2053.18 FARM REPORT for May 2053: Silver Springs Tarpons

[Trebro]

The Farm Report for April 2053: Silver Springs Tarpons
by Nes Lessman, Yellow Springs Journal

I got a lot of heat for what I wrote in the last update for the team. I suppose an apology is in order for my reference, but screw it, I'm not sorry. Take a joke, people!

And this team is most definitely a joke. I've mentioned the defensive issues up and down the minors, but it's laughably bad here at the A level. I asked a scout to rank the team versus their peers and he went up and down the lineup and found the "best" player on the team was the closer, who's the 19th best out of 32 teams. It's so bad he couldn't even name a center fielder who he'd even consider ranking. Yikes!

Now the good news is that this team should start looking a lot different by next year, as the short season and rookie leagues have started up (we'll start covering them next month) and their talent levels are believed to be better. But it's going to be a rather long slog for fans of Silver Springs.

[img]https://statsplus.net/brewster/reports/ ... ns_110.png[/img]Silver Springs Tarpons, 23-41, last place, 14.5 games back.

The best news for this team (and GM McMonigal) is that while SP Ken Plante is on the disabled list, he has been showing significant progress. We'll discuss him more later. But there is zero power (31 HR as a team, good for dead last), no patience at the plate (team OBP of .308 is 13th), no defense (15th in both defensive rating and range), and even allowing for the bad fielding, the team's FIP is 4.84, good for 13th. Ouch. It's hard to have a culture of winning when you're so bad the leader in home runs is on pace to hit 10 for the entire year.

Let me say that again: The top "slugger" on the Tarpons is on pace for 10 home runs.

How did it get this bad? The simple answer is draft picks, or lack thereof. While a few top players are on the pitching side (Plante, of course, but also John Jensen and Miguel Diaz), there isn't a single player on the offensive side of the team that was drafted higher than 6th. Most of the people on the team are either scouting discoveries, low picks, or players found off the scrap heap. It's a team truly cobbled together right now, and the results show. Still, there's a few gems here, but not many.

Notable New Seedlings:

2B Jorge HernandezJorge Hernandez. As noted, the team's defense was putrid. McMonigal found a few players who can field the ball, one of whom is Hernandez, though he's being used primarily at designated hitter, telling you all you need to know about this team right now. A "scrap heap" addition, Hernandez was originally signed out of Mexico by Charlotte, bounced to San Fernando, and was playing indie ball when McMonigal contacted him. He's probably organizational filler, but his 286 average already puts him 4th on the team and his positive zone rating and range at second means he's got some potential, especially if he can learn to play other spots in the infield.

Yes, that's the only potential notable addition. Like I said, the team is ass.

Water Them:

SP Ken Plante remains controversial, but he's starting to show why McMonigal liked him, though an abdominal strain has him on the shelf temporarily. Despite the horrible defense that leaves him with a BABIP of .337, Plante has a 4.88 ERA and more importantly, he's keeping his walks per nine under 4 while holding his strikeouts per nine to around 6.5. You want to see him give up less hits per game (his WHIP is 1.61) but he's looking like a player who can contribute, though not star. We'll see what happens after he returns from the injury.

SP John Jensen is showing why he was a first round pick in 2052, with a clean (for this team) 3.93 ERA and a WHIP of 1.54. His k/9 and bb/9 numbers are similar to Plante (6.6 and 3.8), neither of which are awesome, but he's starting to grow into his skills, especially the ability to start moving his forkball and sinker around.

P Miguel Diaz was moved out of the rotation, where he was honestly better than most of the current rotation, and into the closer role, where he's been lights out for a crappy team. The 2049 second round pick now has 12 saves, a .71 ERA(!), .82 WHIP, and a k/9 of 10.4 to a bb/9 of 1.2. He's absolutely playing his way into a promotion to AA, should McMonigal want to do so.

OF Timm Meyers is far and away the best offensive player on the team, but the 2048 6th round pick being the best isn't saying a lot. However, he can play all 3 OF positions okay but not awesomely (and his good work ethic is paying off, as his defense is improved this year), and his .279 average, if it can hold as he advances, would make him a good backup outfielder who can also pinch run and pinch hit. That's likely his ceiling, but it's not a bad thing to have. The issue is on the Tarpons, that's the best they have.

There are a few other players to keep an eye on, like OF Cesar Avia, who's doing well since given a chance to start daily (.309 average), Hernandez that I discussed earlier, and maybe 3B Rodrigo Ramirez (good defender at the hot corner but mediocre .735 OPS), but none appear ready to potentially move forward in their development at this time.

The Bottom Line: This team is not very good and not in any shape to get better anytime soon. Eventually, the Short A players will make this team better, but it's going to be a long slog in 2053.