Gentlemen,

It is that time of the year again for the Fearless Predictions for the 2011 Season. Our panel of experts will now predict the final standings for the 2011 season. You are free to blow your wad in Vegas with these predictions.

Dragons - There are certain repeats for this year. The Dragons will again repeat as both the most hated and cockiest team. But perhaps that is what makes them champions. Still hungry, the champs lost a few players to retirement and defections but have retooled nicely. Rumour is that their new uniforms will not be ugly green this year. That already bodes well for the league

Key additions - A bunch of Andy Ryder's friends, Colin Cummings

Key departures - Phil Richards, Dave Stermole, Mark Marukami, Dean Pecarski

Odds - 2 to 1 to repeat as champs

Royals - A funny thing happened after the 2009 banquet. The Royals lost their hunger, and thought that if they just showed up they were going to repeat. In 2010 a few surprises got in the way and they were swept by the Dragons in the finals. If they regain their hunger they could do some damage this year, or just add a few more KG's. One of the swarthy Royals once told me "always bet on black". Let's see if that is true this year! I wouldn't bet against the Royals reclaiming the championship in 2011.

Key departures - Paul Barnes, Oneill Watson, John Perri

Key additions - A couple of mid-season babies

Odds - 4 to 1 but even odds the clappers are back

Astros - The Astros are always in the mix. They somehow seem to retool and make the playoffs very uncomfortable for the rest of the league, and almost always to finding themselves in the finals. The only difference this year is a new beard for Schiralli. He may get some saves with that look.

Key additions - Some more McGill guys. Jesus Schiralli

Key departures - Sean Atkinson, Warren Booth, Chris Theodoru, Chambers
Middlebrook

Odds - 9 to 2

Psychos - The Psychos made some noise last year in the playoffs. Some was the good kind and some not so good. Regardless what you think of their antics, they come to play hard every fall. This year the Psychos have done some very quiet recruiting to get themselves back to the glory days of the franchise.

Key departures - Soohan Singh(he will be missed for the for the second game of each double header anyhow)

Key additions - Possibly Chris Park if wrist at full strength

Odds - 7 to 1 to win it all and even odds Andre Steer falls 1 game short of playoff eligibility

Reds - A somewhat shortened bench may help the Reds this year. Manager Mike Dymond will not be playing in the SVBL this year and it may actually help him stay fresh for the playoffs. No matter what the Reds do during the season, the finals seem to evade them. Maybe this year will be different? Or maybe just more of the same.

Key additions - J. Zambrano

Key departures - Anders Robinson, Mike Palmer

Odds - 9 to 1 and even odds Mike Dymond will have to miss the 3rd annual allstar game

Jays - Gone are the days of burning up the league or the field. It is now a more subdued Jay team without Luke Hall, Brian Sewell, the Gabe, the other Adam Morton, and Dave Albertini. It will be interesting how many wins are in store for the Jays this year. Last year when the A team showed they were scary. Then it was also scary when the 4 alleged players jumped out the Ford F-150 with no shirts or gloves for an 8:30 game!!!

Key additions - Always a mystery but we should all be scared

Key departures - Luke Hall, Dave Albertini, the Adam Morton without ID

Odds - 12 to 1

Mets - The Mets made some inroads last year in both recruiting quality players and getting younger. 2011 is no different with an infusion or more young quality players. The Mets were one hit away from doing some playoff damage last year. In August we will see if they can take the next step to the semi-finals

Key additions - Mark Marukami, Mike Cooper, one more Dominican guy that I cannot spell or pronounce his name but I heard he is good

Key departures - Luis Pineda, Peter Markouzis, Ryan Gillen's BFF, Adam Beck and Peter Dimech start the season on Dimentia List but they may have forgotten by now

Odds - 13 to 1

Red Sox - Where are you Travis Young? 2009 seems so long ago since Travis played his 19 games for the Sox and took them deep into the playoffs. The Red Sox showed a lot of promise 2 years ago but last year they took a step backwards. This year may be a crossroad year for the team. Maybe it is time to bring back the ghetto blaster?

Key additions - Jason Stober, Big Cuban guy so he must be good

Key departures - Jeff King, pro player that threatened AJ

Odds - 15 to 1

White Sox - Some days this team can look like a team that can do damage in the playoffs. Other days they look like the Black Sox and are throwing games. Maybe it is just inconsistent weed but a fix is needed for a more consistent team.

Key additions - Shoeless Sean Trimble

Key departures - Clint Sheppard

Odds - 25 to 1

Goats - The first year in the SABL was a tough one for the Greatest of All Time(or is it Times?). The were the almost perfect team. They paid their money on time, had no suspensions, never whined or argued and handed their opponents 2 wins almost every weekend. It will be interesting what will happen to the Goats this year. Will their poor showing last year lower their attendance? More importantly will the small Asian girl still be able to drink a full bottle of wine during the Thursday night elimination game?
We can't wait to find out !

Key departures - a few guys off of a 20 player roster I hope

Key additions - hopefully a few more wins

Odds - 50 to 1 but 10000 to 1 they do not default a game this year