The W.P. Kinsella League random update thread

[Palaaemon]

Bird,

That is awesome that Harry freakin' Lyerly is now the manager for the Charlotte Sting after only being a pitching coach for 1 year for the Bainbridge Brawlers, the A level team of the Denver Brewers. He must have had one helluva recommendation from someone eh?

Truth be told I really believe that he would be an excellent pitching coach over time. As far as a manager in the bigs? We shall see. Of course it seems in that division that each season it's more a process of attrition, or rather elimination that determines the winner. Will he make a difference for the Sting? Will he be given the tools? Will he be given the time to build a winner?

Questions that I have are; (preferably the answers given when all information is in, probably the first day of the season (FDotS) once everything has settled)

1) What kind of Owner and GM does he have above him? What kind of expectations do they have for him?

2) How does his coaching staff look? Do they appear to be a good staff, just average overall or should Happy Harry be talking to the Owner 'bout makin' some changes 'round 'ere? pft-ting!

3) Obviously this is more of a GM thing being financial but it does affect him. What do the finances look like? Now, going into preseason and of course the FDotS.

4) Once the FdotS comes, what does the team look like overall? Rotation, Bullpen, Lineup, Bench and other players on the 40 man that are interesting. Obviously some things like injuries will affect this, but that is why to do it FDotS.

5) What does the division look like? Where do you feel the Charlotte Sting fit in? Will they compete? In your opinion what are their chances at winning the division?

I am sure there is something(s) obvious that I am leaving out that I should be asking but I cannot think of it right now. I will probably think of something later or you most likely will. Either way I think that is plenty for now.

Once again thank you! Have a great evening!

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by Palaaemon

Questions that I have are; (preferably the answers given when all information is in, probably the first day of the season (FDotS) once everything has settled)

1) What kind of Owner and GM does he have above him? What kind of expectations do they have for him?

2) How does his coaching staff look? Do they appear to be a good staff, just average overall or should Happy Harry be talking to the Owner 'bout makin' some changes 'round 'ere? pft-ting!

3) Obviously this is more of a GM thing being financial but it does affect him. What do the finances look like? Now, going into preseason and of course the FDotS.

4) Once the FdotS comes, what does the team look like overall? Rotation, Bullpen, Lineup, Bench and other players on the 40 man that are interesting. Obviously some things like injuries will affect this, but that is why to do it FDotS.

5) What does the division look like? Where do you feel the Charlotte Sting fit in? Will they compete? In your opinion what are their chances at winning the division?

I am sure there is something(s) obvious that I am leaving out that I should be asking but I cannot think of it right now. I will probably think of something later or you most likely will. Either way I think that is plenty for now.

Once again thank you! Have a great evening!

Hey Palaaemon,
Thanks as always for engaging with the WPK and asking such good questions.

I know that this is counter to your request, but I'm going to give preliminary answers to these questions prematurely, mostly because before we head into next season I'm sure I will have migrated the WPK over to 23 and also will have started a new thread for this WPK reporting.
So we can certainly revisit these prior to the 1987 season but I will eyeball where things stand now to give some initial responses to these questions.

1. The owner of the Sting, Richard Romero, is real mixed bag in terms of his impact on the front office. On the one hand he is hands-off and tolerant, on the other hand he emphasizes winning (not a bad thing) while being a penny-pincher (kind of makes that winning part tough). Romero currently is expecting the club to make the playoffs, which would be incredibly unrealistic in any other division, but as you indicated, in the MGL East it is sort of a crap shoot and could happen.


General Manager Rico Orozco, a 58-year old native of Colombia, has been the G.M. of Charlotte since 1967 and has a great reputation in spite of the team only having had 3 winning seasons during that time (and one season at .500 exactly). He favors prospects, his personality (normal) shouldn't create conflict with Harry, his trade frequency is above average and he is pretty aggressive as a trader. His contract still has 2 years left on it.

2. The coaching staff is mostly mediocre and/or unproven. The strongest member of the staff is probably pitching coach Jake Bennett, who was a journeyman relief pitcher in the WPK from 1971 through 1980 and most recently was serving as a third base coach in the independent Iowa Baseball Confederacy. This will be his first season as the Sting pitching coach so he's inexperienced and unproven but there are indications that he could be quite good at the job. Beyond that, they have an average hitting coach, a very unimpressive head scout, a fairly bad trainer, just an okay bench coach, and a pair of really weak base coaches. They do at least seem to have a good mesh of personalities that work well together but to what end, given their skills limitations, is hard to say.



3. With a penny-pinching owner they currently have the 20th highest budget (out of 24) in the WPK and the 18th highest player payroll. Their market size is big, fan loyalty is a bit above average, but fan interest is very lukewarm (understandably). They ranked 21st this past season in attendance and merchandising income. On the other hand, they were 9th in terms of media revenue. They currently have no money to spend on free agents and a minimal amount in the budget for extensions.


