripheral circumstances, such as its manager’s ability to adjust and make modifications, as well as the progress of other teams around him. To date, manager David Black has done a very good job drafting and makes the occasional good pickup but not shown an eagerness to make allot of moves (Not that he’s had to) so will have to wait and see of Mr. Black does with the future of this team.

Rank: 8
Team: Crushers (11-3)
Previous Rankings: (8th / Even)

Analysis: The Crushers managed by James Whalen is one of the MLFB’s best teams through 4 years, yet has never had a Biz-Ranking higher then 7th place. This is a tale of 2 teams very conflicted. Team 1 is on the major league level... Where the Crushers are a major force. Starting with the pitching, the Crushers top 5 starters are as good as anyone in the MLFB. This is a top 5 that rivals what St. Louis and Haymarket have at the top (Johan Santana, Joe Saunders, Ryan Dempster, Todd Wellemayer, and Chien-Ming Yang) They also hold 13 starters, so were looking at a relatively young staff that’s deep and very strong at the top. The hitting on its own is average but does possess a promising young core (Victorino, McClouth, Brandon Phillips, Carlos Pena and Jason Werth) it’s good enough to be a compliment to a formidable staff. This Crushers team is awfully similar to the Haymarket Hawks who are ranked 3rd on our list. So why isn’t a team that’s done nothing but win, and compared to a team at the top of the rankings sitting in 8th? Keep reading below …

Future: Team 2 is the Crushers minor league system, which is simply the worst system this leagues ever seen. 70% of them should have been cut 2 years ago, 20% of them are out of baseball and the other 10% are currently incarcerated. Not 1 of the 30 prospects on this Crushers team would make the roster of any of the top 7 farm systems in the MLFB. There are teams in the MLFB who do not have stellar farms and you don’t necessarily need a good farm to succeed in the MLFB, But James has done absolutely no work at all in putting together some form of a reliable system even in a minimal fashion.

Overall: The Biz-Rankings can not tell you in 2009 that the Crushers are a ‘Win Now’ team because on the major league level, the core is relatively young and good. Also, The Crushers have been opportunistic in terms of trading for good players who have been given up on, many of them panning out for him. But we also can’t call this team a viable contender for the future, nothing is coming up from the minors anytime soon and the slightest of injuries or poor play from there MLB squad will hurt dramatically. The Crushers will continue to win in this league with an average ranking here. This is an organization that could be great but elects not to be.

Average MLFB Organizations

Rank: 9
Team: Burlington Bandits (5-9)
Previous Ranking: NA

Analysis: The Bandits are the first of our 3 new teams popping up on our list here in 2009. As you recall, The Bandits, Oilers and Redsox were involved in a 3 team mid-season draft in the efforts of allowing each of them to create a distinction to there franchises. And looking at them all now, each have taken different approaches to the building of there teams. Burlington came out of his draft with allot of in-prime/older talent on the offensive side, (Hansley Ramirez, Beltran, Dunn, Rolen) a handful of blue chip hitting prospects (including Adam Jones, Joey Votto) as well as a very under average pitching staff. Dave immediately went to work by following the Crushers and Bizplayboy playbooks. Burlington traded many of his prospects and additional depth to acquire a plethora of proven starting pitchers and outfielders with good track records (Hideki, Abreu, Harang, Ozwalt, Snell, Unit, Bonderman, Blanton) Now in the MLFB, if you are 1 of those organizations who will give up good prospects for older players, your likely to get more of a return then the prospects are actually worth, and that’s what happened with the Bandits. Despite the slow start, the outcome is a team very similar to the Crushers on the MLB level, just a little older and without the top tier starters.

Future: The Bandit’s farm is a bit under average but moving in the right direction; there are a handful of fair prospects and a couple of good ones. Considering the trades that were made, the Bandits should be happy with where this farm system is, even though it needs some more work. Dave’s skills set on prospects have improved and he’s shown to be pretty active in player pickups and trades.

Overall: The Bandits philosophy was to win quickly. Out of the 3 new teams, Dave has done the most work thus far. Overall, will have to wait and see what this team turns into, but usually when a manager is active and continues to learn, they fair well.

