9-News: 39.009 – Where They Came From…

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9-News: 39.009 – Where They Came From…

Post by RonCo » Fri Jun 14, 2019 7:23 pm

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NOTE: OUT OF TIME AND WANTED TO SAVE THIS OFF >>> WILL ADD LINKS LATER TONIGHT OR TOMORROW AM. SORRY FOR THAT

In the meantime, here's a link to Yellow Springs
A few weeks ago, I was looking at a MLB Media Guide for ideas at one point, and I saw a listing of where players on the current roster came from, and I thought “I should do that!” Then a conversation with Ted brought the idea up again. So I figured I would go back a compile the team. Turns out it was great fun (for me, anyway…you, dear reader, may have totally different experience reading the drivel).

Once I had the data, I sorted it by acquisition date, and thought, wow, that’s interesting. So that’s how I’ll present the composition of the Yellow Springs Nine as we stand today.

Starting with our first acquisition in …

2024:
Player Salary Date Acq Source Round Pick Overall Bonus
Lucas McNeill $28,000.00 4/21/2024 Draft 1 1 1 $1,500,000
All right, that’s the way to kick things off, right? McNeill came to the team as a #1 overall draft pick and was a final piece of a deep-dark tank that got the gang before me booted from the league. I may be slow, but I’m not a total idiot. I’ve ridden this horse a long time, and now with the final release of Jose Chavez, McNeill is the lone hold-out of an era that saw the Nine run through a decade of prosperous baseball.

In 2024, the new regime came in, and had several fairly successful selections (Victor Guerra hit 49 homers for us one year, Ernie Jackson was a solid guy, and, of course J. J. McQuade made a difference), but a lot of bombs, too (I still feel sad when I think of Ferguson Gibson and Chris Long). But those early picks fueled the first wave, and we’re pretty much past that period…instead, after McNeill, this current roster shows a five season gap[ to …

2029:
Player Salary Date Acq Source Round Pick Overall Bonus
Rob Thomas $3,850.00 2/27/2029 IFA $500,001
Momcilo Djuretic (L) $1,100.00 2/27/2029 IFA $1,500,001
Tristan Alfama $1,500.00 2/27/2029 IFA $3,000,001
Miguel Padilla $2,500.00 8/25/2029 Scout Find $0
This is an interesting list, eh? I mean, not a single draft pick, right? Instead, 2029 saw a nice little scouting find in Miguel Padilla (who has been a better than workable overall SS despite a hole in his glove), and three low-middle grade International Free Agents, headlined by Tristan Alfama, who we saw as a starter back then. I note none of these IFAs were considered particularly beastly at the time. Obviously, no one threw $20M at any of them. Still, this was a major season in our current structure…Thomas is a righty-masher at 3B, and I’ve called Djuretic one of the best relievers in the game for some time now. He and Alfama anchor the middle part of the bullpen.

So, yeah, no superstars, but four solid guys who spent several seasons working through the system before yielding.

2030:
Player Salary Date Acq Source Round Pick Overall Bonus
Emilio Gutierrez $1,500.00 4/10/2030 Draft 2S 9 70 $860,000
Aaron Stone $14,600.00 4/10/2030 Draft 8 24 239 $0
You have to love a draft that yields Aaron Stone in the 8th round. Stone broke in with a season that put him #2 in the Gillstrom voting, then bombed so bad he picked up a Comeback Player of the Year award in 2034. He’s gone on to be an All-Star and a Puckett winner, though his defense is often about as rugged as his name suggests it should be. Gutierrez is a solid little reliever who took an option to AAA last year as we worked through a bit of a glut in the roster. Solid pitcher that came out of a supplemental draft pick.

Bottom line here is that we find no IFA or any other types of player acquisition yield anything of merit, but instead it’s all draft—and all lower portions of the draft.

2031:
Player Salary Date Acq Source Round Pick Overall Bonus
Dimiao Laqui $750.00 4/7/2031 Draft 2 23 53 $350,000
Adergazoz Ouakili (L) $500.00 4/7/2031 Draft 2S 5 64 $450,000
Carlos Valle $6,000.00 4/7/2031 Draft 4 22 123 $2,100,000
Luis Colon $500.00 5/8/2031 Scout Find $0
Here’s another big year for the draft, though Luis Colon as a scouting find who bumped turned out to be pretty useful. Colon joined the parent team straight out of AA in a dire moment at the end of 2037, and looks like he’ll be part of the team for some time.

The big name here is Valle, though, and it should be noted that at the time he was nowhere near what he turned out to be, but we bit the bullet and gave the 4th round pick a controversial $2.1M to sign. Thank the gods. He’s the closest thing we have to a star quality player to come out of this year’s player acquisition process.

Laqui came out of the second round, and has been one of those quietly valuable guys as the RHB platoon at DH/1B. Ouakili should be back in the bigs this year, though I admit I worry about how long he’ll last.

