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Art Deco · 03-25-2024, 09:23 AM

It was a pretty solid season but we fell to the one team in the AL that was better than us in Houston. It was the third season without a ring but we remain in contention and that's all you can ask. The good news is that most of the band should be back for 2037 and that includes Wander Franco, who unsurprisingly exercised his player option at $30M for the final year of his contract. Franco is now "wrecked" and missed half the season last year, earning only 2.2 WAR and perhaps that's all we can hope for from him next year.

The one area of the team that's going to require some rebuilding is the bullpen as Eric Lewis, Mike Moore, Nick Wallerstedt, and Alden Segui are all free agents as is starter Ron Baer, who Baer-ly pitched for us last season with only 5 starts before tearing his meniscus. Also Jeff Coblentz will be non-tendered. We're getting a $160M payroll and our salary obligations are going to be in the $140-145M range so we'll have to find some inexpensive replacements.

The position-by-position outlook:

C: Willie Gutierrez had a solid second season for us and returns as the starter. Javy Denton was adequate as a rookie backup while Billy Doughty remains a solid prospect who had a bit of a down year but still could be our catcher of the future.

1B: Joe Stack had an outstanding year and provided Gold Glove D at the position in addition to his 30+ homers.

2B: Wander is back for one more year and given his fragility, it will be important to have a quality backup.

SS: Justin Blackwell returns.

3B: Ditto Danny Arroyave.

IF: Luis Cisneros will return as the primary IF backup and he hit 23 HR between Durham and Tampa Bay last year. Agustin Lopez could be back too as he is a high-contact guy with questionable D.

LF: Luis Berumen is one of the great up-and-coming young hitters in the league.

CF: Alex Rivas had a disappointing season at only 1.3 WAR playing full-time after earning 2.7 WAR in 2035 in substantially fewer at-bats. A bounce-back would be nice.

RF: Bobby Marin has the ratings (65 contact, 60 power) but it hasn't translated into results as he hit 242/299/391 last season before turning it on in the playoffs. He has a couple of threats to his job in Mal Stephens, who was .260-17-42 in a half-season's worth of ABs, and Duk-yoon Ko, the Korean Kyle Schwarber but with excellent defense in RF.

DH: Danny Charlton and his prodigious power return.

Others: Claus Hoppenbrouwers was totally lost at the plate (213/276/295) but is still potentially an above-average MI who can also play the OF. We're still hoping he's Wander's replacement but he'll need to show more this year.

Rotation: Marlette, Morales and Scheu give us a great 1-2-3 punch and Leo Gutierrez has a golden arm and can hopefully stay healthy to give us a solid #4. We're going to have to come up with a fifth starter however. Dwayne Marion is a fine prospect but needs to improve on his 35 control to be MLB-ready, so more likely we're going to have to scrounge somebody up.

Bullpen: Again the big makeover although Jadon Smith will close. Ruben Abeyta (R) and Ajani Riddick (L) look like the primary setup men with lefty Gammage and righty Bridgewater returning. Going to need 3-4 more arms though.

So our goals are simple - with the entire lineup (and bench) returning we're going to have find at least one starter and several bullpen arms.

03-25-2024, 09:23 AM	#1359
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,571	2036-37 Offseason: State of the Team It was a pretty solid season but we fell to the one team in the AL that was better than us in Houston. It was the third season without a ring but we remain in contention and that's all you can ask. The good news is that most of the band should be back for 2037 and that includes Wander Franco, who unsurprisingly exercised his player option at $30M for the final year of his contract. Franco is now "wrecked" and missed half the season last year, earning only 2.2 WAR and perhaps that's all we can hope for from him next year. The one area of the team that's going to require some rebuilding is the bullpen as Eric Lewis, Mike Moore, Nick Wallerstedt, and Alden Segui are all free agents as is starter Ron Baer, who Baer-ly pitched for us last season with only 5 starts before tearing his meniscus. Also Jeff Coblentz will be non-tendered. We're getting a $160M payroll and our salary obligations are going to be in the $140-145M range so we'll have to find some inexpensive replacements. The position-by-position outlook: C: Willie Gutierrez had a solid second season for us and returns as the starter. Javy Denton was adequate as a rookie backup while Billy Doughty remains a solid prospect who had a bit of a down year but still could be our catcher of the future. 1B: Joe Stack had an outstanding year and provided Gold Glove D at the position in addition to his 30+ homers. 2B: Wander is back for one more year and given his fragility, it will be important to have a quality backup. SS: Justin Blackwell returns. 3B: Ditto Danny Arroyave. IF: Luis Cisneros will return as the primary IF backup and he hit 23 HR between Durham and Tampa Bay last year. Agustin Lopez could be back too as he is a high-contact guy with questionable D. LF: Luis Berumen is one of the great up-and-coming young hitters in the league. CF: Alex Rivas had a disappointing season at only 1.3 WAR playing full-time after earning 2.7 WAR in 2035 in substantially fewer at-bats. A bounce-back would be nice. RF: Bobby Marin has the ratings (65 contact, 60 power) but it hasn't translated into results as he hit 242/299/391 last season before turning it on in the playoffs. He has a couple of threats to his job in Mal Stephens, who was .260-17-42 in a half-season's worth of ABs, and Duk-yoon Ko, the Korean Kyle Schwarber but with excellent defense in RF. DH: Danny Charlton and his prodigious power return. Others: Claus Hoppenbrouwers was totally lost at the plate (213/276/295) but is still potentially an above-average MI who can also play the OF. We're still hoping he's Wander's replacement but he'll need to show more this year. Rotation: Marlette, Morales and Scheu give us a great 1-2-3 punch and Leo Gutierrez has a golden arm and can hopefully stay healthy to give us a solid #4. We're going to have to come up with a fifth starter however. Dwayne Marion is a fine prospect but needs to improve on his 35 control to be MLB-ready, so more likely we're going to have to scrounge somebody up. Bullpen: Again the big makeover although Jadon Smith will close. Ruben Abeyta (R) and Ajani Riddick (L) look like the primary setup men with lefty Gammage and righty Bridgewater returning. Going to need 3-4 more arms though. So our goals are simple - with the entire lineup (and bench) returning we're going to have find at least one starter and several bullpen arms.