If Omaha was arguably “over stocked” last year on the offensive side of the ball, there isn’t a great word to describe their current situation after signing Luis Mendoza.
Offensively, the team has lost Andrew Gallagher and Angel Zalapa. Zalapa is a larger loss(4.1 WAR), but was “replaced” this year with Pedro Gongora after his showing last season. Gallagher was strictly used against left-handed pitching at first base."For lack of a better word, we sort of have a huge traffic jam at our BBA level organization right now. We have a large amount of quality players, but unfortunately many of them play the same position. We just couldn't pass up on a few of them, but these things have a tendency to work themselves out." said Omaha GM Justin Niles
Currently, the team has to figure out which of Amid Kasim, Eric Wagner, or Rhys Brickell deserve to serve as the designated hitter against both right-handed and left-handed pitching. Oh, and also Stephen Futon in AAA who is just waiting for his chance after have a 132 OPS+ in his full season in AAA last year. Did we mention Stan Moten? He had similar success in AAA last year, after posting a 2.1 WAR in Omaha the year before.
It’s a log jam to say the least for the club.
Kasim is a 126 OPS+ career hitter, with a career 162 game average of 2.0 WAR and 15 weighted runs above average in 1,057 career plate appearances. Against righties, that OPS+ jumps to 139.
Wagner, who is a pending free agent at the end of the upcoming season, has a similar 127 OPS+ and a career average of 4.0 WAR. Against righties, that OPS+ jumps to the exact same as Kasim at 139. There is no word on the plans with Wagner, but the team was rumored to be discussing a deal with him after it leaked he was looking for around 8M AAV on a 5 year contract.
Then you have Brickell. In his first year last year with Omaha, Brickell had a 136 OPS+, and 5.7 WAR. Both above his career average of 4.0 WAR and 109 OPS+. With Brickell, his OPS+ did not differ much between lefties and righties. Last year, he had more walks (96), than strikeouts (95). He also plays a good third base, accumulating 1.6 ZR last year in 144 games. Like Wagner, Brickell is a pending free agent after this season. And also like Wagner, there were rumors of extension talk. It was rumored at the time that Brickell wanted $9-10M AAV on a 6 year deal which seems reasonable.
If the club were to resign either of these two, they are going to have to make another move quickly afterward, as they are already at the cap for next season. For this year, it looks like they might be willing to ride it out, and rotate the three around. Wagner after all is a solid outfielder who could handle either corner spot as a 4th outfielder, and Brickell could play 1B or 3B rather easily to back up Mendoza or Estrada. The club currently does not have a great option against left handed pitching for first base, so it is likely that Brickell is penciled into this spot.
I guess it’s a good problem to have.