4. So I know that you are asking about what this looks like on the first day of next season but that is so far away that I just thought I would look at what it might project to look like at this point. They have a small handful of veterans who could be free agents soon and if they are smart they will let them go. Blake Brock, a 32-year old shortstop, in particular is not only not that good anymore but a selfish player who isn't great for clubhouse morale. 33-year old left fielder Eddie Evans still has some power in his bat but so rarely makes contact that he doesn't often get to it in games. And 37-year old third baseman Nazir Williams has never been more than a backup infielder in his career shuttling between the WPK and the minors with his best WPK WAR season being the 0.9 WAR 1981 season when he hit .312/.352/.438 in 105 plate appearances. They all should be moving on and not Lyerly's problem. Charlotte's best position player, Eric Hammock, is 32 and injury prone. They did acquire talented Gold Glove center fielder Chris Heisler in a recent trade with Houston, but although Heisler is very good when healthy and only 28 years old, he is considered wrecked physically and was only able to play in 47 games this past season. They do have a great hitter in 23-year old second baseman/DH Alex Bock, who is emerging as a star player. But other than that most of their starters are 30 years old or older. The pitching staff has some talent but also some injury risk but overall it is a relative strength for the club. They are ranked 14th in terms of their farm system/prospects and pretty much all of their top prospects are still a long ways away from being big league ready. Harry has his work cut out for him.


5. Again, I know I'm answering this prematurely and not following your instructions, and all of this can certainly be revisited later, likely in a new forum thread. But the short answer is what you already know, which is that this is a very weak division. Could that change over the off-season? Perhaps, but it would take a lot of serious movement for it to change significantly. I suspect Detroit might have one more pennant in them if they can stay healthy and get good production from some of their veteran hitters again. Oklahoma City has the pitching rotation that could help them have a come-back season after a disappointing 1985 (they need to add a few hitters). Baltimore has a few young hitters emerging who could help them win more games but pitching will likely be a real weakness. Brooklyn is in the midst of a rebuild and also needs to refresh their pitching staff and get some younger arms. And Montreal, in spite of having the top ranked farm system, is still at least a few years away from being anything but terrible in all likelihood. Charlotte right now looks like a middle-of-the-pack team in the division but in this weak grouping anything can happen.

[Palaaemon]

Bird,

Thanks for the breakdown! I don't mind that you did this now. It will be good to have a then and now comparison to see what might have changed. It does appear that Harry is going to be pushing the boulder up the hill (not to be completely confused with the Greek legend of Sisyphus). Will he reach the top with the boulder eventually or will they both fall back down with all the anchors he has dragging on him, and he appears to have plenty of them.

It does not appear that a quick fix is coming for the Charlotte Sting. Matter of fact from what you have stated here with the information you have given (perhaps just my opinion) he may have been hired as a cheap nobody no experience manager to get them by. A sacrificial lamb to the slaughter if you will. Harry has little to work with at this point in time and he is at the mercy of what the penny-pinching, wanting to win, expecting to be in the playoffs owner Richard Romero will allow the GM Rico Orozco (who Harry is also at the mercy of) financially to build from.

Will Harry be able to get the most out of his coaches and thereby his team? Will he throw off the lamb suit and become the manager that no-one expects? That is a huge question. One of which we may not know for several years. To get the boulder to the top of the hill he will need to drop off the anchors one at a time. Every problem is an anchor. Either eliminate the anchor or reduce it's influence to the point where it doesn't matter any longer. THAT is the secret to getting the boulder to the top of the hill.

Have a Great evening my Friend!

[BirdWatcher]

The 1986 Silver Sluggers in the SJL:




Future first ballot Hall of Famer Chris Tobin has now won 13 Silver Slugger awards, the first seven as a shortstop. At age 40 there is no sign of serious deterioration in his skills and he is under contract for one more season in Columbus. He may not be the most likable superstar in the game, but there is no questioning his serious work ethic and it has served him well, along with his durability. Don't be too surprised if he doesn't win at least one more of these in his career.
Boston first baseman Kyle Adams is next on this list with his 3rd Silver Slugger honor.
Now 2-time winners include San Antonio catcher Sal Montella, Houston second baseman Wilfredo Garcia, and Chicago shortstop Pat Thompson. All three were just 25 this past season (Garcia not even turning 25 until late August) and more of these awards are likely in their future.
First time winners include veteran San Antonio left fielder Danny Belmontes, who has always been a quality hitter but had a career year in 1986, 22-year old Columbus center fielder John Hassey, veteran Washington speedster right fielder Myon-ki Choi, and 29-year old Washington DH (sometime first baseman) Kenny White.

MGL Silver Sluggers:




None of the MGL winners are as decorated as Chris Tobin, but St. Louis catcher Andrew Litteral did win his 4th Silver Slugger award as did his teammate, third baseman Steve Whitehead.
Denver middle infielders Justin Banks and Willie Romero each won their 3rd career Silver Slugger.
All the other winners this year in the MGL were first timers, including St. Louis first baseman Gus Reyna, L.A.'s veteran left fielder Cameron Olsen, rookie sensation Hyeong-uk Chun of Phoenix, Denver rookie right fielder Jerry Lillie, and Charlotte budding star DH (and second baseman) Alex Bock, who led the league in OBP at .415.

[BirdWatcher]

The SJL ROY:



One of the latest additions to an increasingly dangerous Houston lineup is 22-year old left fielder Atsushi Matsuda, who was the 4th overall pick in the 1984 draft out of Tuscon College (JuCo). The Japanese-born Matsuda came to the U.S. to play college baseball and therefore entered the WPK through the amateur draft and looks like he should be one of the premiere hitters in the league for years to come. His defense is average at best and he is slow afoot so an eventual shift to first base and/or DH might be inevitable.
John Hassey and Eric Ross, the runners-up, also profile as star players for many years ahead, particularly Ross who is the son of former WPK relief pitcher Adam Ross (a journeyman righty who pitched in parts of 10 big league seasons, never with any real success). Young Eric Ross is a line drive hitter with tremendous gap power and an advanced eye that could lead to him leading the league in bases on balls before long.
Fourth place finisher Kyle Eiseman is already 27-years old and has a much more modest ceiling, but also has a tremendous eye at the plate along with plus power.


