Record: 80-82, 4th, NL East (24 GB)
Postseason: --
Ballpark: Connie Mack Stadium (99 hits, 100 HR)
Runs scored: 695 (6th)
Runs allowed: 719 (8th)
Pythag record: 79-83 (+1)
Recap: Since winning the World Series in 1966 the Phillies have sat right around .500 every season. This trend continued last year. They were a serious contender in the East but they were never awful either.
History: The Philies' history is a long history of also-ran statuses peppered by two World Series titles in 1954 and 1966. They've been consistently average during their time in the league, having lost more than 90 games just twice in their history (1947 and 1964) while having hit the 90 win mark just 3 times (the two WS seasons plus 1956, when they finished 90-56 and lost out to the Brooklyn Dodgers in a one-game playoff).
Outlook: The Phillies participated in the blockbuster trade of the offseason, shipping off their superstar catcher John Stuart and receiving C Lee Citro and CF Joel Schaben in return. I think they got the better end of this deal in spite of the fact that Stuart is far and away the best player involved in this deal. Did they get enough better to contend for a 3rd pennant? Unlikely.
In real life this was also the year they moved into Veteran's Stadium in midseason. However, since Seamheads only has 3 year averages for Shibe/Connie Mack, and since I don't like to switch out stadia in midseason, they'll play in the old environs for one more year.
Rotation
Code:
+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| first_name | last_name | age | throws | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Marius | Gaddi | 27 | L | 14 | 8 | 0.636 | 0 | 3.41 | 31 | 31 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 216.1 | 901 | 216 | 100 | 82 | 22 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 62 | 4 | 148 | 9 | 1 | 9.0 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 6.2 |
| Mario | Garcia | 23 | L | 14 | 11 | 0.560 | 1 | 3.36 | 34 | 27 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 208.2 | 858 | 191 | 84 | 78 | 19 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 60 | 4 | 127 | 8 | 1 | 8.2 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 5.5 |
| Josh | Wille | 26 | R | 8 | 9 | 0.471 | 0 | 4.57 | 22 | 22 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 153.2 | 638 | 162 | 84 | 78 | 27 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 30 | 2 | 126 | 1 | 0 | 9.5 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 7.4 |
| Orlando | Flores | 34 | L | 9 | 8 | 0.529 | 0 | 4.56 | 28 | 19 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 122.1 | 528 | 121 | 74 | 62 | 12 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 64 | 2 | 70 | 4 | 1 | 8.9 | 0.9 | 4.7 | 5.1 |
| Billy | Ording | 26 | L | 5 | 10 | 0.333 | 0 | 4.31 | 26 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 117.0 | 489 | 102 | 61 | 56 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 56 | 2 | 71 | 5 | 0 | 7.8 | 0.5 | 4.3 | 5.5 |
| Roger | Quintana | 22 | R | 7 | 6 | 0.538 | 0 | 3.43 | 17 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 115.1 | 465 | 107 | 48 | 44 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 27 | 4 | 60 | 5 | 0 | 8.3 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 4.7 |
| George | Dapson | 24 | L | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 0.99 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 27.1 | 110 | 17 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 5.6 | 0.3 | 3.3 | 3.0 |
| Alejandro | Arroyave | 25 | L | 2 | 1 | 0.667 | 0 | 2.18 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20.2 | 86 | 17 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 7.4 | 0.0 | 3.9 | 3.9 |
| Scott | Jeanty | 25 | L | 0 | 0 | | 0 | | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | |
+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
If the Phillies do take a step forward in 1970 it will be thanks to a promising young pitching staff. The ace, at least in February, is Marius Gaddi, who was solid and consistent in his first full season in the rotation. He tips 97 on the radar gun so those strikeouts could go up. The #2 guy is Roger Quintana, a highly regarded prospect - #3 in OSA's midseason prospect grades - who was above average in the major leagues at age 21. Orlando Flores gives them what passes for veteran leadership in the middle of the rotation, although he's never won more than 10 games or started more than 23 in the bigs in any one season. George Dapson is another big time prospect - #43 as of the beginning of the year - who followed a 13-9, 3.42 campaign in AAA Eugene with 3 beguiling major league starts in September. Billy Ording is maybe the black sheep of this rotation but even he has some pedigree as a prospect - #58 in midseason 1966 - and his issues last season were mostly related to control.
