On the Lam, 61.6 - Keys to the offseason

[trmmilwwi]

The Outlaws have quite a few question marks going into the 61’-62’ offseason and they look to be more active than in years past. They shed the large salary of Kawano when he was traded during the season. The next highest salary on the team is veteran DH Patrick Strolz who is rumored to be on his way out. If Strolz exercise his player option it will mean that the team has roughly $30M of available cash that they didn’t have in previous seasons. An absolute windfall when it comes to spending cash in San Antonio.

It is no secret that the pitching staff needs help. The team carried a starting pitching ERA of 4.66 and a bullpen ERA of 4.77, both good for 10th in the Jl. It is likely that the team will target a completely new bullpen and will kick the tires on a starter or two. The starting rotation will probably consist of Cesar Franco, George White, Jorge Casillas and Jesus Perez who have an average age of 23 years old and look to be part of the Outlaw rotation for the next 5 or 6 years. Sources state that current starter Quinton Manning may be converted over to a reliever to open up a spot for a possible big name free agent should one be found. It will be interesting to see what happens early in free agency.

In the outfield it is very likely that uber prospect RF George Stickler will arrive in the bigs sometime in ’62. He was expected to get a cup of coffee this past year but he had a horrible shoulder injury early in the season and was out for the rest of the year. The team is hopeful that he starts strong in spring training and that they can slide Chester Lawrence over to take off days for Yoshida in a left. Yoshida will be the only righty in a sea of lefthanded batting outfielders. It is possible that a trade or two may happen pending how Stickler looks early.

The other major need going into the offseason is to find a solution at second base. The experiment of Moody, Fennell and bin Siraj did not inspire confidence going into the ’62 season. Unless the team can beat out the Blazers and any other teams for whatever minimal value may be found in the free agent pool they may turn to young prospect Wiley McFadden to jump to the big league club.

Hope springs eternal indeed.

[BaseClogger]

Strong start to a rotation. Now to finish the job.

[JRamirez]

I have some decent AAAA second basemen in my org if you need done.