OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - FABL - Cleveland Foresters Mediocrity at its worst

DD Martin · 05-22-2020, 03:49 PM

Forester Off-Season Continues

The off-season continued in Cleveland and it was a dark snowy sort of time. The team was not viewed to be a contending group primarily because of its pitching staff. Changes were made at the coaching position early in the off-season with hopes that it will translate on the field. Still it was a fairly quiet time for the Forester's

The Rule 5 draft came and went. It was fairly quiet but we did pick up a couple of pitchers to take a flyer on. Right now it is basically about trying to find that diamond in the rough. So we took a chance on two.

LHP Tom Goldsborough went 14-14 with a 4.53 at AA Atlanta in the Washington organization. Nothing spectacular but he does have 5 pitches in his arsenal, but our scout feels that unless he can control is walks, he will likely not be on the major league team next season. At age 27, one of the older rule 5 players we have taken, it really is a make good audition for him. If he doesn't pan out he will likely be offered back to Washington.

LHP Jim Morales was also taken in the rule 5 draft. He is 26 years old and has 4 solid pitches. Unlike Goldsborough, Morales has excellent command, but at best is though of as a reliever. Which isn't a bad thing, as we need quality relievers too. Morales was also taken from the sleeping Washington franchise.

On the down side of the rule 5 is when you lose a player that you once had high hopes for. Unfortunately we thought that nobody would want to take a chance on him because of his injury. Yes we had another starting pitcher go down last year and he was promising. He had just turned 23 and since he is out realistically until August, if everything breaks right in his rehab, we thought he would go unnoticed. Who am I talking about?

SP Rick Walther who ruptured his UCL on the 4th of July in a start with Cincinnati. While young he had pitched roughly a full season at Cincinnati and was the stablemate of our other SP Karl Johnson . Over the course of the 2nd half of 29 and 1st half of 1930 season's Walther was 14-2 with a 2.33 ERA in 29 starts. He was not greeted well in spring training last year by opposing hitters, but seemed to be figuring it out pretty well. Losing him was a real blunder on my part (essentially I forgot he was unprotected on the DL) but is a big pick up for St. Louis who desperately needs all the help they can get.

The other player lost was once a member of the big league club in C Jake Stanley age 28. Jake was our #3 catcher in the organization and is a hugely successful clubhouse leader. He will make a great backup catcher for the NY Stars. He showed surprising power last year in AAA Cincinnati with 15 home runs, but we felt that was more a mirage than something that would continue on, especially in the big leagues. That is probably locker room bulletin board material for Jake, but we wish him good luck. He was a very solid professional.

A big trade and unhappy fans
Looking around our team and trying to figure out what if anything we could do to add to our team for the future, we decided to shop around a player who I never really thought I would trade, LF Joe Perret. Joe will turn 29 during the season and while he has been very good, injuries have been an issue. The last 2 seasons his end of the season had been derailed both times by different ailments. Maybe the rigors of the OF were showing up. Joe wasn't a great fielder but with his bat go away with some rough innings in LF. He wasn't horrible, but he was far from average as well. His age and the fact that we had Moxie Pidgeon and Mike Williams able to man the corner OF spots made it easier.

If we had kept Perret we would have ended up trying an experiment between Pidgeon, Williams, Bobby Allen, Perret and whoever emerges as a top candidate for CF. With Brown and Perret splitting time at 1st base and then sharing some time in the OF, we would have targeted around 125 games for each player in that 5 player mix. Perret had only 1 regular season game at 1B last year but did get some time in the spring as we were looking to see if he could handle 1st better. In the end we had talks with several teams, primarily the NY Gothams and Chicago Cougars who are both front runners for their league titles.

In the end we choose New York's deal as it was involving more young prospects than what Chicago was willing to deal.

LHSP Dean Astle (age 21) who currently sits at our #8 prospect (#72 overall) in our organization. Astle fits the needs of a future SP likely a couple of seasons down the line. Astle mixes 3 pitches and is searching for a 2nd swing and miss pitch that will likely elevate his effectiveness. He tends to induce a large amount of groundballs and needs a solid defense behind him. He will start the year in Class A Reading, which he honestly isn't thrilled about but will likely earn a quick promotion to AA Portland by the end of May if all goes well. We'd like to get him about 20 AA starts this season and then when we go to spring see if he is ready for AAA after viewing him with the big league club. We feel the future is bright for Dean.

2B John Turner (age 23) ranks as our #4 prospect (#60 overall) and was given a long look in spring training to break camp with the big league club. He spent the 1930 season with the Gotham's AAA Toledo club where he hit 299/394/811 and profiles as an excellent defender and something that Cleveland really hasn't had.....a lead-off hitter. He will start in AAA Cincinnati as the Foresters have several solid 2B (Bob Baker and Russ Franklin) on the big league club, but look for him to come up during the 2nd half of the season either through injury or player movement. The Foresters also have young 21 year-old 2B Brooks Meeks that they are very high on as well.

The final player in the trade was 23-year-old RHSP Ben Turner who is ranked 12th (#114 overall) in the Forester's system. Turner has pitched in parts of the last 2 seasons in AA and will start there this season with Portland. Much like Astle, the Forester's would like to move Turner up to AAA by early June and see how he does there. Ideally Turner would be ready for opening day next season in the Forester's rotation.

So we traded one of the most popular players of the last half decade, who hit over 350 with 60 HR and almost 300 RBI's in the last 4 seasons for no one that would help this year's club. But again we were looking to the future, but the fans want a winner now. I understand the frustration of the fans, but hopefully they will give these guys a chance to mature and if all goes well we could see all 3 in Forester Green within the next 2-3 seasons.

