Road to Opening Day 3/7

Day 3, May 26th.
Today is a good day to be judgemental. We're asking you to rank teams. You can choose any of the two leagues. It can be based on logos and appearance. It can be based on the General Managers. It can be based on the results of the draft. It can be based on whatever factor you want, smart or dumb. Show us your rankings in one of the following ways to be eligible to claim 3 uncapped TPE.

- Rank the 4 teams according to your own guidelines and explain the ranking briefly.
- Record a short podcast in which you rank the 4 teams according to your own guidelines and explain the ranking briefly.
- Create a simple graphic showing the 4 teams in the order of your choice.

Task 2 will stay open until tomorrow.
Task 3 will be open up until Wednesday.

1. My team
2. Other teams

I think my team is the best because I'm on it as compared to the other teams. We also have a communicative squad and pretty chill peeps. Anybody who thinks our team isn't automatically allowed into the championship is brainwashed and I would fight them naked on the beaches of San Antonio.

Mohawks best team. Obviously. They have me.
Pittsburg second best team. They have best catcher in game.
Las Vegas should be worst team. Las Vegas is a terrible place for a team.
The final team is the worst team because I don't even remember where they play.

Pingu Flipperson's Logo Ranking

1. Pioneers
Not only does this logo show fearlessness, but the true American spirit

2. Centurions
Poseidon water mood vibes are cool. I keep encountering Greek/Roman themed teams. I might be cursed or blessed.

3. Mohawks
Great colour scheme but makes me feel uncomfortable. Not sure why.

4. Storm
I know a better "storm themed" team logo and I apologize I just can't get behind it.

1. Storm
2. Mohawks
3. Centurions
4. Flamingos
5. Pioneers
6. Roos

The Storm is strong and fierce, able to take down anything in its path. Mohawks remind me of that old WoW Mr. T commercial, and I pity the fool that doubts Mr. T. Centurions reminds me of that one Fallout Boy song. Flamingos are not actually pink natively, they turn pink because of the shrimp they eat. I grew up near a town named Pioneer and their little league team was always terrible. Roos just makes no sense but I just remembered Dunk-a-Roos were a thing so I'm tempted to bump them up to 5th now.

Y’know what? I’m going to do my normal thing and rank teams by their DEFENSE.
As a result, first is the Las Vegas Centurions. They have a relatively complete pitching rotation (currently 4 pitchers signed), including Nate Nitro, Beatrix Ajax, Domingo Rodriguez, and my own player. They also have one of the best defensive outfielders in Captain Snowball and a rock-solid defensive second baseman in Pingu Flipperson, a post-draft signing.
After that, I’d be hesitant to drop the Pittsburgh Pioneers any lower than second. They have a few great pitchers – including Boxman, Original Dale-Cooper and a pair of lesser-known players in Captain Hook and Shogun Rua. Most relevantly, they have the best-rated catcher in the game, Cáramel Delight – that is a significant factor that boosts their pitching staff tremendously. I’m not entirely sure how the remainder of their positions play out, but they also have an extremely active shortstop in Hunter Scott and a pair of super-active third basemen in Strong and Ocean Man.
Third is a close tie between Sherbrooke and Chicago. Of the two, the single best pitcher between them is likely Chicago’s Magnus Coretti. But what makes me hesitate to make them a solid third place or even a contender for second is… well, I don’t know most of the rest of their pitching staff. Spicy Burns and Erik Shawn could be great pitchers, but I don’t know much about them. They’re also bolstered by an extremely active catcher/GM in Wayne Taylor, who’s challenged by his rival catcher/GM in Ryoma Fukushima. Connor Dyson will sit in direct parallel to Magnus Coretti, and while Sherbrooke does have a defensive stalwart in Sora Mekajiki, there aren’t enough shortstop/2B positions to go around between Peterson, Goliath, Gregorius, and Boucher. They’re all likely to be reasonably active players, but between 1B, 2B, SS, and 3B, exactly half of the infield positions are covered.

I will be ranking the teams by alphabetical order of the city they play in

1. Chicago Storm

Coming in first at my rankings is Chicago, who were pretty well equipped for an alphabetical rankings list by choosing a city name that began with C. Chicago could be bested in the future if locations such as Annapolis, Boston, or Cape Cod decide to host a team, but for now they reign supreme as the alphabetical city champion of the league.

2. Las Vegas Centurions

An upset at #2! Who would have expected L to go so high, but here are with Las Vegas grabbing the second highest spot in our alphabetical by city name rankings. If we went purely by mascot names alphabetically Las Vegas would actually be first, and Chicago would fall to last! What a silly world that would be.

