2062.21: SFB Roster Settled for Stretch Run

[BaseClogger]

8/14/2062


The San Fernando front office made three trades over the last week as they settle the roster for the stretch run towards the playoffs. As of this writing, the Bears remain two games behind Vancouver for the final wild card spot. With that in mind, two of the trades were made to improve the team’s chances in 2062 while one trade was made with an eye towards the future.

Off Topic

Traded 19-year old LHP Civan Göyünc and 21-year old 2B Alberto Hernández to the Yellow Springs Nine, getting 34-year old RHP Sakutaro Kawano (retaining 50%) in return.

Kawano was the ace of our 2061 starting rotation and he returns to that role after a four month sojourn in Yellow Springs. He had a 4.11 ERA with the Nine but his 3.39 FIP was actually slightly better than his 2061 performance. We’re happy to have him back and view him as an upgrade over any of our current starters. It’s Jerry Richards who gets the boot to the bullpen for now since he pitched effectively there last year and his recent lumps gives him the worst ratings of the starting contingent.

Goyunc is a classic lottery ticket so the primary return for YS9 is Hernandez. Hernandez was recently assigned a “B” letter grade and ranked as the organization’s second best prospect at the keystone position. His high contact and eye potential could give Yellow Springs an elite leadoff hitter in a few years. From our perspective, he’s a very good prospect with recent bumps and an excellent performance this year in SA but a lot of development remains ahead of him. He’s not a great fielder currently and will need some dev lab help. If his infield range lumps a point he becomes a first baseman. That said, Yellow Springs did quite well for themselves. Hernandez is clearly better than a comp pick and they save some cash to boot.

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Traded 31-year old 1B Félix Ramos (retaining 50%) to the Twin Cities River Monsters, getting 19-year old RHP Pablo Silva in return.

So why would we trade Ramos a week after acquiring Kawano? Ramos swings a valuable left-handed bat, no doubt. He’s hitting .280/.356/.479 worth 1.7 WAR. From our perspective, he became redundant once we realized Yuu Suzuki can play third base. Add in the emergence of José Reyes and Keith Tims’ ability to play first and we have plenty of options in the infield. Meanwhile, lefties Chris Hall and Rafael Marquis are sharing time in left field. This deal frees up $7.8M in cap/budget space for 2063 which we’ll need to spend on pitching if we remain in “win now” mode or invest in our farm system if we enter a mini rebuild cycle.

I’m glad I haven’t written my starting pitching “Bears’ Cubs” post yet because Silva will likely headline the list. He’s got 6-6-6 base pitching ratings potential featuring a plus-plus fastball, above average cutter, and two more average pitches. He missed a year with a torn UCL but rebounded with a strong performance this season in SA. The only real demerit on his report card is his 4 stamina.

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Traded 26-year old minor league 2B Leonardo Campos to the Atlantic City Gamblers, getting 37-year old 1B Michael Pedarzolli (retaining 50%) in return.

Pedarzolli will replace Ramos on the roster. The veteran is having a career year slashing .325/.359/.541 for 2.3 WAR. While Ramos has the better scouting report, Pedarzolli helps balance our lineup since we have plenty of left-handed corner guys but could use another thumper when we face southpaws.

The return, Campos, is org filler at this point although he’s a BBA bench guy if he figures out his development. The real return for the Gamblers is almost $1M in cost avoidance.

[Trebro]

I'm excited to see what Hernandez does. He'll be 2b full time until he can't. Considering Dev lab for D but if they moved that to hard I probably won't as i don't want to break him.

[Jwalk100]

I'm excited to see what Hernandez does. He'll be 2b full time until he can't. Considering Dev lab for D but if they moved that to hard I probably won't as i don't want to break him.

I agree. He's gone be one of those annoying guys that are always on base.

[Trebro]

I'm excited to see what Hernandez does. He'll be 2b full time until he can't. Considering Dev lab for D but if they moved that to hard I probably won't as i don't want to break him.

I agree. He's gone be one of those annoying guys that are always on base.

I'm very happy with him, and as Kurt notes I feel like he's at or better than an S1 that wouldn't have even been guaranteed.

Him and that LF I took in the 62 draft are going to be really obnoxious batting 1/2 in the lineup if all goes well.