We Got Wood - 42.09 - Meet the New Faces

[7teen]

It has been a busy off-season in Portland. Several trades and free agent signings has meant a lot of new faces can be expected this year in a Lumberjacks uniform. Here is a run down of some of the new faces that fans of he Lumberjacks can expect to see this year in Portland.

Rahmat Subadio - I think Wilson's fascination with low movement guys, thinking they can actually succeed, didn't stay in Madison. Or perhaps there aren't a whole lot of options right now and taking a risk or a chance on some of these guys is the only route right now. Subadio had 3 decent years in Madison, though granted in a newly built pitcher's friendly ball park. He's not had a positive WAR in the year after or the two prior to pitching in Madison. Subadio, the only pitcher acquired by Portland in free agency, will be a low risk guy signing on for 2 years at $1.9 million with year two being a team option.

Lionnel Crepin - Perhaps the biggest question mark in Portland this year is waiting to see how Wilson and new manager Pedro Melina plan to play about 10 different outfielders this season. The club is loaded down with a lot of platoon caliber OFs and most must make the roster. Despite a negative WAR each of the last 2 seasons in Seattle, Wilson liked the Crepin addition as the team looks for more OBP and HRs from it's offense. Last season, the Lumberjacks hit 14 homeruns less than the next closest team to them en route to hitting the fewest homeruns total in the league. And that was with Jon Mick who is now gone. So the front office was focused on trying to find some power from somewhere. Yes, Crepin is a negative player the last two seasons but he was also a 4.2 WAR player as recently as 4 seasons ago. He's just 30. Yeah, he's lost some contact ability but the Lumberjacks are hoping they can catch some lightning in a bottle with Crepin who is expected to get 300-400 at-bats this season. Somehow anyway along with the other dozen OFs we have.

Juan Mendoza - Mendoza's addition comes as General Manager Chris Wilson is honored as being the most gracious son of a bitch (or dumbest) in the BBA. The Lumberjacks needed and wanted an upgrade at 3B. They'll get that with Mendoza but coming with Mendoza is a lot of guaranteed salary over the next 5 seasons. He'll make a team record $26 million this season before a sizeable pay cut lowers that down to the upper teens for the duration of the contract. He has a slightly above average bat with a slightly below average glove on defense. He's 27, a big name, and fans are excited to see the addition. Let's just hope the team doesn't need salary flexibility in the next 2-3 years and Mendoza becomes a nuisance on the organization rather than a solid player fans can be excited about.

Paco Diaz - Portland didn't have a viable starting catcher heading into the off-season for 2042. Finding one was goal #1 for the season. The club let Veenman walk after his contract demands of over $8 million were too absurd to consider discussing (more on Veenman in the departed faces TN coming). Diaz is very similar to what the Lumberjacks had in Veenman. A guy who won't hit for a high average. May draw more walks than he does hits. And will occasionally run into a few for some homeruns. At the age of 31, he's been a positive WAR player over the last 6 seasons. If Portland gets anything close to the 1.8 WAR he produced last year, we'll be happy. If he reaches the 3.0 territory like he's done twice in his career we'll be ecstatic. At $4.6 million for the next 3 seasons anything over 1.5 will be a solid season at the price.

Merio Guerrer - Like Mendoza, Guerrer brings some fan recognition to Portland while also a hefty pay check. Unlike Mendoza however, the Lumberjacks have a little more flexibility with Guerrer's future in Portland as the team owns a few options on his contract the next two seasons. He's a solid, middle of the lineup hitter who can hopefully help produce some runs. He and Mendoza will be asked to help pick up the power slack from the departed Jon Mick and hope to produce more offense with some returning guys in order to improve Portland's standing in 2042.

Ray Verhoeve - Do we expect Verhoeve to replace the production of Feliciano Rafael, the guy for which he was traded? Absolutely not. But what we do like with Ray is he's ours for 4 more seasons, he's just 24 years of age, and he does show some promise as a solid starting pitcher in the league, something we don't really have at this moment. Now, Verhoeve has only produced 1.7 WAR in 2 seasons as a starter in Charm City with a 15-16 record and 5.64 ERA so expectations should definitely be tempered down when looking at Ray in Portland. But at least fans will have a good, young arm they can cheer on one every 5th day while waiting for some reinforcements to come the next couple of seasons.

[HoosierVic]

Those skill ratings on Subadio are something else! I would definitely hold my breath every time I sent him to the mound … but he's interesting, I'll give you that!

[RonCo]

I'm intrigued by these guys. I'd buy a season ticket if I lived in Portland.