Casinotes 55.3- Team Preview

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Casinotes 55.3- Team Preview

Post by chicoruiz » Sat May 27, 2023 7:26 pm

As I write these words, the Atlantic City Gamblers have the 13th-highest payroll in the BBA. Are they the 13th-best team?

Ha ha, I laugh bitterly.

That number is deceiving, to say the least. The Gamblers are currently paying just over 22 million in retained salary to players no longer with the club. Add in another 22 million owed to a catcher who OPSed under .700 last year, and you basically have more than a third of your payroll pretty much flushed right down the you-know-where.

Atlantic City is currently in year two of a four-year plan to clear the books of some unfortunate inherited contracts. As a result, the team on the field this year will suffer, but there are still some points of interest. Let’s take a detailed look:

STARTING PITCHERS: Tok Takahashi and Jimmy Huggins are holdovers, and Felix Vidaca was signed as a free agent after a career in Portland that was…okay. Junkballer Art Cherry showed well in a brief audition last year and has the inside track for the #4 slot. And the fifth starter? Maybe Robert Wilson, although his performance as a starter last year seemed to scream “send me back to the bullpen”. Or maybe Stephen Grant… or John Schmitt…or Matt Schneider. With a couple of off days in April, the Gamblers should be able to finesse this spot for a couple of weeks, while they peruse the waiver wire very carefully. James Robinson is the future, but the future isn't quite here yet.

BULLPEN: Steven Flannery is an elite closer, who just needs a team that will give him more save opportunities. Paul Carson, Josh Miller and William Warren will pitch in middle relief, along with Wilson if he’s not in the rotation. John Rowe will be the token lefty, and rule 5 guy Ju-ao Hue will pitch in lost causes, of which there should be a decent number.

CATCHERS: 22-million-dollar man Octavio Moreno can’t be as bad as he was last year, right? Any hope of Gambler relevance hinges on Moreno having some sort of a bounce-back year. Craig Hughes will be the backup, and youngster Spencer Clough was acquired in a trade to be the eventual future guy.

INFIELD: 1B Eric Wignes will hit for average and field the position well. The Gamblers gave speedy Yodo Sato a multiyear deal with the idea that he can hit leadoff and hack it defensively at second base. Holdover shortstop Fred Manchild is in danger of losing his starting spot to former rule 5 pick Breslan Hadingham, who has a couple of nice part-time years on his resume. Long-time Gambler Ernesto Gonzales is entrenched at third coming off seven consecutive years as a .300 hitter. 2B-3B Don Perez is making seven million a year, so he should probably play somewhere or be used as trade bait.

OUTFIELD: The cupboard was bare at the beginning of the offseason, but management has done their level best to restock, and the group looks like it will be, if not a major asset, at least not the black hole it initially seemed to be. The big prize was free agent RF Bronx Cortez, who will bat third and supply much needed power to the lineup. Another FA, CF Bill Bowers is more of a slap hitter; Gambler management hopes he can get on base with the frequency he did in his GBC career. Left field will be some form of a platoon utilizing lefties Shane Webb and Adrian Nilsen, and righties Abbud Yushua and Julio Garcia. And another rule 5 pick, Muhsin bin Abdul, will caddy for Bowers in center field.

DESIGNATED HITTER: Right now the plan is to hope for a rebound from Juan Martinez, who was pretty good as recently as 2053 but had a nightmare 2054. Failing that, the team could turn to Perez or one of the outfield reserves. What they’d really like is another big power bat in the middle of the order, but no one matching that description has yet appeared.

So… Like a lot of BBA teams, the Gamblers financial situation is in a bit of flux right now. If things work out, and they can go to the waiver wire for a better #5 starter and maybe even a DH with some power, I think they could go 73-89; as it stands now, I’ll predict them at 67-95.
( “In baseball you don’t know nothin’...” Yogi Berra)

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Re: Casinotes 55.3- Team Preview

Post by Trebro » Fri Jun 02, 2023 2:22 pm

really solid, honest look at your team
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Re: Casinotes 55.3- Team Preview

Post by Dington » Fri Jun 02, 2023 2:26 pm

I was really surprised you dumped Saswata in favor of Sato. Candy killed it for you last year after you acquired him.
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