Since expansion occurred in 2029, it has been some pretty tough sledding for the River Monsters. Twin Cities has finished with no more than 70 wins during its brief three-year history and is yet to finish higher than 5th in the division. To make matters even worse for the River Monsters, the current club appears to be playing in one of the toughest divisions as it stares up at Louisville, Yellow Springs, Madison, and Des Moines who all project to battle it out for a post-season spot in 2032. To pour a little more salt in the wound for both Twin Cities and Edmonton, the two expansion teams in the Johnson League have already posted at least a .500 season already while Charm City actually notched a spot in last season's post-season. For the River Monsters, it appears the "building" process will continue on for at least a few more seasons.Let's take a look at who projects to nab a spot at each position and in the lineup for the 2032 version of the River Monsters.
Catcher: Gerald Gonzalez
The 20-year projects to enter the 2032 season as the full-time starter. He played 17 games last season as a 19 year old with minimal success. While his bat against right handers looks solid, he won't do much against lefties. And his defense lacks a lot to be desired there as well. Ignacio Morrero may get more of the playing time as the season progresses due to having way better skills with the glove and arm behind the dish. Combined the two together and you'd have a solid BBA back stop.
FirstBase: Jorge Cabellero
Cabellero hit 29 homeruns last season over 143 games for the Monsters last season. He's clearly no longer the 2024 Louisville version of himself that posted a WAR of 5.9 but he's ok. He has power and will draw walks with his solid eye and ability to not strikeout. Just don't expect him to hit over .250. You may see some of Jeff Hughes as well or as a defensive replacement. He could edge out Cabellero against lefty pitchers as a platoon option.
SecondBase: Xue-Qin Man
His teammates call him "Gorilla" most likely because they have no clue how to pronounce his real name. Man is by far the talent on this team and who this team should be marketing as their face of the franchise. The 21 year old Man (yeah that's how it should read) posted a 3.2 WAR last season in his first full season in the BBA. He won the Diamond Glove at 2b as the Frick's top defensive second baseman and may have finished higher on the Gillstrom ballot, but someone else in the division had a better rookie second baseman! HAH! Twin Cities is actually pretty deep at 2B Jack Bates and Ramon Amaya showing solid ability to play the position and being listed as 2B. Bates may be an option at 1B as well if the club decides to perhaps use Caballero as the Designated Hitter.
ThirdBase: Chris Limon
I'd like to take a quick moment to stop right now and issue a statement that Twin Cities should trade Limon to Madison. Limon is my type of player! Last year at 24, Limon hit 20 homeruns while posting a .348 on-base percentage. I only see the OBP rising this season for the youngster. Limon carried a good batting eye and above average defense last season to a 2.6 WAR backing up his 2.7 WAR from 2030. And oh yeah, he's fast too, swiping 64 bases last season. Gustavo Gonzalez isn't a bad play either with solid glove man Carlos Fuentes likely starting the season in Triple-A.
Shortstop: Mark Wareham
Wareham is a very solid piece at an important position in the infield. He has speed, a great glove, and can swing the stick well enough to hold his own. He slashed .290/.415/.433 last season in 224 at-bats and could be a guy to watch as a potential all-star at shortstop down the road. Don't expect huge offensive numbers from him at least in terms of power, but expect a high OBP and great glove work which will lead to high WAR numbers for this guy for many years.
LeftField: Ray Cooper
Cooper is a very solid player who has produced a total of 6.0 in WAR the last two seasons. The 22 year old played in 160 games last season and hit 30 homeruns while driving in 95 RBI. He's not the type of player that will win any awards, but he could sneak in an All-Star game or two before his career ends.
Centerfield: Jayden Harsnett
Again, not a bad player here as well, at least on the offensive side of the ball. His 9 eye rating led to a .360 on-base percentage a year ago. Despite a 7 rating in centerfield, his above average range still led him to a +3.1 Zone Rating and a 2.3 WAR showing some in the league that guys with just average ratings CAN play CF.
RightField: Juan Cruz
There are only about 95 Juan Cruz's in the league and they all have the same profile picture so it is hard to keep one straight from the other. I'm pretty sure Juan Cruz played for Madison once but it wasn't "THIS" Juan Cruz. And I guarantee I didn't pay my Juan $16 million a season. Cruz is the highest paid player on the team and one I'm betting the current ownership and GM would wish would hurry and expire. Cruz did hit 40 homeruns one season. But even then he wasn't worth $16 million and has yet to drive in 100 RBI in a year. It won't be this season either.
If I were making out the lineup, I'd go:
1. Wareham SS
2. Man 2B
3. Harsnett CF
4. Limon 3B
5. Cooper LF
6. Caballero 1B
7. Cruz RF
8. Gonzalez DH
9. Marrero C
But that's just me. The club has plenty of speed and potential on-base type guys at the top. Unfortunately it lacks the consistent power and run driving in ability in the middle of the lineup that the team would need to generate enough runs to keep up with the rest of the division.
