Is the longest tenured Robin on the hot seat?
When the Brooklyn Robins won 79 games last year, lots of rival GM's were left scratching their heads. How does a miserable baseball team find such success? Arief Alatas is the longest tenured Robin and possibly the poster boy for said over achieving. He's a 4/5/4/3/7 batter who hit .247/.294/.373 last season. You take a quick glance at him and say, "Ugh... pass. Another nondescript utility player". But upon further inspection you notice a .7 WAR. I know what you are thinking. .7 WAR....whooopie. But .7 WAR in just 150 terrible at bats is actually pretty damn impressive. Extrapolate that over 600 at bats and that's 2.8 WAR. In other words. Put 27 Arief Alatas on a team and you have a pretty good team.
Of course most of Alatas' value comes from defense. So a team full of no hit-all glove players probably wouldn't do too well. There is really only enough room for one or two of these type players on the roster. And with Arief turning 26 and entering the last year of team control, Brooklyn is starting to look towards the future. I mean once the all world defender loses his range he become virtually useless. Entering camp this spring is a pair of rookies looking to be the heir apparent to Arief Alatas.
The first player is 22 year old Robert Franklin. Franklin was drafted 400th overall in the 2036 draft yet the Robins are confident he can be a contributor at the BBA level. He is a slightly better offensive player yet isn't quite the defensive juggernaut that Alatas is. Not that he is bad by any means. In fact he is more versatile as Franklin is rated 7 or better at 7 different positions with room for more growth. Robert was placed on the 40 man roster prior to the rule 5 draft so even if he doesn't make the team out of camp, he will be up at some point in the season. Definitely as a September call up where he is an ideal extra bench hand.
Joining Franklin and Alatas in camp vying for the super sub roster spot is 21 year old Ernie Schoonmaker. Ernie was the 315th pick in the deep 2038 draft. After a solid first season, Schoonmaker went off in 2039 in Single A. He made the all star team, won a silver slugger, and even finished third in the Sixto Mazzola Batter Award voting. But the thing is.... he isn't known for his bat. Like the other two mentioned, Ernie profiles as a 27th man on the roster at best. For now at least. If he can build off his .287/.350/.569 line then maybe he will be a bumper. I mean if you think about it. He is currently 4/6/6/7/3. Even if he bumps to a 5 contact(combined with 7 eye, 6 power and very good CF and SS defense) he should be viewed as a BBA starter. While Schoonmaker will be in Apalachicola this spring seasoning his defense, the 21 year old is not yet a member of the 40 man roster. So he'll have an uphill battle winning a job.
Once again I'll open up the call line. Who would you go with.... The sentimental, uber defensive, clutch hitting Alatas? The man of a thousand positions Franklin? Or the higher ceiling, higher OBP, Schoonmaker?