Bottom line, though, in a year where our access to IFA was restricted, I’d say the draft came up pretty good.

2032:
Player Salary Date Acq Source Round Pick Overall Bonus
Curt Phillips $800.00 4/7/2032 Draft 1 27 27 $3,600,000
Ernesto Ramos $500.00 4/10/2032 MLFA $0
Coming out of the first round, I admit I wasn’t sure about Phillips until this year, but right now he’s looking pretty bold at the back of our bullpen.

Ramos was a minor league free agent when we signed him. He’d been drafted the year before by Indy (in the 20th round) and released. So he was just kind of hanging around playing virtual reality games when the phone call came in. We brought him up a year earlier than we wanted, and we’re still waiting for the last of his development to pop into place. But the kid looks like he should be better as he keeps growing. If he does pop, he could be a solid #2+ kind of starter anytime soon now, and if that happens you’d be hard pressed to not be happy with this year’s yield. Regardless, Ramos is proof positive that guys you pick up for free can make a difference.

And, anyway, I note specifically that this is the first year I see a first-round pick in the list. It won’t be the last.

2033:
Player Salary Date Acq Source Round Pick Overall Bonus
Alejandro Rodriguez $500.00 4/6/2033 Draft 1 27 27 $860,000
Jose Machado $500.00 4/6/2033 Draft 2 27 60 $300,000
Bob Frazier $500.00 4/6/2033 Draft 3 31 104 $280,000
Jose Garcia 4/6/2033 Draft 5 26 163 $120,000
Now there’s a draft yield for you, eh? First round, second round, third round, and fifth round all making a difference. The gaudy name is 2038 Gillstrom winner Jose Machado, but Alejandro Rodriguez has made a big impact as s short-side platoon at third, and Bob Frazier did 2.1 WAR his rookie year before having a horrible start to the season and only posting a pedestrian kind of result as he platooned part of the season. Garcia held down the fort last year, but was optioned to AAA when the team decided to play Lucas McNeill fulltime at first base. [Ed Note: at the time of this writing there are rumors that Garcia might already have been traded, but no news has been released.]

Regardless, it’s hard to complain when four of the top five picks a team pulls out of the draft finds their way to make impacts at the big leagues.

2034:
Player Salary Date Acq Source Round Pick Overall Bonus
$3,000.00 4/1/2034 Draft 1 28 28 $1,500,000
Pat Allen $500.00 4/1/2034 Draft 2 28 62 $500,000
Miguel Fernandez $500.00 4/1/2034 Draft 3 29 96 $250,000
Pablo Alaniz $500.00 4/1/2034 Draft 7 28 211 $0
Mauro Saucedo $3,400.00 5/26/2034 Trade (Minor Leaguer)
Brian Soper $500.00 8/4/2034 Trade (Minor Leaguer)

Welcome to an impactful season of player acquisition, both via the draft and (for the first time) as a result of trade.

First round pick George Roberston was in the bigs nearly immediately, playing such an ugly outfield that he’s been LHB side of a DH platoon since then. The team bought out his arbitration seasons, and he’ll be a fixture for a while longer. Pat Allen took an option to AAA when the club brought in Alfredo Salazar last year. He’s ugly with the glove, too, but he can hit left-handed pitching well enough. Miguel Fernandez had a cup of coffee in the bigs a season ago, and will probably be back this year. Pablo Alaniz has quietly developed both a glove and a bat that, as long as you don’t rely on it, can make a few good things happen.

So the draft did its thing, yielding Roberston and Allen. If Ferandez and Aliniz just mange to do what the team expects, it’ll be considered another great year.

And that’s before the deals:

With Rodriigo Lugo finished in Yellow Springs, the club expects Soper to get real time in the parent bullpen. He came to the team when we traded aging but useful closer David Cantu to Long Beach to free up the space for Miguel Macias. He’s been up for a brief period before, and I expect he’ll be useful, especially against RHB.

Saucedo has been a sild addition, though his glove has never been what you’d really like out there in center…and now it’s becoming seriously worrisome to the point that I’m thinking we’ll have to replace him a year earlier than the plan calls for…somehow. I suppose we shouldn’t be too surprised—he came to the team as more of a shortstop than a center fielder, and we pushed him into the outfield. All we can say in our defense is that it worked for a while. Anyway, Saucedo came to the team in a deal with Edmonton that had us ship out their current catcher Eric Fabre, and a solid enough 1B (Jose Gonzalez), who lumped shortly after arriving in Canada despite being only 25. We also got Juan Lopez in the deal, who is now 23 and looks like he might do something. Or not. Regardless, the deal seems to have worked out okay for both teams in the end.

All in all, that’s a total of six baseball players added to the organization who, barring more moves, we expect to be on the field this season.