Spring Training is up next

05-22-2020, 03:49 PM	#55
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,022	Forester Off-Season Continues The off-season continued in Cleveland and it was a dark snowy sort of time. The team was not viewed to be a contending group primarily because of its pitching staff. Changes were made at the coaching position early in the off-season with hopes that it will translate on the field. Still it was a fairly quiet time for the Forester's The Rule 5 draft came and went. It was fairly quiet but we did pick up a couple of pitchers to take a flyer on. Right now it is basically about trying to find that diamond in the rough. So we took a chance on two. LHP Tom Goldsborough went 14-14 with a 4.53 at AA Atlanta in the Washington organization. Nothing spectacular but he does have 5 pitches in his arsenal, but our scout feels that unless he can control is walks, he will likely not be on the major league team next season. At age 27, one of the older rule 5 players we have taken, it really is a make good audition for him. If he doesn't pan out he will likely be offered back to Washington. LHP Jim Morales was also taken in the rule 5 draft. He is 26 years old and has 4 solid pitches. Unlike Goldsborough, Morales has excellent command, but at best is though of as a reliever. Which isn't a bad thing, as we need quality relievers too. Morales was also taken from the sleeping Washington franchise. On the down side of the rule 5 is when you lose a player that you once had high hopes for. Unfortunately we thought that nobody would want to take a chance on him because of his injury. Yes we had another starting pitcher go down last year and he was promising. He had just turned 23 and since he is out realistically until August, if everything breaks right in his rehab, we thought he would go unnoticed. Who am I talking about? SP Rick Walther who ruptured his UCL on the 4th of July in a start with Cincinnati. While young he had pitched roughly a full season at Cincinnati and was the stablemate of our other SP Karl Johnson . Over the course of the 2nd half of 29 and 1st half of 1930 season's Walther was 14-2 with a 2.33 ERA in 29 starts. He was not greeted well in spring training last year by opposing hitters, but seemed to be figuring it out pretty well. Losing him was a real blunder on my part (essentially I forgot he was unprotected on the DL) but is a big pick up for St. Louis who desperately needs all the help they can get. The other player lost was once a member of the big league club in C Jake Stanley age 28. Jake was our #3 catcher in the organization and is a hugely successful clubhouse leader. He will make a great backup catcher for the NY Stars. He showed surprising power last year in AAA Cincinnati with 15 home runs, but we felt that was more a mirage than something that would continue on, especially in the big leagues. That is probably locker room bulletin board material for Jake, but we wish him good luck. He was a very solid professional. A big trade and unhappy fans Looking around our team and trying to figure out what if anything we could do to add to our team for the future, we decided to shop around a player who I never really thought I would trade, LF Joe Perret. Joe will turn 29 during the season and while he has been very good, injuries have been an issue. The last 2 seasons his end of the season had been derailed both times by different ailments. Maybe the rigors of the OF were showing up. Joe wasn't a great fielder but with his bat go away with some rough innings in LF. He wasn't horrible, but he was far from average as well. His age and the fact that we had Moxie Pidgeon and Mike Williams able to man the corner OF spots made it easier. If we had kept Perret we would have ended up trying an experiment between Pidgeon, Williams, Bobby Allen, Perret and whoever emerges as a top candidate for CF. With Brown and Perret splitting time at 1st base and then sharing some time in the OF, we would have targeted around 125 games for each player in that 5 player mix. Perret had only 1 regular season game at 1B last year but did get some time in the spring as we were looking to see if he could handle 1st better. In the end we had talks with several teams, primarily the NY Gothams and Chicago Cougars who are both front runners for their league titles. In the end we choose New York's deal as it was involving more young prospects than what Chicago was willing to deal. LHSP Dean Astle (age 21) who currently sits at our #8 prospect (#72 overall) in our organization. Astle fits the needs of a future SP likely a couple of seasons down the line. Astle mixes 3 pitches and is searching for a 2nd swing and miss pitch that will likely elevate his effectiveness. He tends to induce a large amount of groundballs and needs a solid defense behind him. He will start the year in Class A Reading, which he honestly isn't thrilled about but will likely earn a quick promotion to AA Portland by the end of May if all goes well. We'd like to get him about 20 AA starts this season and then when we go to spring see if he is ready for AAA after viewing him with the big league club. We feel the future is bright for Dean. 2B John Turner (age 23) ranks as our #4 prospect (#60 overall) and was given a long look in spring training to break camp with the big league club. He spent the 1930 season with the Gotham's AAA Toledo club where he hit 299/394/811 and profiles as an excellent defender and something that Cleveland really hasn't had.....a lead-off hitter. He will start in AAA Cincinnati as the Foresters have several solid 2B (Bob Baker and Russ Franklin) on the big league club, but look for him to come up during the 2nd half of the season either through injury or player movement. The Foresters also have young 21 year-old 2B Brooks Meeks that they are very high on as well. The final player in the trade was 23-year-old RHSP Ben Turner who is ranked 12th (#114 overall) in the Forester's system. Turner has pitched in parts of the last 2 seasons in AA and will start there this season with Portland. Much like Astle, the Forester's would like to move Turner up to AAA by early June and see how he does there. Ideally Turner would be ready for opening day next season in the Forester's rotation. So we traded one of the most popular players of the last half decade, who hit over 350 with 60 HR and almost 300 RBI's in the last 4 seasons for no one that would help this year's club. But again we were looking to the future, but the fans want a winner now. I understand the frustration of the fans, but hopefully they will give these guys a chance to mature and if all goes well we could see all 3 in Forester Green within the next 2-3 seasons. Spring Training is up next