59.8- The Dead Zone, and How I Filled It

[chicoruiz]

Well, once again September has rolled around, and there’s nothing for a well-meaning Gamblers GM to do but sit at his desk twiddling his thumbs till the real baseball teams are done playing.

I’ve met with my staff and together we’ve gone over each player in the organization and assigned them to a 2060 level. I’ve gone through our financial statements over and over again; we will turn a tidy profit, which will please our owner but not really excite the fans. I’ve daydreamed about the terrific free agents we will spend big bucks on soon, if any players worth big bucks manage to hit free agency (spoiler alert: they won’t).

So there’s not much left to do besides my annual awards to players in the organization. Winners get a hearty handshake and one of the trophies I bought recently at a Goodwill store. Okay, they have a figure of a bowler on the top, but it’s the thought that counts. So here goes:

POSITION PLAYER OF THE YEAR: I’ve been looking for a decent center fielder for seemingly longer than Stanley looked for Livingston. Khayyat Isa looks like he’s going to end that search. Granted, a .270 batting average isn’t all that great, but he’s a plus defender and has stolen 58 bases so far this season. I’ll take that for the next few years.

PITCHER OF THE YEAR: The pickings are extremely slim here, but I’m going to go with Anthony Jones. The former #1 overall pick may never live up to those lofty expectations, but he’s a solid journeyman who generally keeps us in every game he starts.

NOTE: The fact that our hitter of the year hit .270 and our pitcher of the year is 10-12, 4.68 tells you all you need to know about our season…

PLEASANT SURPRISE: I thought Jafar Seif al Din would be just a placeholder until a better shortstop option came along, but he’s amassed almost 3 WAR in two thirds of a season, and now looks to be a foundation piece for us.

BIG DISAPPOINTMENT: Last year I could live with Hollis O’Hara’s .588 OPS because he is, unquestionably, a wonderful defensive catcher. This year, his OPS slid all the way to .482. There’s a limit to how far a great glove can take you, and he’s pushing at that limit. Just because you have great rapport with pitchers doesn’t mean you have to hit like one.

MINOR LEAGUE HITTER OF THE YEAR: I’m pretty sure the winner will be an outfielder from single-A Long Island, but I’m not sure whether it will be Erik Reddin, Claudio Acevedo, or Cisco Sosa. All three had WARs over 4.3 and OPSes over .900. Now that’s an outfield. Let’s go with Cisco Sosa because he has the coolest name.

MINOR LEAGUE PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Augusto Dominguez saved 34 for AA Trenton and pitched to a 0.93 WHIP and a 0.75 ERA. He should leapfrog AAA and start 2060 with the big club (if you can honestly call Atlantic City “The Big Club”)…

MINOR LEAGUE PLEASANT SURPRISE: A year ago OF Mitchell Selmi was warming the bench in SA Bogota and AA Trenton. This season he got a regular job and slashed .343/.387/.525 at Trenton, earning a promotion to AAA where he hit .295. I have a bunch of quadruple-A type corner outfielders, but maybe Selmi has a chance to be a bit more than that.

MINOR LEAGUE DISAPPOINTMENT: Okay, I know Johnny Lazer is only 19, and he’s still got that once-in-a-generation glove, but his .199 batting average in Bogota has some of our player development guys giving him the Old Stinkeye. Patience is a virtue; he’s not going anywhere…

Okay, now I’ve done that… Now what else can a GM do to occupy his time?

[Trebro]

I remember being really worried about Lazer's bat when I considered him.