The MGL ROY:




In the category of least surprising result perhaps in the entire history of the WPK, Phoenix center fielder Hyeong-uk Chun was the unanimous winner of the MGL Rookie of the Year honors. After all, Chun did completely shatter the single-season home run record (with 70) in his true rookie campaign, in which he turned 24 on June 1st. Having not gained enough big league exposure as a youngster out of South Korea he first entered professional baseball as a member of the independent league Cheyenne Cowboys (Iowa Baseball Confederacy) for whom he played in 1985, putting up good numbers in 79 games, including 23 homers, but given the level of competition not an overly impressive slash line of .256/.425/.569. But the Phoenix scouting staff clearly knew what they were doing when they urged the front office to purchase his contract from Cheyenne in the offseason prior to the this past season as Chun had a rookie season for the ages. In fact, a season for the ages in the WPK period, rookie or not.
Somewhat lost in the shadows cast by the historic season for Chun, Denver rookie Jerry Lillie, having joined the club in the late Autumn of 1985 as something of a throw-in in a trade with Portland, broke out with a great season of his own at age 26, belting 38 home runs and putting up a wRC+ of 153.
San Francisco rookie left fielder Ryan Frommeyer, also 26, led the league in batting average at .345.
Baltimore's slugging 23-year old left fielder Sam Lawson clubbed 31 homers. He's a slow runner (though a very savvy base runner and stealer) and an average defensive left fielder at best likely destined for a future as a designated hitter, but his power bat and plus eye should give him a decent career.
And finally Brooklyn's 23-year old first baseman Roger Rhinehart combines excellent contact hitting skills with great power. On the other hand, he's a dismal fielder, a very slow and poor runner, and a real jerk in the clubhouse (Disruptive). His bat may be good enough to gloss over his other weaknesses, but this looks like an overall profile that won't age well. (He is durable, at least.)

[BirdWatcher]

The SJL Harris/Lee (Pitcher of the Year) winner:




It was considered a virtual lock that 23-year old Jacksonville right-hander Casey Van Fossen would win the Harris/Lee award in the SJL for 1986, given to the best pitcher of the season. Van Fossen became just the 3rd pitcher in WPK history to earn the Pitching Triple Crown (Aaron McNally did it twice in a row in 1974 and 1975 and Jaime Schardein is the only other- he accomplished this in the WPK inaugural season of 1965). Van Fossen is the first ever to do so in the Shoeless Joe League. In addition to leading the league in wins (20), ERA (2.94), and strikeouts (267), he also led in WHIP (1.09), K/9 (10.1), FIP- (71), Quality Starts (23), Shutouts (3), Winning percentage (.800), and WAR (7.0).
His also 23-year old teammate David Parker finished second and that should give you some hint as to why the Wolf Pack are likely to remain competitive for awhile.
Not surprisingly, a pair of Chicago Fire starters also finished in the top 5.
And Columbus veteran and almost sure future Hall of Famer Luis Ramirez, who is a 3-time winner of this award, finished in 6th at age 34. The Iron Man lefty hurler would likely be putting up even more impressive numbers still if he weren't on a lackluster Columbus team, the only club he has ever pitched for in his 13 plus year WPK career.


The MGL Harris/Lee Award winner:




Portland's 23-year old fireballer Kyle Gilbert won his first Harris/Lee award, leading the league in K's with 213, and finishing 3rd in ERA (3.16), tied with 2 others (including Denver's Eric Fehrenbacher) for 2nd in wins (16), 1st in shutouts (5), 2nd in FIP (3.25), and 3rd in both WAR and rWAR (6.0 for each).
Matt Greene of Oklahoma City, the winner of the 1985 Harris/Lee Award finished in 2nd place this time in spite of not getting any first place votes.
Impressively, Phoenix closer Steve Hensgens, who was earlier named the MGL Reliever of the Year, did get 4 Harris/Lee first place votes to finish 3rd in the voting overall.
Two Denver Brewers, Jim Atwell and Eric Maisch, finished 5th and 6th respectively. Both of them have won this honor once in their careers.

[BirdWatcher]

The 1986 Shoeless Joe League MVP:





At age 29, the Boston Berserkers Kyle Adams has already had a highly successful career, having been an All-Star 3 times, a Gold Glover at his position 3 times, and having won 3 Silver Slugger awards, all while playing for a team that is mostly an afterthought in the SJL East. But this year he put together such a dominant season that he earned his first MVP trophy. Not only did he win the SJL batting title but he also led the league in RBI with 121 and OBP at .431, while slugging 30 homers and collecting 38 doubles. His 210 hits was a career high for him, as was his 108 runs scored. (He has hit collected at least 200 hits once before and scored at least 100 runs in 2 other seasons prior to this one.)
Adams now has a career slash line of .323/.389/.548 and has a career WAR of 43.9 over 7 seasons. He is a fine defensive first baseman and can even play an acceptable second base (his original position). He is very slow and won't help on the base paths but his combination of plus plus power and plus plus contact skills (he also rarely strikes out and in fact has a career walks total of 454 with just 236 career strikeouts) make him one of the best all-around hitters in the game.