3. Pittsburgh Pioneers

Pittsburgh slots into #3 on our list, and this is mainly because P falls in between the letters L and S in the alphabet. One thing that Pittsburgh does deserve credit for is alliteration, as their dedication to the letter P would place them 3rd on the alphabetical mascot list too.

4. Sherbrooke Mohawks

Honestly just poor planning from Sherbrooke here. What kind of an alphabetical ranking were they expecting picking a city that began with the letter S? This just seems like a lack of institutional planning, and this is highlighted by their poor choice of center fielders.

1. Vegas. I wish this was our major league team already. I love how this team was assembled
2. Pittsburgh. I feel this team drafted really strong as well and expect them in the finals.
3. Sherbrooke. Maybe not the best drafted positionally wise, but an outsider for the finals.












4. Storm. Thank god i'm not playing there

I will be ranking teams by homerun potential for the first couple of sims.


4. Chicago Storm
- Tracy Prezzy Jr (52 Power vL, 52 Power vR)
- Carlos Delgado (40 Power vL, 44 Power vR)
- Tyler Martinez (40 Power vL, 40 Power vR)

For the time being, the homerun department of the Chicago Storm is pretty much run solely by Tracy Prezzy Jr, who is easily one of the best longball batters in the whole SBLM.


3. Pittsburgh Pioneers
- Ocean Man (55 Power vL, 55 Power vR)
- Caleb Marko (45 Power vL, 45 Power vR)
- Brian Strong (40 Power vL, 40 Power vR)

Ocean Man takes the title of the pre-preseason's best slugger, which would usually propel the Pittsburgh Pioneers' high on this list. But he's pretty much the only player powerful enough on this roster to hit homeruns consistently for the time being.


2. Las Vegas Centurions
- Rocky Mitchell (50 Power vL, 50 Power vR)
- Jason Bourne (50 Power vL, 50 Power vR)
- Captain Snowball (45 Power vL, 48 Power vR)

The Las Vegas Centurions got a good trio of potential major league sluggers, highlighted by a tandem of heavy-hitting first basemen, one of which is surely going to change position and will be requested to add some TPE in his defensive abilities.


1. Sherbrooke Mohawks
- Bobby Boucher (40 Power vL, 60 Power vR)
- Golden Goliath (45 Power vL, 55 Power vR)
- Kurtis McKenzie (50 Power vL, 50 Power vR)

The Sherbrooke Mohawks take home the award of best team homerun potential in the SBLM. With 3 players with an average in power of 50, their contact hitters will have the most chance of coming home out of all SBLM leadoff hitters.

Ranking the Four SBLM Team Names

4. Las Vegas Centurions

While the Centurions is a cool name, it doesn't really make sense for a team based in Vegas, unless of course they're being sponsored by Caesar's Palace. The Aces were already taken, but perhaps a gambling-oriented name would just be too cliche. It's a tough call, but Centurions just doesn't seem to match the location.

3. Chicago Storm

While Chicago isn't typically a place you think of when you imagine a locale besieged by inclimate weather, it is the Windy City, after all. It's a much better fit than you would think, and opens some cool branding options. I personally think Cyclones would've been a great fit for alliteration purposes, though.

2. Sherbrooke Mohawks

The Mohawks name allows for amazing fan interaction with the Tomahawk Chop, but it is also a nod to the city's past. It might seem random to name a Canadian team after Native Americans, but when you factor in that the Mohawks were the native tribe to the Sherbrooke area, it makes it a perfect nod to the city's past.

1. Pittsburgh Pioneers

Alliteration is king! Pittsburgh isn't typically the place you associate with pioneers, but you need to factor in that the team themselves are the pioneers. An inaugural team in a brand new league preparing to enter a brave new world... it's an awesome and very fitting name.

AW's honest first look rankings

1. Vegas - I think Vegas has the most complete team right now after getting both Symm and Pingu from post draft free agency. They have pretty much every position filled and will have likely a top end rotation. I look forward to trying to beat this team.

2. Pittsburgh - Again, some amazing post draft signings to go with a strong draft just like Vegas. They are a deep team and an active one. I have their pitching slightly below Vegas so they fall to 2 here.

3. Sherbrooke - I think Sherbrooke is 3rd because of a strong draft and they did land a solid free agent in Doom. I think their pitching will hold up okay with McRlwain as the ace. That infield is top notch.

4. Chicago - I have my team here last because I don't know how things will end up. I believe we will have the strongest infield in the league but outfield depth could hurt us bad. Pitching I think will hold up okay behind Coretti, Shawn, and Burns but I expect outfield depth could hurt us in the long run. I mainly have us last because it is the commish thing to do though.

