by Carl Coffee
We now enter Year 2 of the Michael Sessions Flying Squirrels era, and things are looking good. Sessions decided to keep Rookie of Year, Brandon D’Agnese, and draft projections had him picking many of the same guys from his 2014 team. He did manage to take Mike D’Agnese, but Kevin Doby went to the See Yas, and Zac Adams went to the Islanders. At the end of the draft though, Sessions didn’t seem to mind that he missed out on his two former teammates. Why? Because Craig Skinner. 
CON: Contact Hitting — POW: Power Hitting — ROT: Pitching Rotation — PEN: Bullpen Depth — DEF: Defense — OA: Overall
Two-time All Star and 2013 Clown Shu Winner Craig Skinner is a Flying Squirrel. The plan was to draft Skinner and trade Skinner to El Diablos for a few players and draft money, but it fell apart. Now Skinner gives the Flying Squirrels the best 1-2 Pitching Punch in the league and the 98 Rotation rating proves that.
Skinner was a big splash, but the Squirrels made another splash at the draft when they drafted veteran, Dylan Braden. Dylan has been with us since 2009, and gives the Squirrels something they desperately needed last year, a bat. Last year, Brandon D’Agnese was the only Squirrel who hit over .250, so Dylan’s hitting experience comes in huge for Sessions
Rounding out the roster are Ray Brown, Justin Tomkins, and Matt Murtha. Ray Brown showed off his bat in the Wind-up tournament, and is in the early ROY talks. Justin Tomkins lives in New York, and is only planning to play one week for the Squirrels, but will give the team a nice bat when he comes. Matt Murtha was taken in the Supplemental Draft, and gives the Squirrels a 4th arm.
The lowest rating for the Squirrels is for their Bullpen at 78. The drop-off after Skinner and Brandon D. is rough, but Dylan and Murtha can be serviceable if needed. The hitting categories for the Squirrels are pretty average amongst the rest of the league. 83 for Contact and 86 for Power. Both the D’Agnese brothers and Dylan swing hard, and Skinner has sneaky good power.
Their overall rating of 87 is tied with the Holy Balls for second in the league, behind only El Diablos. Sessions won the draft, but games aren’t played in rooms at a bowling alley. He had a talented underachieving team last year because of an unhappy clubhouse, and once again I see that as the X-Factor. If this team doesn’t want to kill each other come late July, we could see the Squirrels playing in their first WSEM Championship. That should be the goal with this talented team, its Championship or bust.
