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.

Jorge "Consigliere" Mora

                         New York knows they can be better then 24-21 and going 11-11 so far in May but they are sitting in 2nd place 1.5 games back of the Champs. Very tough week ahead, NY will head to Seattle Sasquatch (28-16) best record in RCL. In game 1 Kent Rose 6-2 with 2.71 ERA vs José Serrano 3-4 with 4.07 ERA both the #1 starters for there teams. Then off to So Cal Republic (24-20), So Cal is in the playoff hunt for a wildcard with NY so this is a very important series.

                         New York Promotes new  Consigliere  and no one better then OSA #1 hitter in baseball Jorge "Consigliere" Mora he has accepted his new role and is honored. It took over 3 years to name a Consigliere but GM Anthony Zappulla says "this is a very important decision and is not just given out to just anyone, u earn this title and that's just what Jorge has done, we are glad he is on are side."

                         Mafia down to the 3rd SS so Tony Wright has been called up to help for what looks to be about a month to help back up SS. Wright is a utility guy with some power in his bat.

Lavio Back in Bullpen

                                            Sixto Lavio is back from shoulder tendinitis that he suffered back on 3/20 in preseason the year. Mafia has had one of the top bullpens in the RCL over the past 3 season but this year has been different without Sixto Lavio and Ronald Hart. Hart had elbow ligament reconstruction surgery on 5/15/14 and only pitched 24 innings in 2014, now Hart is currently in rehab at Mafia's AAA in Mexico.

                                            New York is 12-8 this year one game back from the Champs. One big factor in the 12-8 record aside from of course Jorge Mora is 1B switch hitting Daniel Roberts who was brought in from the Rule 5 off of the Maple Marauders. Its only 20 games into 2015 so we will try not too get too crazy over it but when you play like Roberts has in "New York" it turns into a really big deal. Roberts leads the league in on-base-percent .506 and RBI's with 31 batting .435 with 8 homers. Mora loves it too because he leads the league in runs scored with 21.

                                            One thing is for sure this years team looks like the will score a ton of runs something they are not used to, pitching has been were New Yoek has shined over the years. So far this looks like it will be another fun season of baseball in New York.



                                           

Mafia In 2015

                                   Spring training is coming to a end and again New York has high expectations in 2015. Looking at there roster not much has changed, all the key players are back with just a tweak here and there. 27 year old OF Doug Rogers came via trade with South Carolina Bombers. Rogers can play anywhere in the outfield well and has shown some power with the bat, Mafia feel he is starting to find himself and think he will have a nice impacted off the bench. 24 year old Starting pitcher Bruce Marshall is now in AAA amd the hope is he will be to be called up around June or July. Marshall is a sinker ball pitcher that just needs to find his command this year and he will be on his way.

                                   TLD is one of the toughest divisions in the ABL and this year is going to be no different. Nottinghamshire Outlaws last years champions look to have a even better team this year as the very young Outlaws gain more XP but they most of all just down right have talented players.

                                   New York has vowed that there will be no melt down in September, something that is still very fresh in there minds. Maybe a fast start to 2015 will make fans forget last years ending.

                                  Mafia's 1st round pick 16th overall this year was SP Fred Butler  who throws a nasty Knuckleball that hits the catchers glove were ever he sets up. In Butler's 3 year career he pitched 201.1 IP Butler and walked a 28 batters, seems crazy when u think about how he throws the knuckleball most of the time.
                                 

Melt Down in September

                                       Hard to explain what happen in September other then the Mafia chocked, allowing 152 and only scoring 127. This was by far there was month of baseball to date and it happen right at the end in a tight race for the playoffs. New York finished tied for last going (88-74) not a bad record but not enough to make wildcard.

                                       There were some big positives to the season Jorge Mora had a top scale season, José Serrano came back and looks like he is maturing into the ace they need him to be, Kyle Dyce , Holden Adams and Dan Smith showed they can play in the ABL and Daniel Roberts has shown there might be some hope for him to stick around.

                                        Mafia will have to look at the roster and see were they can improve for next season if they want to have a shot at the division.
                                        

Mora Back and Ready for Playoff Push

                                             Over the past month of baseball New York has been without star Jorge Mora and in that month they had to play there division rivals Although no Mora, Mafia has stepped up and played like a playoff contender and is have a great August (15-7) and improved there division record to (26-16). Still 15 more games to play vs division in the final month of the season but with Mora back New York feels good they can keep this 1/2 game lead over the TLD.

                                             This coming week New York will face for the 1st time this season power house Cabo San Lucas Toreros (82-42) who have the best record in the ABL. Lead by starting pitcher  Charles Luce who has a nasty sinker and throws in alot and CF Dave Carlisle who is batting over .400 this year. If New York can make it to the big game this is probably the team they will face.

                                              We just have to mention one more time the play of Kyle Dyce who in the absents of Mora has played extremely well, has shown power and the ability to hit late in games. Dyce is 23 years old.

TLD Up for Grabs

                                          As we enter into August 1st the trading deadline New York again seems content on making no moves to make a playoff push in a tight TDL. Mafia are in a 3 way tie for 2nd and 0.5 out of 1st and in a week were Mafia's star player Jorge Mora wins player of the week he goes on the DL for atleast another 3 weeks. In the next 2 weeks they will face all 3 division teams without Mora. New York has being buzzing over the play of Kyle "Bag of" Dyce and hope he can make up for the lack of offence with Mora out of the lineup.