5. Redwood City - They will be better than the Flamingos

6. Miami Famingos - No L yet because the Roos are going to give them it.

1. Sherbrooke Mohawks.
Much to say here? I'm the GM. Ofc i'm the best out of the bunch
2. Las Vegas Centurions.
I like the Logo, DA is a great dude. Nothing bad to say tbh
3.Pittsburgh Pioneers/Chicago Storm
So this is a tie for me. Pittsburgh is a rival. Chicago is over used city in sim leagues. So idk who i should put ahead of the other

TOP FOUR RANKINGS BY LOCATION!

1. Miami

Who doesn't love beaches and bishes?!

2. Redwood City
Yessssss, I love me some Cali. Same as the reasons above.

3. Chicago

Best pizza, mane. There isn't a NY team so there isn't a rivalry in that aspect. Haha

4. Las Vegas

You can't WIN if you don't PLAY! Love casinos and what better place to go for that than Sin City?

A look at which mascots would win in a fight (both leagues and groups of each mascot).

Tied for 8: The Monarchs, Flamingos, and Cardinals
In my opinion, they just aren't nearly as good in a fight as any of the others. If you came upon any of these in the wild, no one should have anything to fear.

7: The Storm
While they do pose a threat to some of the mascots, most of the other mascots would be smart enough to survive the storm. Thus, the storm faal all the way to 7th.

6: The Invaders
While this placement may surprise some people, the reason is quite simple. There is just too much unsurety about what talents/abilities the aliens would have. In the right circumstances they could be all the way up to 1st, but due to the aforementioned unsurety they drop to 6th.

Tied for 4: The Grizzlies and the Roos
The reason that neither of these are higher is all due to one thing. They wouldn't have as much teamwork as the remaining mascots do. Thus they only reach 4th place.

3: The Centurions
While the Centurions are the most armored out of the remaining mascots, they have one setback. This setback is that they don't have as technologically advanced weapons as the remaining 2. Thus, they fall to a very respectable 3rd place finish.

2. The Pioneers
While they do have the most technologically advanced weapons of all the mascots (barring whatever the aliens might have), they just aren't as good as the last mascot remaining. So they finish at a respectable 2nd place.

1. The Mohawks
There is no beating them. They are the superior mascot, no question about it. Thus, they are the obvious choice for the top spot.

This raps up my rankings. Have a great week!

Lefty's unofficial rankings.

1. Las Vegas
As others have mentioned before, this team has the most complete roster out of all of the teams, so all eyes are on them this season.

2. Pittsburgh
As much as I hate Pittsburgh sports teams, I am giving this team the number two spot because they also have a solid roster and I like their GM.

3. Sherbrooke
This team has one of the best infields in the league right now.

4. Chicago
Chicago pizza is terrible, so these guys are last.

My rankings are based only on TPE on the roster page. It may not be up to date but this is what I have to go on

1) Chicago
2) Pittsburgh
3) Vegas
4) Sherbrooke

1 Chicago. To quote Frank Sinatra: Bet you’re bottom dollar, you lose the blues in the Chicago. Pretty sure nobody is writing songs about places like Pittsburgh and Sherbrooke

2. Vegas. I’ve always wanted to go there and gamble. But I want to win and make Vegas lose in every way possible. Vegas isn’t a sports town either. They have a gimmick NHL team and the Oakland Raiders.

3. Pittsburgh. They have a baseball team at least. Bad one, sure, but a team nonetheless. This version of baseball won’t fare any better

4. Sherbrooke. Sherbrooke? Where is that even? Hopefully it has an airport at the very least, so we can fly out of town ASAP

1. Centurions
My team, so perhaps a little biased, but the team has a really strong group of players, and are looking really good at every position.

2. Storm
The Storm have a ton of talent. They're going to be a tough team to beat, but in my biased opinion the Centurions are still better. The Storm could use some more pitching and their OF really needs talent, which is why I think the Centurions are still #1.

3. Pioneers
The Pioneers have a lot of pretty good talent spread out on the roster. They're going to be a team to watch if they can grow continuously, but as of now they don't have as much standout talent as the other 2.

4. Mohawks
The Mohawks have some talent, but most of all they need bodies right now. There's only 9 players rostered compared to other teams with 12 or so. They don't have as much good talent as other teams and they don't have the depth right now to back it up either.

Gonna do this based off of team colors.


4. In fourth, with my least favorite team colors, is the Las Vegas Centurions. I love that blue color but I just can’t get behind the green. I mean it fits the branding but I personally just don’t enjoy the two colors together.

