Best SASL Season, Ever?
Absolutely no one saw that coming.
This team was dead last in the Power Rankings in the pre-season in the American League. Their 2017 season was mediocre with a first round loss. They revamped the team and added a bunch of former Wolfpack and Ballers players for the 2018 season. They ended up going 24-0 in the regular season and they won the championship by beating the Savages in 3 games in one of the best Finals in SASL history.
In 2018, Captains Saad and Sid had a blueprint. While other tams were going top heavy and using up cap space, Ducks spread out their points and added a lot of good players and focused on depth. While they did not have any player who was ultra elite, they had 10 player who were former or current All Stars. The formula paid huge dividends as they had a lot of depth to work with during the regular season, and they exposed other teams weaknesses and attacked it. They were the most defensively sound team in SASL and they were CLUTCH.
Now with the whole AL League vastly improved and teams getting out and getting better, the gap between Ducks and the rest of the division has shrunk. We can confidently say, they won’t go undefeated. The gap has shrunk tot he point where Ducks may be the 3rd or 4th best team in the division they ruled just a year ago. What changes did Saad and Sid make to make sure Ducks don’t have championship hangover?
Off-Season Additions:
As far as we could tell as of week 1, they made 0 notable additions. The only rookie on the team is Shake Saleem. We don’t have any scouting on him but we are expecting him to be a role player. They also picked up Ibrahim Mozawalla from HeavyHittaz, but he is not a starter when the team is at full strength. Solid end of bench tho.
Overall:
They still boast the deepest roster of talent 1-15 in the league. They have 10 players that can contribute at an All -Star level. Their OF from left to right is Saad, Bobby, Haaris and Sajeel. Backing them up is Moiz and Shane. Their IF consists of Shane, Matt, Zeeshan, Fazian and Nadeem. Their pitcher is first time all star Sid who reinvented himself in 2018 with a consistent arc in his strike throwing arsenal. Once again like 2018, their defense is top notch, and their hitting looks like they will need to be clutch one again.
Off-Season grade: C
No notable additions. But we will give small props to not let anyone walk away either. Just a very bland offseason for the captains, as they focused on enjoying their trophy rather than finding ways to get better.
Prediction:
Is the urgency lost after winning the cup? We don’t detect the same fire in them that we saw in 2018. Maybe it comes back during the season once the games start and the weather gets warmer. For now we expect them to finish 4th and flame out in the first round.