Rank: 10
Team: Tulsa Oilers (5-9)
Previous Ranking: NA

Analysis: Jeff Brown’s Tulsa Oilers was the team which received the most hype going into the mid-season re-draft. Jeff has a long history of competing in mid to high level leagues and had a good/strong prospect skill set going in. Jeff did not disappoint in the re-draft as most independent analysis groups called the oilers draft easily the best of the 3 new teams, As he rode the line between high level keepers (Billingsley, Ian Kinsler, Adrian Gonzales, Jason Bay) good young players (Justin Upton, Matt Kemp) and Smart peripherals guys in (Fukudome, Buehrle, Yunel Escobar and Hoffman) A few weeks later, Jeff scored big in the prospect draft landing Justin Smoak and a few notables. This teams a little light in pitching depth but allot of pieces are in place and the future of the oilers franchise looked great. But something surprising has happened here in 2009. The manager which most considered a major asset to the franchise has been a major liability. Mr. Brown has missed some deadlines, rumors circulate that he’s been slow on trade offers, has made 0 pickups and has been slow to promote players who have already come up. Managing in the MLFB is similar to playing in NY. Some guys see what it takes to compete here and instantly fall in love with the league, and some fold under the same scenario.

Future: The Oilers system is a little under average, although it does have a handful of good to pretty good prospects. The hitting is a bit ahead of the pitching, none the less, for a first year team, the Oilers system is probably ahead of where it should be.

Overall: Overall, The Oilers are the Dark horse team of the future. If there manager steps up and takes this franchise head on, we should see this team compete quick and move up the rankings system. But that’s squarely on Jeff Brown’s shoulders … This team would have been ranked higher then the Bandits, but the managing in question has already cost him some points.

Rank: 11
Team: Toronto Weekend Warriors (9-5)
Previous Rankings: (11th / Even))

Analysis: The Warriors surprising 9-5 start is a credit to a manager that has stayed patient and allowed his farm system to work. Brandon Parlette consistently drafts well as each season, a couple of home grown prospects have come up and made a mark a real on this team. A couple of years ago it was (Tim Lincecum, Mike Perfrey and James Loney) Last season it was (Johnny Cueto and Manny Parra) When you add Ted Lily and Brett Myers to the mix, this makes up a very good top end of a staff. But unfortunately after you take these players away, there are only a few other notable players to discuss on the major league level including maybe the worst outfield in the league and a staff short on quality backend starting pitchers. The Warriors don’t make many trades or pickups, although they do entertain offers. One notable flaw happened Last season, after the Warriors realized they were out of playoff contention and put JJ Putz on the block, who at the time was a very useful reliever, With a little effort, manager Parlette could have stranglehold a couple of possible playoff teams for good prospects, but he did not push the issue enough and allowed Putz to sit on the roster as he became a middle reliever in 2009. It’s those types of mishaps which decipher a good team from a very good team.

Future: The Warrior farm system is young but emerging. There are a handful of guys who project to be major players by this time next year, while the rest of the system is made up of OK players. There’s no reason not to think that this area of the organization won’t continue to be an asset for the Warrior franchise.

Overall: Through 3 seasons, the Weekend Warrior team name is a perfect description of this organization. Warriors on the weekend and gone shopping on the weekdays. Very strong at the draft, not enough at the day to day managing, But the farm continues to work, and if Brandon continues to stay patient, he will very slowly move up the charts. The Biz-Franchise see’s some top down strategic flaws in the organizational makeup, one wonders how good the Warriors would be if they could correct those flaws while continuing to draft well.

Below Average MLFB Organizations

Rank: 12
Team: Zero Probability (2-12)
Previous Rankings: (14th / +2)

Analysis: Since the inception of the Biz-Ranking report in 2007, Zero Prob has struggled through 13 and 19 win seasons... as he piled up high draft picks and patiently waited them out. Last season those picks began to show dividends with the emergence of Evan Longoria, Josh Hamilton and Adam Lind (what’s the beginning of a fantastic offensive core) Even with the regression of there middle infield (Uggla and Drew) positive things continue to happen for this organization. In 09, further additions have come up in super prospect David Price, Chris Coghlan and Matt Gamel “Who he acquired with Justin Masterson for Alex Rios” … and for the first time, we are beginning to see an area of strength at the top of there pitching staff (Volquez, Shields, Price, Uehara, and possibly Tim Hudson in 2010) When you put the players above together, what you have potentially is a very strong core of a franchise. But the problem is, for years this team has been starving for talent on the MLB level and even with the additions, there’s just not enough of the peripheral talent needed to compliment and or relieve some of the growing pains this young group will endure as they learn on the major league ball club.

