The offseason was full of action behind the scenes this year. Lots of shuffling of the cards in the deck, with teams splitting and combining has created what we thing might be the most parody in the league in a long time.

The East Hampton Royals
Towards the end of last season, the Loco Perro Expos and the Moodus Nationals got together and threw out the idea of combining to make 1 stronger team. This off season they made the move. The new team taking players from the Nationals and the Expos will now be run by Brian Kohn (formerly of the Expos) and Adam Michaud (formerly of the Nationals). They will play their games at East Hampton High School and the Legion Field in Moodus.

The Loco Perro Expos
As the Expos were combining with the Nationals, one of their original players/coaches, Brian Timmes decided to keep that franchise alive, with an influx of new players he put together from the area, along with pickups split off from other teams and new free agent signees. They will continue the tradition of having a Loco Perro Expos team in the league, but are sort of a new franchise. They should continue playing games at East Hampton High School and West Road Field in Marlborough.

The Wethersfield Dodgers
Nico Spuches (formerly of the Brickhouse Indians), decided in the offseason to breakaway from the Indians and start a new team in Wethersfield (home of our former league team, the Wethersfield Royals). Nico took a few Indians and a bunch of Orioles players with him and has been bolstering the roster with free agent contactees. They plan to play at some of the fields in Wethersfield, most likely the High School.

The Glastonbury Pirates
Over the offseason, the Portland Panthers and Glastonbury Pirates decided to merge together taking players from both teams to create one stronger team. This new team is being led by Zach Cloft and Todd Kessel, while Bill Eller and Matt Spence are still aboard too. The team will continue to play on Glastonbury’s fields, namely Riverfront Park and Glastonbury High School.

The East Hartford Angels
Long time Angels player and coach Mike D’Antonio decided to step aside this offseason, and concentrate on “softball” (rumor I heard… if true… booooo, haha). Dan Scully has stepped up to run the team in his place, helped by TJ DiFiore. They may have lost a good deal of players too, but are replacing them with new recruits, and look to be strong in 2017.

Everybody else…
Elmer’s are back looking to defend their 2016 title, with most of their roster returning. The Bristol Knights should have a great team on the field again in 2017, looking for their 5th league championship. The Brickhouse Indians are back under league president Chris Barsa, with what may be a very different roster. There are rumors Chris may be in his last year… but most of us have serious doubts. The Chicago Sam’s Orioles are gearing up for a deep playoff run again, continually adding new young talent… while also likely moving to the eastern division (should we keep divisions… we probably will). Lastly, the Willimantic Ridges are returning again and looking to be a force in the Eastern Division also.