The three teams eligible for my services are:
- AKL: Anchorage Kodiaks
- HAL: Honolulu Seahawks
- WYL: Casper Boomers
After careful deliberation, I have applied for and been given the GM / Manager role at sunny Honolulu for the princely sum of $4,000 per year over 4 years. I’m about as fair-skinned as they come so at least 25% of this will go toward a steady supply of SPF500+ sunblock and wide-brimmed Panama hats.
The Boss is 49-year-old Tyler Bihr. His profile shows him as hands-off and patient, but fiscally controlling. Our Scout seems decent enough, same with the Doc. But the rest of our personnel is untried at this level. Hey, who am I to talk? They can stay and show me what they’ve got.
I set the Scouting Budget to $50k spilt up 20% on Majors / 50% on Amateur / 30% on International, and set the Dev Budget to $65k. I’ll give the Scout some more insights into the sorts of players to seek out once I know myself what I’m looking for.
To which end, let’s turn our focus to the playing group.
CATCHERS
Jaime Simko will be our starting backstop. The 30-yo is a decent enough ballplayer. Solid behind the plate, although his arm isn’t great. Won’t hit for much average but has a bit of pop. The mark against him is his hustle, or lack thereof. I’ll be closely monitoring how accurate this is. His backup will be Greg Sellers, who will prove adequate in this role, but no more. Third man Mike Boardway will, all things to plan, eventually be our #1 at this position. He is the #16 prospect in the league and the second-highest at our club. All in all, solid if unspectacular at the position – a good foundation.
INFIELDERS
There’s no doubt whatsoever that 3B Brian Malone is the cornerstone of this club. He’s the league’s second-best rated player and looks likely to figure in MVP calculations on a yearly basis. Not really a weakness in his game, either offensively or defensively, and he’s just 23! He’ll bat at 3, with veteran 1B Corey Wierenga at clean-up. Corey won’t hit the ball many times, but when he does it will stay hit. 2B David Boyd is another with a reputation for being a bit too laid-back (it’s all these beaches and bikinis, I tell you!), but he has above-average tools and with his pace should provide some spark leading off and hopefully set the table for the power bats. At 40, SS Tyler Allen has no doubt seen his best days, but still projects quite well. That said, shoring up this position will be one of my first priorities, as Tyler’s age and a lack of depth at the position stands out like the proverbial in this squad. Adam Bruner and seasoned campaigner Roy Archer will hold down backup and utility roles, as will Chris Barnes if and when injuries open up a spot on the Active Roster.
OUTFIELDERS
A surprisingly strong bunch of outfielders rounds off the position players, led by speedster CF Nick Terrance who’ll hit at 2. Jonathan Moulton, another low average / OK power guy, will cover left and bat at 5. Jason Taylor, Justin Parks and Josh Valdez will share RF / backup duties. All are decent enough players without being anything close to superstars. All three also have a bit of a prickly reputation, which is something I’ll have to keep tabs on.
ROTATION
This is where the good news ends. As solid as the offensive group is it remains to be seen whether they can score anywhere near enough runs to cover these guys. Southpaws Edwin Chavez and Bryan Phillips aren’t too bad, but the dropoff from there is sheer to put it mildly and the Reserve Roster offers no solace. So if either of these guys get hurt or lose form this is going to be a tougher get than I’d hoped for and seasons will seem decades-long in duration.
BULLPEN
The story here isn’t quite so dire as in the rotation, but still there are holes aplenty that will yawn like gaping maws if the starters get shelled and chased early from too many games. Mike Christensen is the pick of the bunch, and he can look forward to plenty of work in the Stopper / Closer role. At 34, that’s a bit of a worry. Our next-best reliever Joe Alexander can tend to nibble and be susceptible to the longball, while if lefty Adam Hendricksen was anywhere near the pitcher he seems to believe he is then we’d be in a much healthier position. The rest of the group are nothing but chewers of innings, and there isn’t a decent prospect to be seen.
I’ve hardly two bits to rub together for FA and little budget room for trades, so the Rookie Draft is our best / only hope of plugging gaps. One of the benefits of this exercise I’m undertaking – at least for the first year I take over a club – is that the last-place finish in the prior season elevates you to some degree up the Draft order. (For the 1950 Rookie Draft, we have pick #46.) However, given said Draft consists of only 5 rounds and with the talent pool only so deep when 300+ teams are drinking from it, I’ll really need to make every post a winner. With our present financial constraints as they are, I best be thankful that dreams are free. In those dreams, my 5 picks this year will include 2 SPs who are ready to go now, a longer-term pitching prospect, and a couple of solid left- or switch-hitting infielders. We’ll see what happens come mid-May.
Until then, let’s see what these guys are made of.
Here are our fellow Hawaiian Leaguers: