Quote:
Originally Posted by Archelirion
That tie breaker was just... appalling. To have it so close. I guess it's why we love the game and the sport though - for the stories. I'm sure a Crusader fan would've talked about it for years ("hey, remember that tiebreak game back in '53? My heart was in my mouth, the relief I felt when that line drive was caught... Hm? Yeah that WAS the year we got routed by OKC but we're not gonna talk about that").
Playoffs next year!!
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Yeah, maybe next year!
Side note: I caught a severe case of the man flu and might only have hours left. I find it hard to concentrate, so any gross nonsense below is PERHAPS owed to that.
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Some things happened by themselves, for example the final year of Wheats’ contract had been a vesting option, but triggered since he had pitched at least 140 innings despite early injury woes. So that was another $3.5M for him.
Let’s then talk about the upcoming free agents, several of whom were mid-season additions that totally moved the team forward. Victor Scott had a 3.52 ERA for the Falcons, and just mildly changed that up to pitch to a 5.32 ERA with the Coons. Raul Cornejo had a 3.61 ERA, but somehow I remembered nothing but fireworks from him. Jordan Marroguin shaved 40 points off his batting average, and almost 140 points off his slugging percentage after being acquired from the Condors. They could all go where the pepper grew…
Vic Flores was generally solid as a mostly situational lefty in the pen, and Kevin Hitchcock was a steady right-handed reliever, even though the ERA was occasionally wonky. Travis Malkus had started well in the first half, but the second half was an endless slump for him and he ended up batting only .245/.344/.343, sending the Raccoons back to the drawing board for a leadoff batter.
The only one in this group of six that might get resigned was Hitchcock, but Scott would get an arbitration offer considering he was eligible for a compensation draft pick.
There were also six arbitration cases, including two more left-handers in Brett Lillis jr. and Eloy Sencion. The former had missed almost the entire season with injury and was wonky when he was around, and the latter had plunged to the depths of Ham Lake last year when he couldn’t buy a strike (he posted an 8.04 ERA for the Coons that year in between 2.73 and 3.13 marks in ’51 and ’53 respectively), but then was rolled back onto the roster largely due to the Lillis injury and managed to draw little to no ire while making 52 appearances the rest of the way. Truth be told, those two were probably going to be the left-handers in the pen anyway going forward, with Eric Reese a close third, so why make much fuss about arbitration. Only on one-year deals, though. We’re not a charity.
The other four were batters. Chris Gowin did good, even hitting better than as a Falcon; Ed Crispin hit above the league in average in OPS, but needed a new righty partner for a third base platoon; Mikio Suzuki I don’t know why we keep dragging along on the roster, but he’s a nice defensive outfielder anyway; and Pucks of course broke out quite formidably, bashing .312/.374/.508 with 26 homers, 27 stolen bases, and was an All Star for the first time at age 25, though this was his fourth season in the majors. All of these would be retained, even though Suzuki was 30, wouldn’t get any better, and I just said we’re not a charity.
Also, what the heck do I know, maybe Taki needs a friend to talk Japan things with. Can’t afford to make Taki sad.
In miscellaneous administrative proceedings, the Raccoons waived and designated Oscar Rivera for assignment – we needed a roster spot on the 40-man for Raffy de la Cruz, and a badly fielding right-handed outfielder that had just batted 4-for-40 against mostly lefty opposition seemed like a cut choice to axe. Rivera was batting .225/.319/.369 across three seasons and nearly 300 PA. He was 28. He was done here.
Binning Rivera leaves Eloy Sencion and outfield prospect Trent Brassfield as returns for a series of failed trades with the Federal League the last few years. Rivera and Sencion, next to Willie Cruz, came from Denver in a trade mostly for Dave Hils. Cruz sucked as closer and was flung to the Stars with Bubba Wolinsky (soon to be dismantled by injury) and Juan Mercado for the half-season crushing disappointment that was Juan del Toro, who was then dumped onto the Cyclones for Brassfield in ’52. Brassfield batted .270/.364/.375 for the Ham Lake Panthers as a 20-year-old this year and will move up to AAA in 2054, but we don’t know yet whether that will be at the start of the season. In the end, he’s another right-handed outfielder that is a rather indifferent defender, but at least it looks like he’ll be able to whack the baseball.
Since we brought up Raffy already, he’ll miss the start of the season and with a full rehab run in AAA after recovery from Tommy John surgery will probably only rejoin the team in late May or early June. So a starting pitcher is definitely on the offseason shopping list, because we have seen how far we can get with just Taki, Wheats, and the mercy of the baseball gods. That very much includes Salcido, who pitched to ERA’s of 2.73 and 2.76 in April and May this year, then posted marks over four in each month thereafter, including going 0-2 with a 11.25 ERA in October. Make no mistake – he was in the doghouse now.
Brobeck was doing Brobeck things… if he didn’t walk so many batters (4.9/9 this year, and even more in AAA) he might be a good option to sign to a longer deal, especially since he was Jonny Toner Reborn at the plate. He hit .367/.404/.429 this year, with 8 RBI. Yes, small sample size. For his career? .357/.378/.500 with 3 HR, 16 RBI, in 112 at-bats.
He was also a switch-hitter, although better against righty pitchers. Pat Degenhardt had opined that he could probably hold down a corner on the infield. Should Brobeck make the roster, we might engage in some third base shenanigans with him after all, f.e. on the two days that were not before or after his start on the mound.
At least the pitching problems were on paper solvable. Some other things were not solvable. For example, Tony Lopez would be a $4M millstone around our neck this year, occupying a roster spot to hit for a .600 OPS – and even getting it that far up had required some decent rally in the last few months: .877 in August and .798 in September. At that point, of course, he was only a bit player anymore, thanks to four months of .553 or worse to begin the season.
The backup infield spots were very much up in the air at this point. Dave Blackshire had had his moments. Matt Knight had mostly subbed well when Lonzo was on the DL. Naughty Joe had been dismal. Add Suzuki and Lopez to that mix, plus whoever emerges as backup catcher from that particular morass, and we have a bench assembled that you’d rather not go to. Definitely work to do here!