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1904 Boston Beaneaters
LAST YEAR: 67-73 13 ½ GB, 5th / .287 / 3.66
BNN PREDICTION: 91-63 7 GB, 1st / .263 / 2.95
FARM SYSTEM: 10th
BEST PROSPECT: P Charlie Smith (7th)
PAYROLL: 1st, $33,805
HIGHEST PAID PLAYER: SP Carl Lundgren, $3,000
CASH BALANCE: $193,478
GAINS: 3B Mike Sharperson (trade)
LOSSES: P Matt Herges (trade); P Ambrose Puttmann (trade); RF Jack Rothrock (trade)
As opposed to their crosstown AL counterparts things look on the up-and-up for the Beaneaters, who are predicted to convert the promise they showed last season to finish atop the NL. They remain one of the most even squads in the game and once again this looks to be their strength.
But the bench needs to step up this year. While their four qualified batters in 1903 – 1B Leon Durham, 3B Sean Burroughs, RF Warren Cromartie, and LF Gates Brown – all hit above .300 and had an OPS of .750+ last season, contributions from the other members of the squad were on the disappointing side. Veteran outfielder Frank Thomas in particular went missing, hitting a Mendoza-like .206 with a wRC+ of just 66 and seeing far less action (just 70 PA) as a result than he should have for a player of his calibre. If he, and others such as SS Bill Spiers and CF Jerry Browne, can turn around their lacklustre performances of a season ago, then the sky’s the limit for the boys from Beantown.
Ace Andy Coakley put together the sort of season you’d expect from a hard-throwing rookie, with moments of brilliance interspersed with the sort of erratic showings that reduce the life expectancy of big-league skippers by a decade. Most importantly, he stayed healthy, and he should be greatly improved by the experience. Behind him Carl Lundgren and Chappie McFarland should give the Beaneaters plenty of innings and their share of wins. It is only with Erskine Mayer in the SP4 slot that the rotation seems weak, so getting top prospect Charlie Smith into the mix as quickly as possible must be the goal, and his hot start in the early PSL games indicate he is as close to ready as you can be in this most inexact of sciences. If they can get him up and have him not be disastrous then that could prove the decisive factor in the success / failure of this franchise this season.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: P Andy Coakley; P Charlie Smith
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