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Art Deco · 07-30-2024, 12:53 PM

We're not looking at a tremendous amount of turnover from last season's 93-win team, at least for now. Stu Sternberg has given us the green light to raise payroll to $120M, which is about $35M more than we spent last season so I'll see what can be done to boost the offense. Our only free agents of note are Zack Littell, who lost his starter's job and won't be missed much, and Teoscar Hernandez, whom we got for the bargain-basement price of $1.7M after he wasn't able to secure a deal elsewhere. It paid off with 28 HR, 79 RBI and 2.2 WAR so we may try to bring him back again. The position-by-position outlook:

C: Long a franchise black hole, the position is in surprisingly good strength now after the acquisitions of Luis Campusano in 2023 and Yainer Diaz last winter with the two combining for 21 HR, 74 RBI and 2.3 WAR. And for a change we have real depth with Rene Pinto hitting 307/383/557 with 28 HR at Durham (granted, everybody seemed to hit there), and slugging prospects Dominic Keegan and Cade Hunter, who are both a bit iffy with the glove.

1B: With the extra money to spend we picked up the $12M club option on Yandy Diaz's contract as he remains our most consistent hitter. Xavier Isaac should be a full-time member of the team but he'll have to get most of his at-bats in LF and at DH again.

2B: Junior Caminero returns and while he has hit for power (29 HR) the rest of his game hasn't been exciting and he's a question mark with the glove. No other place to put him right now though.

SS: Carson Williams was at the Mendoza line in his rookie season but his defense and power (38 XBH) made him a 3-WAR player. I expect the bat to improve.

3B: Isaac Paredes had a 3.2 WAR season despite hitting .221 thanks to his third straight 30-homer season and pretty good D at the position. He's getting expensive but still worth it.

IF: Jordan Westburg was our super-sub last year although he tailed off at the plate late in the year and only played decent D at 3B with lousy numbers at 2B/SS.

LF: This is probably where Isaac goes, although he may need a platoon partner (Jonny DeLuca?)

CF: Josh Lowe played the position primarily last year but he's not a good defensive CF. Jose Siri is, but we're likely going to non-tender him since he can't hit and is now the wrong side of 30. Instead his job should go to Parker Meadows, who was great at Durham and seems ready to play full-time with Lowe moving to RF.

RF: Right now it looks like Lowe but we may re-sign Teoscar.

OF: Meadows and DeLuca are the front-runners for the 4th/5th OF role.

DH: Nathaniel Lowe will be too expensive in arbitration despite hitting very well for us down the stretch after he was acquired as well as in the playoffs, so we will try to deal him. It's time to turn the job over to Curtis Mead, who took a leap forward as the DH against lefties last year and hit righties OK when he had the chance. He projects as a .300 hitter with 40 doubles/15 homer power and we need to let him eat. Isaac may get some ABs here as well.

Others: Heston Kjerstad spent 90% of the season as our LF against righties but didn't hit. He may ticketed for Durham this year given how crowded the OF is. Another OF knocking on the door is Brock Jones and his 56 homers in the minors last season. And we still have the likes of guys with MLB experience like Nick Loftin, Jose Caballero and Richie Palacios at Durham and the long-forgotten Spencer Torkelson who had 25 HR, 94 RBI and hit about .290 between Durham and Montgomery but whose MLB ship seems to have sailed. The only thing going for him is that he's a RH bat in a sea of lefties in our system.

Rotation: The strength of the team and one of MLB's best returns intact with McClanahan/Springs/Rasmussen/Bradley/Pepiot back for an encore. Shane Baz could also start but will probably be used as a multi-inning reliever and Joe Rock dazzled in one of his two starts in September so there's depth as well with Reese Olson and Randy Vasquez 8th and 9th on the depth chart.

Bullpen: As deep and solid as the rotation is, our pen isn't. Closer Pete Fairbanks is due $7M and he tailed off badly last year, ending up just below replacement value and losing 11 games to go with several blown saves. I will try to shop him as I don't want to spend that kind of $ for an unreliable closer. Jason Adam bounced back to have a nice season as a setup game and Anthony Maldonado had his moments but was a bit homer-prone. Lefty Jacob Lopez was a pleasant surprise and Richard Lovelady is an OK lefty while Luis Contreras provided adequate middle relief. But we need to upgrade and this is probably going to be my offseason focus.

Others: Not much help at Durham, although Manuel Rodriguez is intriguing and will be added to the 40-man roster once the free agents go. And of course our top prospect Hagen Smith is coming off a brilliant season at Montgomery and is extremely close to being MLB-ready which might prompt us to move one of the more established starters for an impact bat and/or bullpen help.

