Opening Day Eve - final preseason predictions

I made the first set of preseason predictions 2 months ago before spring training games started.  Since then there have been several injuries, player roles have been redefined and teams have finalized opening day rosters.   The season starts this weekend, so time for an updated set of projections, by division:

AMERICAN LEAGUE

East:

No major events in spring training, so I still expect the Red Sox to win.  Tampa and New York will fight for a wildcard spot.  Toronto and Baltimore, while both greatly improved, are still impaired by having to play more than 1/3 of their games against the above teams.

Central:

Twins are still the class of this division.  The Tigers and White Sox could contend but will be looking up most of the season, and KC and Cleveland will be out of the race by Victoria Day (or Memorial Day for those  readers South of the 49th).

Blue Jays Super Camp coming to Calgary!

The Toronto Blue Jays have announced they will conduct  Super Camps across seven cities this summer, and Calgary is included in the schedule.  This is part of their commitment to amateur baseball across Canada and is geared towards players aged 8 to 14.  Their Alberta stop will be on August 8th to 10th at Foothills Stadium and the Absolute Sports Academy, and will feature Mark Eichhorn, Rance Mulliniks and Duane Ward.  Full details and registration at the the Blue Jays website.

Team Alberta Canada Cup ID Camp

The 2011 Canada Cup Team Alberta ID Camp dates have been announced.  This is for 16 and 17 year old players (born in 1994/95) and those selected from the ID Camps will have the opportunity to compete as Team Alberta at the Canada Cup in Moncton, New Brunswick.

Below are the scheduled dates and locations:

Date	City	Time*	Location	Contact
April 17	Medicine Hat	11:00am	Athletic Park	Lovell McDonell
April 18	Lethbridge	5:30pm	Spitz Stadium	Aaron Lavorato
May 6	Calgary	6:00pm	Optimist Park	Miki Kawahara
May 9	Calgary	5:30pm	Inland Park	Matt McLane
May 10	Okotoks	5:30pm	Seaman Stadium	Brett Thomas
May 16	Sherwood Park	5:30pm	Sherwood Heights Park	Curtis Denney
May 17	Red Deer	5:30pm	Edgar Park	Terry Letkeman
May 24	Edmonton	5:30pm	Callingwood Park	Dan Rude
May 31	St. Albert	5:30pm	Legion Memorial Park	Ed Ewasiuk
June 2	Grande Prairie	5:30pm	Evergreen Park	Mona Turner
June 6	Ft. McMurray	5:30pm	Ron Morgan Park	Reggie Rivard
June 7	Elk Point	6:30pm	Bassett Field	Lorn Berg

Registration form and more details available here

Strathmore to field Midget AAA team in NorWest league

Zane Anderson will be leading this team that has been a tournament only team in for the past two years.  The Strathmore Reds will play in the Baseball Alberta Performance category.

Full story

Edmonton to host 2012 World Cup of Women's Baseball

aThe Women's 2012 World Baseball Cup in Edmonton, originally announced over a year ago will go ahead as government funding has come through. Both the federal and provincial government are each chipping in $100,000, to go with the $160,000 already committed by the City of Edmonton.  8 countries will be participating in this event in August of 2012.   More information on the funding here.

Read here for the International Baseball Federation article

MLB Power Rankings - March edition

This is my last preseason power rankings.  I will update these near the beginning of each month throughout the season.  I will also update my preseason predictions before the season starts.

Numbers in brackets are movement from last month, and their high/low rank for the season.  Look at previous rankings(here for the initial January ones, and here for February) for explanations of how the team got to where they were - any explanation here just reflects recent changes.



#1 - Boston ( --, 1/1) They haven't done anything to drop from the top of the rankings.
#2 - Philadelphia (--, 2/2)  Some injuries may make them less formidable, but along with Boston they are still the only other team likely to win 95 games.
#3 - Minnesota (--, 3/5) Beating up on weak division opponents will help their win total.

Many Albertans projected to be among first Canadians drafted

The Canadian Baseball Network has an updated Canadian draft list.  12 young players from Alberta are on the list, including 5 of the first 17.
Those 5 are:
#8 - Ryan Thompson - a right handed pitcher from Fort McMurray, playing at Franklin Pierce University

#10 - Adam Paulencu - also a RHP, from Spruce Grove and playing at the Vancouver Island Baseball Institute

2 Albertans pitch in JNT finale

In the Junior National Team's last game in St. Petersburg, the bats were quiet as the Netherlands team shut them out 8-0.   Jake Hansen got into the game relieving the starter in the 2nd inning and getting out of a jam, and Logan Seifrit pitched 2 innings, striking out 4 batters.

Along with Hansen of Fort MacLeod and Seifrit from Spruce Grove, the JNT also featured the following Albertans:

Pitcher Ethan Elias (Entwistle)
Infielder Brendan Hendriks (Cochrane)
Catcher Jordan Procyshen (Calgary)
Outfielder Cory Scammell (Edmonton)
Coach Chris Reitsma (Calgary)
Coach Mike Johnson (Sherwood Park)

PBF article published

My article on PBF launching academy in the fall, has now been posted on the Canadian Baseball Network.

Junior National Team plays Blue Jays

The Canada Junior National Team had an opportunity to face MLB hopefuls in a Spring Training exhibition game against the Blue Jays.  Albertans Cory Scammell and Brendan Hendriks got into the game, Hendriks enjoying some success getting the first hit of the game.  The Juniors only managed 2 hits as they were shutout 9-0.

Former Red Sox Bruce Hurst at Vauxhall

Pitcher Bruce Hurst, will be at the Vauxhall Academy Awards Scholarship Fundraising Dinner on Saturday evening at the Vauxhall Community Hall.  Tickets are still available, and this is a great opportunity to listen to and meet a former Red Sox great.

More details and ticket info here.