The 2038 BBA Trade Deadline is here. So who are the contenders and what do they need? Who are the pretenders and what assets could they cash in? And what about those teams in the middle who are at a crossroads? Let's take a look.
JOHNSON LEAGUE
1. Rockville Pikemen
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Biggest Need: Power Bat
It's incredibly hard to find a need on this team. Even their one area of "weakness", power (13th in JL in homers) is a tricky one. Sure, they could USE another power hitter...but who would he replace? It's likely the Pikemen will either stand pat or make a move or two with their upcoming salary cap issues in mind.
2. Jacksonville Hurricanes
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Biggest Need: Middle Relief
Like the Pikemen, any "need" here is bordering on nitpicking. Most playoff bound teams would never say no to adding another power arm out of the bullpen. If there's one weakness on the Jacksonville staff it's the lack of true power arms in their relief corps.
3. Las Vegas Hustlers
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Biggest Need: Frontline Starting Pitcher
The Hustlers have gotten here on the back of a balanced offense and a lights out bullpen. Despite adding Mauro Flores in the offseason, their starting staff still shows considerable warts. Vegas was undoubtedly counting on Gerardo Fajardo to return and bolster the staff once again but he has regressed during his latest injury to the point where he is no longer an option.
4. Mexico City Aztecs
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Biggest Need: Third Base, DH
It was easy to point at their lackluster production from the designated hitter slot all season- sorry, but Augie Plascencia just isn't cutting it. They need a big bopper to come in and provide boost there. Now, they face another black hole with the loss of Jerome Delage for two months. So add a third baseman to the list.
5. Phoenix Talons
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Biggest Need: Shortstop
The loss of Voitto Stromberg really hurt the Talons, but at least it came before the Trade Deadline. Hyun-oo Yong is the only "viable" internal candidate and he's absolutely horrific. They need to grab someone to take this key position heading into the postseason.
6. San Antonio Outlaws
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Biggest Need: Catcher
I wrestled with calling them a contender or a crossroads club, but ultimately it's been a while since they've been in the drivers seat for a postseason berth so here we are. Jesus Gonzales has been a disaster at third base, but he's got that mega contract so they're stuck there. Let's look at catcher, where Mike can certainly find a player who will give them some kind of offense. They're getting nothing from their current duo.
7. Huntsville Phantoms
CROSSROADS
Trade Chips: Luis Barrera (C), Luis Gonzalez (SS), Norris Rutledge (1B), Esteban Velasquez (CL)
Sure, the Phantoms are technically still in the hunt for a Wild Card, but let's be honest...they're not. Vic took over the club and he's going to re-tool them. Their 9-15 record this month indicates where they're at right now. It's time to move some veterans, and above I've listed four very interesting ones.
8. Montreal Blazers
PRETENDER
Trade Chips: Hank Brewer (C), Vicente Chavez (UT)
They've already traded away most of their interesting veterans, but you'd think they could get at least a couple of nice prospects for Brewer and Chavez. Especially Brewer, with his post-season experience and the need for catchers among the contenders.
9. Nashville Goats
CROSSROADS
Trade Chips: William Moreland (1B)
So they have made a lot of moves over the past couple of years, but it's still hard to see what "The Plan" truly is. One thing has become clear, apparently pitching was not part of the plan. So they've invested heavily via trade capital and cold hard cash in putting together a decent position player group but this team won't truly contend without multiple better pitchers. So it's tough to say which way they'll go, although they have indicated their interest in moving Moreland to a contender.
10. Atlantic City Gamblers
PRETENDER
Trade Chips: Allen MacHugh (C), Ricardo Hernandez (OF)
The Gamblers look a lot like the Blazers right now, except without the quantity of promising youngsters on the big league roster. Not a lot to trade, but they can bring some return back with MacHugh and Hernandez.
11. Brooklyn Robins
PRETENDER
Trade Chips: Juan Sweetworld (CF)
So like some of the other "Pretenders", Alan has already dealt just about anyone he has been able to already. There's not much but a bunch of role players left to deal, but Sweetworld is having a bit of a reclamation season and could be attractive if Brooklyn is willing to pay most of his contract.
