2053.07 Nine Notes 02 (03/31/2053)

GM: Rob McMonigal

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2053.07 Nine Notes 02 (03/31/2053)

Post by Trebro » Fri Dec 02, 2022 2:35 pm

Nine Notes from the Manager's Desk

1. As we approach the season opener, it's been a chance to reflect on being a GM in the BBA and all the things to consider. I went into this off-season planning to be cautious and am quickly seeing that there's no hesitation to "overpay" for the best free agents. I had the money and the desire but I didn't expect several of my targets to go so quickly. Won't make that mistake next year. There's also some steep talent drop off at the keystone positions I'll have to take into account for future planning. And also get used to the way prospect talent is evaluated. All things that will help me going forward, but definitely will make getting over 500 again in 2053 harder than I expected initially.

2. Because I was reluctant to overspend, I did leave myself vulnerable at shortstop. I have Moore who can handle the position well defensively, but I don't think much of his offense. I've kicked the tires on a few candidates still out there, but I think we're going to go with Evan Walburn, whether Gilberto likes it or not. "If he has to play, put him at second," he says. Well, that's for Thum and his amazing defense. Why lower the defense at both positions? Thum's range should help mitigate things. I hope.

3. Speaking of Thum, he had a good spring. A really good spring, actually. I'm looking forward to carrying that into the season. My plan, which Gilberto agrees with, is to use him a little less often out there and hope that will give him the rest he needs to stave off his decline.

4. It's really hard to know if Spring Training means anything. We finished 9-1 and winning is always good. But the game changes when it's for real and players are going all out. I have to hope that the lights out pitching that Newsome and Morin did will carry on into the regular games. How they succeed or fail will make a big difference on our 2053 season. I still feel like our starting pitching is better than it's getting credit for. It's just so strange because the starters I expected to be at their best and anchor things (Lee and Gerard) made a hash out of spring, with Gerard walking 11 batters. He told me he was working on a few things. We'll see how this goes.

5. The pitcher I'm most worried about is my closer, Derrick Chaney. He's 32 and time might already be catching up to him. His K/9 declined in 2052 to 6.9 from 9.6 and he gave up 11 home runs compared to three in 2051. He's got an option for next year that I expect he'll execute if he keeps playing like this as I don't think there's a market for him. I can look at Rogers to close out games instead if needed. I'm glad we talked the young man into losing his third pitch and to work on going one inning, not three. Something to watch.

6. Keith Schultz didn't exactly impress in his late-spring debut, but I expect that was a lot of rust. I don't need him to be amazing, just a good backup to keep players rested and to ensure I don't have to use Brisset against left handed pitching. I don't like paying someone 10 million to be in a platoon, but the more I dug into Brisset's numbers, the more it became clear he really needs to stay on the pine when a lefty is on the hill. Another thing I'm learning about this league is that there's a much larger focus on specializing and playing to individual strengths rather than putting them out there for 150 games.

7. Banger Dan frustrates the hell out of me. He's 27 so still on the younger side, but I'm going to have to decide if I want to pay for a decent-hitting, no power corner player or move on. He also had a slow spring, which I won't hold against him, but he's got to hit either for more power or more average in 2053. I'm not keen on my designated hitter being replacement level.

8. I was talking to the national scouting agency and they told me my organization has the second best rating overall for prospects. I'd like to be happy about that, but I'm not. I think it's solely a paper rating driven by the fact that Reece and Morin are still without major-league experience and that we have a lot of pitchers who are similarly talented in some way in our AAA/YS9 bubble. They either were high draft picks or have some really sharp pitches but can't seem to put it together enough to translate into major league stuff. I was happy to get Dan O'Reilly back from the Rule 5, as he will help, but looking at our list from the OSA, they consider utility man Pang Zou our top position player in the organization. We'll try to fix that in the draft. Because when you look around, the Bluebirds have 7 of 10 position players in their top 10, the Aztecs have 4, and teams like the Blazers have 6 just to name a few. I get the idea of acquiring arms rather than overpaying for aging stars, but this team has gone too far the other way. Worse, it appears that pitchers with low movement were chosen far too often, making them wasted picks who get exposed as they move up through the system. Some things to ponder as we start to make our draft lists.

9. Bottom line is I think this is a 75 to 82 win team. Getting to my goal of returning to Yellow Spring's winning ways is going to be really hard to manage. But that's part of the fun and challenge of being here.
Rob McMonigal
Yellow Springs Nine Sep 2052 - ????

London Monarchs Aug 2052 - Sep 2052

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