Runner-up Danny Belmontes of San Antonio had his best season yet at age 29, finally coming out of the shadow of Hall of Fame teammates Bud Lindsay and John Mussaw a bit. This might have been Belmontes best chance at an MVP award and there are serious questions about his durability but he combines great speed with good power and is a loyal teammate and probably one of the more under-rated players in the WPK.

Chicago shortstop Pat Thompson has now emerged as the best at his position in the game, supplanting the aforementioned Lindsay. He will likely be in the running for the MVP award often in the future and it won't be a surprise if he claims at least one or two before his career ends.

Former MVP winners who also received votes this year include San Antonio's great second baseman John Mussaw, who is a 2-time winner, Pittsburgh's dynamic but injury-prone right fielder Matt Van der Heyden, also a 2-time MVP, and the 1985 SJL MVP, Donovan Hickson, who got off to a very slow start in 1986 but still finished the season with a league best home run total of 39, led the league in bases on balls with 110, and stole 23 bags for the second straight season. His slash line was an unusual .228/.353/.500.



And finally, your Moonlight Graham League MVP:





Surprise, surprise (sarcasm alert)- it is 70 bomb hitting rookie Hyeong-uk Chun.
It is pretty well established what the 5-tool Phoenix rookie center fielder did this season so we won't belabor that point here.

Runner up Steve Whitehead is now 33 years old and has battled injuries his entire career. If it weren't for his struggles to stay healthy a full season he probably would own at least one of these trophies. But alas, it might never happen for the intelligent St. Louis third baseman out of Beverly Hills, Michigan.

His teammate, 26-year old Gus Reyna, sort of came out of nowhere this year to lead the league in hits (222) and at-bats (653). Unlike Whitehead he profiles as durable but like the veteran third baseman he has great baseball smarts and is also a hard worker. While he has under-whelming power for a corner infielder, he does possess great speed to go along with a tremendous contact bat. There should be several good seasons ahead for Reyna.

Charlotte's Alex Bock has been discussed here a bit lately. Suffice it to say that at age 23 and with a plus plus contact-first bat and elite speed, along with a strong work ethic, this kid is a rising star on an aging team in need of young bats.

Denver's Jerry Lillie finished 5th in the voting in his true rookie season, a campaign that was overshadowed by the historic nature of Chun's season.

A few veterans who previously won league MVP honors were also in the running: San Francisco third baseman Mike Shervey, who was the SJL MVP in 1983 as a member of the San Antonio Keys, Charlotte's injury-prone 32-year old right fielder Eric Hammock, and Phoenix right fielder Luis Olivez, who put together his 3rd season now with at least 20 homers and at least 20 stolen bases.

[BirdWatcher]

The brief Ryan Campbell era is over in Denver, as yesterday the Brewers traded away the highly regarded veteran third baseman to the Washington Night Train in exchange for first baseman/DH Kenny Brown, who recently won his first Silver Slugger award.



Campbell came to the Brewers in a trade with the San Antonio Keys back in November of 1984 and was considered one of the stars of the game. Although he bounced back from a slow start in the 1985 season to finish with 5.5 WAR he never was able to reach the power he had previously shown while in Denver purple and gold and this past season he hit .280/.377/.426 with just 12 homers and 21 doubles. His 2.9 WAR was still quite good but his overall performance in Denver was disappointing and didn't live up to the hype. With young third base prospect Jeremy Beeson ready and having shown a plus bat in an admittedly small sample size late this past season, the Brewers were ready to move on from Campbell.

In getting 29-year old Kenny Brown acquire a player with tremendous speed (he has stolen over 50 bases in 2 of the past 3 seasons, with 19 in his 1985 campaign, when he inexplicably only had 240 plate appearances) and a tremendous contact bat. Brown won the Silver Slugger award for this season with a slash line of .332/.375/.501 and although he doesn't profile with much over-the-fence power his 11 homers were only one shy of Campbell's production in 1986 and he also hit 41 doubles and 8 triples. Brown is also a fan favorite and while there was some grumblings from Brewers fans at the loss of Campbell it was more than counteracted by the excitement of having Brown join the Brewers.

Most likely Brown will take over as the primary DH for the team this year while also giving starting first baseman Chris Romines some breathers.

The other players in the deal weren't insignificant either, as Dave Wofford has had some big league experience with the Brewers and could be a very capable 4th or 5th outfielder for Washington and the 23-year old catcher the Brewers got, Juan Zamudio, will likely held back by his very poor bat-to-ball skills but is a capable AAA depth piece who could come up as an injury replacement short-term with his above average defense and very good power and eye at the plate.
Outfielder Alfredo Sanchez is mostly just a throw-in, but he does have some raw skills as he is very fast and has tremendous power potential and an excellent eye. His lack of contact skills and propensity to swing-and-miss probably mean that minor league depth is the best he will ever provide, but the Night Train can hope for some growth still that could turn him into a legit big leaguer. (It's a long shot.)

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers top center field prospect John Bittner hit 42 home runs this season between three levels (A- 12, AA- 25, AAA- 5) over 588 plate appearances. And now, playing for the Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League, Bittner has slugged 11 more, setting the new single season record in the AFL.



Bittner's development is one of the reasons the Brewers were willing to let smooth fielding veteran Danny Hendricks test the free agent market this offseason and while Myles Ford will most likely start the 1987 season as the Brewers primary starting center fielder, Bittner might take that title over before the end of the upcoming season.
He has the defensive chops, it seems, to man the position (though with a below-average arm) and he has the power to hit in the middle of the order. The real question with his bat is whether he will be able to consistently get bat to ball in the WPK, but even though he is unlikely to ever have high batting averages in the bigs, he will draw walks and will punish the pitches he manages to connect with.