12. New Orleans Crawdads
CROSSROADS
Trade Chips: Freddy Delgado (SP/RP), Joaquin Camacho (C), Yancy Cravat (1B)
For so long it felt like the Crawdads were never going to be under .500. The mere thought of it was laughable. But here they are, truly at a crossroads with the franchise. They've already traded Hector Amaral, and while they'd love to move guys like Alex Ramirez he just doesn't have much value anymore. It'll be interesting to see how the next few seasons in New Orleans unfold.
13. Charm City Jimmies
PRETENDER
Trade Chips: Jason Morris (RP), Domenic Wyatt (RF), Rogerio Vazquez (SP)
Charm City hasn't been charmed much lately, but the good news here is that they do have several veterans who will attract suitors at the deadline. The primary chip is Morris, who I predict will garner much more in return than the Supplemental first rounder he is no longer eligible for.
14. Wichita Aviators
PRETENDER
Trade Chips: Hiroyuki Rin (SP/RP), Esteban Sanchez (SP), Hirotada Miura (SP), Marcos Villegas (SP/RP), Gabriel Talamante (2B), Alvin Dickinson (LF), Don Logan (C), and on and on...
The Genius has tried to win now with a bunch of middling veterans on this recent expansion club. It hasn't worked. He has countless trade pieces but is he willing to do a complete and total rebuild?
15. Louisville Sluggers
PRETENDER
Trade Chips: Shag Hopkins (C), Ken Bates (SP), Doug Clement (RP), Pepe Jaramillo (SP)
Louisville is a bit of a mess right now. There's not many talented veterans, but there's not a ton of blue chip youngsters, either. That's what makes Jaramillo an interesting name on this list- why not trade him now while he's still in arby years though already 28 years old? The return would have to be worth it, but he could be one of the bigger fish out there if made available.
FRICK LEAGUE
1. California Crusaders
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Biggest Need: Bats, preferably at the infield corners
The Crusaders have all of the pitching. They have sluggers and they take walks. When you're #2 in the FL in walks, you certainly shouldn't be #11 in OBP. They need some hitters at the infield corners. Luis Lucero isn't quite working out at third base and Drew Hair is nothing special at first base. Given that first base is one of the most bountiful positions in the BBA, that should be easy to upgrade. Third base is a bit trickier.
2. Yellow Springs Nine
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Biggest Need: Second Base
It's amazing to think that this team completely fell apart last season given where they are now. Not many needs on this well balanced team. An upgrade to second base is the most pressing fix, because Bob Frazier has been, well...horrible this season.
3. Edmonton Jackrabbits
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Biggest Need: Left-handed Reliever
I'm trying really hard to not match particular players to teams here, however I can't resist mentioning that Esteban Velasquez (CL) would be the perfect addition for Edmonton. The only other area that could be perceived as a weakness, and this is relatively minor, is that they have negative ZR's at the two most key defensive positions: shortstop (Fernando Martinez) and center field (William Wood). Hard to take their bats out of the lineup, though.
4. Seattle Storm
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Biggest Need: Pitching, Center Field
At first glance it's easy to say the Storm needs pitching. It'd be easy to say they need power but look deeper and you'll see Vincent Vanderhugen is filling that void. What would really help them is fixing the outfield defense. If they could find a TRUE center fielder, it would fix several issues at once. You could then move John Hickman to right field and Lionnel Crepin to DH, making Aurelio Lopez the top pinch hitter off the bench. Improving two defensive positions with one move, and therefore improving the pitching staff which has plenty of talent but middling results.
5. Valencia Stars
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Biggest Need: A PLUS Defensive Second Baseman
Speaking of solving multiple issues with one move, here's a perfect example. Right now Curt Love is hitting RHP but hurting the team out of position at second base. Meanwhile, Kiichi Suzuki is absolutely RAKING against RHP, but below average defensively at third base. Over at first base, Mike Ellis is giving good defense but not much offensively. Angel Zalapa is one of the BBA's brightest stars at shorstop. The smart move is to go find an awesome defensive second baseman, preferably one who can hit both lefties AND righties, move Love to third base, move Suzuki to first base (where he'd be a beast) and move Ellis to the bench against RHP and back in at first base against LHP. This is such an interesting team right now.
6. Long Beach Surfers
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Biggest Need: BATS!