                                          There are 28 more games to be played within the division and we took a look at the records within the division and New York is currently on top going 17-12 Ann Arbor Barn Owls 13-16 Dallas Texans 14-15 and Nottinghamshire Outlaws 14-15. Over the next 2 weeks 13 games will be vs these very strong teams, all having slightly different styles of play but the out come is the same, they get the W. So this is a very big up coming 2 week and we could see a big change in the league standings and without Mora New York will have to dig deep and look for other players to step up if they want to stay in the race for the playoffs.

New York Trades for Javier Solís

                                       With Ronald Hart New York's setup man going down with a injury for the season Mafia went out and acquired Javier Solís from the Boston Cardinals. Solis has proven he is a stud reliever in the ABL, he has 2.59 life time ERA 198ip and 261K with 1.07WHIP. Solis can throw heat and will rack up a ton of K's and fit nice in the setup role in New York.

                                       Mafia will face Seattle Sasquatch (50-25) the best record in the league. New York played them last year in the 1st round of the playoffs and they knocked Mafia out. This series Mafia will look to make a statement in Seattle to jump start New York who has been playing .500 ball over there last 10 games.

                                       New York sits 3rd in the TDL watching Ann Arbor Barn Owls go from last to making a nice run at the leaders for the division. Mafia will play Nottinghamshire Outlaws in a 2 game series right before All-Star break so there is a chance to gain some ground being 3 1/2 games back at the moment.

                                       New York has brought up Kyle Dyce from AAA and have high hopes for him and in the 2 weeks he was here he did hit nicely but now will miss 3 weeks diving for a ball in the outfield. Dyce has power and this is something New York is last in the league in.

                                      When manager Jaime Cantú was asked about his thoughts on losing the lead in the division Cantu said "we are not even at the half way mark yet, we know what we have on this team and what we can do, yes teams in are division are playing well and have solid rosters but we feel like if we play are game we will be on top in the division by season end.

Hart Out For Year

                                Ronald Hart Mafia's set up man will under go elbow ligament reconstruction surgery and will miss the rest of the season. Hart has been a top set up man in the league for the past 2 years and was off to a good start in 2014. Sixto Lavio will now have to fill that role and he has all the right stuff to do so but things get slim behind him. Starting pitcher José Serrano has come back to the starting line up so Roberto Campos will now fill in a bullpen role along with recent call up Ronald Burnett. New York is #1 in ERA but without Hart they will need more out of there starters.

                                Mafia have a 1/2 game lead over Nottinghamshire Outlaws and 1 game over Dallas Texans in TLD, this looks alot like last year race for the division, tight. A big weakness has been in the #5 hole were Holden Adams was put into this year and has really been a disappointment. Adams who never had power was asked to hit for a high average to help knock in some much need runs from that spot and just has not happened. Catcher Ashton Finley seems to have lost a bit with his bat and vs right handed pitching has been just down right awful, the hope is the almost 34 year old is just in a slump.

Finally a Winning April

                     Posting a 13-9 record in April is New York's 1st winning April since the start of ABL. What makes a successful April and a 17-9 record to lead the TLD lets start with being 12-1 on the road but being 5-8 at home has to improve as NY moves forward. To date Mafia as a whole have the best ERA in RCL and are expecting SP José Serrano who is in AAA rehabbing a torn rotator cuff to come back to NY by the end of May. Serrano 1st pick ever for NY has high expectations and just hasn't lived up to those as of yet. Mafia are 2nd in runs scored and are last in homeruns which is a concern but leading the RCL in walks and 2nd in OBP, NY has found ways to score without the long ball.

                    What goes without notice is the play of LF Jorge Mora and CF Joe Herman having there best start to a season. Mora is in the top 6 in most offencive categories for the RCL, the one that really stands out for NY is the 25RBI's. With Mora having 25RBI's someone has to score and its been Dave Olson scoring 26 times in 26 games.

                    Picks #1 and #2 this year were SP Masahide Memoto and SP Woody Owen both off to a very good start to 2014 and look to make the move to AA sometime soon.
                   

2014 Spring Training Report

                                              Spring training is just around the corner so we take a look at what New York has done in the off season too help win another division title and try and get past the 1st round of playoffs. Mafia knows they need help hitting left handed pitching so they went and took 1B Daniel Roberts and IF Tony Wright off of rule 5 from Maple Marauders both played in AA last season but will be in spring training this year trying to win a roster spot. Another rule 5 pick was right handed MR Tomás Menéndez from So Cal Republic AA team. 31 year old Menendez is 6' 7" and throws 99mph so he could be a nice fit in New York's bullpen. One other mention is RF Holden Adams who's been in Mafia's AAA most of last season is also looking stay in the big's in 2014.

                                              New York in 2013 draft took 6 pitchers in a row and their 1st two seem like a lock to make the pro's. #1 pick 19 year old left handed Masahide Memoto from Japan league who lead the league in wins this past year going 17-4, some think his control can be something special. #2 pick 22yro right handed Woody Owen has a cannon for a arm and his best pitch by far is his fastball, if Owen can work hard on his control he could be a dangerous pitcher.

                                              When we get into the season will report on the other picks and players that shine.