It appears the Lumberjacks have found their replacement for Rich Dares at secondbase. And it will be a familiar face. After showing some improvement in the off-season development lab with his defense, the team appears committed to Edward Roundfield, IV at the position for the 2062 season.
"We like what we've seen from the work he's put in this off-season and will give him the chance to take the position" said Lumberjacks skipper Mons Raider. "He's worked on his footwork at the position which we think will help him cover a little more ground. We also think he'll make fewer mistakes at the position with errors. He still has some weaknesses compared to what we've seen from Rich there over the last 3 years, most notably his arm strength at the position but we'll see how it goes. It's Edward's spot to lose at this point."
Roundfield, a former 1st round pick taken 31st overall in 2052, has only been given one full season of starting opportunities. In 2058, he played in 125 games and posted a -10.7 ZR defensively. With the bat in his hand, he's another mixed bag. Compared to Dares, he'll likely provide way more pop with the bat. Something the Lumberjacks offense may welcome. He hit 23 homeruns in that 2058 season and as recent as 2060 he belted 21 long balls filling in for injuries.
"He has some potential to help our offense with the long ball" added Raider. "He just needs to be more consistent. He's been all over statistically over his career. If we can get a .240 average, an OPS in the .700s, and average defense at 2B then we think we'll be alright with Eddie at 2B this season."
In 2061, Roundfield was a replacement player level player, hitting .204 with 7 homeruns and 25 RBI in 142 at-bats. I guess if you give him a full season's worth of ABs this season, with those numbers, then a 28 homerun and 100 RBI season would mask the loss of Dares quite nicely. We'll see how it works out.