A Tale of Two Franchises

 Season 51 had several interesting franchises but this blog is going to put a microscope on two.

The first franchise is the National League Champions, Charlotte Wharf Rats. The Wharf Rats were one of  the wild card teams to make the playoffs. My guess is that trapapoodle thought that this was about time. 97 wins in season 47 the Rats were eliminated in the NL championship by Toronto. A 103 win season 48 ended in the NLDS beaten by wild card Helena. Season 49 saw the Rats win 98 games but  was beaten in the play-in round by division mate St. Louis. Season 50 saw the Rats win fewer games (95) but win their division; again Charlotte was eliminated in the NLDS, by Toronto. Last season trapapoodle's team won the identical 95 games. Tying his fewest wins for the last half decade. The Rats made it past division rival St. Louis in  the first round and beat 118 win Seattle in the NLDS. Facing 97 win Montreal in the NLCS. the Rats won the National League Championship in 5 games. Charlotte took the juggernaut Fargo to seven games in the  world series.

The second franchise selected is Monterrey. Six franchises won 10 more games in season 51 than season 50, Seattle, Jacksonville, Hartford, St. Louis, New York, and Monterrey. Monterrey won 26 more games in season 51 than it did in season 50. Monterrey scored 30 more runs in season 51 compared to season 50. bagpipes28 pitching improved by 272 runs allowed. Looking at additions to his staff both his trading ability and his farm system factored into the improvement. Ruben Nova was acquired for stud prospect Quilvio Escalona. Nova  replaced Anthony Rogers in the Marauders rotation. Nova gave up 41 fewer runs in 20 more innings. The farm system added, Dominican  Gabriel Javier, to the rotation. His spot in rotation added 62 innings and gave up 58  fewer runs. Another international, Odrisamer Diaz, improved greatly in his second major league season. bagpipes28, a veteran HBD owner, did it his way; no major free agent signing just player development.