bjc30
SEA 44: 80-82
Season 44 In Brief: First year in the last 7 they haven't contended. The offense actually scored 83 more runs (thanks to a lot of guys but especially Miguel Fuentes' bounce back to 50 HR, 159 RB). Even in a big offensive year (the average AL team scored 29 more runs in S44 than S43) that's a big outburst. The team ERA was down a little more than the AL average (Richmond fell by .26, AL average .14)...doesn't seem like enough to explain a 7-win falloff given the runs explosion. As usual, the 1-run record explains a lot. 22-17 in S43, 18-24 in S44. They got unlucky.
Season 45 Preseason: They scored a pair of IF's in FA with Humberto Almora and Brian Thome and promoted C Eddie Goldman (S39 3rd-rounder).
Forecast: It's tempting to call Richmond's offense "average", as it rates within a place or 2 of the AL average in just about every category. But "bipolar" might be more descriptive. It gets incredible production from 1B (Fuentes), LF (Destin Williamson - .324/42/124), RF Chick Rosenthal (.286/29/103) and DH B.J. Kirby (.311/42/130) and not much from anybody else (Rosenthal's .850 OPS was the lowest of those 4; the next-highest OPS's among regulars were Zephyr Burke's .734 and Turner Fletcher's .656. Thome could make a small difference but let's say it's still a "highly concentrated attack". The pitching talent is also focused in S1-S4 (Ellis, Morris, Bong and Skinner). It doesn't help that their best and most prolific RP, Yangervis Johnson (8-4, 3.43 ERA in 152 IP), departed for Kansas City in free agency. I think the starters will be OK, but the shaky bullpen could lead to an even bigger number of 1-run losses. Some great talent on this roster, but big risks as well. 75-87
Player Watch: Destin Williamson loves getting the numerals "2" and "4" into his stats, but he really took it to an extreme last year: 3rd straight season of 42 HR's to go with 124 runs, 124 RBI, .324 BA, and 1.042 OPS.
silentpadna
SEA 44: 104-58, won Division, advanced to WS and defeated Jackson
Season 44 In Brief: 2 straight Crowns, impressive. That's been rare enough in Hobbs history, but I have to think it's even tougher in the competitive environment we've reached. It was a pretty simple formula: score more runs than everybody else except Colorado (950), and don't let the other guys hit the ball very hard (3.84 ERA). C Gerald Lim (.334/40/137) was the biggest lineup standout of many; the staff channeled the '71 Orioles with 3 20-game winners (Osborne 24-2 2.86, Mercado 22-3 2.84, and Merced 21-3 3.05).
Season 45 Preseason: Said goodbye to Yamil Cairo and hello to Dan Burke. Somehow I see this as an upgrade even though Cairo was better last year and has a bit better OPS over his career (maybe thanks to 3 .900+ OPS seasons in COL).
Forecast: + or ++ hitters everywhere except CF and SS, and it's ++ defense at those spots. They're RRH heavy, with only 3B Walsh and RF Mercedes swinging lefty, so that's probably the way to pitch to them. Monty uses one of the more unusual pitching setups, with 6 starters in 3 tandem pairings. Yep, all 3 of their 20-game winners last year appeared in 40+ games without starting 1. Given their wealth of pitching talent I'm not sure it matters much how they set it up. Edgmer Gil was terrible last year and is sure to bounce back, as if they need more help. Maybe their short relief is slightly vulnerable, but outside of Zeke Sears, they may not need them much. 102-60
Player Watch: Lim has put together about the best first 3 seasons by a C you'll ever see (or have seen). HOF greatness?
groth911
SEA 44: 61-101
Season 44 In Brief: A rebuild year, and that was probably the bottom for awhile for FLA. They just couldn't score any runs. Jeurys Vargas (.251/31/95) was their best hitter, while Alexander Pickett was inexplicably bad (.222/22/88). Their team ERA was better than the AL average (4.39 to 4.64) and kept them above the mwr. Several of their relievers had better qualitative stats, but Al Montgomery was an effective workhorse (14-14, 3.88 in 234 IP). Mike Darr caught every single pitch of every single inning (all 1433.1 of 'em), and managed to drive in all of 32 runs.
Preseason: Some pretty significant FA additions in C Hack Palmer, RP Alfredo Osoria, CF/2B Paolo Ordonez, and SS's Hudson and Lin.
Forecast: The lineup will be better. Palmer will be a vast improvement over Darr's .157 BA /7 HR's. It's hard to overstate how much of a letdown Pickett's season was, but 1B David Andujar's was just as bad (.811 OPS in S43 to .705). Both will be back over .800 this year. Ordonez will add some more on-base to the top of the order...this lineup will be respectable. The rockstars of the staff are co-closers Calixte (2.51, 17 saves) and Ross (1.11 ERA, 11 saves). The rotation (Benevente, Owen, Wood and Alomar) is generally solid but can cough up the occasionally hairball of a season (witness Alomar's 3-16, 6.14 ERA last year). Much better lineup...barring a total staff meltdown they should pick up quite a few wins on last year. 79-83
Player Watch: Pickett for Comeback Player of the Year
bigmattr
SEA 44: 67-95
Season 44 In Brief: 4th rebuilding season, as they continued to jockey around those big names in the rotation. Dealt for Pat Jodie, made a great trade (imo) for David Seneca, and finally decided to trade Chris Osborne for the younger Nori Zhang. Touki Epstein was the highlight hitter at .386 OBP, 23 HR, 95 RBI, while Addison Jaime was Mr. Versatile for the staff (10 wins, 10 saves, 3.45 ERA in 117 IP).
Season 45 Preseason: Another big pitching deal, as they got Tony Arias for Julio Cano and Quinn Lewis. They filled the roster with budget FA's again.
Forecast: They now have 5 stars (Jodie, Arias, Jaime, Seneca and Epstein) and 2 more (Zhang and RP Byron Huff) at AAA. They'll improve a lot this year and should really be ready to rock it ion S45. 77-85
Player Watch: Arias was strictly a reliever for J'Ville but now gets a chance to start and stretch out to 150 IP.
Division Race:
1. Montgomery 102-60
2. Florida 79-83
3. New Orleans 77-85
4. Richmond 75-87
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