So this is it, with the 2047 season upon us I present my first and final version of RLB Power Rankings.
First thing to make note of: there really aren’t any powerhouses this season. After the dismantling of Vancouver and also the dismantling of Tijuana’s pitching staff, the number of “premier” teams is limited to basically just one, the Fargo Money Bags. It’s possible we will see no 100-win teams this year, as Fargo will hemorrhage lots of wins due to his loaded division. With that said, this season is very much up for grabs. If teams like Boston, Miami, Cleveland, New Orleans or even Orlando ever wanted to win their first championship, this year could be their chance.
EC wild card
Tons of teams will contend for this spot, it’s a hotbed. I envision one team having a guaranteed spot (the EC southeast runner-up, Miami/Nashville) but the 2nd spot will be a bloodbath. Expect Shadowland, Woonsocket, Boston, Motor City and Orlando to all the fight tooth and nail for their chance at competing for The Ring.
WC wild card
Another playoff spot that will predictably come down to the wire. The first spot is almost already wrapped up, as the WC Southwest runner-up (Fargo/Tijuana) will claim the spot per usual. The next spot will be hotly contested by Roswell, Vancouver (who is still good), Los Angeles and the emergent Oklahoma City. There’s always the outside possibility that a breakout team like Long Beach could surprise the world and steal that 2nd spot, but I cannot see this happening.
EC Division Series
I expect a showdown between EC Southeast heavyweights Miami and Nashville, a rematch. I also expect a different result, with Nashville’s pitching carrying them to the EC Championship Series. Miami is no slouch, as we saw last year, but Nashville can easily take them in a series if starters Cardeas, Ramos and García simply pitch to their ability. Miami, of course, has Martínez, but the match-ups favor Nashville considerably after that. Cleveland out-duels the EC Metro winner, Boston, in the other series and we get a Nashville vs Cleveland ECCS.
WC Division Series
This one should be fairly easy to predict, as a few divisions have very heavy favorites. I can see the #1 seed Fargo facing the wild card series winner (likely Tijuana). This series will simply come down to which team is healthier, and if the Tacos have Bonnikson and Torres healthy they should have no problems with Fargo. The other match-up would be a grudge match between the newcomer Crawdads versus the geriatric Friars, and I envision the ring-winning experience of San Francisco paying dividends as they edge out the Crawdads in a close 5 game series.
EC Championship Series
This division will again come down to pitching, as Nashville‘s top 3 simply out-duels Cleveland‘s. Cleveland puts up a fight, but timely hitting from Nashville along with home-field advantage is enough to enable Nashville to reach The Ring.
WC Championship Series
Tijuana versus San Francisco, a classic WCCS match-up. Last season Tijuana murdered San Francisco in their 3 game wild card series, and I expect more of the same if the two teams were to meet again. Yet again Tijuana’s offense proves to be too much to handle and the Friars hot-and-cold offense struggles to figure out how to get to starters Dave Neal and Luis Ávila. Tijuana sweeps and face EC Champ Nashville in the The Ring.
THE RING
The series is tied at 3 games each. The pitching match-up in game 7 is Luis Ávila vs. Ramón Cardeas. The sold-out Milodome is a scolding 120° as the Tacos have run out of funds and can no longer afford to pay for air conditioning. This proves to be a challenge for the Nashville players, but Tijuana have endured these conditions all season long. A beleaguered Ramon Cardeas gets shelled and has to get pulled out of the game after 2 putrid innings, and the Tacos go on to win the game 11-2. GM Narwil Smith is irate in his luxury box and blames the on-field conditions for the loss, but Commissioner BotManfred simply turns his head to a nearby camera and mutters “the EC is meme garbage”. Executives around the league don’t really care and just want to talk about fixing the league’s finances, which consumes most of the post-game chatter.
Below are my final pre-season rankings, ranking teams based on their roster strength and team composition.
Good stuff