Opening Day Rosters and Predictions
And here we are, April 13th, 1970 and we have our first game of the inaugural NBA baseball season on tap. We will travel up north of the border to take on the Vancouver Mounties who are the pre-season pick favorites to win the North American League Western crown.
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OOC- I will say that switching our divisions so that we were in with Portland and Vancouver certainly improved our won/loss record based on predictions. Of course we know those mean nothing, especially in this league.
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Here is our opening day 25-man roster
SP #1 Wes Somerville (Age 18 T-R $52,000) Spring Record 0-0 3.24 ERA 8.1IP A lot of pressure on this kid and maybe more than we should put on him. He had somehow wormed his way into being a free agent and well our scout and the Baseball America (OSA) loved him.
SP #2 Mike Wynns (Age 24 T-R $47,000) Spring Record 1-0 2.65 ERA 17.0 IP Another of our 3 starting pitcher acquisitions. He wanted more money but nobody was offering so we grabbed him and paid about $13,000 less than his initial request.
SP #3 Jimmy Martin (Age 26 T-L $60,000) Spring Record 0-1 7.00 ERA 9IP The final of our 3 pitching acquisitions in the spring. Martin is a needed lefty but signed late and was rocked in his first outing. Hopefully he will bounce back as he starts game #3 of the season against our other PNW rivals Portland.
SP #4 Ryan Conner (Age 26 T-R $24,000) Spring Record 1-3 5.40 ERA 21.2 IP When I arrived in Tempe for spring training, Conner was at the top of our rotation. Now you see why we were desperate to sign some pitchers.
SP #5 Manny “Schelley” Jiminian (Age 22T-R $22,000) Spring Record 0-3 1.89 ERA 19IP Now despite his record, “Schelley” actually won a spot in the starting five with a stellar spring. The question will be can he keep it up, and if he doesn’t who will start games when we need a 5th SP
Bullpen
CL - Kyle Gorman (Age 28 T-R $25,000) Spring Record 4-0 2 saves 1.61 ERA 22.1IP Gorman looks like a guy we can count on to finish off games, one way or another. Hopefully its the right way.
RP James Smith (Age 30 T-R $24,000) Spring Record 1-2 6.07 ERA 13.1 IP Smith was one of our SP’s in the Spring and as you can see he lost that #5 spot based on his performance. We are hoping he finds his groove in the pen. Positive note he only walked 2 batters in spring ball.
RP Cesar “Campy” Morin (Age 25 T-L $16,000) Spring Record 0-1 1 save 5.14 ERA 2GS 14IP - Let’s just say that Morin didn’t impress and was almost dealt if anyone would offer something more than a cup of coffee for him. But we need a lefty in the pen, so he serves that role as 1 of 2.
RP Damian “Gentle Willie” Cuevas (Age 26 T-L $18,000) Spring Record 0-2 1 save 3.68 ERA 14 IP - Another lefty we kept around despite his 8/14 BB/IP ratio. Hanging on by a thread.
RP Alf Lonnberg (Age 36 T-R $25,000) Spring Record 1-0 0.75 ERA 12 IP Alf wasn’t expected to make it to the opening day roster, but a dominant spring helped him welcome his 36th with a trip to Canada for Opening Day.
Position Players - bold denotes starters
C Adrian Pardo (Age 31 B-R $33,000) Spring Stats 132/281/432 0-3 Pardo made the Opening Day roster because 1.) He’s better than his backup and 2.) We have nobody else in the organization that can catch at the big league level. Pardo needs to impress early because if we are in a playoff battle before the deadline, this will likely be the first position we are looking for.
C Manny Salazar (Age 24 B-R $20,000) Spring Stats 236/271/598 1-7 Based on spring results Salazar should probably be starting, but Manager Wilde likes Pardo. Defense is supposed to be Salazar’s calling card (fingers crossed).
