Jackson Mississippi Moonshinersjgsolari3
SEA 44: 101-61, Won Division, advanced to World Series and lost to Montgomery
Season 44 In Brief: 3rd straight 99+ win season and a trip to the WS. Pitching was the meal ticket (3.65 ERA - 3rd in NL) with many contributors, but the rarity was William Lui's 18 wins and 18 saves (2.22 ERA in 117 IP). Their 760 runs placed 7th, with (as usual) Pep Walsh (.328/37/120...don't look now but he's got a good shot at 600 HR's) leading the way.
Season 45 Preseason: Brought back Carlos Polonia and Jecksson Bailey for one more roundup...they're both declining fast but can still draw a walk. Also brought back Reynaldo Jose for what will be the minimum to pinch hit. Good study in spending minimal $ to get the last ounce of productivity out of aging stars (reminiscent of the Billy Beane-Dave Justice scene in Moneyball: "We got a problem, David?"). Re-signed older pitchers Osoria and Simpson - both still effective. Relative splurge on the "youngster" (32) Sean Cameron. Promoted Vic Cisnero (S42 IFA), who is a William Lui starter kit without the control.
Forecast: More than any team in Hobbs, Jackson relies on the base on balls as its primary offensive weapon. With an aging lineup and declining power ratings (they did hit HR's at the NL average rate last year), it's critical that their batting eye guys (Polonia, Bosell, Bailey, Moreno) collect those walks in front of Walsh and their new power threat Cameron. Still, their runs scored dropped quite a bit amid a league-wide offensive explosion last year, and I think more is in store. They typically go with a 4-man rotation and rely on the deep relief corps from inning 5 on. Possible warning light: a lot of these relievers (Cisnero, Simpson, Cooper) have pretty low control ratings...if they all have control explosion seasons at the same time there could be some slippage. All-in-all, an excellently constructed team with some risks...minor drop to 95-67.
Player Watch: I'm fascinated with middle relievers and how to get the best use out of them. Can William Lui get a 20/20 (wins/saves)?
bobbyj7
SEA 44: 91-71, Wild Card, lost to San Francisco in Play-In
Season 44 In Brief: 79, 82, 85, 91 - wins the last 4 seasons. It's a good trend. Damian Li (.292/43/111, 9 walks in 417 PA's) may swing at everything, but he hit;s 'em a long way often. Miguel Juarez paced the staff (12-10, 2.63 ERA in 178 IP).
Season 45 Preseason: Signed 1B Dario Chong, RP Felipe Garza, and SS Bryant Gavin in FA. Promoted 3B Furio Ulrich (S40 #92 overall), P Aramis Ontiveros (S41 #39 overall), P Domingo Florimon (S39 #224 overall).
Forecast: Kind of an unconventional attack for a 90-win team - bunch of free swingers who don't walk much. But they make up for it with reat contact, so their OBP is right around the NL average. They spread around the power with 8-9 players hitting 10-25 HR's (Li is likely to be back in that group this year after his career-to-date season). Starters 2-4 (Miller, Diaz, Escobar) are pretty reliable, and like most teams, S5 is a grab bag. With a couple of exceptions - Ozzie Martin and now Felipe Garza - once you get into San Juan's bullpen it's possible pinball territory. This team looks like it's hitting close to its potential - around 90 wins. No reason to think they'll slip any. Only question is can they hit a hot streak for the playoffs? 90-62.
Player Watch: Omir Stowers' AB's have fallen off the last 2 seasons as Li has taken over more at C, and there are only so many DH opportunities in the NL. Why not RF?
pimpbotlove
SEA 44: 86-76
Season 44 In Brief: 61, 71, 86 - some dramatic improvement in the win column for Houston. The Season 44 jump was keyed by 3 rookies: 2B Fred Buckel (S40 #14 - .293, 26 HR), SP Diego Alomar (S40 IFA - 14-8, 3.05 ERA in 221 IP), and SP Jocko Reimold (S39 #22 - 3.06 ERA in 141 IP). On the season they were 9th in pitching and 11th in runs scored.
Season 45 Preseason: Needing power (11th in HR), they gambled on Hong-Chih Park to the tune of 5 years, $34MM. I'm not bullish on this signing; Park hits when he's on the field, but hasn't managed 400 AB's since Season 40. 30 year-old power hitters don't improve, and each injury bites another chunk out of ratings. I like the signings of RP's Toby Sosa and Corban Myles much better; perhaps a bit lavish for very short relievers, but 2 quality arms nonetheless. They also found 1 more pitcher to promote - Bob Murton (S40 # 58).
Forecast: On the way up with a roster full of young talent. If Park can stay healthy I think he'll have a big year - Houston's lineup is largely a contact/on-base approach and he'll have mega-RBI opps. If Park can't stay on the field they could turn to S43 IFA Danry Montero. He's a switch-hitting, slick-fielding 3B with big power but could use a year a AAA to polish up the contact skills. They look like they're setting up a 4-man rotation of Alomar, Reimold, Lon Loman and Ken Diaz, followed by a horde of talented short relievers in a 13-man staff. That should be pretty strong if they can get enough innings; if not they have Don Tartemella (S41 #7) and Paul Parker (S39 #49) at AAA. The more I look at this team the more I like it, even with the long-odds bet on Park. 92-70.
Player Watch: I think the key guy is the prospect Montero; if Park goes down, he could be the difference between making or missing the playoffs.
SEA 44: 75-87
Season 44 In Brief: Finally showed some signs of life behind decent performances from bargain bin FA's like Jenry Zumaya , Phil Dugan and Mark Cromer (12-8, 2.91 ERA). Also got varying degrees of production from 6 rookies: C Treadway, SS Guapo, LF Thompson, 3B Martin, and RP's Uribe and Abraham.
Season 45 Preseason: Got 7 members of the staff either on the last day of FA or during Spring Training. Management confirms we will see S43 IFA Peaches Eierman, as well as S40 #1 overall Eugene Blake, at the earliest possibility to preserve 4 seasons of min salary.
Forecast: Now that they've moved on from the expansive park in OKC to a more neutral stadium, the pitching numbers are going to balloon. The offense will have to produce more, and with Eierman coming up and a quality bat in RF with Phil Kim (avert your eyes when the ball is hit to him), they should be OK. Somewhere in the old folks' home of a staff they've put together, 2 or 3 guys will cobble together surprise seasons. Perhaps a bit optimistic, but I'm saying .500 - 81-81.
Player Watch: Eierman should be a ROY contender, and his ratings will jump during the course of the season.
Division Race:
1. Jackson 96-67
2. Houston 92-70
3. San Juan 90-72
4. Austin 81-81
No comments:
Post a Comment