Out In 1st Round

                             When the season started owner  Kyle Smith was interviewed and said "if this team can go .500 this year I would be happy with that effort." Well New York did a lot better then that, posting a 92-71 which  was good enough to get them a one game playoff vs Seattle Sasquatch (91-72) and with the win over Seattle, New York was back into the playoffs for the 2nd time in 5 years.

                             Mafia faced  So Cal Republic (96-66) in the 1st round and took So Cal to game 6 with a one run lead and Closer Lyle Arnold on the mound in the 9th to close the show and force a game 7, where Ace José Serrano would have got the start. All season long Arnold has struggled at the closing spot, in fact the last 2 season he has been out of form. The 37yro with 3 years left on contract takes the mound and pitches 2/3 gives up 2 hits 1 walk and 2 runs then walks off the field.

  Bob Lee , Javier Flores and Dave Olson all 3 played for NY since the league formed and now all 3 will be packing there bags soon.

                             GM Anthony Zappulla will have a lot of decision to make in the off season on what to do with 40+ million New York will save from the 3 long time New Yorkers exiting. Will Zappulla restock on cash, hit the free agent or try and make a trade or two. Lot of options for the Mafia and only time will tell.

                             Mafia have some good young players and look to be adding more this coming year and the next. There is some holes Mafia have to fill if they ever want to get out of the 1st round of the playoffs but ownership is confident in Zappulla.

                             GM Anthony Zappulla commented when asked about this season and the future "We have a lot of talented players here that all seem to gel nice together, just having fun, big reason why we were able to reach the playoffs this year. We have great players here now that we can build around, great coaches and a ton of youth in the minors that in a year or two we will see these players in the pros. We are staying focused on the goal of a ring and will look into all options in the off season to help make that possible for the city of New York and the Tri-State area."



                           

September Already

                           Doesn't get any better then this, being 1/2 a game behind  Seattle Sasquatch for the wild card spot going into September. The road to the playoffs won't be easy as New York will face 7 teams that have a combined record of 485-468. While Seattle in there 7 teams they face have a combined record of 471-481. Seattle plays 8 games vs the lowly South Bend Shamrocks who have the worst record in the league.

                           When we look at heads up match ups vs the 7 teams NY and Seattle play it looks like this. Seattle 39-33 vs up coming 7 teams and NY 39-34. The big stand out is Seattle plays South Bend for 8 games and Seattle has owned them 11-2. Mafia's long series is vs Ann Arbor Barn Owls where NY is 8-6. So this is where the race for the Wild Card lies.

                           Mafia do a lot of things well as a team overall, a very balanced team. When New York won the Division in 2013 this is how the team played. They have just add two players that they think can help them down the stretch.

SS Ben Hahn 22yro who has a decent glove and is a on base machine.

1B/3B switch hitting Josh Stevens has power that can not be overlooked.

                          The Mafia knows what September means to New York, win and compete at a high level, the Mafia has promised there fans they will put on a show in September......

10 In a Row

                       In a time when a lot of questions were being asked about all the holes in New York's lineup, they respond with a 10 game ride that seen some good teams. 1st up was Las Vegas Jokers (47-29) for 3 games then Washington Capitalists (42-34) for 4 games all games were on the road, both teams are in 1st place in there divisions.

                       Its not a secret that Mafia are struggling with the bats aside from Consigliere, Joe Herman and a few others. So New York saw Tommy Harris sitting in the free agent market for some time now and made a offer he couldn't refuse. Mafia offered 1mil for one year and Harris quickly accepted. In 21 AB he has 3HR 8RBI and help keep this streak alive.

                       When New York clicks on all cylinders they are tough to beat. We have not seen the consistency out of this team to get to happy about being 4 1/2 games out of the wildcard, right behind Seattle Sasquatch  (46-29) who Mafia will play tonight for a 3 game set back at Don Corleone Park.

