Season 68 NL South Recap: Changing of the Guard

The NL South has been dominated recently by the Oklahoma City Shipbuilders, winners of the division for the last 12 seasons.  However, this year saw a changing of the guard with Jacksonville winning the division for the first time since Season 51, only their 4th division title in franchise history.  They did so led by Damaso Nunez and the league's 6th best pitching staff according to ERA.  However, what seemed like a sure thing for Jacksonville almost wasn't.  After 96 games into the season, they led the division by 12 games with a 56-40 record.  From there, things spiraled and they actually trailed Oklahoma City by 2 games with 23 games left in the season.  They rallied however and clinched the division with 3 games left in the season.  We'll see if they can keep it going in the playoffs.

Oklahoma City seems to be shifting towards a youth movement as they traded future HOF pitcher Harry Chavez to Toronto for two prospects.  Louisville similarly traded future HOF 1B P.T. Feliz to Pittsburgh for two young hitters and veteran reliever Bryan Relaford.  Despite moving these players, both teams played some of their best baseball down the stretch and nearly nabbed the division title.

It wasn't a great year for New Orleans, but they did add talented OF Happy Taylor with the 6th pick in the draft and a couple of IFAs that could find themselves in the majors in a few years.