WHIV 2055.1- A Weird, Wild Season in Vegas

[recte44]

63- Total Number of Players who have appeared in a game for Las Vegas this season
Now that's what you call roster churn. The fun part of rebuilding is being able to mix and match and try different players. Sometimes you find some diamonds in the rough, like we found Eli Landgre last year, or how Chuck Dickens has emerged this year.

35- Number of Position Players who have appeared in a game for Las Vegas this season
This has included the young (Joe Edwards, Adam Rex, Roosevelt Davis and more), the old (Jonathon O'Reilly, (Ronnie Hubbard, and more), and guys just trying to get another shot (Jorge Salas, Grady Eaton).

8- Number of Catchers who have appeared in a game for Las Vegas this season
Besides starter Claudio Morgan (who was sent back to the minors before coming back and making a season for himself), there have been all kinds of brands of backup catcher. There's "The Bat First" backup catcher (Cecil Clarke), the "Leader"/"Can Also Play Outfield" backup catcher (Tommy Rogers), the "Organizational Soldier" backup catcher (Earl Baxter, Manny Hernandez), the "Grizzled Veteran Defense First" backup catcher (Glenn Gouloze), the "Guy Who Walks" backup catcher (Reed Schute), and the "There's No One Like This Guy" backup catcher (Francisco de la Torre). Were any of them any good? No, not even a little.

28- Number of Pitchers who have appeared in a game for Las Vegas this season
Some worked, some didn't. For every failure (Lewis Norman), there's been a success story (Adam Bristcoe). We brought back old friends Martin Ross), and mended fences with former friends (John Rasmussen III). We learned that great ratings sometimes mean nothing (Siu-chung Zhan). We learned that middling ratings sometimes mean nothing (Norm Aldritt).

8- Number of Trades completed this year
What did we gain from all these trades? Without going into detail on each and every one, the goal is to discover something that we can use moving forward. For example, Bristcoe looks like a keeper in the pen (got him in the David Prigent deal). I wouldn't have made the Brisset deal with Nashville without getting Carlos Barrera, who has been great after a rough start in the BBA. We think Josh Dougherty can and will fulfill his potential in Vegas. It may have seemed weird to trade for Steve Warren but I've been fond of him since he came into the league and I plan to keep him. I feel Bret Harrell is severely underrated and will be a big part of our future. Brian Flint should take over for Ernesto Sousa next year. Eugene Wolfe is, at worst, a solid bench player. Steve McFarland should be a relief option. Paco Humbert, should his bat develop at all, could be a hit-first utility player. Finally, Edwards (despite having no defensive position) is just a good hitter (and strangely can run like the wind?? One would think someone who can't play the field at all wouldn't be this fast.)

We also know these things:
- Tom Rudge rules and was worth signing to an extension.
- Kidane Ata laughs at Father Time, apparently.
- Stewart Turton should not be playing shortstop. Our pitchers told us so.
- Tristan Lloyd is a keeper. And not just because his nickname is "Casino".
- Steffan Gimsing will, along with Warren, be the pitcher we can build around.

Oh, and one more thing. We still won't be good next year.

[Dington]

Should be a quick turnaround in Vegas.

[RonCo]

It always is.

[trmmilwwi]

You need to try more catchers, obviously.