A few other top Brewer hitting prospects are also on the squad, and 20-year old Bill Arvayo isn't that far behind Bittner in terms of hitting the long ball as he has 7 homers in his 116 PA's. Arvayo, who was the Brewers 2nd round draft pick in this year's draft, played exclusively in Rookie ball this season and didn't exactly tear things up at that level, though he showed some promise. He won't likely be quite as prodigious a big league power hitter as Bittner, but should have better contact hitting skills while also showing great patience and an advanced eye at the plate. As an outfielder he looks like a capable first baseman or a convincing designated hitter. But if he hits enough he might be able to stick in left field for a few seasons at least.

And finally, the Brewers top position player prospect, this past year's first round pick (and 9th overall), and now the #26 top prospect in the WPK, Jonathan Murphy, only has hit 2 homers in Arizona, but he has a slash line of .336/.424/.486. And this is after hitting .360/.416/.553 in the Rookie League over 125 PA, then .352/.419/.607 in 136 PA's in the short-season A ball level, followed by a brief 26-PA stint in single A hitting .500/.500/.682. His power is still developing but should eventually be a plus or even plus plus tool and he is already probably a big league contact hitter with great gap power, a plus eye, and plus avoid strikeout skills. He will be a DH in the WPK (with maybe the occasional game at first base) but all signs are that he will also be a middle of the order force, possibly combining with players like Bittner and current Brewer right fielder Jerry Lillie to give the Brewers a trio of mashers in the middle of lineup. It won't happen until late 1987 at the earliest, but don't be surprised if in 1988 all three of these players are in key roles.

Among the other Brewers playing in the AFL, the only one likely to be a key player on the big league club eventually is lefty relief prospect Sharaf Sanchez, also a draft pick just this year. Sanchez isn't doing great in Arizona- he has a 4.50 ERA and 1.58 WHIP over 24 innings pitched, but he does have a K/9 of 12.0, pretty much exactly what he put up at 3 minor league levels (A-AA-AAA) this season. He need to harness his control but once he does his stuff is so nasty that he could become a high-leverage late-innings arm in the WPK before long.

[Palaaemon]

Bird,

The future, relatively soon it appears, is upon you. It sounds like from our previous conversations, and your newest information on him, that Jonathan Murphy will be the next star for the Denver Brewers, and if I remember correctly and it has not greatly changed, if his power comes to fruition and he even gets close to his other projections, dare I say (I know I know ) we could be looking at the next WPK superstar!

John Bittner looks impressive but I agree, if he has contact issues (depending how bad) that could be a problem. If his plate discipline is plus and he has above average avoid k that could help mitigate that issue. I am sure he is still growing no? I don't want to try to project him yet as I have not seen his recent information.

Sharaf Sanchez is intriguing from the draft report you gave and the current report. As with most pitchers it comes down to control eh? It sounds like he could dominate if he could just bring it up to above average.

Bill Arvayo sounds like he could be a more consistent hitter rather than flashy from your description. The problem appears to be where he will fit into your organization being defensively challenged and blocked everywhere it seems. He may end up becoming a trade piece to help fill a weakness. I could be wrong he is still probably a season and a half or so out from contributing, so things could change.

Would you please post these 4 players profiles? I would love to see what they look like at this point. Thank you!

Have a Great morning brother!

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by Palaaemon

Bird,

The future, relatively soon it appears, is upon you. It sounds like from our previous conversations, and your newest information on him, that Jonathan Murphy will be the next star for the Denver Brewers, and if I remember correctly and it has not greatly changed, if his power comes to fruition and he even gets close to his other projections, dare I say (I know I know ) we could be looking at the next WPK superstar!

John Bittner looks impressive but I agree, if he has contact issues (depending how bad) that could be a problem. If his plate discipline is plus and he has above average avoid k that could help mitigate that issue. I am sure he is still growing no? I don't want to try to project him yet as I have not seen his recent information.

Sharaf Sanchez is intriguing from the draft report you gave and the current report. As with most pitchers it comes down to control eh? It sounds like he could dominate if he could just bring it up to above average.

Bill Arvayo sounds like he could be a more consistent hitter rather than flashy from your description. The problem appears to be where he will fit into your organization being defensively challenged and blocked everywhere it seems. He may end up becoming a trade piece to help fill a weakness. I could be wrong he is still probably a season and a half or so out from contributing, so things could change.

Would you please post these 4 players profiles? I would love to see what they look like at this point. Thank you!

Have a Great morning brother!

Sure- here they are in the order that they rank as prospects.
And as a bonus I will include Jeremy Beeson, who will be given every opportunity to be our starting third baseman this coming season.

[BirdWatcher]

The facts:









Summary/Highlights/Accomplishments/Notes, etc.:

The 1969 season ended with the Columbus Whalers and the Denver Brewers playing in the Kinsella Classic Series (okay, this is where I admit that I don't exactly recall when the championship series in the WPK was given this name), and it would be a preview of the dominance of these two teams during the 1970's.

