January 1, 2041
When Matt Rectenwald was the GM of the Las Vegas Hustlers, his farm system was consistently ranked as one of the worst in the game by the "experts" at BNN. Yet the Hustlers entries into the Florida Prospect League consistently were among the very best teams in the league, and saw many undervalued prospects use the FPL as a launching pad to the BBA.
It seems the story will remain much the same for Rectenwald with Nashville. His "rag-tag" Graceville team in the FPL went 19-9 and just missed the playoffs.
Offensively, the club had just one true blue-chip prospect in third baseman Tony Frost. He hit .317/.418/.462/.880 with 2 homers and 9 RBI. He wasn't the top producer though, nor the second by WAR.
Graceville had two batters with at least 1 WAR.
The first is center fielder Alfonso Colon. In addition to batting .303/.372/.495/.867 with 4 HR, 21 RBI and a 1.2 WAR, he won the DIamond Glove Award for his play in center.
Rectenwald's clubs have been famous for developing under the radar corner outfielders who bat lefty. The next one could very well be Stephen Lord. He had 1 WAR by hitting .330/.426/.567/.993 with 5 HR and 20 RBI.
On the mound, there were several standouts.
Nashville wouldn't have traded Justin Jackson to Omaha without getting Rafael Flores in return. Flores showed why the Bluebirds wanted him so badly in the FPL. He was 2-2, 3.51 ERA, 1.14 WHIP with 27 K and 0.8 WAR.
Just like Flores, Nashville insisted on getting Gerald Abbott from Las Vegas in the Heinrich Peithner deal. He also was worth 0.8 WAR, going 3-1, 4.05 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 21 K.
Potential two-way player Roberto Rodriguez pitched in relief exclusively and was outstanding. In 9 games (19 innings) he posted a 1.42 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and an amazing 28 K's.
Though all of the above mentioned players were outstanding, the MVP of the 2041 Graceville Bluebirds was undoubtedly Gustavo Munoz. He was not only among the best starters on the staff (3-1, 3.18 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 8 BB, 24 K, 34 IP) but he also RAKED during his time as an outfielder. In 26 at-bats he hit 7 doubles, drove in 6, struck out just 3 times while posting a ridiculous slash line of .462/.500/.731/1.231. In total he was worth 1.2 WAR (0.7 as a pitcher, 0.5 as a position player).