47.001 Black Sox preview and lineup for 2047

[allenciox]

So, once again, the official predictions are that Chicago will once again be a wild card playoff team with an estimated record of 89-73. The question is: is this accurate?

Well, Chicago is definitely not the team it was last year. We signed nobody and we released or traded away some of our best.

But all of these changes were to the pitching staff. How about position players?

There we have essentially the same team as last year. However, many of these players are in their final contract year. This may very well be the last time we see several of these.

Without further ado, here are the starters for each position:

C: Pedro Gomez, with Spencer Hillson as backup. Pedro is a true superstar at C, and an all-star selection both of the last two seasons. Last year he had 5.0 WAR with a .316/.373/.503 slash line (141 OPS+), with a catcher EA of 3.19, throwing out more than 30% of base stealers. Spencer could be a starter on a lot of teams, with 0.7 WAR and a 101 OPS+ in just 36 games started. It is doubtful that Pedro will be able to be resigned due to the elite salary he will command next season, but this will be Spencer's first year of arbitration and he will be around for awhile.

1B: Aarnoud Budding/ Joaquin Hebner platoon. Aarnoud is also in his last arbitration year, and Chicago faithful might aso be seeing him for the last time this season. Last season, he had 4.0 WAR and a .280/.363/.566 slash line (153 OPS+). Hebner is also a fine first baseman and will be with the club at least through 2049. In a platoon capacity last season, he still managed to get 1.9 WAR and a 121 OPS+.

2B: Rocky Wattson will once again man the center of the infield, and is signed through 2051 (the last two seasons are team options).

[RonCo]

Ah... stealth journalism!

[tylertoo]

Ah... stealth journalism!

It can be read only by those outside the Heartland division.

[RonCo]

Sneaky... he knows no one outside the heartland can read!

[aaronweiner]

Invisible players would set the record for HBPs for sure.

[jiminyhopkins]

My nominee for 2047 Caleca Team News of the Year

[HerbD]

A lot of good information there...less is more

[allenciox]

This is hilarious... I clicked a key on my keyboard that I thought was pasting stuff in, and it did a submit instead. I am still working on it, the real preview will be there tomorrow...

Let's see, blank posts count as team news too, right ?

[7teen]

Time to send Kate and Hellscape in to get to the bottom of this....

[RonCo]

Heidi might be busy with something else...or maybe it's all related?

[CTBrewCrew]

No! Leave it. I’ll nominate this for best TN of 2047