Our spring has been relatively injury free apart from
Ryan Braun(of course), who will miss opening night with a sprained ankle but should be ready for game two.
Jeremy Jeffress missed some time with elbow inflammation in spring and got shelled a bit, but should be fine and will be the opening day closer. As for
Gerardo Parra... his services were suddently interesting for a bunch of teams and we let him go after he demanded more than $1.5M.
We were an even 13-14 in spring, third in our division. The OSA has us at a -8.1WAR for the offseason by the way... There is another crisis underway as Ron Ronicke says neither
Taylor nor
Margot is ready for the majors... and we will start
Logan Schafer in center... this will be fun. The good news is... we have a ton of one year deals out there that we can unload for prospects at the deadline if needed... and a deep farm system anyways.
Owner Expectations:
Play .500 ball
Preseason Predictions:
74-88, 4th in the NL Central
Rotation:
| Name | Age | League | W-L | ERA | G | WHIP | K/9 | WAR | Status |
| Josh Johnson(R) | 32 | ML | 7-2 | 2.88 | 13GS | 1.05 | 6.3 | 0.9 | (SDP) |
| Cliff Lee(L) | 37 | ML | 8-7 | 4.83 | 19G/18GS | 1.31 | 7.0 | 0.7 | (PHI) |
| Jimmy Nelson(R) | 26 | ML | 7-7 | 4.52 | 24G/22GS | 1.50 | 8.0 | 1.3 | |
| Wily Peralta(R) | 26 | ML | 5-4 | 3.26 | 16GS | 1.27 | 8.4 | 1.9 | |
| Tyler Thornburg(R) | 27 | ML | 12-12 | 3.45 | 32G/31GS | 1.32 | 7.9 | 2.1 | |
| Taylor Jungmann(R) | 25 | AAA | 7-3 | 3.80 | 11GS | 1.18 | 6.5 | 0.5 | All stats MLB |
| Carlos Frias(R) | 26 | AAA | 13-10 | 3.66 | 30GS | 1.26 | 6.8 | 3.2 | All stats AAA |
| Jose Berrios(R) | 21 | AA | 10-8 | 3.31 | 30GS | 1.31 | 7.2 | 2.3 | All Stats AA(MIN) |
| Dylan Bundy(R) | 22 | AA | 5-4 | 2.87 | 21G/16GS | 1.21 | 7.4 | 2.3 | All Stats A |
| David Burkhalter(R) | 20 | A | 2-2 | 3.22 | 23G/3GS | 1.05 | 5.8 | 0.5 | All Stats A |
| Hunter Harvey(R) | 20 | A | 8-4 | 3.02 | 24G/21GS | 1.05 | 8.7 | 3.8 | All Stats A |
| Kodi Medeiros(R) | 19 | A | 3-3 | 3.13 | 30G/3GS | 1.42 | 6.3 | 0.2 | All Stats R |
| Jose Urias(L) | 19 | A | 5-4 | 4.24 | 28G/10GS | 1.56 | 7.4 | 1.1 | All Stats AA(LAD) |
The decision came down to experience and scouting reports and in the end,
Taylor Jungmann and
Carlos Frias, who we signed on a minor league deal with a $410k signing bonus, will be in the AAA rotation. Logan is not so optimistic about
Cliff Lee and predicts quick regression... and the radar gun shows something between 85-88 more often.. hopefully the control is still there. Looking at the scouting reports... the talent level is basically equal than in 2015... no real ace... no real dropoff.
We have a furry of pitching prospects now and hope some of them will be ready in 2017/2018.
Bundy's potential ratings are in free fall while
Hunter Harvey looks more or less like he will max out as a 2.5* guy, exactly what we got a ton of. Logan doesn't really buy into the OSA guys like
Burkhalter,
Medeiros and
Parsons but obviously likes
Berrios and
Urias.