3. In third, we’ve got the Mohawks. These team colors are pretty unique and do go well together in my opinion. I actually like the combination a lot but it’s not enough to move up into second or third for me.

2. After the Mohawks, I have to go with the Pioneers. The classic black and gold are always a nice pairing and it ends up working really well for Pittsburgh.

1. Last but obviously not least, we have the Chicago Storm. I would have to say that the red, black and grey is my favorite out of these four teams. They go super nicely together and they are a bit more intimidating than any of the other guys’ colors. I’ve always loved when people put black and red together so this isn’t much of a surprise.

It is hard to do something unique as everybody’s covered mostly everything but I’m just gonna wing it with my rankings here. Gonna be checking out the pitching rotations for each of the four SBLM teams cause we’re gonna act like Miami and Redwood City doesn’t exist.

1.) Las Vegas Centurions - Nate Nitro, CID Ramirez, Domingo Rodriguez, Beatrix Ajax

Biased! Well maybe. But at the same time, I think that we are in fact, legit. With this starting rotation, this is going to be a fun team to watch if you love pitching duels. This year could very well be Las Vegas’ to lose.

2.) Pittsburgh Pioneers - James Bowman, Captain Hook, Original-Dale Cooper

It was tough to decide amongst the top-2 because they are a lot similar. Top-end talent, depth of rotation, etc. it will be interesting to see which rotation proves to be the best one, but I anticipate Pittsburgh and Las Vegas neck and neck all season long on the basis of their pitching.

3.) Chicago Storm - Erik Shawn, Magnus Coretti

You can see the difference right away in terms of the pitching depth between the top two and the bottom two teams. Not in terms of top-end talent but more so the depth. When you’ve got two promising pitchers, that doesn’t leave you a lot of room for error if they have an off day.

4.) Sherbrooke Mohawks - Mario McRlwain, Connor Dyson

Like I said... only two pitchers on the roster? That doesn’t look too good for our Lone Canadian team. Maybe the GM has something worked up his sleeve, but right now.. yeah the batters aren’t going to be afraid to face Chicago or Sherbrooke.

I will be ranking the teams based on the number of letters in their name, including the city name.

1. Las Vegas Centurions
Technically this team has the same number of letters as Pittsburgh, at 18, but due to the extra space, the name is longer, and longer names are superior.
2. Pittsburgh Pioneers
So close to being number one, yet so far. If only they had an extra space somewhere, like Pitts Burgh Pioneers, or something along those lines. Alas, they are glued to the number two spot.
3. Sherbrooke Mohawks
I actually thought this would be number one. Sherbrooke looks so long compared to everything else, mainly due to that thick double o. Surprisingly enough, it is only one letter behind the others, at 17.
4. Chicago Storm
It's unfortunate that I have to put my own team at the bottom, but they should've chosen a longer name. We could've been the Chicago Razorwinds and at least be able to compete with the other teams. Unfortunately, Chicago is far behind the pack, at a measly 12 letters.

1st Las Vegas Centurions. Clearly the best overall around team, they have every position covered with a great player. They have quite arguably the best pitching rotation in the league.

Pittsburgh Pioneers second. They have a few decent pitchers, their catcher is top notch and the rest of the field will be interesting to see play.


Chicago I guess can go third, they have a decent pitching rotation but not much is known about them. The catcher is pretty solid and we’ll have to see how things round out.

Sherbrooke by default is last, I honestly don’t know much about the team and that’s interesting. I think they have decent players but not half of the infield is covered.

Mohawks are the obvious number 1 because we have McWolf. Stacks and myself all on the same team and we're going to dominate.

Then Shittsburgh because it's the rest of the EFL crew.

After that the other two teams dont matter because they'll lose to the Mohawks.

I’ll be ranking off of city population and other stats

1. Chicago - you could say I’m biased but looking at population alone Chicago has 2 million more people then Las Vegas and nearly 6 million more in metro population Chicago also happens to be more diverse then Las Vegas.
2. Las Vegas - Las Vegas is definitely one of the most popular cities but it’s population definitely brings it down towering over Pittsburgh’s population by 300k+, but a lower metro population. Not the best place to raise kids though.

3. Pittsburgh - well it’s left between Pittsburgh and Sherbrooke and I didn’t even have to look at stats( but I still did) and the metro population for Pittsburgh to Sherbrooke is just dominated by Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh has a rich history and is a nice place for sports as well.

4. Sherbrooke - there’s not really much to say I doubt most people consider Sherbrooke as a popular city, a lot of people probably don’t know it exists.