[BadluckinOOTP]

27 year old John Barber was the starter at the hot corner last year, and after some promising trials in '24 and '25, his first shot at being the starter all year fell a bit flat. Barber hit .279/.338/.360 last year with slightly above average defense. My scout is still optimistic about him, and I do think if he gets another shot at third, his offensive numbers will improve.

Herb Martin (28) can play 1st and 3rd, and he saw 30 starts at 1st before Trowbridge took over. He doesn't have much thump in his bat which makes his .294 average last year pretty empty. A corner infielder with no power, even in 1927 doesn't get you very far.

Charlie Stephens was the Miners' third basement from '21-25 and was above average each year before he lost his starting job to Barber last year. Stephens hit .344/.414/.475 in 1924, and was a 6 win player. He fell to a WAR of 3.2 in '25, and then was regulated to a reserve role, OPS'ing .755 (right at league average) in 121 PA's. The 30 year old has a nice pedigree and will be battling Barber for the spot this spring.

My scouts like 24 year old Johnny Allen who split time between AA and AAA last year. He shows a nice eye and his sure handed at third, even if his range seems to be limited. He'll man the hot corner for AAA St. Paul this season.

Sam Vasiliou turns 23 in a month and had an OBP of .393 in 107 at bats for the A ball Gary Steelmen, my scout thinks nothing of him, but it was nice to have someone with even passable numbers down in A ball (where Gary went 29-111)

Conclusion: It's odd that the previous GM (or AI) sat Stephens after he was solid for quite a few years. Barber didn't exactly rip the starting spot away from him, so they will battle it out this spring for the hot corner, and I'd guess Stephens will probably come out on top.