Bullpen:
| Name | Age | League | W-L | ERA | G | WHIP | K/9 | SV | WAR | Status |
| Chris Hatcher(R) | 31 | ML | 7-1 | 3.22 | 51G | 1.15 | 9.7 | 5 | 0.4 | |
| Jeremy Jeffress(R) | 28 | ML | 7-3 | 2.30 | 65G | 1.19 | 9.2 | 38 | 0.6 | |
| Shawn Kelley(R) | 31 | ML | 1-1 | 3.95 | 18 | 1.68 | 11.2 | 0 | 0.1 | (SDP) |
| Corey Knebel(R) | 24 | ML | 0-1 | 3.74 | 20G | 1.38 | 11.6 | 0 | 0.1 | |
| Boone Logan(L) | 31 | ML | 7-5 | 2.40 | 67G | 1.00 | 12 | 14 | 0.9 | |
| Juan Nicasio(R) | 29 | ML | 3-1 | 4.04 | 60 | 1.30 | 9.5 | 3 | 1.2 | |
| Eric O'Flaherty(L) | 31 | ML | 4-1 | 2.00 | 74G | 1.21 | 8.6 | 1 | 0.9 | (OAK) |
| Michael Blazek(R) | 26 | AAA | 3-1 | 3.13 | 74G | 1.16 | 9.3 | 3 | 0.6 | All stats AAA |
| Chris Perez(R) | 30 | AAA | 5-3 | 4.43 | 68G | 1.34 | 9.1 | 2 | 0.3 | All stats AAA |
| Will Smith(L) | 26 | AAA | 5-6 | 4.22 | 69G | 1.67 | 7.6 | 0 | -0.4 | All stats MLB |
| Chris Withrow(R) | 27 | AAA | 0-1 | 3.22 | 31G | 0.91 | 10.2 | 2 | 0.6 | All stats AAA(LAD) |
It took us some work to get this bullpen together as
Withrow made compelling case for a righty job and
Juan Nicasio was the #6 starter in the depth chart this spring. Ron loves
Will Smith(not the actor), but I made the decision to keep
O'Flaherty up... track record and money my friend. Looking at the group talent wise, we should be vastly improved compared to 2015.
Catchers:
| Name | Age | League | Avg-HR-RBI | OPS | G | WAR | R | SB | Status |
| Jonathan Lucroy(R) | 29 | ML | .248-10-43 | .685 | 145 | 2.3 | 59 | 6/8 | |
| Martin Maldonado(R) | 29 | ML | .178-2-9 | .488 | 51G/26GS | -0.7 | 8 | 1/2 | |
| Tim Federowicz(R) | 28 | Waivers | .254-7-17 | .701 | 59G/43GS | 1.0 | 23 | 2/3 | All stats MLB |
We will go with
Maldonado and
Lucroy again and hope for a rebound out of
Lucroy here. Federowicz hit .233 while
Maldonado hit .353 in spring... that means however thad
Timmy is on waivers as he is out of options. He is not happy about that but if he passes though, we have a good third catcher in AAA... if not we will look on the market for one.
Infield:
| Name | Age | League | Avg-HR-RBI | OPS | G | WAR | R | SB | Status |
| 1B Kenny Vargas(S) | 25 | ML | .304-8-49 | .820 | 89G/84GS | 1.6 | 40 | 2/2 | (MIN) |
| 2B/SS/CF Hirokichi Inagaki(R) | 28 | ML | DNP | | | | | | |
| 3B Luis Jimenez(R) | 27 | ML | .297-10-27 | .888 | 72G/33GS | 1.4 | 17 | 0/0 | |
| 3B Mike Moustakas(L) | 27 | ML | .252-16-47 | .757 | 98G/92GS | 2.6 | 43 | 7/9 | |
| 3B Matt Reynolds(R) | 32 | ML | .196-14-30 | .703 | 128G/56GS | 1.1 | 34 | 1/1 | (SDP) |
| SS Luis Sardinas(S) | 22 | ML | .288-5-44 | .749 | 112G | 3.2 | 66 | 38/53 | |
| SS Jean Segura(R) | 25 | ML | .252-7-40 | .661 | 141G/116GS | 0.7 | 44 | 14/20 | |
| SS Hector Gomez(R) | 27 | Waivers | .235-4-19 | .605 | 97G/51GS | -0.6 | 20 | 3/5 | |
| 1B Greg Bird(L) | 22 | AAA | .294-25-90 | .899 | 138G | 4.1 | 85 | 2/3 | All stats AAA |
| SS Orlando Arcia(R) | 21 | AAA | .241-4-40 | .601 | 132G | 0.3 | 60 | 13/23 | All stats AA |
| SS Jorge Mateo(L) | 20 | AA | .250-1-14 | .626 | 63G | 1.1 | 24 | 20/21 | All stats A |
The infield is shaping up differently than expected here...