The Whalers would become known mostly for their pitching but the dominant starting staff that would define them hadn't come together yet other than Hall of Fame left-hander Jake Harris. But they had two great multi-inning relievers in 30-year old Ron Dippold and 23-year old Tim Shore as well as getting left-handed starting pitcher Decheng Lei from Washington in a trade around the deadline. Lei pitched well with Washington but was pretty dominant after coming to Columbus, going 11-4 with a 2.18 ERA after the trade. In terms of WAR among position players, the Whalers were led by a pair of 26-year old outfielders, center fielder Brad Tesh and left fielder Leo Gavilla, who both put up 7.0 WAR seasons. For the team captain Gavilla it was a career-year in a 43.1 WAR 14 plus season career. Gavilla was recently hired to be the manager of the Chicago Fire AA affiliate, the Robstown Swordsmen.

After a down year in 1968, the already 2-time WPK champion Jacksonville Wolf Pack bounced back to finish in 2nd place in the SJL. Certainly having a Hall of Fame third baseman in Jesus Casiano, a sure soon-to-be-Hall-of-Famer in left field in Travis Johnson, and a likely future Hall of Famer at second base in Josh Jenkins as their three best position players, all in their prime, helped. They also got an incredible season from relief pitcher Jamel McNeil, one of a string of unbelievable seasons in a row from the GOAT reliever, now in the HOF, leading the pitchers in WAR at 5.9, having hurled 149.1 innings pitched over the course of 84 relief appearances, going 15-6 with 21 saves and a 1.75 ERA. He won his 2nd Reliever of the Year award for this performance, what would prove to be the 2nd of 8. Travis Johnson won his 2nd league MVP award at the end of the season also.
Cheol-han Lee, of the middle-of-the-pack and under .500 Milwaukee Cadets, won the Pitcher of the Year award (later to be named the Harris/Lee award after both him and Jake Harris).
And San Antonio slugging rookie first baseman Eric Brakeall was the Rookie of the Year in the SJL. He did, after all, lead the league in home runs with 50, hitting .303/.377/.608 and driving in 128 runs at age 24. It would be the best season of his career and although he would manage to bang out 198 career bombs he finished his career with just 7.2 WAR over the course of 8 seasons, having earned minus WAR for 4 straight seasons before retiring.

Over in the MGL, the Denver Brewers top WAR among pitchers belonged to rookie phenom Harry Lyerly, with 3.8 WAR in his first 18 big league starts. They also got another strong season out of veteran left-handed and control-challenged starter Daniel Torres. Among position players, their best was center fielder Ryan Rodgers in his second season with the club. They also got solid seasons from a pair of 22-year old's in shortstop Chad Brown and first baseman Bobby Erbakan, who won his 1st of 6 Gold Gloves at the position.
Although the Portland Wild Things fell to the middle of the standings after claiming the MGL pennant two years in a row, their gifted middle infielder (and now HOF'er) Andy Wilson won his 2nd MVP award at the end of the season.
L.A.'s 20-game winner Jason Wilson (no relation to Andy) was the Pitcher of the Year on the barely over .500 Spinners.
Baltimore's Jason Bowman won the lone Reliever of the Year award of his long and largely successful career.
And Cuban import Luis Machado was named the Rookie of the Year for his play with Brooklyn at age 27. Machado would have an even better season in 1970 but saw his production tail off soon after that and finished his WPK career with 19.9 WAR over 8 seasons played. His nephew, Henry Machado, was the first overall pick in this year's draft and is already considered the #2 prospect in the game.


In other news around the WPK in 1969, there were 3 no-hitters in the season. The last one, chronologically, was thrown by the MGL Pitcher of the Year, Jason Wilson, on August 10th against Oklahoma City. Wilson is a likely candidate to hurl a no-hitter. The other two weren't. The first of the season was hurled by Pittsburgh hurler Jesus Garcia, who did have his best season in 1969 but also led the league in walks allowed with 136. And, no surprise, he walked 6 batters in his lone career no-hitter. And probably most unlikely, Jacksonville right-hander Chris Turner, who was 12-8 with a 4.64 ERA and 1.58 WHIP on the season, no-hit Milwaukee on July 19th. Turner's final career record was 76-78 with a 4.10 ERA and 1.43 WHIP, for 7.7 career WAR. To be fair, he would win 17 games the following season and earn his lone All-Star selection.
Phoenix' center fielder Nick Haran had a 34-game hitting streak in 1969, which would be the longest in WPK history until Denver's Bobby Erbakan strung together a 45-game streak during the 1977 season. (Second on the all-time list now, between Erbakan and Haran, is current Brewer Antonio Acuna, who hit in 35 straight in 1980.)
Two batters hit for the cycle in 1969: Travis Leach, the great long-time 10-time All-Star third baseman, in his 3rd big league season as a member of the Pittsburgh Roadrunners, on April 19th, and Jose Iniguez, speedy 26-year old Washington right fielder, who only hit 10 doubles, 3 triples, and 6 homers on the season (in 269 PA) but somehow managed to get one of each in a game against Columbus on May 4th. (May the Fourth be with him?)

There were 4 players who hit 3 homers in a game during the season, with one of them being SJL ROY Eric Brakeall, another the great Jesus Casiano, and in the MGL former Brewer and then L.A. Spinner Mark Compton as well as San Francisco outfielder Adrian Mitchell. So three prodigious power hitters and Mitchell, a guy who only hit 4 homers on the season in the WPK, 3 of them on May 25th. Granted he only appeared in 50 games at the WPK level that season, at age 36, and had collected double digit homer totals in 1965 and 1966. He also had 13 triples in 1966, so this isn't quite as unexpected as it might appear on the surface.

