2056.03: Chicago Spring Position Battles/Breakdown

[KJChmura]

Catcher: With catcher, there is no positional battle. Clinton Tyler will be our starter with Rafael Elias as the backup. We expect a 60/40 split in playing time between the two throughout the season.

First Base: This position has a slight battle. We have Frank Collins, Ralph Knowles, and Rashad bin Hadid all competing for the spot. There is a potential scenario where all three become starters at the same time, with Knowles also competing for the second base role and Collins/Hadid competing for the DH role. Whatever the breakdown, we see these three players as strong members of our roster.

Second Base: Ralph Knowles is competing with Imad Emir for the role. The only thing holding Knowles back from taking the position is his lack of strong defense. If he can put strong defensive performances together, he will be the likely starter. Emir, although strong defensively, has really struggled offensively in his career and we are at the point where we need at least a .250 hitter at second base.

Third Base: There is no competition here. Jeremy Starks is our longterm answer.

Shortstop: This is by far our weakest position with Rich Moore & Hussein bin Fadi as the top two competitors. In an ideal world, we find someone in free agency, waivers or trade prior to season starting. Moore & Fadi are great defensive subs, but neither are starter material.

Left Field: Juan Lizarazo is highly likely to be our starting left fielder this season.

Center Field: Similar to shortstop, this is our weakest position. The battle is between Justin Steel, Carlos Garza, and Johnny Allen. This position needs improvement and hopefully something comes across in free agency, trade or waivers.

Right Field: Kyuichi Mori and Jaime Valdes are competing for the opening day starting right fielder role. Mori has the leg up, but if Valdes has a strong spring, he could win. Valdes has great power potential that Mori, which is something we desperately need.

Young Guys Getting Looks: Despite not being considered for a roster spot, we have several young guys getting Spring Training Experience

Logan Ulrich: Ulrich was recently added to 40 man roster. Long term, he can find himself as a DH on our major league team, but he is still 1-2 years away before being ready.

Abidin Yigit: In 2054 we acquired Yigit and he has slowly progressed to the point where he can be in our majors as soon as May. Yigit is the ultimate utility player for us, where he can play multiple positions above average. Long term, 100% utility player. But short term, he may be our starting shortstop depending on how the season develops.

Tsu-Bahr Hru: There is no question, Hru will be our second baseman of the future. Our hope is that by end of 2056, he steps into the role, but he is very young and just now beginning his Triple-A experience. Regardless of when he is ready, he is a game changer for the 9th spot in the lineup to turn the lineup over for us once he arrives.

Angle De La Cruz: De La Cruz was drafted last year and we are using Spring Training to further develop his defensive ability. Realistically, he is 3-4 years away from the majors, but he will be a consistent Spring Training invite until then.

Julio Miller: We see Miller as our future left fielder as soon as 2057. Miller has shown great results in the minor so far and profiles a similar hitting style as Starks.

Ayyad Faisal: This guy is a better version of Vigit defensively, but not as strong offensively. Faisal will hopefully develop his defense to be our starting center fielder or short stop one day. Like most of our prospects, he is very young still at 21 years old. There is potential he makes his debut in 2056, but all depends on how he adjusts to Triple-A.

Recap:

We have a lot of positional battles in Chicago this year and 2056 is really about eliminating the clutter and finding out long term answers in the field. We have 3 guys that are 22 and under, where we think they can be starters as soon as later this year. We think once Miller, Faisal & Hru establish themselves in the majors, it will drastically change our positional player outlook. It has been part of the reason we have stayed away from signing long term players at 2B, CF & LF.

[trmmilwwi]

Just wait until these youngins start clicking.