[illeracula]

The Virginia Beach Surf Dawgs were an expansion club in 2017 and have struggled to find their footing. This their 3rd year in the league is quite possible going to be their worse. After losing 107 games in 2017, the Surf Dawgs lost 118 in 2018 and so far this year they are on pace to lose over 120! They are struggling with the bat (team .224 average) and are on the way to breaking ERA records (team 6.50 ERA). Owner Dan Foster has the GM's hands tied with a $86,000,000 budget (19th in the league) and a payroll of only $65,115,000 (18th), and the worse part of it all is he is a very controlling owner. That doesn't give much hope to the fans of the Surf Dawgs, nor the GM Brill Brown and Manager Lee Jackson.

Lee Jackson returns to managing this year, after spending the past 4 years as the bench coach in Washington. He managed the Newark Millers in 2013 and 2014, and has a career record of 100-154 (.394). He believes that this team can win games, and based on the leagues worst attendance numbers he may be the only one.

The Surf Dawgs have some hope in the future, but it won't be for a few years. They have what is rated teh 10th best minor league system, with 2 of the top 20 prospects. At #14 they have 20-year old Wayne Weaver a 5-star 5-tool propsect is playing in A-Ball, during his second year in pro-ball (1st Round pick in 2018). And at #17 Henry Hammer is 19-years old and playing A-ball in his 2nd year in pro-ball (2nd Round pick in 2018). Both players are struggling so far this season, but have bright futures and give the fans in Virginia Beach something to look forward to.

For the time being they fans of Virginia Beach will have to root for 2 grossly overpaid talents, Kenny Lee and Jose Villa. Both players signed huge deals in 2017 to be the big draws in Virginia Beach and both haven't done what was expected of them. Kenny Lee was coming off a career year in 2016 where he hit .304-18-72. then he signed a 6 year / $112,800,000 contract and hasn't come close to those numbers again. His best year was in 2017 where he put up .281-16-81, and since then he has fallen off the map. At 33-years old the Surf Dawgs expected much more from him. This season he is off to a slow start .230-4-12 and is currently sitting on the DL.

Jose Villa signed a 7 year / $99,600,000 deal to play with the Surf Dawgs, making the most of a career season in Annapolis (15-12 3.92). Villa had a solid year in 2017 12-14 3.88, then last year couldn't get any wins thanks to 2.4 runs per game. Villa went 6-21 5.14. He is off to another disappointing season this year (2-4 5.59 10 GS), but its hard to blame him.

The only positive this team has going for them is their bullpen, lead by closer Rudy Richards. Rudy has 7 saves and has posted a 1.17 ERA so far this season. Rudy came over in a trade before the season this year and has been very impressive. He is up for arbitration next season, so it will be interesting to see how the Surf Dawgs handle him and his contract.

This team is just in bad shape. There are 2 free-agents out there that could help this team, but they are are afraid to dish out any kind of money. Till then they will be last in hitting and last in pitching, but something needs to be done or last seasons 118 losses will look like a good season...