[BirdWatcher]

The Detroit Falcons, who recently captured their first WPK championship title largely on the strength of their pitching, added a reliable veteran arm to the rotation yesterday when they picked up Joe Barbour in a trade with the Portland Wild Things.
Barbour hasn't quite lived up to his earlier perceived potential and is a soft-tosser but he is also a great leader (Captain), is durable, and has a great slider/changeup combo to go along with a just slightly above average fastball. He's not a guy you want to build a rotation around anymore but given the talented young arms that Detroit already has Barbour is a solid veteran addition to the mix.





Portland got a pair of young players with moderate potential in the trade in 23-year old catcher Alex Herrera and 23-year old second baseman Vas Gafarov. Herrera is a solid defensive backstop with decent offensive skills, particularly his combination of plate discipline and home run power. He has good leadership skills but there are some questions about his baseball IQ. Gafarov has similar baseball smarts challenges as part of his profile but is an incredibly hard worker, has a good eye, is a plus defender and base runner, with average pop in his bat but some bat-to-ball skills deficits. 18-year old starting pitcher Carlos de la Torre is likely just minor league depth (fragile, low intelligence and work ethic, throws hard but has very little potential as a pitcher).

[BirdWatcher]

Some of the biggest free agents on the market are starting to be grabbed up and yesterday it was announced that recent Denver Brewer second baseman Justin Banks has inked a 5-year deal with the Jacksonville Wolf Pack. Reportedly the Brewers never entered negotiations with Banks and were happy to take the supplemental first round compensation pick in the upcoming draft and hand the position over to one of their top prospects, Nick Mull (whose name has come up in trade proposals this offseason).



Denver fans, though, understandably aren't happy with this outcome as Banks was one of the more productive players in his two years with the club. It could be argued, given that the contract he signed with the Wolf Pack isn't that outrageous financially, that the Brewers should have tried to keep him, and that argument likely has merits. Then again, he will be 31 by the time the upcoming season starts and the Brewers are clearly committed at this time to a youth movement (with a few obvious exceptions: see Atwell, Jim).
It was a perfectly understandable acquisition for the reigning SJL East champion Jacksonville team as their starting second baseman last season, Blake Muller, had a -1.0 WAR season at age 29 this year. Granted, they do also have 25-year old Shigochiyo Yasuda waiting in the wings with a captain's makeup and decent skills so there will be some balancing act needed to get both Banks and Yasuda the playing time they deserve.


A few days earlier the St. Louis Redbirds announced the signing of veteran former MVP Mike Shervey to play first base for them in 1987. This likely pushes Rookie of the Year Gus Reyna to DH, but it does also add to an already pretty power-laden and dangerous middle of the order. On the other hand, Shervey is 31 and injury prone and combined with 33-year old third baseman Steve Whitehead who is also fragile, this could be a risky move. And certainly not a long-term plan. Still, it does indicate a determination on the part of management in St. Louis to build on progress the team made last season and although the farm system is weak (21st out of 24) they do have a few younger players starting to blossom and could have at least an outside chance of contending in 1987.



(Note: news report lists him as a third baseman but reports out of St. Louis indicate he'll actually be moving to first base.)

The Los Angeles Spinners have signed veteran free agent starting pitcher Ryan Rystrom, who the past two seasons has shown some signs of being a late bloomer, finally beginning to reach his earlier perceived potential. Rystrom is durable and smart and while his stuff is pedestrian his movement is elite and his control above average. He employs a nasty forkball as his out pitch and pairs that with an above average slider (but not much else). It looks like he will likely slot in at the #2 spot in the rotation- a rotation that is somewhat underrated and runs deep. Doesn't look like a game-changing move for L.A. but seems like a decent get.

[BirdWatcher]

Veteran team captain and outfield great Jose Gutierrez briefly tested the free agency market this offseason but in the end once again signed up to play for the El Paso Dawgs, the team he has been a key member of for the past five seasons.
Gutierrez may be 35-years old but his skills show little sign of erosion and his influence in the clubhouse cannot be over-emphasized. Although age has forced a move from center field to left, his defense is a plus, he remains one of the fastest and best runners in the game, and his bat is still dangerous. At this moment the deal makes him the 6th highest paid player in the game and while there might be some criticism of giving a player his age this rich a deal, if anyone in the game deserves it at this stage of their career, it would be the man they call Swan.



The St. Louis Redbirds continue to be active in the offseason, yesterday dealing away veteran starting pitcher Bill Hritz (who they had acquired in a mid-season trade with Philly this past season) to Pittsburgh for veteran good-field, no-hit shortstop Curtis Przybylski. (They also sent minor league second baseman Chad Gibson to Pittsburgh, but while Gibson is speedy and a good leader he doesn't look to have either the bat or the glove to ever be a big leaguer.) Hritz has had a disappointing career after having risen to be a top 10 prospect as minor leaguer and there are serious doubts about his work ethic and attitude. And Przybylski does add to an already strong defensive squad which has plenty of hitters and might not need production from his position. On the other hand, the Redbirds outgoing shortstop, David Williams, who is on the free agency market, is a few years young than Przybylski, just as good a defender if not better, and arguably at least as good a hitter (they both are bad in that regard) so one has to wonder if the relationship between the team and Williams had just grown so negative that bringing him back wasn't an option?

