OK, as much for my benefit as anyone’s, let’s refamiliarise ourselves with the viable members of our squad. While, as I remarked recently, the nucleus of this squad is still very strong, its edges are decidedly ragged. And the farm system has gone completely to seed, falling from top to bottom in my absence. Obviously the Brown situation didn’t help matters in this regard.
MARQUEE & LEGACY PLAYERS
These players, of course, cannot be traded.
IF Pie Traynor, 30- Signed thru 1931. Still a fantastic player and our starting 3B.
OF Paul Waner, 26- Signed thru 1942. Most likely will stay in RF, although he can play at LF if needs be.
OF Lloyd Waner, 23- Signed thru 1938. LF is his preferred slot, but can play all three and exigencies will be the deciding factor as to where he’ll play.
P Ray Kremer, 36- Signed thru 1933. Handy only as a backup SP, but will – given the self-imposed trade and acquisition limitations (3 trades and 2 FA signings per season) – almost certainly form a part of the parent club bullpen.
CATCHERS
Walt Lerian, 26- Had a somewhat disappointing 1929, slashing just 238/367/371 with 10 HR and 51 RBI, but is still our #1 catcher. Still on league min for another year and we’ll almost certainly try to lock him down for a long-term contract.
Bob O’Farrell, 32- Only barely passable and at 32 we’ll be on the hunt for a suitable replacement as quickly as we can. Still, we may need to keep him on for another season or two in the meantime. Out of contract now.
Zack Taylor, 31- Another step down again from O’Farrell, but if we can’t lock Bob down for a reasonable rate then he’ll be our plan B as he is under team control until 1931.
INFIELDERS
1B / LF Lefty O’Doul, 32- His late arrival in the bigs means he is still under team control thru 1932. Not the greatest defensive 1B but that’s where we’ll play him.
2B George Grantham, 29- Probably Honus’s best acquisition during his tenure. Under contract thru 1932.
- At this point I will be looking to re-sign Sam Bohne, Branch Russell and Howard Freigau.
- Freddy Spurgeon remains under TC thru 1932.
- Mike Knode was only drafted this year but will be AAA bound.
- Dobie Moore, Dink Mothell, Frank Brower, Gene Robertson and Wally Kimmick are all out of contract and won’t be back.
OUTFIELDERS
Evar Swanson, 27
Liz Funk, 24- For now, these guys will have to do for backup OFs. Both are handy. Neither is a superstar. They may prove to be trade bait, as the larder is bare.
- Curt Walker, Tris Speaker, Bill Barrett, Rube Bressler and Earl Combs are all out of contract. Combs might just be kept, especially if we need to offload Swanson, Funk or both. The rest are gone.
- Walter Davis is fairly much useless at this level, but can always be called upon for warm body duties.
STARTING PITCHERS
Willie Foster, 26- Our undoubted ace. Contracted thru 1931.
Sam Streeter, 29- His age and chunky contract thru 1931 (that one’s on me...) mean we are probably stuck with him. Did show some signs of improvement in the latter part of the season just past, so perhaps all is not lost.
Ed Rile, 30- Was really impressive this year and I’ll be looking to keep him on.
Bill Force, 34- Provided it can be done cheaply, he’ll get another go-around with us.
Juanelo Mirabal, 29- No doubt he’s slipped but as an arb-eligible player he’ll stay on for now.
- We have General Crowder, Heinie Meine, Milt Gaston and Bobo Newsom at AAA. All of them have some upside in my opinion, with Bobo the pick.
RELIEVERS
Walter Anderson, 32- I’ll be looking to re-sign him as our stopper.
Bob Steele, 35- Despite his age I still think Bill has something to offer. He is out of contract so we’ll need to try and re-sign him on a 1- or 2-year deal.
- Gene Lansing, Harry Hulihan and Sarge Connally are all under TC for the next couple of years. Which means the bullpen from this season - such as it was - will pretty much remain untouched.
SHOPPING LIST- At least one SP.
- A power hitter.
- A good shortstop.
UPCOMING FAs OF INTEREST
Were it this time a year ago I would have done everything possible to sign Rogers Hornsby. Sadly, there are no do-overs.
Our absolute first choice is Willie Wells. Failing him, Glenn Wright or Walter Cannady. The latter two of these are perhaps the best fit for us, given they play 2B / 3B / SS, but Wells is an out-and-out gun as is three years younger than the others.
Chick Hafey or Babe Ruth comes after them as the big bat option.
That would take care of our two permitted signings. Were we not to get one or both, our plan Bs would be as follows:
- At 38, Dazzy Vance might seem a silly choice but I think he is the sort of guy we need at 2 in our spin. For a year or two only, though.
- Bill McCall is another I’ll look at. A lot of whether we sign him or not will have to do with his injury status.
POTENTIAL TRADES
With Funk and Swanson both recent draftees, we are fairly much handcuffed until after this year’s Draft, which is when they can be traded.
So I’ll be spending that time drawing up a wishlist to try and act upon once they are freed up.
Then, of course, there's the Draft itself. The pool has just been released and - spoiler alert - we get a Legacy. A solid enough player, but not one that really helps us where we need it. We may be lucky enough to pick up someone half-decent in the second round, but it will be touch and go.
We also need a host of new personnel. I immediately promote Hitting Coach Jon Woolridge from AAA and will get moving on the others.