Starters
Jody Nunez (10/6/7 Ratings, 63 - 72, 3.95 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 1243 K)
Chris Lee (6/8/7 Ratings, 183 - 150, 3.64 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 1836 K)
Matt Mills (7/7/8 Ratings, 12 - 9, 3.52 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 151 K)
Raul Sanchez (8/7/7 Ratings, 35 - 47, 4.73 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 540 K)
Chris Drover (8/7/7 Ratings, 18 - 14, 4.13 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 259 K)
Long time Tropic starter Chris Lee will return to the Hawaii rotation in 2032. The now 38 year old hurler is no longer an ace and is more of a mentor. Jody "No Pants" Nunez has lead the Tropics in the absence of Lee. The duo combines for a formidable, yet unspectacular 1-2 punch. #3 starter Matt Mills is trying to build off a strong rookie campaign where he posted a 3.2 WAR. Mills relies on a decent changeup and not much else. His fastball and splitter find the plate more often then not. Luckily for Mills, Hawaii is one of the best team in the league at catching the ball and turning hits into outs. Sanchez may be a late bloomer. For years he seemed like guy on the cusp of dependability, only to fall to lopsided results. Banished to the bullpen in 2032, the Puerto Rican lefty seemed to finally scrap his slider and rely only on his best three pitches. The new streamlined Sanchez is trying to build off of solid results as a starter in 2031. Chris Drover appears to be filling out the rotation. The veteran swingman is probably better suited for the pen as he tends to tire early. I suspect Hawaii isn't fully invested in him as the #5. Guys like Dean Oulton and Richard Radforth could push him back to the pen at some point.
Bullpen
Lawrence Stokes (9/7/7 Ratings, 10 - 10, 3.96 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 151 K)
Jesus Feliciano (9/7/9 Ratings, 86 - 78, 3.81 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 1030 K)
Alfredo Chavez (8/8/8 Ratings, 49 - 33, 3.55 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 559 K)
Enrico Franco (8/7/7 Ratings, 1 - 3, 3.44 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 78 K)
Miguel Lara (6/9/8 Ratings, 49 - 37, 3.27 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 484 K)
Jose Garcia (8/7/9 Ratings, 17 - 18, 3.50 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 276 K)
John Jefferson (8/6/7 Ratings)
The Tropics bullpen in a word is stellar. Have you heard about Lawrence Stokes? If no, you will soon. Stokes is poised to be one of the best fireman in the game. Just 24, Stokes has 2 killer pitches, is equally as good against righties and lefties, and best of all... has improved each and every season. I guarantee that in 2-3 years the consensus will be that Stokes is one of the top relievers around. Setting him up are 2 imported quality ex-closers. The Tropics spent $6.45 million this season to add "Bitch" and Jesús Feliciano. Some might says that's overpay for the 7th and 8th innings. The way I see it, if your closer is only making a half a mil, then $7 mil for the final 9 outs is a bargain. If the Tropics starters get in trouble early, Lara, Garcia, and Franco provide a nice bridge to the back end. The one question mark in the pen is rookie John Jefferson. For a guy who throws 100+, his peripherals are just meh. I mean his stuff should be at least a 9, am I wrong? How many guys throw 100+? I suspect his heater could be straight and very predictable.
Catchers
Paul Scholes (6/6/3/5/6 Ratings, .273/.333/.373, 76 HR, 555 RBI)
Michael Simpson (5/5/6/5/5 Ratings, .200/.273/.200, 0 HR, 1 RBI)
Veteran defensive wizard and all around great guy Paul Scholes was brought in by the Tropics to do what he does best. Elevate pitching staffs beyond the sum of it's parts. I like this move. Catcher defense is always a hot topic. So some will strongly disagree. Offensively Scholes isn't quite an automatic out, but maybe a semi-automatic? So he does hurt a lineup. He's all about defense. Probably hands down the best defensive catcher of this generation. Maybe Benjamin O'Rorke gets a shoutout too. Scholes defense combined with a decent Tropics staff and solid defense should enable Hawaii to put up upper echelon pitching stats. If that happens, this is a solid signing.