Bullpen
Code:
+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| first_name | last_name | age | throws | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Omar | Sanchez | 27 | L | 4 | 5 | 0.444 | 23 | 3.61 | 72 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 102.1 | 436 | 110 | 43 | 41 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 27 | 5 | 79 | 3 | 0 | 9.7 | 1.1 | 2.4 | 6.9 |
| Jorge | Chacon | 33 | R | 3 | 7 | 0.300 | 0 | 5.91 | 26 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 85.1 | 370 | 102 | 57 | 56 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 29 | 2 | 54 | 3 | 0 | 10.8 | 1.9 | 3.1 | 5.7 |
| Hector | Fernandez | 26 | L | 5 | 3 | 0.625 | 0 | 4.57 | 29 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 61.0 | 255 | 60 | 33 | 31 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 3 | 36 | 3 | 0 | 8.9 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 5.3 |
| Jose | Agudo | 24 | L | 2 | 4 | 0.333 | 3 | 4.94 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 47.1 | 221 | 57 | 31 | 26 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 27 | 2 | 29 | 2 | 0 | 10.8 | 1.0 | 5.1 | 5.5 |
| Steve | Cook | 24 | R | 1 | 4 | 0.200 | 0 | 5.32 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 47.1 | 213 | 54 | 28 | 28 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 1 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 10.3 | 1.3 | 4.9 | 5.7 |
| Tom | Grohs | 27 | R | 1 | 3 | 0.250 | 0 | 2.72 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 46.1 | 181 | 37 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 37 | 2 | 0 | 7.2 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 7.2 |
| Joe | Sherritt | 29 | L | 2 | 2 | 0.500 | 0 | 2.74 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 42.2 | 185 | 50 | 16 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 10.5 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 1.9 |
| Danny | Weickert | 36 | R | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 0 | 4.50 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 14.0 | 60 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 6.4 | 1.9 | 6.4 | 7.7 |
| Kenny | Sabatini | 30 | R | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 6.52 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9.2 | 44 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 9.3 | 0.9 | 4.7 | 7.4 |
| Chris | Cox | 28 | L | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 6.14 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7.1 | 30 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 12.3 | 0.0 | 2.5 | 7.4 |
| Greg | Grady | 23 | L | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.0 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 6.0 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
Omar Sanchez was a world-class stopper in 1966 and 1967, leading the NL in games both years, but allowed 12 HRs in 102 innings last year and finished with a league-average ERA and 5 relief losses. That said, 12 of his 23 saves came from September 1 onward, so maybe it wasn't all bad. Luis de la Cruz arrives from St. Louis as a throw-in in the John Stuart trade. He's no slouch himself, having led the league in saves in 1968, and will push Sanchez for that stopper role this spring. Jorge Chacon does return and will probably fit in somewhere but after winning 35 games from 1966-1968 for this team he fell out of the rotation and gave up a horrific 19 taters in 81 IP last year. Jose Agudo is yet another hard-throwing youngster (rumors have it that his fastball occasionally hits triple digits) who had 12 saves for the Phillies in 1968 but struggled with his control last year.
Catcher
Code:
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | bats | age | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| C | John | Stuart | L | 28 | 112 | 443 | 65 | 140 | 28 | 3 | 20 | 73 | 31 | 0 | 91 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0.316 | 0.368 | 0.528 |
| C | Sid | Bartoszek | L | 29 | 43 | 131 | 17 | 27 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 22 | 2 | 40 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.206 | 0.325 | 0.382 |
| C | Sam | Rahn | L | 28 | 16 | 49 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.224 | 0.310 | 0.245 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
John Stuart is an All-Star and potential MVP candidate in the prime of his career, so the asking price for him was very, very high. The Philles demanded and got back a huge haul for him, including the Cardinals' starter last year at catcher Lee Citro. Citro, truth be told, is no slouch himself. He's not at Stuart's level in terms of defensive reputation, and his arm in particular is suspect, but he hit .267 last year and has decent, if not great, HR pop. Philadelphia has Sam Rahn for the times when they need a bit more defensive help. Rahn did hit .308 as a starter for AAA Eugene last year but isn't expected to hit like that in the majors.
Infield
Code:
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | bats | age | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| 1B | David | Decker | L | 42 | 121 | 366 | 39 | 94 | 16 | 0 | 9 | 57 | 42 | 0 | 49 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.257 | 0.327 | 0.374 |
| 1B | Josh | Coffey | L | 26 | 66 | 256 | 31 | 81 | 18 | 1 | 8 | 41 | 20 | 0 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0.316 | 0.367 | 0.488 |
| 1B | Marc | Tomblin | L | 34 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.200 | 0.250 | 0.200 |
| 1B | Jason | Brull | R | 40 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.400 | 0.500 | 0.400 |
| 2B | Victor | Serna | L | 29 | 136 | 521 | 76 | 123 | 12 | 6 | 21 | 65 | 54 | 0 | 136 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 11 | 0.236 | 0.312 | 0.403 |
| 2B | Francisco | Carrasco | L | 24 | 25 | 90 | 12 | 24 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 10 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.267 | 0.333 | 0.456 |
| 3B | Alex | Becerra | L | 30 | 113 | 399 | 61 | 108 | 12 | 1 | 16 | 44 | 57 | 0 | 95 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0.271 | 0.363 | 0.426 |
| 3B | Pedro | Arellano | R | 31 | 71 | 163 | 20 | 47 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 24 | 15 | 1 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.288 | 0.362 | 0.423 |
| 3B | Robby | Ruckel | L | 33 | 66 | 140 | 22 | 32 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 26 | 0 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.229 | 0.357 | 0.400 |
| 3B | Mark | Esbenshade | L | 28 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.250 | 0.357 | 0.500 |
| SS | Luke | Dunnahoe | L | 27 | 154 | 501 | 64 | 118 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 61 | 72 | 5 | 78 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 0.236 | 0.327 | 0.333 |
| SS | Steve | Byerly | L | 29 | 36 | 79 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.165 | 0.244 | 0.165 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Choosing to part ways with David Decker was a tough decision but he's taken some big steps back in the past couple seasons and the team seems pretty satisfied with the replacement they found for him. Decker still hasn't technically retired and could get picked up by someone desperate enough for first base help. Even if he doesn't find another team he has nearly 2500 hits, 377 HRs, and 1404 RBIs. That sounds like a Hall of Famer to me. His replacement is Josh Coffey, who hit .316 as a rookie and looks like he'll hold down the #3 position in the lineup for the next decade.