Vargas will start at first... check...
Inagaki at second... okaay...
Sardinas at short and
Reynolds and
Mous platooning at third base. However, I had to steal Ron a toy to get this infield, as he wanted to play
Hector Gomez at short... and I disagree to that...
Sardinas is our best leadoff hitter and middle infielder...
Gomez is on waivers, so let's hope he won't get claimed. I'm not sure about Inagaki and would've rather seen him play backup...
With
Bird and
Arcia in AAA and
Mateo in AA, we have some infield talent underway.
Bird hit .300-0-6 in spring but Logan says he will need another year and
Arcia struggled in AA and will platoon in AAA for now...
Outfield:
| Name | Age | League | Avg-HR-RBI | OPS | G | WAR | R | SB | Status |
| LF/RF Ryan Braun(R) | 31 | ML | .279-23-47 | .865 | 110G | 3.5 | 65 | 12/14 | |
| LF Khris Davis(R) | 27 | ML | .251-17-75 | .697 | 151G/138GS | 1.4 | 65 | 2/5 | (MIL/NYM) |
| CF Logan Schafer(L) | 28 | ML | .222-4-21 | .613 | 116G/46GS | -0.0 | 21 | 5/7 | (MIL/NYM) |
| OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis(L) | 28 | ML | .261-3-28 | .694 | 61G/48GS | 0.6 | 26 | 3/4 | All Stats AAA |
| OF Ryan Kalish(L) | 27 | AAA | .302-3-9 | .850 | 44G/10GS | 0.6 | 11 | 5/6 | All Stats MLB |
| LF Tyrone Taylor(L) | 21 | AAA | .254-7-28 | .662 | 112G/111GS | 1.4 | 57 | 10/19 | All Stats AA |
| CF Manuel Margot(L) | 21 | AAA | -277-5-60 | .740 | 93G/91GS | 2.2 | 68 | 17/24 | All Stats A |
| RF Clint Coulter(L) | 22 | AAA | .282-13-61 | .778 | 118G/92GS | 1.8 | 54 | 5/8 | All Stats AA |
| CF Monte Harrison(R) | 20 | AA | .293-11-67 | .796 | 124GS | 2.9 | 81 | 16/21 | All Stats A |
| RF Mike Papi(R) | 23 | AA | .265-9-63 | .749 | 128GS | 2.7 | 69 | 2/3 | All Stats A |
| CF Dazmon Cameron(R) | 19 | A | .234-2-21 | .601 | 56GS | 0.6 | 22 | 13/21 | All Stats R |
This is a mess and I attribute this one to mysely and my front office. We are all very confident that either
Taylor or
Margot is ready to play in center this season, but reality on the field is different.
Margot batted .111 in spring and
Taylor .313-2-4 in 35PA's... If this
Schafer thing doesn't work out... I'll have to steal another toy from Ronnie...
On the prospect side, we have something cooking in the outfield, more than we need NOW... however if
Braun continues to go down with random injuries, we will need all of those guys soon.
Kirk Nieuwenhuis of all guys will be the backup guy in the outfield... no use to stash a prospect for that job...
So, that the roster... onwards to opening week...