So how does the pitching look?
The rotation has some guys that sort of look good in parts, but have some major flaws that will prevent them from being effective as a unit. You may sneak a few good starts out of them from time to time, but over a full 162 games they won't do enough. Jessie Stewart has 3 solid pitch ratings and has won 10 games each of the last two seasons. Unfortunately he's also lost 16 and 12 games in that span and has yet to fully develop his changeup. He's probably a 4th or 5th starter on most teams looking to make a run in the league. Reese Raynor has gone a respectable 27-29 over the last two seasons with TC with an ERA at 3.71 in 2030. However his arm has logged a ton of innings, throwing over 230 each of the last two years which means his 1.3 WAR in each of those years becomes far less impressive than his win total and 1.18 WHIP each of the two seasons. If he'd mature, Travis Arnold doesn't look like a bad starter or at worst a great relief pitching conversion. He's in the same mold as Tommy Dietz in Madison. A guy without electric ratings but has a whole slew of pitches. Unfortunately for Arnold, all of the pitches haven't been fully mastered. But he does have some giddyup on his fastball, which reaches 97 at times. He made 5 starts last season and I'd expect him to make the rotation this year and have a decent full season this year.
Competing for the other spots in the rotation include Juan Jose Elizando. Holy Hell how does this guy even make it. He has the pitches, the stuff, the movement that suggests he's the next Steve Nebraska. But damn where is it going to go? In a 2 year span with Omaha, Elizando walked 310 guys while striking out 348. That in a span of 345 innings pitched. I really don't know what to suggest about Elizando. I truly don't. Eddy de Greef is destined for a the bullpen or minor leagues I'm afraid. His curveball still hasn't developed and his 5 movement rating doesn't bode well. It also has to be pretty demoralizing for him to have spent 3 seasons in Edmonton and now join another expansion team. He wasn't even that successful in Vancouver where nearly anyone who has the ability to throw a baseball towards home plate can post an ERA in the 3s. Jerry Coyle is also a guy with just too many weaknesses to be effective. His come in the form of just not having very good pitch ratings. Juan Jose Mayorga is also a guy that may contend for some starts this season. He has decent enough velocity and movement to maybe overcome some weaker pitch ratings. I'd trust him more than Elizando but he doesn't bring the wow factor that the Elizando Juan Jose brings. Shit I'd pay money to watch Elizando pitch.
If I were GM, my rotation would be:
S1: Jessie Stewart
S2: Reese Rayner
S3: Travis Arnold
S4: Juan Jose Mayorga
S5: Juan Jose Elizando
I'd then throw the other guys in to the bullpen into some middle relief rolls. The bullpen has some weak parts as well and I'm not going to discuss them all. Instead, I'll focus attention on the guys that actually have some staying power in the league. Juan Suarez will be dealing a fastball that reaches 101 while mixing in a wicked knuckleball as his secondary pitch. He'll rack up a lot of saves assuming Twin Cities gets a lot of opportunities. But with a movement of 7 and control of just 5, he may also create a few heart attacks as he'll likely won't produce a lot of clean innings in the 9th. Caleb Benavides is a solid set up man who had a real down year last season. He has the pitches, stuff, and movement to stay effective in the bullpen. Alphonse Salvarini will be a solid LOOG guy while Jose De La Cruz will have his ups and downs if used against batters late in games.
Overall Prediction:
Don't get me wrong, there are some pieces in Twin Cities to like. The River Monsters are not the bottom basement, everyone beat up on as they lose 110 games this season team I kind of hoped they were when I took on the roll to preview them. But at the same time, don't take that to mean they're contending with the top teams in the Heartland or in the Frick League. While they have some solid pieces to like and for fans to fall in love with, they're way short right now of being a true contender in the toughest division in the BBA. I don't pretend to be an expert of every team in the division, but I can say for certainty that the River Monsters won't finish ahead of Louisville, Yellow Springs, Madison, or Des Moines in the division. Louisville and YS are the reigning teams atop to the division, I know my team and TC isn't on par with Madison yet and the Kernals I did glance at and they're right up there with the top 4 in the division. I don't know much about Omaha but a quick glance shows me they're better than TC and Indy made several off-season acquisitions of their own. Indy and Twin Cities tied at the bottom last season with 64 wins each in the Heartland. I see both at the bottom yet again but with Twin Cities staying there yet again as the building process continues for a few more seasons. There are enough pieces there that I think they stay away from 100 losses. I'm going to go 65-97 for the River Monsters this season and another 7th place finish in the division.
