confounding

The 2011 Southern League schedule is out. Finally. And it’s just as messed up as in years past. The Mississippi Braves open the season at home (they also play at home on Memorial Day and July 4) against West Tenn. They’ll play the Diamond Jaxx 24 times. West Tenn is in the North Division. The M-Braves, who are in the South, play South rivals Jacksonville and Montgomery a combined 25 times. They have only five home games against Montgomery, arguably Mississippi’s main rival. This makes no sense. This year, the M-Braves played Jacksonville, the best team in the South, only eight times. That makes the so-called division race a farce. Is there no way to create a more balanced schedule?
P.S. Still looking ahead, here’s a guess at the 2011 M-Braves lineup: C – Jesus Sucre; 1B – Mauro Gomez; 2B – Jordan Kreke or Cole Miles; SS – Tyler Pastornicky; 3B – Mycal Jones; OF – Cody Johnson, Adam Milligan, Cory Harrilchak or L.V. Ware. Pitchers – Julio Teheran, Randall Delgado, J.J. Hoover, Jacob Thompson, Juan Abreu … who knows? The position players are actually harder to pick. There are no players at Class A Myrtle Beach having breakout seasons. And considering how many free agents the Braves brought in this year to fill holes at the Double-A level, it’s very likely they’ll do it again. The ranks seem to be thin again.