                        With the Allstar game less then 2 weeks away New York looks to have some good enough to join the fun. José Serrano is having his best start to a season in his young carrer. In 16 starts (4-2) 3.65 ERA 1.27 WHIP 93.2 IP 93 K. Joe Herman is off to a nice start with the bat and is playing a great CF, he is leading in most stats among CF with the bat and the glove. And of course the pride of NY Jorge Mora .367 AVG .462 OBP lead the RCL.

Just Average

                                 To start off 2016 playing .500 ball is really were New York is expected to be. You would have to say that Nottinghamshire Outlaws the 2 time defending champs looking for there 3rd crown in a row will take the division. So that would leave New York fighting for a wild card spot. At 16-16 Mafia only find themselves 2 1/2 back behind Seattle Sasquatch 18-13.

                                 After Javier Flores 1st 5 starts this year, he was pulled from the rotation and set in the bullpen. Flores is now 40yro and looks every bit of 40. He has a team option in 2017 and I would be very surprised if New York picks that up. With Flores and SP Bob Lee contracts being up this year this will open up 34.5 million next year.

                                 With some very promising prospects and some money to spend in the future New York seems to be heading in the right direction. BNN report the Mafia having the 3rd best minor league systems in the league. This dosnt help with 2016 season but with recent call up of SP Bruce Marshall to replace Flores this could add that #2 starter for now behind ace José Serrano.

                              

                                                    Bruce Marshall New York's new starting pitcher

A Look Into 2016

                                As we speak teams are drafting in the 3rd round of 2015 1st year player draft. New York coming off a bad year has the 7th pick and in the 1st round used it on Curt Rhodes a left handed starter that has 3 nasty pitches. In his career at Ohio State he had a FIP of 2.11 and in his final year he was dominant vs left hand hitting.

                                 A. Gardner is going to be a free agent this year, New York has said they will not renegotiate a new deal. Gardner leads the Mafia in all-time wins with 48 in the 4 year stay here in New York. Also 2B Herman Campbell will be leaving, Campbell lead New York in Stolen Bases with 78 in his 4 years.

                                 It has been reported that Catcher Héctor Chávez will be in spring training this year. Chaves has lite up AAA pitching and looks ready to make the next step. Catcher is a big area that needs improvement and Chavez looks like he can be that man.

                                 3B Gerard Washington will be in spring training this year as well. Washington won the gold glove this year in AAA and hit 25 homers 100 RBI's.

                                  Mafia is hoping Fred Butler will be ready mid to late season to be called up, Butler has 2 pitches but throws 1 90% of the time, the Knuckleball. Butler Showed us he has the control over the knuckleball but still needs more work to take it to the nextg level.

Curt Rhodes out of Iowa State, NY's 7th pick overall in 2015

No Hype in September

                       New York did not see themselves out of the race come September but that is how this year has went. Call it how you want but New York has not played up to the level it could have. Two area's that need improvement is the bullpen and runs scored.

                       The bullpen from a year ago did a 360, the big arms in there have fell off big time. We start with Sixto Lavio  who missed 4 weeks this year with shoulder tendinitis and has not been himself all year. Ronald Hart in 2014 had (elbow ligament reconstruction surgery), out for 11-12 months that carried into this year season and only of late has he been getting back to form. This will have to be addressed in the off season if New York wants to get back to winning there winning ways.

                        Runs scored is the other area that they were expected to improve in and turns out to be there worst year to date. With a high on base and batting avg % this should translate into runs but it has not, so we can except to see some changes in the off season.

                        New York has some good ball players in there minors and we will most likely see some by spring training of next year.

Limping into Allstar Break

                                   With 5 starters out of the lineup Mafia are truly limping into the Allstar break. With a record of 41-41 the worst start to the 1st half of a season to date, they find themselves 5 games back of division and the wildcard. Being 5 games back doesn't seem so bad and with Mora and Campbell due back in 3 weeks along with SS Dan Smith ,New York is just trying to keep it close. Dan Smith hasn't had the chance to prove himself yet at the top level but scouts love his glove and think he can hit enough to stay in the lineup.

                                    Next up is the Champs for 2 games and Dallas Texans for 4 games all at Don Corleone Park. Nott leading the Division and Dallas in 2nd 4 games back.