[BirdWatcher]

Michael Tucker, a 3-time Reliever of the Year and fan favorite, has returned to the Brooklyn Aces as a free agent signing after having been traded away from the club mid-season in 1986 to the Washington Night Train. After his many great seasons with the Aces, his brief time in Washington was disastrous and he is glad to be back in Brooklyn where he has had so much earlier success. The 27-year old left handed groundball specialist (his two pitches, both plus plus, being a traditional fastball and a sinker) should have many good years ahead of him still and having signed a modest 2-year deal with the Aces he is always still in a position to cash in as a free agent before he turns 30.



(This also ends an internal dilemma for the Brewers front office as Tucker was the one free agent on the market that the Brewers were tempted to try to sign. They hemmed and hawed long enough that the decision was ultimately taken out of their hands.)

[BirdWatcher]

Shoeless Joe League East division rivals Washington and Philadelphia both added veteran starting pitchers to their rotations in the past few days, and opinions on the wisdom of these moves are varied.

In Aaron McNally the Washington Night Train signed a sure future Hall of Famer. But the last truly great season the 35-year old right-hander had was back in 1979, in his last season with his original club, Brooklyn. Since then he's had a few above average seasons (particularly 1981, his second season with Detroit) but also some pretty forgettable seasons- or seasons he would like to forget. In his one season this past year with Philly, McNally went 8-17 with a 4.90 ERA. Very un-Aaron McNally like numbers. On the other hand, he still has some skills even though his stuff is pretty average at this stage of his career. His movement remains elite, his control above average, his 4-pitch mix doesn't have any total dud offerings in it and his forkball is still plus plus. His stamina is good and he hasn't shown any significant injury-proneness. Washington is clearly hoping he can capture just a bit of his previous magic before his illustrious career comes to an end.




Replacing McNally in the Philly rotation is 30-year old Matt Jenkins. While Jenkins isn't anything like Hall of Fame caliber, he has had some impressive seasons, including going 21-8 with a 2.98 ERA just two seasons ago in Portland. Ironically, Jenkins pitched for Washington last season, so basically he and McNally just swapped places. Jenkins wasn't horrible for the Night Train, going 14-9 with a 4.08 ERA but he does profile as injury prone. And he has a reputation for dogging it, having a poor work ethic. Nothing about the left-handers pitching profile really stands out but with six pitches in his repertoire (two of them- a circle change and a traditional changeup- pretty elite) if he can stay healthy he should at least have a chance to usually keep his team in games. He slots in tied with Justin Banks in the top 10 in salary for next season and the likelihood of him still being worth over a million dollars a season at the end of this contract aren't good. But it might end up being a good deal for Philly for at least a few seasons. (McNally's 3-year deal in Washington is much more modest, especially for a guy who was once the highest paid player in the game.)

[BirdWatcher]

The Brooklyn Aces appear to be looking to bolster their bullpen, which was already quite good this past season, by signing some proven veteran arms.

In the past few days they have signed a pair of former Relievers of the Year in 40-year old likely future Hall of Famer (and the man with the most career saves in the WPK) Tim Shore and 30-year old 1983 SJL Reliever of the Year and 2-time All-Star Rich Davis.




Shore was signed to a 2-year deal but the second year has a vesting option and it remains to be seen how much he has left in that right arm. Still, he's not a bad depth piece to have.



Davis, on the other hand, still profiles as quite good (if a bit of a selfish jerk). He put up very bad numbers with El Paso last season before being traded to Washington at the trading deadline where he much better in his eleven outings.

[BirdWatcher]

As the calendar flips over to the year 1987, teams continue to stockpile relief pitchers through free agency.



Jeff Ault, the 34-year old 1979 SJL Reliever of the Year, joins the Washington Night Train for his second stint with the team after having released from that team after a disastrous 1985 season and pitching for San Francisco in 1986, well enough to make him an attractive free agent this offseason. Ault will give up homers but is otherwise quite good, with an elite curveball and plus plus sinker and multi-inning stamina. He is also a good guy to have in the clubhouse, with strong leadership skills and team loyalty. And clearly he didn't harbor bad feelings against his former team, or at least not enough to turn down the 2-year deal tendered him.



And Brooklyn continues to add to their bullpen, which begs the question of what they will end up doing with what looks like an excess of arms. This time they went a bit younger, signed free agent 26-year old righty Ryan Eldridge. Eldridge pitched for the Detroit Falcons his first five big league seasons followed by one season with Portland, in which he had a 1.99 ERA and 1.08 WHIP over the course of just over 45 innings pitched this past season. He is a power pitcher with an elite fastball and average-ish slider with excellent stuff and movement and above average control. On the other hand, he's a net negative in the clubhouse (Disruptive) and given the depth in the Aces bullpen to begin with one has to question the wisdom of this acquisition.



With that the calendar has switched over to January 1st of 1987. And that is my cue to finally transition the WPK to OOTP 23. And to close out this thread. In the next few days, and possibly as early as later today, I will start a new thread, moving all of my WPK reporting to the Dynasty Reports subfolder.
As always, much thanks to those of you who follow along, especially longtime and active WPK fan Palaaemon, but also to the many of you who have engaged in the past here and those of you who I can only assume quietly follow along. Hope to see you on the flip side as the saga of the Denver Brewers and the W.P. Kinsella League continues into the future.

[BirdWatcher]

If you are looking to continue following the action for the Denver Brewers and the rest of the W.P. Kinsella League, this is where you will find that:
https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...d.php?t=339310

Thanks for following along.