The TL;DR version:

1. We need bullpen help and a fair amount of it.
2. Could use an impact bat and may trade a starter for one.

07-30-2024, 12:53 PM	#73
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,843	2025-26 Offseason: State of the Team We're not looking at a tremendous amount of turnover from last season's 93-win team, at least for now. Stu Sternberg has given us the green light to raise payroll to $120M, which is about $35M more than we spent last season so I'll see what can be done to boost the offense. Our only free agents of note are Zack Littell, who lost his starter's job and won't be missed much, and Teoscar Hernandez, whom we got for the bargain-basement price of $1.7M after he wasn't able to secure a deal elsewhere. It paid off with 28 HR, 79 RBI and 2.2 WAR so we may try to bring him back again. The position-by-position outlook: C: Long a franchise black hole, the position is in surprisingly good strength now after the acquisitions of Luis Campusano in 2023 and Yainer Diaz last winter with the two combining for 21 HR, 74 RBI and 2.3 WAR. And for a change we have real depth with Rene Pinto hitting 307/383/557 with 28 HR at Durham (granted, everybody seemed to hit there), and slugging prospects Dominic Keegan and Cade Hunter, who are both a bit iffy with the glove. 1B: With the extra money to spend we picked up the $12M club option on Yandy Diaz's contract as he remains our most consistent hitter. Xavier Isaac should be a full-time member of the team but he'll have to get most of his at-bats in LF and at DH again. 2B: Junior Caminero returns and while he has hit for power (29 HR) the rest of his game hasn't been exciting and he's a question mark with the glove. No other place to put him right now though. SS: Carson Williams was at the Mendoza line in his rookie season but his defense and power (38 XBH) made him a 3-WAR player. I expect the bat to improve. 3B: Isaac Paredes had a 3.2 WAR season despite hitting .221 thanks to his third straight 30-homer season and pretty good D at the position. He's getting expensive but still worth it. IF: Jordan Westburg was our super-sub last year although he tailed off at the plate late in the year and only played decent D at 3B with lousy numbers at 2B/SS. LF: This is probably where Isaac goes, although he may need a platoon partner (Jonny DeLuca?) CF: Josh Lowe played the position primarily last year but he's not a good defensive CF. Jose Siri is, but we're likely going to non-tender him since he can't hit and is now the wrong side of 30. Instead his job should go to Parker Meadows, who was great at Durham and seems ready to play full-time with Lowe moving to RF. RF: Right now it looks like Lowe but we may re-sign Teoscar. OF: Meadows and DeLuca are the front-runners for the 4th/5th OF role. DH: Nathaniel Lowe will be too expensive in arbitration despite hitting very well for us down the stretch after he was acquired as well as in the playoffs, so we will try to deal him. It's time to turn the job over to Curtis Mead, who took a leap forward as the DH against lefties last year and hit righties OK when he had the chance. He projects as a .300 hitter with 40 doubles/15 homer power and we need to let him eat. Isaac may get some ABs here as well. Others: Heston Kjerstad spent 90% of the season as our LF against righties but didn't hit. He may ticketed for Durham this year given how crowded the OF is. Another OF knocking on the door is Brock Jones and his 56 homers in the minors last season. And we still have the likes of guys with MLB experience like Nick Loftin, Jose Caballero and Richie Palacios at Durham and the long-forgotten Spencer Torkelson who had 25 HR, 94 RBI and hit about .290 between Durham and Montgomery but whose MLB ship seems to have sailed. The only thing going for him is that he's a RH bat in a sea of lefties in our system. Rotation: The strength of the team and one of MLB's best returns intact with McClanahan/Springs/Rasmussen/Bradley/Pepiot back for an encore. Shane Baz could also start but will probably be used as a multi-inning reliever and Joe Rock dazzled in one of his two starts in September so there's depth as well with Reese Olson and Randy Vasquez 8th and 9th on the depth chart. Bullpen: As deep and solid as the rotation is, our pen isn't. Closer Pete Fairbanks is due $7M and he tailed off badly last year, ending up just below replacement value and losing 11 games to go with several blown saves. I will try to shop him as I don't want to spend that kind of $ for an unreliable closer. Jason Adam bounced back to have a nice season as a setup game and Anthony Maldonado had his moments but was a bit homer-prone. Lefty Jacob Lopez was a pleasant surprise and Richard Lovelady is an OK lefty while Luis Contreras provided adequate middle relief. But we need to upgrade and this is probably going to be my offseason focus. Others: Not much help at Durham, although Manuel Rodriguez is intriguing and will be added to the 40-man roster once the free agents go. And of course our top prospect Hagen Smith is coming off a brilliant season at Montgomery and is extremely close to being MLB-ready which might prompt us to move one of the more established starters for an impact bat and/or bullpen help. The TL;DR version: 1. We need bullpen help and a fair amount of it. 2. Could use an impact bat and may trade a starter for one.