Slow and Steady
(Brooklyn flips the script with an old school moneyball move in an effort to walk away with a wild card spot)
The Brooklyn Robins have always been at the forefront of advanced moneyball tactics. Moneyball, of course, is the process of utilizing undervalued skills/strategies in order to gain a competitive advantage at a discounted value. The strategy dates back decades and it's main stream utilization has caused almost a reverse effect. Skills once thought to be undervalued are now overvalued. Such as the walk.
There was once a revolution in baseball. Some old nerdy guy with a calculator who had never played a game of baseball in his life stated, "A walk is just as good as a hit". The baseball world went gaga over the notion. New school idealists built teams around players with low batting averages but high OBP. When teams like the Oakland Athletics of the now defunct MLB had success with this new data, it caused a whole new generation of baseball executives to follow the trend. After all, everyone undervalues the walk right?
Flash forward to 2037 and that ideal has been beaten to death. Players such as but not limited to Fernando Moreno, Jayden Harsnett (6/7/7/8/5 Ratings) and the Wareham brothers have all made bank in large part because of their ability to keep the bat on their shoulder. Pre moneyball these players wouldn't have been able to secure half the money that they have. A players eye is probably the furthest thing from a moneyball tactic in this day in age. At the very least it is a fairly weighted skill now. Depending on the GM, it could even be a really over weighted skill.
The Brooklyn Robins almost exclusively distanced themselves from every aspect of the original version of moneyball when starting this current build. They determined that the 3 most over rated skills in the modern day BBA were Power and Eye for hitters and Movement for pitchers. Not saying that these skills are any more or less important. Just that they would be the most costly to obtain and a better overall team could be built by avoiding the pursuit of players with these elite skills and building a team and ballpark to combat it.
With a catching vacancy going into the 2037 season, Brooklyn exhausted just about every possibility in trying to fill the role with the sole purpose of making the team better. Hsin Mei (8/8/9/6/8 Ratings) was the obvious answer. But with Brooklyn already being over the cap and having nothing but dandelions and chickweed in the farm system, that was never really more then a dream situation.
The team strongly considered trying to trade for David Katzenbogen (4/5/5/6/4 Ratings) or calling up Tywat Pare (3/4/4/5/3 Ratings). Punting offense for a superior defender to handle the staff. But would that really make the team better? As much as the organization blames pitching injuries for a lost 2036, that wasn't the problem. Brooklyn posted the 2nd lowest ERA in team history. While the offense dropped off significantly from 2035.
Wth the task of finding the best possible offensive upgrade at catcher, Brooklyn went team by team analyzing who they thought could be available. A short list was developed and phone calls were made. In the end the Robins acquired 29 year old career backup Marcus Forryan (6/5/4/9/8 Ratings).
Forryan reeks of an old school moneyball move. At first glance he looks like nothing but a 4-A catcher. But upon further examining his past stats, potential fit on the team, and ballpark he will play 81 games.. he could be a solid underrated pickup. First his past stats. Forryan has a career .254/.364/.334 line. His average and power are obviously crap. His eye is really the sole redeeming quality. It's a skill that has always been elite and even took another step forward this winter. Last season he walked 52 times in 257 at bats. Project that over a full season and he is a 90-100 walk player.
Now his fit in Brooklyn. He isn't going to be a middle of the order hitter. We've got plenty of RBI guys(gasp... I said RBI in a moneyball article). In Forryan we see a guy who can bat 9th and be a second leadoff hitter, getting on base a lot for our big boppers. I know what you are thinking. His career .364 s pretty good, but not elite. Well, true. But that is in the scope of his .254 batting average. The Robins feel he can improve on that a little. Red Robin park is a singles hitters park with hard clay and close cut grass. Players with high contact, high avoid K seem to do well there. So while Forryan is sub par contact, he does have a solid avoid K. He should be able to push a few more balls through the infield. The Robins expect his OBP to be closer to .380 in 2037 thanks to their patent pending stat prediction formula known as shotinthedark.
So with Forryan occupying the 9 hole, Chris Workman (5/7/5/8/7 Ratings) leading off and Alfredo Martinez batting second. The Robins are looking to clog the bases with 3 elite eyes in front of Fernando Cruz, who is one of the most lethal and under rated bats in the BBA currently. Will this strategy work? only time will tell. But it's not the worst idea the team has ever come up with.
