Dugout Dirt 2051.7

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jjw
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Dugout Dirt 2051.7

Post by jjw » Mon Jul 11, 2022 7:24 pm

From a recent Florida Times-Union (out of Jacksonville) story by veteran columnist Sam Spade on the sad state (and shaky future) of the local baseball team --

Do the Hurricanes have hopes for next season and beyond? To this reporter, it looks pretty bleak. We've all heard the reports of owner Tuck Friar's discontent, urging -- nay, demanding! -- that GM Whalen and his gang make significant upgrades to the farm system, and more specifically get some serious prospects on board somewhere, anywhere, as soon as possible. There are no Jacksonville prospects ranked in the Association's top 100. Zero. So the farm system will require a lot of rebuilding -- like, maybe tear down to the foundation and start over?

Ranked dead last in the Brewster Association, the system at least has some decent pitching prospects (none appear in danger of setting the world on fire, though) at AAA Gotham. With ace starter Stephen Best out for another three months because of a torn meniscus, help is very much needed. Todd Schroeder has been touted by some. He's a 27 year-old righty who spent some time with the big league club earlier this season, and also averaged 25 appearances for the 'Canes in 48, 49, and 50, but consistently failed to impress, and was sent back to Gotham again for more seasoning -- but you have to wonder if at his age there is little chance he might suddenly develop into even a back-of-the-rotation hurler. Charles Calhoun was given a shot at starting last week, but got knocked around pretty hard and is now back in Gotham, replaced in the rotation by Dean O'Gribben, a 25 year-old righty who has pitched well at AAA but mainly in relief and will now be given a starting assignment. One reliever, 25 year-old Tom Jackson, who was promoted recently from AA and has pitched fairly well in his 4 appearances for Gotham, does look interesting. And there are a couple other pitchers at Gotham who have some minimal promise and might well take part in this game of musical chairs before the season is over. As to hitters, 25 year-old outfielder Edward King has looked good at times. After that, there's not much to recommend.

After that level of the system is exhausted, however, there is very little to recommend in the AA, long or short season A, or rookie leagues. At AA Trois-Rivieres, 3 of the pitching staff are viewed as overmatched at that level, with none seen as warranting a promotion to Gotham, even though 20 year-old righty Chris Noble and 22 year-old southpaw Scott Merritt have occasionally shown some potential. There are definitely no batters on the Salmons roster deemed possibly ready for a higher level.

It gets worse when you get down to full-season A Folsom. Overmatched? 9 out of the 14 pitchers on the Foxhounds staff probably are not capable of succeeding at that level! They have one good prospect, Dave Hill, who has struggled at times -- probably because he's just 17, amongst the youngest players in the league -- but has pitched well in some starts and shows good potential. Their best batter -- 23 year-old third baseman Ron Green -- just got promoted to Trois-Rivieres, so we'll see how that works out, but after that there are few if any decent prospects amongst the Folsom hitters.

The situation with the short-season A Paraiso Sea Dogs looks just as bad. No, check that -- even worse. 10 of the 13 pitchers on the roster are, well, simply overmatched trying to play in that league. None of the batters are looking very good. 22 year-old catcher Warren Dickinson has good numbers for the Sea Dogs, but he's only appeared in 11 games to date.

The rookie league Port Arthur Pythons have but one real prospect in the opinion of the sources with whom this reporter has spoken: 17 year-old outfielder Warren Coleman, who's belted 16 HRs so far for the Pythons and has 38 RBIs while batting .262. He might be in Paraiso before the season is over, even as 17 is still quite young for A ball (and as noted, extremely young for any higher level).

So that's the story, folks. A major league franchise with a very good history -- 12 consecutive playoff appearances from 2019-30, with three Association championships, and then another streak of consecutive playoff appearances over the past four seasons. But the franchise may well have sacrificed its future to achieve those recent results, remember that none of those resulted in a championship -- not in the Johnson League nor the Brewster Association. In fact, the Hurricanes lost every single playoff series during those four years. Zero for four. So was it worth it?
Jack Whalen
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