1B Rob Reed (Age 26 B-S $26,000) Spring Stats 306/435/907 1-8 Reed gets the call to start at 1B and bat 4th or 3rd (L) depending on the handiness of the opposing starting pitcher. Reed will be looking over his shoulder at 20 year old prospect Marco Diaz who is starting the season at AAA Tacoma.
2B Rafael Marquez (Age 23 B-L $112,000) Spring Stats 244/392/856 2-8 Marquez was our “big” signing this spring from the free agents. Our scouting director took a look at our positional rankings and screamed we needed to find a 2B.
SS Adam Weber (Age 24 B-R $34,000) Spring Stats 228/274/520 0-3 Not a great bat, but hopefully a glove that earns his place on the starting 9
3B Algelo Pena (Age 19 B-R $122,000) Spring Stats 271/314/689 1-3 The last of our big signings and this one got into a bidding war. The IFA from Puerto Rico was a hotly chased man this spring and filled one of our last “gapping” holes. Again like Somerville in the rotation we are putting a lot of pressure on a teenager.
2B Chris Benoit (Age 25 B-R $16,000) Spring Stats 237/310/862 3-5 While I almost asked him to change his name, Benoit is versatile playing 1B, 3B and RF along with 2B. He showed some power this spring with 3 home runs.
2B Ernesto Guajardo (Age 26 B-S $19,000) Spring Stats 191/255/531 1-2 There is a reason he is on the bench. Again versatile playing SS,3B and RF along with 2B. Switch hitting is a nice factor but not sure he can hit from either side.
LF Carlos Carmona (Age 31 B-R $74,000) Spring Stats 255/328/681 1-5 Apparently Carmona is a “real dirt dog" who is loved by teammates and fans alike. I’ll love him too if he hits!
CF Joe Collins (Age 23 B-L $18,000) Spring Stats 286/470/837 0-3 Collins is someone I am cautiously excited about. His slugging in the spring was helped by 4 doubles in his 14 hits and he also stole 12 bases. He is undoubtedly our leadoff hitter.
RF Mike McDonald (Age 36 B-L $35,000) Spring Stats 265/333/741 1-6 The elder statesman on the team who we are hoping has at least one more good go in him
OF Danny Rivera (Age 32 B-R $32,000) Spring Stats 273/319/751 1-4 Corner OF who can also play 1B which is important because we are starting the season heavy on OF’ers.
OF Pete Weinstock (Age 28 B-L $16,000) Spring Stats none Weinstock is a team captain type who was picked up off the scrap heap in the lead up to opening day. He immediately made an impression in the club house and is our team captain on the first day.
CF Dan Henderson (Age 30 B-S $23,000) Spring Stats 321/393/903 1-4 Our only qualified backup CF who can play all OF spots. #2 pinch hitter against lefties and top pinch runner
RF Carl Jeoffrey (Age 23 B-L $16,000) Spring Stats 321/379/794 1-10 Jeoffrey had an outstanding spring and earned this spot, but truth be told if we can find a better backup utility IF Jeoffrey will likely be in Tacoma. There he could play everyday, but for now he’s our top pinch hitter against right handers
Summary - I am not sure the youth and slop in the pitching staff is what makes a 90+ win team. Baseball America seems to think we are capable of 92 wins. I think with the pitching and holes on the offensive side that we are closer to 81-87 wins. I’ll go with 84. Our owner wants us to play 500 ball so hopefully with the moves we made we can do that for him. His overall goal is “extreme winning”.
We are gambling a lot on youngsters with a #1 SP Wes Sommervile and 3B Angelo Pena both under 20 years old. It is so hard to tell with nothing to really go by.
Fingers crossed
Right Handed Line up
CF Joe Collins, 2B Rafael Marquez, LF Carlos Carmona, 1B Rob Reed, RF Mike McDonald, 3B Angelo Pena, SS Adam Weber, C Adrian Pardo
Left Handed Line up
CF Joe Collins, 2B Rafael Marquez, 1B Rob Reed, 3B Angelo Pena, LF Carlos Carmona, RF Mike McDonald, C Adrian Pardo, SS Adam Weber