Hold My Log - 51.12 - Filling the Holes Part 3 (SS and C)

[7teen]

This is the final installment of Filling the Holes, the excited trilogy of the life and times of Kate Fiscus*. The docu-series followed the Portland AGM around while she tried to "fill the holes" of the Portland Lumberjacks squad from the previous season. "There were a lot of holes to fill" commented Kate. "Some were filled nicely. Some, not so well."

All together, Portland had to search for replacement 3B, CF, corner outfield, 1B, SS, and C. The final two are what we'll look at here today.

The Departed
As was the case in 2050, Portland got rather fortunate with some free agent signings. The team signed Reynante Alvero last off-season to play shortstop for the team. Alvero was leaving Brooklyn with moderate success but had a great glove. Portland rolled the dice, giving Alvero a 3 year deal with an opt-out after year 1. The deal paid Alvero $1.5 million per season. All Alvero did was sure up the key infield position with his glove last season, posting a 1.5 WAR despite an OPS of just .553. A +10.3 zone rating on defense combined with a career high 38 stolen bases may have contributed to the second best WAR of his career. It forced him to opt-out of his contract and depart to, of all places, Sacramento this off-season where he received a sizable raise. The catching position last year for Portland was a disaster. Jared Bolen and his poor leadership skills posted a career low 0.1 WAR over 109 games behind the dish. Back-up and platoon catcher Geoff Combs was worse. After a career best 0.7 WAR in 2049 with Portland, Combs backed that up with a career worst -0.2 WAR last season. Bolen was let go in free agency where he quickly signed on with Las Vegas. Combs was not offered arbitration and has since defected to the Cairo organization of the GBC.

Filling the Holes
Here is where it gets real dicey for Lumberjacks fans. The team really didn't lose a ton at the spots. Alvero will be tough to replace, but all together, the team lost under 2.0 WAR at these spots last season. The team may be putting a lot of stock into rookies to fill the void. Cernunnos Haberknuckle appears to be the front runner for the starting spot at SS. The 25 year old was the 11th overall pick in 2049. He possesses, like Alvero, a solid glove but may not be able to hit above his weight. He was rapidly moved up the Portland farm system last year, posting a 3.1 WAR across A, AA, and AAA ball. But will that translate to the pros? Behind the dish, Portland signed Francisco Flores^ to fill the roll vacated by Bolen. Flores put up 1.5 WAR last season with the Kernels in Des Moines. Flores' skills appear to have dropped some over the off-season so it remains to be seen if that can be duplicated. After Flores, the team is looking at two rookies for the back-up/platoon spot in So Huynh and former 5th overall pick Tynan Potter. Both have their warts, most notably neither are very good catchers of the baseball. Something this team with it's loaded staff really needs. Potter likely possesses the better of the two bats while Huynh is likely the slightly better defensive catcher. All in all, there are a lot of question marks with who Portland will be throwing behind the dish and fielding balls at SS.

Overall Assessment
"It's a wait and see" commented Fiscus. "We could possibly see a better season from the SS/C positions this year and make up some of the WAR ground we've lost in other areas. Or our young guys could be disastrous and everything just goes to shit. I guess that's why we play the games though."
--------------------------------------------------------------
*For those new to the league, you should really back read the history of my fictional AGM Kate Fiscus. She's been "around" if you know what I mean. But her exploits are typically done so with the intent of helping the team win. Much like when she tried to ruin Brett Schroeder's engagement in an effort to get Vancouver to "lose intentionally" the final 3 games in 2049 so Portland could make the post-season.

^That name should sound familiar. Portland signed and then promptly released Flores last season in favor of going with Bolen.

[CTBrewCrew]

So…uh..does Kate needany holes filled? Asking for a friend…