Last season the Wrecking Crew lost in the AC Semifinals of the playoffs for a second consecutive season. Following the season, analysts began speculating that the team hadn't shown much improvement from JAL 14 to 15 and their window of opportunity to win a championship was closing fast. Over the offseason, former owner Aaron Deister sold the franchise to Carl Stello and subsequently every player except pitcher, Scott Coleman was released. Three rookies and veteran Kyle Koopman were signed in replacement.
At this point it seemed the Wrecking Crew had gone into total rebuilding mode and many skeptics anticipated JAL 16 to be a disappointing season, however, that is far from what has happened. So far the Wrecking Crew look better than they ever have before and are almost guaranteed to make the playoffs with their 4-0 record (4 games left to play). So what's different?
The biggest reason the Crew's title window seems to be re-opened is in the team's 3 rookies, Alan Luff, Tanner Stello and Parker Patching. All are young, playing great right now and will likely keep getting better as time goes on. Then there's the other factor — Scott Coleman is having a league MVP season.
So what do you think... Can the Wrecking Crew win their 1st ever championship this season? Is their window at least opening up now instead of closing?
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