They've already posted that they need a bat, position be damned. Truth be told, the only "lock" positions would be catcher, first base and third base. While they have a lot of flexibility for said bats, they also need to be careful not to mess up the defensive lineup that has led to their Frick-best BABIP.
7. San Fernando Bears
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Biggest Need: Catcher, Left Field, Relief Pitchers (preferably those that can control their pitches)
This is easily the most frustrating team that Randy has put forth in his excellent BBA career. Jayden Harsnett was a complete flop, so they need a left fielder. Their catching situation is perhaps the most pathetic duo of backstops I've ever seen. And outside of Carlos Delgado and Miroslav Tomanek (who btw needs to get some love for FL Egan) their bullpen has been consistently inconsistent. The good news? Solid core, and more cap space than teams this good usually have. Let's see what Randy decides to do.
8. Calgary Pioneers
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Biggest Need: Starting Pitching
One good starting pitcher can help the Pioneers leaps and bounds. The trickle down effect will help fix their middle relief issues. Carlos Rodriguez looks like a reliever to me with that control. Find someone to take his spot. You'll be glad you did.
9. Twin Cities River Monsters
CROSSROADS
Trade Chips: Duane Whitley, Jr. (3B), Steve Russell (RP), Albert Gaona (1B)
Scott has to be wondering how he got in this position. A few years back the River Monsters were poised to be the next big thing. Just need to upgrade the pitching. Now, he still needs to upgrade the pitching only he's saddled with the rotting corpses of Chris Limon, Xue-qin Man, and (to some extent) Ray Cooper. Add to that the free agent decisions coming up with no less than seven of the active 27 men up for free agency. So which way do the River Monsters go? Do they make a run for a Wild Card spot and see what happens? Or do they try to trade off their impending free agents like the two listed above in an attempt to add some younger, less expensive players to a team that will probably need them over the next few seasons. Stay tuned.
10. Boise Spuds
PRETENDER
Trade Chips: Valeri Kharlamov (2B), Ken Gerhart III (RF)
They don't have much to trade anymore, and that's fine. I'll say it first- Boise is on the right track. Check their home record of 36-30. So they have a couple vets listed above that will bring back a lottery ticket or two and that's fine for the Spuds right now.
11. Madison Wolves
PRETENDER
Trade Chips: Jon Mick (1B), Elroy Hinson (C), Enrique Gomez (SP), Ross Quicker (3B)
Straight from the horses mouth: "The Trade deadline is approaching so let's throw out some guys and see. Clearly we aren't heading anywhere this season so perhaps it's take to make a move and start really blowing this shit up or set ourselves up with a different plan."
12. Omaha Hawks
PRETENDER
Trade Chips: Sergio Maldonado (1B), Max Hatcher (IF), Alfonso Olvere (RF), Manuel Orozco (SP)
What a disappointing season for the Hawks, who were hurt early by losing Orozco for the season and it went downhill from there. They are thirsty for more prospects right now and the above are interesting enough to get some lottery type specs into the system.
13. Hawaii Tropics
PRETENDER
Trade Chips: Francisco Mejia (RP)
New GM Mike Branda has been eerily quiet and there's not a lot to trade off. Mejia would immediately become one of the best relief options on the block with multiple teams that should be interested.
14. Des Moines Kernels
PRETENDER
Trade Chips: Jorge Rodriguez (LF), Gerardo Guzman (3B), Aaron Campbell (RP), Mario Villarreal (RP), Colt Anderson (RP)
The list of players on the block is as good of an example of what's wrong with this franchise than anything. No stars there, just older, more expensive, complimentary players. The kind of players that belong on contending teams in specialized roles. Not on a team that is going to lose 90-100 games anyway and should be stockpiling young players.
15. Vancouver Mounties
PRETENDER
Trade Chips: Pierre Cordona (RF), Jim Miranda (C), Ricardo Arellano (RP)
The complete opposite approach of the previous team. They've already cleared out most of the valuable veterans. The three above are only worthy of low level prospects, but even that will continue to add to the list of youngsters the Mounties are slowly creating. This is definitely a long burn rebuild. The one thing Taylor needs to determine is whether the rebuild is going to be long enough that it may make sense to block players like Rashardo Menne III at some point.
