[jksander]

January 2, 1907: There will be no new additions to the Hall of Fame this season, but Pablo Laureano nearly got through in his second year, with 74.2% of the votes. Laureano played in Minneapolis from 1888 through 1894, then played in Huntington (1895), Louisville (1896-98) and then bounced from Detroit to Bloomington and then Lexington and finally Evansville before retiring in October of 1981. He had a 250-269 career record, a 2.59 ERA and 518 strikeouts, with a 1.12 WHIP and .273 BAPIP, accounting for 68.6 career WAR. I suspect he’ll make it over the hump eventually, though if he doesn’t it will likely be because he played for so many teams over the years he never managed to build a national reputation (though his 35-14 record and Pitcher of the Year win for Minneapolis in 1892 will always be remembered there). He’s one of those guys who had a strong flame for seven years or so and then faded quietly.

January 29, 1907: In a bid to bring more fans in this season to see the new-and-improved Rivermen, we’re going to be selling tickets for 10 cents in the month of April! Come out and see what’s happening on the riverfront here in Louisville as we fight to challenge the big dogs in this league.

February 3, 1907: I’ve allowed my coaches to control our development plans for the offseason, and for the most part it’s been business as usual with no big shocking improvements. But in the most recent round of updates we had three players who showed success. Catcher Kevin Sovie (AA) picked up some decent ability at first base, while Jeremy Smith at the major league level, improved his defensive ability in right field, though he remains the most competent at second base and in left field. At age 34, however, he remains one of our most intelligent, hardest working players. First baseman Neal Castro (AAA) has added the ability to play left field to his repetoire, to go with first and third base, though at age 27 his chances of making the major league roster are growing slimmer by the day. He’s a sparkplug-type at AAA, but lacks the overall skill to make the jump at the current moment.

February 25, 1907: Spring training officially starts today! We’ll start the regular season off on April 2 with a three-game trip to Owensboro, followed by three games against Huntington on the road, before we finally get to have our home opening series against Pittsburgh from April 8-10.

March 29, 1907: In the spring season we put together a 16-14 record in training games, placing second behind the Cincinnati Continentals (17-13) in games that don’t officially count. Our bullpen looks incredible, and Cameron McClain looks to be the spark we need to put our starting rotation into the upper reaches of the league. Brad Burgess hit .482 through 59 plate appearances, with two doubles and nine homers as he batted in 22 runs, showing he was only getting started last year ... bring it on! This league can stand some offensive fireworks to go with what’s primarily been a pitcher focused game. We also are a lot faster on the basepaths this year; Michael Levine hit .283 and stole 12 bases in 19 attempts, while Jeremy Smith stole 10 in 14 tries. We’re still finalizing the opening day roster, but expectations are definitely higher than they were at this time last year.

April 2, 1907: We’ve officially got our opening day rosters set and ready to go! In the recent BNN prospect updates, left fielder Ben Morris is now ranked 2nd overall, and will be making his major league debut this season! First baseman Cameron Jackson (AA, #30), third baseman Jesus de la Torre (AAA, #83) and right handed reliever Danny Suarez (AAA, #124) are our next highest-rated prospects overall. Our only major injury at the moment is to Chris Hughes, who strained a muscle in his ribcage and will be day to day for around a month. We’re going to have him on the IL, but should return to the infield by May.

Starting Lineup (con / gap / pwr / eye / avd / def)*
C - Mike Andreen, 34 ... 50/45/50/40/60/60
1B - Michael Levine, 37 ... 65/50/50/50/70
2B - Gustavo Quinones, 35 ... 65/45/55/45/80/60
3B - Sam Leonard, 31 ... 65/45/45/45/80/65
SS - Brad Burgess, 21 ... 40/50/80/50/30/80
LF - Ben Morris, 24 ... 75/75/45/55/80/70
CF - Trent Hall, 23 ... 45/45/80/40/45/80
RF - Jeremy Smith, 34 ... 60/70/50/50/70/35

Bench
C - Josue Grimaldo, 34 ... 55/45/50/45/75/45
C - Ron Moseley, 31 ... 60/45/50/50/75/50
1B - David Abson, 30 ... 65/45/50/45/75/55
1B - Jake Bertz, 27 ... 70/45/50/45/80/35
1B - Tony Juarez, 35 ... 55/55/50/45/65/35
1B - Edward Quiroz, 32 ... 50/50/50/40/55/40
1B - Danny Van Sickle, 34 ... 60/40/45/50/75/25
2B - Bobby Johnson, 31 ... 70/45/45/50/80/70
2B - Evan Walker, 32 ... 60/45/50/50/70/65
3B - Ryan Kats, 33 ... 60/45/40/45/80/30
RF - Travis Linden, 31 ... 70/45/45/50/80/50
INJ (2B) - Chris Hughes, 32 ... 60/65/50/50/70/50

Rotation (Stuff / Mov / Ctrl / Sta / Hld / Def)*
1 - Cameron McClain, 31 ... 55/70/65/55/55/45
2 - Sean Impagliazzo, 23 ... 55/70/45/65/65/55
3 - Mike Morris, 27 ... 40/65/50/50/40/65

Bullpen
Stopper - J.R. Potter, 32 ... 75/70/45/30/55/50
Middle - Chris Moore, 30 ... 50/60/35/30/60/35
Middle - Jimmy McClorey, 28 ... 55/55/40/30/80/40
Long - Kyle Fargo, 29 ... 40/65/50/55/70/45
Long - Tim Miller, 36 ... 35/60/40/50/75/45

* Defense rating only at key position