Previewing the 2024 Calgary Pioneers

[Fat Nige]

Last Year : 75-87

Calgary's first losing season since 2014 and their second season without making the post season since they won it all in 2021.

Off Season happenings

Possibly the biggest off season move was the rebranding of Calgary from the Marauders which they had been for 50 years to the Pioneers to coincide with the opening of their brand new 55,000 seater ballpark, on the field the Pioneers had a clear out of the ageing pitching staff too. Gone was 41-yr-old closer Jonathan Sorenson who went 7-3 with 31 saves and a 2.24 ERA, gone was 37-yr-old starter Perry Eccles who was 9-11 (5.20 ERA) in 2023 as well as 33-yr-old Grey Street, 36-yr-old Daniel Ocean and 31-yr-old Duncan Winters from the bullpen

To replace them they recruited 31-yr-old Ramon Montoya on a two year $1.7m contract, he had made 43 relief appearances for Brooklyn in 2019 & 20. The Rule 6 EBA rights draft provided 27 Walter Garcia after they had matched Vancouver's 3 year $7m offer, he had a 28-42, 4.42 record in six years at Rome. In their one trade they sent four young minor league pitchers to Vancouver for 30-yr-old Ace Young who had an 8-15, 3.94 record in 30 starts during 2023, 29-yr-old Rob Miller who was 1-3, 3.06 with five starts, 30-yr-old Armando Morales who was 0-3, 1.72 out of the bullpen and 27-yr-old right field slugger Bill Burkholder Jr who hit 21 homers and .236/.293/.413 in 2023. The Rule 5 draft added another pitcher, 22-yr-old Marcos Medina who spent 2023 at Brooklyn's AA affiliate Memphis where he posted an 8-9, 3.74 record. The only other batting arrival was 33-yr-old Yeong Hwan Kim, a corner infielder signed from free agency on a one year $1.05m contract.

Spring Training

The FL Pacific looked strong in Spring Training was both Tucson and Seattle posting 18-10 records. Calgary trailed in fourth with an 11-17 record, the only losing record in the division. Young 21-yr-old Dan Leonard who has spent the last two years in the outfield impressed with the bat hitting .418/.446/.532 with 10 RBI, 15 runs scored & six SB while playing at Second. 23-yr-old back-up catcher Carlos Garcia hit five homers, drove in 17 and hit .291 to put pressure on first choice Gabriel Bonilla while outfielder Hector Cano with a nice new four year $58m contract in his back pocket managed to hit .300 but disappointingly for someone who has hit 130 homers in the last three years only sent one over the fences.
Young Marcos Medina, the only lefty in the Spring rotation, made five starts and only surrendered three runs but was a bit wild walking 13 whilst striking out just 10. In contrast Natsume Tsuchiya also made five starts but lost three and posted a 9.33 ERA. Walter Garcia bore a heavy workload pitching 20 innings in seven appearances but came out well posting a 3-1 record striking out 22 and walking 14. Rob Miller spent Spring trying out for the closer role and saved five of his seven opportunities but perhaps worryingly surrendered 11 runs in just 8.1 innings pitched

The Future?

The press have the Pioneers down to finish fourth in the Pacific Division again with a 64-98 record and it's hard to argue with the position, they certainly will struggle to get anywhere near Las Vegas, Seattle & Tucson, only perhaps the number of wins. I believe that Calgary won't finish 11 wins worse off than 2023. A number of the new pitchers could will shine in new surrounding and given more responsibility, a few of the batters like Bonilla could step up and the Pioneers might scrape 70 wins. On the other hand Medina might be found out over the course of the season, Miller might blow the closers role and Cano might put his feet up now he's got a fat new contract? Either way I think a few more years of wheeling and dealing will be needed before the new ballpark sees a contending team.

My Prediction: 69-93

[Fat Nige]

[Sorry about the lack of real detail in this. Given the lack of time and the fact that I have only just rejoined the MBBA I struggled to flesh the bare facts out ]

[scottsdale_joe]

[Sorry about the lack of real detail in this. Given the lack of time and the fact that I have only just rejoined the MBBA I struggled to flesh the bare facts out ]

Good job, actually.
PS: I'll be across the pond come mid-May, spending a week in the Cotswolds (Chipping Campden) and a week in Northumberland (Craster) as well as some time in Dingle and Galway on the right (j/k) side of the Irish Sea. We'll also be a few days in Cambridge at the end of the trip in June.

[indiansfan]

Thanks for the good preview. Trying to get younger so it will be ugly inhabiting the basement during the rebuild but refuse to lose 100. Think your projection will be pretty close. Somebody in the FLP has to lose and it's my turn.