Future: Due to the influx of recent call ups, the Zero Prob farm system has exhausted itself. Currently, there’s 1 blue chipper, a couple of notables and a group of AAAA players. Manager Schiepler does take his farm system serious and should be able to regroup through the draft.

Overall: This is a patient team that’s clearly on the rise, but how fast they climb will depend on this organizations game plan. If they continue to use the draft as there only resource, then it’s going to take a few more years before Zero Prob becomes a threat. To date, Jarred has not helped his organization in areas such as WW pickups, tactical trades and the additions of strong peripheral players, which are area’s that the good organizations incorporate.

Rank: 13
Team: Bangor City Bulldogs (7-7)
Previous Rankings: (12th / -1)

Analysis: The future was bright for the Bangor City Bulldogs back in 2007. Analysts agreed that Bangor city possessed the most talent in the league on the major league level and coming off a championship, Delbert had a choice to either continue dominating under a window of opportunity that would have lasted a couple of more seasons, or begin the rebuilding process … See at the time, Bangor City was the 2nd oldest team to the BUSINESS PLAYBOY organization, and did not have a particularly good farm system. Ultimately, Delbert decided to rebuild, but went into the rebuilding phase unprepared and ill-equipped, lacking in in-depth prospect knowledge and a trade strategy... and what transpired was 2 brutal trades where most agree BC did not get back enough for very high talent Bangor City players. See, a rebuilding process only works if you concentrate your efforts on prospects knowledge, the level of talent these prospects possess and what is fair value for them. And it’s not as easy as it seems. After these trades, Bangor City immediately halted there rebuilding phase as an acknowledgement that the trades were a mistake as well as to access where the team is after these deals. What Bangor City had was still a talented aging team with a handful of great players in there prime. (Morneau, Holliday, Cain, K-Rod) Without as strong a pitching staff. This has accumulated to a .500 team which is where Bangor City has settled into for the past 2 years.

Future: Bangor City missed a major opportunity to rebuild by missing most of last seasons prospect draft. He allowed managers to skip him up until round 3 where he made up some fair picks but none of them were game changers. The Bangor City farm system has a couple of tier 3 prospects but the system as a whole is considered very below average.

Overall: Delbert is a very capable manager in this league; He is active and has a high skill level of major league talent. Plus he’s a league champion which shows that he knows how to win. But seems to either be confused on where to lead this team, and unsure if he wants to add the effort to implement it. Even though he’s in a very tough division, the talent on his team is still very good, and if he decided to go full force in a specific direction, he can put the Bulldogs back on the map. But until a strategy is formed, this is a pretty deck on an unstable platform.

Rank: 14
Team: Wellend Pirates (4-10)
Previous Rankings: (9th / -5)

Analysis: For year’s The Chin Music lingered near the bottom of the league, accumulating high draft pick pitchers and patiently waiting them out. Momentum began to shift there way last season but due to lack of activity, Auburn city was replaced, leaving behind an incomplete MLB team but a very good minor league system with probably the best prospect staff in the MLFB. The Wellend Pirates quietly replaced this organization after the mid-season redraft, but not so quietly decided to make his mark by putting together a team of his own liking. A plethora of trades followed, some trades were to beef up the major league talent, others were prospect for prospect deals, and some were large trades with major figures leaving both the MLB and prospect side. 1 key ingredient to most of these trades was the gutting of his minor league staff. Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Wade Davis, Rick Porcello, Chris Tillman and Tim Alderson all were part of these deals. So did he get enough back in return? Well, that’s a subjective discussion, but Wellend did acquire some very good major league players, some even of elite status as well as some very good prospects in the hitting positions. I think the better question is was there a strategy going in and was it in his best interest to make these moves … that’s a question that can not be answered for a few years until some of these players come up. What John Moreau has now is a team with a average hitting when healthy but a nice core (Utley, Fielder, Ichiro, Manny and Aaron Hill) a very good start to a pitching staff (Peavy, Webb, Sanchez, Kuroka) but incomplete due to the lack of back end starters.

Future: For the MLFB, this is a farm that’s above average. Tommy Hanson leads the way of what’s still a pretty strong minor league staff (Bowden, Gio Gonzalez, Aumont, Bard) as well as a handful of tier 2 and or promising future prospects on the hitter’s side. As is... the Pirate Farm system seems to be on course to be an asset for the major league roster.

Overall: Clearly this is a better team then last year’s Auburn squad. But is it an overall better organization? Unknown at this time. But to John’s credit, he has planted his own seeds, and now gets the joy of watching what transpires. What we do know is manager Morneau is an active coach in both the trade and pickup front which plays very well in this league.

Rank: 15
Team: Salem Red Sox (5-9)
Previous Rankings: NA

Analysis: The 3rd of our mid-season replacements is Bond .. No... Jason Bond of the Salem Red sox. Jason, being brought in by our commish Brian Hays must have gotten prepped for the draft because Bond had a distinctive strategy similar to the Perfectos model of acquiring a strong pitching staff. And that’s what the Red Sox did. Coming out of that draft, the Sox already had a staff close to the top half of the league (Dan Haren, Josh Beckett, John Danks, Gil Meche Brett Anderson, Paul Maholm) but there was a price to pay for that staff, which was a very weak rest of the team. Thus far in 2009, many of the players on the hitters side he has counted on have been hurt (Ryan Doumit, Connor Jackson, Ryan Ludwick) and many of the pitchers he has counted on have under-performed (Danks 13.6) (Beckett 14.3) (Meche 8.8) Still, the Biz-Rankings does not hold that against Manager Bond and his Red Sox. This team is not a win-now squad and for the most part Manager Bond should be pleased with what he’s been able to acquire through his first season.

Future: There is some talent in the red Sox minor league system, A few fair prospects on the hitting side. A few on the pitchers side. But as a whole, the system is slightly under average. But the Biz-Rankings did notice this team’s impressive showing in the free agent draft when they acquired both Michael Ynoa and John Baker. Salem holds the #1 pick in the upcoming prospect draft, so it looks as though this manager is capable of using the drafts as an asset for his organization.

Overall: There’s allot of work to be done on the hitting side. But all 3 of the re-draft teams will have a year or 2 moratorium to analyze, maneuver and implement there strategies without issue. Jason Bond is yet to make trades or pick up WW prospects if he can incorporate that into his strategy, this is a team that can move up sooner then later.

Rank: 16
Team: Louisiana Lumberjaxxx (2-12)
Previous Rankings: (16th/Even)

Analysis: Before we get into the Lumberjaxx analysis, let’s point out the ways in which teams formulate a minor league system.

1. The Prospect Draft
2. The free agent Draft
3. WW Pickups
4. Trades

Let’s also point out what attributes are necessary to maintain a good minor league system.

1. Patience
2. Activity
3. Up to date knowledge of the minor league system
4. Periodic assessment of player personnel
5. A pro-active mentally to the dynamic changes that accrue with prospects

No, the above point lists are not an exact science, but most would agree that scoring well on the above attributes would help a minor league system. A couple of years back, Corey Peek from the Lumberjaxx took over a talented but ageing team with the mindset to gut it’s MLB players for a ton of top rated draft picks. And that is exactly what he did. Everybody and anybody of value were traded away that season for a monopoly of the first 2 rounds of what was a good draft. Corey was spectacular in his drafting and acquired 7-10 very good prospects. But that was it. You really never heard from the Lumberjaxx until the next draft where once again Corey had a number of very high draft picks. Once again he came out of that draft with 5-6 more solid prospects. And again, that’s all we heard of from the Lumberjaxx. The reality of prospects is only half work out and out of that half only half of those will reach there full potential. And that’s what we are seeing with the Lumberjaxx system... 3 maybe 4 awesome prospects come up each year with 1 or 2 reaching there potential. That’s not a bad percentage if you already have a core set of players to integrate them with. Corey has started with nothing so what we are seeing is a slow painful process on the major league level. The Major flaw the Biz-Rankings see’s with the Lumberjaxx strategy is that have all there eggs in the minor league basket but that are not going all in and utilizing all of the resources available to them via the pin points above. Since the Lumberjaxx decided to gut there whole team for a prospect movement, then they have to own that movement and not just draft a handful of players and wait.

Farm: The Lumberjaxx possess one of the stronger farms in the MLFB. This area of his organization should continue to be an asset to this franchise, especially over the 2nd half of the season where manager Sharpe may see 3-5 strong prospects get the call. The Lumberjaxx are great drafters and should continue to keep a top rated system in this league.

Overall: If Corey Peek continues to be patient, he will eventually reap the rewards of a productive young major league team. Corey is a very active manager and a good ambarrasadore to the league, and if he adds a couple of the pin points above to his strategies, this potential is there to one day see the Lumberjaxx with a similar core to the Titans.