2049 Charlotte COugars!

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2049 Charlotte COugars!

Post by jiminyhopkins » Thu Dec 02, 2021 10:51 am

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2049 Charlotte Cougars

The Cougars are in trouble! Nobody, (well, almost) nobody lost more WAR than the Cougars did this offseason. They lost 13 players for a total of 18.6 WAR from their 2048 playoff, team record wins team. Just 5 of those players totaled 16.7 of that WAR. 5 players, 16.7 WAR! What team comes back from that? (Wait, this sounds an awful lot like last season’s preview. I guess since last season they lost 19.6 WAR while losing 9 players, so yeah, it seems the same so far.)

Things are a little different though. We are no longer talking about the Cougars's Closer role belonging to Keijo Reini (Reini now finds himself in Athens.) Now that role belongs to the former starter Ashton Brooks. The result was the same though – Brooks won the 2048 JL Jason Egan Reliever Award. His 131 Ks in no way matched what Reini used to do but his 1.01 ERA and 0.80 WHIP sure seemed to do the trick.

Of the other players lost, SP Francisco Franco, C Rainer Scheffer, C Roelof Klooster, 2B Bob Irwin, and SP Amos Swallows, its not as bad as it seems. Swallows came to Charlotte in a June trade so only 1.9 of his WAR was with the Cougars. Scheffer came over in mid-August after a lengthy injury to Klooster. Only 0.9 of his WAR was with Charlotte. Irwin can get on base and run, which probably why he was with the Cougars for so long, but his numbers were pretty identical to his 2047 WAR of 0.7 so we can only assume the added 2.1 WAR came defensively as he played a lot of his time at 1B where he put his average 2B skills to admirable work. Franco hurt a little. He came over in the 2044 trade with Portland that also brought in SS Roberto Menzies. He is still a valuable pitcher but Charlotte was a little cap space limited and Francisco wanted a big pay day. His skills seemed to have diminished some over the last couple of seasons so maybe Charlotte made a good decision not to pay want Franco was looking for. Time will tell.

Perhaps the player that hurt to lose the most was Klooster though. The team Captain. The best Catcher in the BBA. Very reasonably priced for a couple more seasons. Well, he did spend almost 12 weeks on the IL last season though. Maybe GM Golden was starting to notice the trend of increased number and severity of injuries to Klooster over the last couple of seasons. Or, maybe the SPs he got in return from the trade with Valencia was greater than keeping Klooster. Who knows.

Charlotte has brought in some big splashes this offseason as well, just not so much through Free Agency. In a trade with Sacramento, the Cougars were able to bring in a Center Fielder that has the combination of range and offensive abilities that the Cougars need patrolling their rather large outfield. CF Arthur Daniel is a great addition out there but should need some help against LHP. Catcher Felipe Delgado, from a trade with Mexico City, cant quite fill Klooster’s shoes offensively but he will defensively and wont hurt the Cougars in the lineup either. He seems like the prototypical Charlotte player, just without the ability to run. The league offices are also finalizing the trade that will see Augusto Ramirez and Sergio Salazar make their way to the team as well. Ramirez looks like a Reini-lite kind of player. Salazar might be the perfect pairing for Daniel, but can also be an asset as an everyday COF as well.

The strength of this Cougar team, which is the same as the last couple of seasons now, is their pitching staff. Yes, the loss of Franco will hurt. But, with Brooks solidified in the Closer role, and the additions of SP Nicolo Destefeni and RP Ramirez, the Cougars shouldnt miss a beat in being at the top of the JL again in most pitching categories. And to top that off, brought over in the Klooster trade was Haravira Chandar who is probably ready for the big league club now but will bide his time until an injury or ineffectiveness shows up - not good news for the Atlantic.

Offensively, the Cougars could still use some help. We thought that the last two years too yet they still set team record for wins and are vying for the JL Atlantic Crown down to the last week of the season. They still arent going to be the team to hit 3-run homeruns. They remain the team that will constantly get on base and play the small-ball game. The Cougars dont strike out. The Cougars get on base and run, almost the entire lineup. There are very few teams that are built for the ballpark that Family Dollar Field is but the Cougars are definitely one of them.

The backstop duo of Delgado and Alfonso Jareno remains one that many teams would covet, offensively and defensively. SS Robert Menzies is one of the best shortstops in the game (and could be equally as good if moved to the CF position). 1B Manuel Aguilar, Jr. found the fountain of youth last season, setting career records in many categories. It helped that his play against LHP was extremely limited but that is also a smart move by the coaching staff. There are 3 newcomers to the infield staff (but are athletic enough to possibly see some time in the OF as well) that should see plenty of time. SS Carlos Benitez, 3B Carlos Gutierrez, and 2B Damodaragoun Neela look like they will get the call up to the big league club (Gutierrez saw plenty of time last season and responded well to it) and aren’t overly pressed to make an impression.

In the outfield, Ricardo Ruiz is still a presence (and could be moved to 1B when Aguilar needs to sit against LHP.) Manoell Whanon has heard his name in plenty of trade rumors and seems to be responding in spring training so far so maybe he plays lights-out against RHP like he is expected to. Jean-Francois Hamon and Lorenzo Bueno will fill the 4th and 5th OF roles.

The prospect cupboard isnt going to be much help for the Cougars again this season. Its pretty bare. Other than Chandar and a couple of others that show some promise, the Cougar Den isn’t going to be much for late season help. Luckily their big league club looks like it has plenty of flexibility all the way around.

Early pre-spring training predictions have the Cougars dropping back a little on their way to winning only 89 games. While the pitching staff will definitely keep the score low, the Cougar offense might not have enough to make that matter. We foresee them approaching the 90-win mark if they punch above their weight and find the right match-ups. A Wild Card berth? They’ll probably be battling it out with the Talons for that last spot and we all know how that will end up.
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Re: 2049 Charlotte COugars!

Post by Dington » Thu Dec 02, 2021 10:56 am

Well done.
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Re: 2049 Charlotte COugars!

Post by CTBrewCrew » Thu Dec 02, 2021 9:57 pm

TAlons in COUgars out of playoffs in 2049!?
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Re: 2049 Charlotte COugars!

Post by GoldenOne » Fri Dec 03, 2021 6:50 am

CTBrewCrew wrote:
Thu Dec 02, 2021 9:57 pm
TAlons in COUgars out of playoffs in 2049!?
Boo!
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