Casinotes 55.8- Those Five I Watched

[chicoruiz]

This season, as I do most seasons, I posted an article in which I tried to identify “Five To Watch”: that is, five players who I was most interested in seeing in 2055. The implication is that the performance of these guys would make the difference between a season that would be just bad (which was the best I could hope for), and out and out disaster.

Well, I watched them all right… and what I watched by and large had me reaching for a bucket to lose my most recent meal into. Let’s take a look at how my pivotal guys performed:

OCTAVIO MORENO- I was hoping for a bounce-back year from Octavio, who was due an ungodly amount of money this year and next. What I got was an even deeper descent into sub-mediocrity. I finally cut ties with him, eating the largest contract I hope I’ll ever have to eat. Paying it off will hurt for a while, but at least he’s Twin Cities’ problem now.

BRESLAN HADINGHAM- I said at the beginning of the year that he could be pretty bad and still be better than the incumbent shortstop, Fred Manchild. And that’s exactly what happened; he was pretty bad, and he was still a teensy bit better than Manchild. He will face further competition in 2056.

BILL BOWERS- He was supposed to play a good defensive CF and approach the .360 OBP he posted in the GBC. I gave him 2.4 million of scarce ATC cash to let him try. He couldn’t. His OBP and SLG are both under .300, and he gradually slid down the batting order from second to fifth, to eighth, to being ensconced on the bench, where I expect him to serve out his stint.

DAVE WOODARD- A career reliever, he throws four pretty good pitches, and I thought maybe I could make a starter out of him if I kept him on a pitch count. I couldn’t. The good news is that once he returned to his natural habitat in the pen, he became a perfectly serviceable reliever again.

PADDY HUTCHINSON- My scouts told me he couldn’t pitch in the majors, but I decided I was smarter than my scouts. I wasn’t. He’s now back in AAA, but at least after toiling for years in the minors, he can tell his kids he made it to the Show. You’re welcome, Paddy.

And decisions like that, kids, are how you end up with the worst record in the BBA…

[Trebro]

I know some have success grabbing GBC guys but it hasn't worked for me. Not even most of the minors guys have success for me.

[ae37jr]

Moreno was a business decision for me. I have gotten zero production from my catchers the past 2 seasons, so he's not really hurting us. But financially we picked him up for less than $1 mil real money and he topped off our Fan Interest for September/post season/ season tickets 2056.

I'm hindsight I probably should have heavily front loaded the contract so 2056 was cheaper or not given him second year at all. But I was up against the cap and didn't want to risk someone else signing him in December to defeat the purpose.

He's batting. .273 /359/.485 in the playoffs. So for now I'm happy with deal. Ask me again in a year and I'm sure I'll have a different answer.