Off Topic
Off-Season Assessment
Welcome aboard, Mr. Morris. Happy to have you.
We were, to be honest, a bit surprised when Fastlane fell to us at #11 overall. To be fair, though, I suppose it is a little hard to take a reliever that high. Still, the stork dropped a fully formed Morris into our lap. Who's to complain? He went on to register a nearly franchise record 44 saves in his first season, and added 33 more in a rugged year for the team as a whole. It's hard to make saves when the team isn't winning to begin with.
Big picture, though, nearly two and a half calendar years after this class was brought in, we've lost six of the deeper picks, and traded one away to bring in DH Al Schumann, essentially converting a possible BBA level player into a guaranteed one we knew we needed. That seems like it should go as a positive mark for this class, shouldn't it? Not counting Schuman's .5 WAR, the class's 4.9 WAR is third best in the league at this very early date.
Anyway, here is the breakdown of the whole Bikini class by selection:
2062 BBA Arrivals
While Morris gets all the ink for this class, LHB catcher Ivan Quitana (5th round) arrived this year and had a solid time of it. He's still a little rough around the edges with the glove,but he's had positive movement there, and we expect to give him some time on Pain Island to move the needle even a bit more. Hope is high that he can take over the role when Jimenez prices himself out of it (assuming finances are still bothersome). Otherwise, we could se him as solid trade value if that makes more sense.
It's nice when a class yields two major leaguers.
Yet To Come?
While fans wanted to see Abhijana Swamy in the Bikini outfield this year, the fact is that, AAA numbers aside, he just wasn't ready. That has now changed, we think. Oh, sure, there's still more growth to go, but unless something horrible changes between now and then, expect Swamy to be competing for a starting slot come the spring.
It's also possible that if Guillermo Arce isn't the near-term answer at 1B, high-contact hitter Mauro Oksuzian could be. If the development fairy were to hit him with a solid does of power, he'd probably draw more love, and he's probably best targets to 2064 right now. But he's kind of a wildcard as it stands today. Even with the glut of 1B around, he should be productive someplace, though.
Some people think RP Andy Pedley (8th round) might make it to the atoll this coming year. We think it more likely that it's 2064. All we can say for sure is that he's been growing in leaps and bounds since he arrived. If he could refine his control and/or movement a bit more, he could be upper-level.
And, in the vein of "all signs positive, but he's got a long way to go," lots of eyes are on 19-year-old OF Kelvin Maxwell, who stepped up successfully enough into Short A. this year. If he grows into expectations, look for him in 2065.
Not Dead Yet?
Three other players that are worth some attention, but will need something more to happen for them are CF Bruce Wynn (6th round), SP Tom Cripps (9th round, and who I want to succeed simply for his name), and 2B Rodrigo Franco (10th round, who I keep trying to ignore, but who just keeps hitting so much that I'm tempted to give him a defensive slot at Pain Island). I'm not projecting them anywhere right now, but they've been doing enough that they remain on the agenda when the Krill staff gets together to chat about the future.
Class Grade
Again, we've already gotten to seriously useful major leaguers, and arguably something close to a generational reliever out of this class. That alone makes it a B+, I'd say. That there's upside is quite fun. Essentially I'd say we need to wait for the flop and the river to hit to really know what we've got, but I'd be willing to be the hand pretty hard right now.
B+ with a down-card kicker.
Welcome aboard, Mr. Morris. Happy to have you.
We were, to be honest, a bit surprised when Fastlane fell to us at #11 overall. To be fair, though, I suppose it is a little hard to take a reliever that high. Still, the stork dropped a fully formed Morris into our lap. Who's to complain? He went on to register a nearly franchise record 44 saves in his first season, and added 33 more in a rugged year for the team as a whole. It's hard to make saves when the team isn't winning to begin with.
Big picture, though, nearly two and a half calendar years after this class was brought in, we've lost six of the deeper picks, and traded one away to bring in DH Al Schumann, essentially converting a possible BBA level player into a guaranteed one we knew we needed. That seems like it should go as a positive mark for this class, shouldn't it? Not counting Schuman's .5 WAR, the class's 4.9 WAR is third best in the league at this very early date.
Anyway, here is the breakdown of the whole Bikini class by selection:
2062 BBA Arrivals
While Morris gets all the ink for this class, LHB catcher Ivan Quitana (5th round) arrived this year and had a solid time of it. He's still a little rough around the edges with the glove,but he's had positive movement there, and we expect to give him some time on Pain Island to move the needle even a bit more. Hope is high that he can take over the role when Jimenez prices himself out of it (assuming finances are still bothersome). Otherwise, we could se him as solid trade value if that makes more sense.
It's nice when a class yields two major leaguers.
Yet To Come?
While fans wanted to see Abhijana Swamy in the Bikini outfield this year, the fact is that, AAA numbers aside, he just wasn't ready. That has now changed, we think. Oh, sure, there's still more growth to go, but unless something horrible changes between now and then, expect Swamy to be competing for a starting slot come the spring.
It's also possible that if Guillermo Arce isn't the near-term answer at 1B, high-contact hitter Mauro Oksuzian could be. If the development fairy were to hit him with a solid does of power, he'd probably draw more love, and he's probably best targets to 2064 right now. But he's kind of a wildcard as it stands today. Even with the glut of 1B around, he should be productive someplace, though.
Some people think RP Andy Pedley (8th round) might make it to the atoll this coming year. We think it more likely that it's 2064. All we can say for sure is that he's been growing in leaps and bounds since he arrived. If he could refine his control and/or movement a bit more, he could be upper-level.
And, in the vein of "all signs positive, but he's got a long way to go," lots of eyes are on 19-year-old OF Kelvin Maxwell, who stepped up successfully enough into Short A. this year. If he grows into expectations, look for him in 2065.
Not Dead Yet?
Three other players that are worth some attention, but will need something more to happen for them are CF Bruce Wynn (6th round), SP Tom Cripps (9th round, and who I want to succeed simply for his name), and 2B Rodrigo Franco (10th round, who I keep trying to ignore, but who just keeps hitting so much that I'm tempted to give him a defensive slot at Pain Island). I'm not projecting them anywhere right now, but they've been doing enough that they remain on the agenda when the Krill staff gets together to chat about the future.
Class Grade
Again, we've already gotten to seriously useful major leaguers, and arguably something close to a generational reliever out of this class. That alone makes it a B+, I'd say. That there's upside is quite fun. Essentially I'd say we need to wait for the flop and the river to hit to really know what we've got, but I'd be willing to be the hand pretty hard right now.
B+ with a down-card kicker.