Victor Serna has struggled to hit for average in each of the last 2 years since winning a Silver Slugger in 1967 (with a .260 BA, 23 HRs, and 65 RBIs) but the power came back at least and as the season progressed the team pushed him further and further up the lineup. He's probably out of place as a cleanup hitter but that's still a lot of power for a middle infielder.
Alex Becerra is a very good hitter but his stone hands will prevent him from ever being considered a top rated 3rd baseman. Last year he set career highs in homeruns and batting average, so there is that at least. The Phillies have a lot of guys who are kind of bad at fielding third base; the best of the bunch is Francisco Carrasco, who approaches mediocrity. He also hit .279 in Eugene with 28 doubles and 13 triples in 359 at-bats so he'll give Becerra a challenge in spring training.
An unheralded but perhaps very consequential move this offseason involved the Phillies shipping off last year's CF Alex Vallejo to the Cubs in exchange for top prospect Tony Shannon. Shannon had no place to play in Chicago and didn't hit well enough in an extended trial in right field for them, but as a shortstop he figures to be a significant upgrade from Luke Dunnahoe on both sides of the field. Dunnahoe, for what it's worth, was shipped off to St. Louis in the deal of the century, so short is Shannon's to lose.
Outfield
Code:
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | bats | age | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| LF | Paul | Stewart | R | 26 | 97 | 347 | 48 | 111 | 18 | 3 | 9 | 45 | 23 | 0 | 34 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.320 | 0.361 | 0.467 |
| LF | Antonio | Valencia | R | 24 | 27 | 106 | 9 | 19 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.179 | 0.207 | 0.283 |
| LF | Angel | Ochoa | L | 36 | 19 | 58 | 6 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.190 | 0.319 | 0.328 |
| LF | Bobby | Kelly | L | 36 | 16 | 55 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0.218 | 0.328 | 0.273 |
| CF | Alex | Vallejo | R | 26 | 101 | 423 | 60 | 134 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 44 | 36 | 4 | 11 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 0.317 | 0.380 | 0.437 |
| CF | Malachai | Baron | R | 27 | 72 | 228 | 29 | 58 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 30 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0.254 | 0.338 | 0.342 |
| CF | Mark | O'Connor | R | 25 | 6 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.118 | 0.211 | 0.118 |
| CF | Dave | Guerra | R | 30 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.125 | 0.222 | 0.125 |
| RF | Corey | Harpst | L | 27 | 142 | 563 | 64 | 144 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 48 | 35 | 1 | 57 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 11 | 16 | 0.256 | 0.301 | 0.325 |
| RF | Andrew | Powell | R | 25 | 39 | 95 | 8 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.274 | 0.320 | 0.326 |
| RF | Bobby | Corley | L | 26 | 31 | 80 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.138 | 0.222 | 0.200 |
| RF | Scott | Jeanty | R | 25 | 19 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.065 | 0.147 | 0.065 |
| RF | Keith | Hunt | R | 28 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| RF | Luis | Martinez | R | 26 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Baltimore traded Paul Stewart to Philadelphia last April for Edgar Colon. That was a real headscratcher even at the time and now looks like a just plain terrible trade, as Stewart fought off some injuries to hit .320 with nice power while Colon did very little for the Orioles. Stewart goes into 1970 as the incumbent now, completely replacing Bobby Kelly, a 5 time Gold Glove award winner who, tremendous range or no, does not hit like a corner outfielder needs to.
Center field is now Joel Schaben's job. Schaben at 32 is still a plus defender and cleared a .300 average for the 6th time in 9 years as a starting CF. (so, IRL this was the Curt Flood trade; however, I'm going to diverge from real life and not make Schaben refuse to report and hold out for the year... I think) Malachai Baron is around should Schaben need a rest or get hurt.
Corey Harpst won his 2nd Gold Glove in 2 years but truth be told he also needs to work on that offense. He was actually pretty fine in 1968 - a .290 average can cover for a lack of power at the position - but dropped 34 points in BA and also had a sudden loss of gap power too. If he doesn't reverse those trends he may not be able to win more GGs because you have to stay in the lineup to do that.