Well we've somehow ducked and weaved our way into a pretty decent squad but, oh my, any injuries to the main guys will really cruel our chances as there's not much in back of them.
The boss ticked our Budget up a bit and we tried to acquire a FA outfielder - Lee Lacy and then Omar Moreno - just to help our shoddy depth at that position, but they were out of our price range for the designated role so we signed SS Freddie Taveras instead because to not sign anyone would be wasteful.
We also did our usual MiLB trawl and picked up a few free eligibles including Mitchell Page, who will be with us on OD as our fifth OF.
Call me an old softie but we're going to keep Frank at AAA to enable Pops to stay up, at least to begin with. He'll PH and rest Jason Thompson at 1B. Should that not end up being viable, I'll have no choice but to send him to Lincoln but I really want to avoid that if at all possible - I think he's earned that right. With Hitting Coach Joe Muffoletto turning 60 not long ago, the plan is to replace him with Pops when he retires as a player.
Ken Oberkfell will lead off, while Wally Backman takes over everyday 2B duties and Craig Stevens will man the strong side of a platoon at SS with Dale Berra / Derrell Thomas. We’ve moved Jason to 3 and GT will hit clean-up.
In the pitching department, John Tudor will come in as SP5 to begin with and we’ll use Larry McWilliams in the BP. Andy Hassler will get some spot starts but if he struggles changes will be wrought. Same deal with Lou Marone, who gets one more chance in the pen. Kent Tekulve – mainly because he has all his OY intact – will head to AAA with Odell Jones staying up.
Here they are, your 1981 Pittsburgh Pirates!