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Old 02-14-2015, 10:47 PM   #1
coljesep
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: 'Merica
Posts: 566
WBH - Grand Championship Preview

The following preview was written by the WBH team representative.

League Website: World Baseball Hierarchy

You can check out the WBH team by visiting: Home Page

This roster was built with one philosophy in mind: Get the biggest bang for the buck. 15 of my 25 players make $550,000. The on-field product doesn’t necessarily adhere to one style of play, it just has as much talent as I could possibly fit under a $90 mil cap.

With that in mind, the original incarnation of this roster had about $60 mil in salary and I was fairly happy with that. I then reevaluated what my team needed and how I could make that happen.

This team has a ton of power but I was concerned about OBP at the top of the lineup. Out went power-only players and in came Keith Thompson for $21 mil. Also, I couldn’t find a good deal at SS so I originally chose a gloveman. With the extra money, I splurged on António Vega. He’s a good all-around option if you have the money, which I did. Those two forced me to make a couple small tweaks and I settled in with a payroll of $89.45 mil.

Given all of the power bats on the roster, I wanted to pick a stadium that was homer-friendly, thus the choice of The Park Formerly Known as the Ballpark at Arlington.

I think this team has quite a bit of potential but I won’t know for sure until I see how the other rosters look. (Since everybody is reading this after the rosters have been announced but I’m writing it before, this first sentence could look really foolish.) This is the first time that I’ve represented the WBH in the GCL so I’m not exactly sure what to expect.

Good luck to everybody!

Tentative Starting Lineup

This will be easier when I have everybody’s ratings and handedness in front of me so this could change a bit. Here’s the general plan.

1 R Adrián Domínguez CF
2 L Keith Thompson 1B
3 L Raúl Gutiérrez 2B
4 R Michael Gaunson RF
5 R Caleb Murray DH
6 R António Vega SS
7 L David Baker LF
8 S Alfredo Gallegos C
9 L Carlos Lozano 3B

Bench: Brad James/David Baker, IF Ash Shepherd, C Carlos Romo

Tentative Rotation and Bullpen

I’m still debating between a four or five man rotation and who will be the closer. This debate will probably continue throughout the season.

Rotation
Pedro Martinez
Carlos Garcia
Steve Moore
Pedro Vasquez
Timothy Bell

Middle Relief
Justin Anderson
Mike Peters
Joe Morgan
Juan Ramos

Setup
Lorenzo Toro

Closer
Valentín Iglésias

5 Keys to Success

Youth is Served: This team has a ton of young players. If they all play to their potential, this could be a thing of beauty. Then again, how often does everybody play to potential?

The Resurgence of Alfredo Gallegos: He was fantastic in his first three years and pretty good in his fourth but he was terrible in his fifth. Will he return to an .880 OPS in his age 28 season or is this production drop the real thing?

Bullpen Plays Nice: This bullpen has the potential to be absurdly good. That might be a problem. I have two star closers in Valentín Iglésias and Lorenzo Toro plus two more (Juan Ramos and Mike Peters) who serve in that capacity plus a few middlemen who think the role belongs to them. This is a combustible mix. I typically factor in team chemistry but I’m rolling the dice with a one-off season.

Back of the Rotation Matches the Front: Pedro Martínez and Carlos García should be fine as the top two starters. Can Steve Moore plus Vásquez and/or Bell pitch just as well in our homer-prone ballpark?

Non-Solo Homers: This team is going to hit the ball really hard and really far but, at last check, a homerun with the bases empty still counts as one run no matter how far it goes. Can the top of the order get on base for the heart of the order? Can the bottom of the order get on base enough to set up Domínguez and Thompson, a potent 1-2 combo?
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