Havana Herald 2034.10- The Brick Wall
Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:42 pm
With roughly 3/4 of the season in the rearview mirror the Sugar Kings find themselves in a position that has been very unfamiliar to them in the last 2 decades, at the top of the division. That being said, not all that glitters is gold in the Cuban capital, as the division lead has been slashed from its recent peak of 11 games on July 22nd down to a scant 3 games over a rampaging New Orleans team on August 18th. While the Sugar Kings are not in danger (yet) of missing out on the playoffs after snapping a long drought last year, it has been reliably reported that lights have been on late into the night in the team offices as they try to figure out what is plaguing this team.
One obviously point of concern has been the recently extended Jean-Luc Lacaze, who ev before his recent season ending injury was performing at the level of a 4th outfielder, not a man who signed a 6 year/80 million extension prior to the season (which it should be noted, hasn't even kicked in yet). Surely the front office has to be regretting that extension at this point, although fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) Lacaze has plenty of time to earn that salary.
One part of the team that has mostly been a rock throughout the season is the starting pitching staff, which has been at or near the top of the league in virtually every category this entire season thanks to the rousing success of the experimental six-man starting rotation that manager Mike Wilkinson rolled out. With all of that staff locked up for the foreseeable future, it would not be a surprise to see it continued into the coming seasons.
One obviously point of concern has been the recently extended Jean-Luc Lacaze, who ev before his recent season ending injury was performing at the level of a 4th outfielder, not a man who signed a 6 year/80 million extension prior to the season (which it should be noted, hasn't even kicked in yet). Surely the front office has to be regretting that extension at this point, although fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) Lacaze has plenty of time to earn that salary.
One part of the team that has mostly been a rock throughout the season is the starting pitching staff, which has been at or near the top of the league in virtually every category this entire season thanks to the rousing success of the experimental six-man starting rotation that manager Mike Wilkinson rolled out. With all of that staff locked up for the foreseeable future, it would not be a surprise to see it continued into the coming seasons.