The Outlaw Chronicles 2046-6 State of the Union - Offense

GM: Tim Meseck

Moderator: trmmilwwi

bigmike13
Ex-GM
Posts: 2738
Joined: Mon May 07, 2012 6:09 pm
Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Has thanked: 552 times
Been thanked: 150 times
Contact:

The Outlaw Chronicles 2046-6 State of the Union - Offense

Post by bigmike13 » Thu Feb 18, 2021 2:33 pm

State of the Union - Offense

GM Calvaruso, who is entering his 41st season in the BBA, sat down with our own Harry Doyle to discuss his thought sand expectations for the upcoming 2046 season.

Harry: Good Morning Mike and thank you for taking the time to sit down with us today
MC: Thank you Harry, it is my pleasure

Harry: Well, let's get right into it. 2045 did not turn out quite like you thought did it?
MC: That would be an understatement Harry, I would go as far to say that last season was an unmitigated disaster. We did our fans a disservice and we are determined to take the necessary corrective actions to fix it.

Harry: A quick look shows that you mean business because there has been considerable turnover in the coaching staff this offseason.
MC: Yes, during our end of the season meetings we came to the decisions that some changes might be in order. I was very disappointed at how the coaching staff performed after the Championship year. There was little turnover from the Landis team but there was sizeable steps back from a performance standpoint.

Our pitching staff, which has been a source of pride for the Outlaws, struggled outside of Reuben Vazquez who won a Nebraska award. Ricardo Rivera had a very turbulent year and battled some rare inconsistencies. Our young starters struggled and never seemed to progress as the year went along, and our bullpen was just plain bad. Because of this, former PC Garry Stewart to the brunt of my criticism and had some specific demands placed upon him for 2046. Because of this he decided to retire instead of fight through which tells me all I need to know about him and wish him well.

Former HC Ramon Hernandez resigned citing mental health issues and a need to get healthy. Based on our hitting from last year our hitting was also struggling and could never seem to have a game where everyone was on their "A" game.

We chose to part ways with Bench Coach Von Dixon due to some concerns brought to my attention form some of our veterans. A lack of communication and some obvious cases of favoritism reared it's ugly head and these things really became prominent with the teams struggles. We attempted to resign Team Trainer Diego Sanchez but his contract demands became to cumbersome for the budget.

But with all this we would love to welcome new BC Umar Bhatti, new Pitching Coach Sean McGrath, new Hitting Coach George Patrick an new Team Trainer Hamza Tanaoglu to San Antonio Outlaws. Umar has really taken the bull by the horns and has reached out to all of the players during the offseason and truly built the beginnings of a strong relationship with these guys. Sean came to us very highly regarded after many very successful years with the Grand Junction Gold Sox of the Charley Pegler league and was given a stamp of approval from quite a few of our pitching staff.

George Patrick is another coach who has had a very successful career in the minor leagues and has shown he was ready for the jump. Both Larry Stinson and Pedro Bustamante had conversations with him before the hiring and were very excited to work with him. Hamza will be a fresh hire and doesn't really have much BBA experience but strongly recommended from some other trainers and coaches around the league as someone with a very bright future.

Harry: Wow, so other than Mgr Cameron Fookes there is a whole new staff. How does he feel about that.
MC: Cam is no fool and he could see the need for an attitude change in the clubhouse so he is all aboard.

Harry: So lets take a look at the team. Starting with the Catcher position what do you see now and in the future.
MC: Well, we currently have one of the best backstops around with Octavio Moreno and are looking to him continuing to lead by example Unfortunately he is in the last year of his contract and I am worried we will have a hard time keeping him. He will be able to command a sizable sum on the open market and we have some other pressing contract coming up in the next few years. We selected George Sanderson from Calgary during the Rule 5 draft, and even though he is listed as a 1B, he was a high school Catcher and he will be given a chance to become the backup backstop. If that doesn't work, we claimed Johnny "Big Cheese" O'Rourke from Mexico City off of waivers. Considered an excellent defensive Catcher he does show some ability with the bat to not make him a liability when Moreno needs a break.

Harry: I guess that brings us to the easiest position to handicap and that's First Base.
MC: Yes, if anyone other than Larry Stinson is playing considerable games at 1B then we have problems. We have the aforementioned Gabe Sanderson in camp who can be a backup at 1st and we also have Jose Lopez in camp to see what he can offer, but Stinson is the heart and soul of this team and will continue to lead this team every chance he gets.

Harry: So moving around the diamond brings us to 2B and a position that was in some flux after the great year that "The Beast" had.
MC: While we may have gotten better defensively, we definitely took a turn for the worse offensively. Tomas Valadez was signed and started well but then got hurt and missed 2 months. We had Ian Patrick Anderson playing a super utility role but he was unable to exert any real presence for us. We turned to Leonard Jones and he did ok, but he will have to step it up this year as he has been resigned and heads into camp as the starting 2B. The pressure is on him right now.

Harry: Continuing over, SS was by far your biggest problem area in the field.
MC: There were some interesting challenges at short, but with the late addition of Robert Beltran we are hoping some of those issues are put to rest. An excellent glove and an average hitter, all we need for him to do is be, well, average and we will be satisfied. Bob Allen is still hanging around for his 5th year in San Antonio and provides great backup for us.

Harry: You have an embarrassment of riches at the hot corner, let's talk about that.
MC: You got that right Harry, we have 2043 All Star and 2044 Puckett Golden Bat Award winner Alfredo Rosas back in the fold after signing a 3 year extension with us, and we have Lucio Cuellar bouncing between 3B and DH to keep his speed in the lineup for us. You should expect to see more starts at 3rd for Cuellar as he seems to have a better glove, and area that saw Rosas take a step back in last year. We also have Yekoyasi Mugema waiting in the wings at AAA should an injury occur.

Harry: At lot has been made of the recent signing of Todd Rice, how important do you feel that this signing is to the success of the club
MC: I felt that the signing Todd Rice was crucial to the success of this team. We really appreciate the job that Mennac Shakes did here in his 5 season, but we desperately needed better production from the CF spot and we did it without losing defense so we are excited about that. You couple this with the budding Superstar in RF, Pedro Bustamante, who is next on my list to work out an extension for and the dynamic duo in left with Valentin Fitas and Wayne Morris makes the outfield the least of my worries going into the season.

Harry: Well this brings us to the end of our Hour of Power together, I believe you are scheduled to be back here tomorrow so we can go over the pitchers and what has been done to bring a little more stability to the mound.
MC: Yes I will see you tomorrow and we can both bask in the glory of what has become a pitching factory in the BBA. Looking forward to delving into this area. Truly excited for the upcoming year.

Harry: Well, Thanks everyone for tuning into this episode of The Hour of Power, I'm your host Harry Doyle, until next time, Keep your hand out of your britches and your car between the ditches. Adios Amigos.
Mike Calvaruso
San Antonio Outlaws 2030 -
Birmingham Bandits 2006-2029


Image

Return to “San Antonio Outlaws”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests