The Lumberjacks were 3 outs away this past season from making it to the Cartright Series for the second time in 3 seasons. Having made the post-season in each of the last 3 seasons, the Lumberjacks are looking to match the franchise's record of 4 consecutive trips to the post-season by making it again in 2062. As the winter meetings kick off and free agents look to sign contracts when the signing period opens tonight at 8:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, fans of the Lumberjacks wonder what moves the team will make that will not only get this team back into the post-season, but what moves perhaps this team can make to possibly get past Sacramento and Nashville and back to the Brewster Series. Team assistant general manager Sandy Mounds sat down with reporters today to discuss the team's options.
"As we've noted, Portland isn't looking to make a lot of moves this off-season in terms of free agency" discussed Mounds. "We're going to look to tweak a thing or two here perhaps. Maybe add some role players. But I'm not sure we have much else to look into at this time."
Portland currently has 28 players on the 40-man roster and about $18 million in cap space entering the winter meetings. The league lowered the salary cap from $120 million a season ago down to $110 million this season. Portland currently has just under $93 million in payroll entering the season.
"We're good on cap space" added Mounds. "We're fortunate to have a lot of our starters under contract still. We have 5 starting pitchers returning, we have 4 or 5 outfielders back. Most of our infield is still in tact. So we're going to just focus on trying to find pieces that will fit and help in those role playing spots."
As to specifically where the team would focus, Mounds added "Well we could use a solid backup middle infielder with a good glove" Mounds said with a slight chuckle. "Cause you know those are easy to find. But as everyone knows we're losing Dares to free agency and he was our backup SS for if and when McNeill needed a day off. So we could use something there. We need a backup catcher. Likewise, we'll likely focus on someone who can play defense moreso than a big bat."
Fans of the team who examine statistics are clamoring for the team to go out and get a big bat to boost a team that was just 13th in homeruns a season ago. Some fans want a deeper bullpen despite a pen that ranked 3rd a year ago but focus on the fact the team ranked dead last in strikeouts as a staff last season. "We aren't really looking at either this off-season" concluded Mounds. "Frankly, we think bullpens are so unpredictable that we'll continue piecing one together the way we have the last few years. Who knows, we might find another guy who hasn't pitched in 5 years and throw him in the pen. As for power bats, we don't have a vacant position right now to sign one of those. We'll roll with what we have in those spots."
So there you have it. Don't expect Portland to be making any big splashes this off-season. The team will be looking to fine tune what they currently have and hope the get the breaks in the post-season. Assuming the team can make it.