2035:
Player Salary Date Acq Source Round Pick Overall Bonus
Andy McKinney $500.00 6/15/2035 Draft 2 31 64 $750,000
Edgardo Llauro (L) $500.00 6/16/2035 Trade (Minor Leaguer)
John Ginn $750.00 8/4/2035 Trade (Major Leaguer)
Han-lee Kim $500.00 8/20/2035 MLFA $20,000
Dong-po Thum $500.00 11/4/2035 Scout Find
How’s that for diversity? We get Gillstrom winner Andy McKinney in the second round of the draft. Lefty reliever Edgardo Llauro (a minor leaguer at the time) and mercurial outfielder John Ginn come in a couple trades that involved Des Moines. Han-lee Kim was a minor league free agent pick-up, and Dong-po Thum arrived in the International Complex as a scouting find.

All of these guys can be argued to have yielded through certain time in the farm system—even Ginn, who rode the option wire up and down for a few seasons before breaking out last year. Ginn came to the team in e three-way deal with Louisville and the Kernels that Kim may be doing the same thing. He was solid enough in 2037, but just never got it going in 2038 before we pushed him back to Indy for some more work. He’s still a kid, and I still have hope that he can overcome that wildness. Time will tell. Llauro was out of options last year, but still needs to develop, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Spring Training. We hid him in the bullpen last year, and used him as an opener, but I suspect that we’ll need him to actually pitch this year. Regardless, he’s the final yield we got in the detritus that was the aborted Wulms deal.

Thum, of course, is a gift. I’ve tried not to get my hopes too geared up for him until the past season or two as he’s gone through the development gauntlet. He defense has actually improved a touch, but despite holding him in AAA last year, the power has yet to budge. Still, it’s time. I plan to see him start at shortstop this year, and probably push Padilla over the second base, where he should be stronger than he is at SS.

At the end of the day, another solid collection. Thum (we hope) will be a star (could he bring us a third-straight Gillsrtom?). McKinney a tick behind. The others useful.

2036:
Player Salary Date Acq Source Round Pick Overall Bonus
Hiroyasu Osaragi $4,300.00 1/27/2036 Trade (Major Leaguer)
Osaragi came to the team when we dealt San Fernando one-time first round pick Voctor Guerra. He had a great season for us, then got hurt. Came back last year with some encouraging performances, though you can never tell with injury. I expect him to throw as our #3 guy this year.

Overall, though, we’re getting to the stage where the kids we drafted are still in the minors, so Osaragi is the lone 2036 rep on the team now.

2037:
Player Salary Date Acq Source Round Pick Overall Bonus
No one
2038:
Player Salary Date Acq Source Round Pick Overall Bonus
Brian Sullivan $3,250.00 1/16/2038 Free Agent
Elwood Blues $5,500.00 6/3/2038 Trade (Major Leaguer)
Sullivan represents the only guy on the team that we brought in through Free Agency (though I suppose you can technically add Lucas McNeill to the mix, since he made a run through that process). We added him because we needed a left-handed bat in the infield to support platooning with Bob Frazier. We executed his option because he turned 1.2 very quiet WAR in the process of doing just that. If he duplicates those numbers, we’ll be happy.

Blues was purchased from Des Moines to shore up the staff during our stretch run. Now I have to deal with the last year of his salary…which is fine. He’s solid enough, and I like his versatility. I expect he’ll spot-start, and long relieve.


SUMMARY

Anyway…there you are. The anatomy of the Yellow Springs Nine.

If I’ve got my count right, that’s 16 guys drafted through our system, three International Free Agents and three scouting finds that have yielded through that same gauntlet. A pair of minor league free agents we picked up off the scrap heap, and a half-dozen guys we’ve brought in through trades (mostly as minor leaguers who we partially developed.

Overall, I admit I like it. It feels right for me. I am not, after all, a particularly high-volume trader, and as I’ve noted before, I spend an insane amount of time on the Nine farm system.

Will it last?

I have no real idea—though I, of course, plan for it to continue as far as the future goes. But things can happen, you know? There are no guarantees.

AT the end of the day, the guys still need to lace them up and play the games.
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Re: 9-News: 39.009 – Where They Came From…

Post by usnspecialist » Fri Jun 14, 2019 9:37 pm

this is an interesting idea... Might have to do something like this for San Fernando.
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League Champion- 34
JL Champion- 34
FL Champion- 36, 37
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Wild Card- 33, 35, 36, 40, 43

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Re: 9-News: 39.009 – Where They Came From…

Post by RonCo » Fri Jun 14, 2019 10:02 pm

I would love to see these pedigrees from other teams.
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Re: 9-News: 39.009 – Where They Came From…

Post by jleddy » Sat Jun 15, 2019 1:23 am

This is great! (Plus my OCD is very fond of the organized tables and layout.)
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Re: 9-News: 39.009 – Where They Came From…

Post by felipe » Sat Jun 15, 2019 7:14 am

I'm gonna steal this

minus the great formatting

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