Todd Schroeder
The rotation was bolstered by the addition of veteran Todd Schroeder, who arrived in a trade with Atlantic City. He replaced Tommy Baird as the fifth starter; Baird, 4-5 with a 5.64 ERA, was released.
Aelbehrt 'Wunderkind' Schlöndorff
After dispatching closer Tom Miller (16 saves, 2.20 ERA) to Las Vegas, the Blazers appointed new arrival Aelbehrt Schlöndorff in his place. The 26-year-old Schlondorff had been Louisville’s closer before the trade that brought him to Montreal, with 12 saves and 11 shutdowns, but a 5.47 ERA, 5 blown saves, and 8 meltdowns.
Adam Bristcoe
Taking over the stopper role is Adam Bristcoe, who was part of the return from the Las Vegas deal. Bristcoe had a 4.00 ERA with 8 holds, 7 shutdowns, and 5 meltdowns this season in Las Vegas.
Gilberto Cordero
Also new is Gilberto Cordero, also from Las Vegas but in a separate deal, who will assume a middle reliever role. He posted a 3.86 ERA in 30 innings for the Hustlers, with 4 holds and 5 shutdowns.
Fernando Villarreal (4.36 ERA) moves from stopper to middle relief. Vonne Baloloy (3.16 ERA) and Stanley Kowalski (3.72 ERA) retain their existing setup and middle relief roles, respectively. Kowalski was recently signed to six year contact extension. Travis Wearne was promoted from AAA to take over long relief duties. Offseason signing Ricardo Rivera (5.40 ERA) was waived.
There has been some concern expressed by pundits regarding the mediocre stat lines of the new players with their previous teams, especially when compared to Miller’s shiny stats. In particular, the additions of Schlondorff and Schroeder are being questioned, given their underwhelming ERAs of 5.47 and 6.39. GM Erik Breum addressed this:
“Schroeder, Schlondorff, and Bristcoe are all groundball specialists. We believe that they will see much better results with our infield behind them. Mahdi won the Gold Glove last season. I expect Miggy [Martinez] will win one this season, as he leads second basemen in zone rating. Lineu Aldo is a multiple Gold Glove winner at first base. Our scouts tell me that they have confidence in the new guys’ ability to contribute to our pitching staff. I trust their evaluations as well as the ability of pitching coach Juan Moreno to get the most out of our staff. We will miss Tommy [Miller], but I am confident that our big league staff is better now after these acquisitions.”