Michael Simpson on the other hand, serves little purpose other then being affordable roster filler. I feel, if you're going to start Scholes, may as well get the best offensive backup available regardless of defense. Scholes will catch when you need him, but if you are down by several runs late in the game, what good is defense.
Infielders
Joe Wilcox (7/7/8/6/7 Ratings, .273/.345/.457, 218 HR, 739 RBI)
Paul Backstrom (6/6/8/4/4 Ratings, .257/.292/.472, 224 HR, 613 RBI)
Lamberto Morra (6/6/2/4/8 Ratings, .260/.298/.323, 6 HR, 123 RBI)
Pedro Hernandez (7/7/6/5/6 Ratings, .283/.324/.437, 54 HR, 260 RBI)
Baltasar Fronteiro (6/6/7/5/6 Ratings, .232/.288/.373, 4 HR, 17 RBI)
Adam Johnson (5/5/2/6/6 Ratings, .240/.319/.345, 4 HR, 31 RBI)
For the past decade Tropics fans have been accustomed to seeing 'Million Dollar' Wilcox and 'Sugar' Backstrom man the left side of the infield for Hawaii. Those 2 franchise legends still fill half the infield, they have just shifted right. Wilcox(now playing DH in the absence of Amezaga) is expected to be the first baseman for Tropics moving forward. The veteran righty has consistently put up 4-5 WAR for the past decade. His numbers have been outstanding for a third baseman, just good to very good if put in the scope of other first baseman though. I don't see him declining anytime soon, so he deserves to pad his stats in his quest for the hall of fame as a lifelong Tropic. Backstrom was once one of the top shortstops in the league. For the past 3 seasons, he's been on a substantial decline. For now, Sugar is still a solid defender who hits a lot of homeruns. Once one of those traits erodes though, he will struggle to find usefulness. I doubt that drastic of a decline happens this year at 31, but it is a possibility.
'Hawk' Hernández is a decent enough player at a tough position to fill. The Tropics have been patiently waiting for him to reach the level he hit in his rookie and sophomore seasons with Yellow Springs. That has yet to materialize. Journeyman backup Lamberto Morra probably won't do much to push him off the hot corner. He's an ok bat off the bench who is capable of making remarkable plays on balls that he can get to in the field. Baltasar Fronteiro was brought in via trade at the midnight hour. He is a controllable, serviceable shortstop. Definitely not an all star, maybe a utility infielder on a better team. But he makes all the plays and can hit a little. Adam Johnson losing the job at short stop is a gain for the Tropics as a team. While not a very good hitter, he is a valuable 27th man capable of playing gold glove defense at 8 different position.
Outfielders
Miguel Cruz (5/5/6/7/6 Ratings, .226/.305/.365, 4 HR, 11 RBI)
Julio Torror (6/6/4/7/6 Ratings, .226/.320/.312, 1 HR, 40 RBI)
Claudio Moreno (5/5/6/7/5 Ratings, .210/.303/.356, 17 HR, 48 RBI)
Felipe Diaz (6/6/6/5/7 Ratings, .240/.299/.370, 23 HR, 87 RBI)
Manuel Rodriguez(5/7/6/7/6 Ratings, 240/.318/.407, 92 HR, 365 RBI)
Michael Durham(7/9/7/6/7 Ratings, .237/.295/.453, 21 HR, 54 RBI)
Rich Ayers (7/7/6/3/8 Ratings, .268/.300/.436, 21 HR, 108 RBI)
The Tropics outfield will hinge on the development of Michael Durham. Last season he was horrible and like is the case now, gets hurt more then you'd like. He also struggles against left hand pitching. You'd think I'm talking about some bum but the word I haven't used to describe Durham yet will change that. Upside. Durham can be a game changer, an all star, maybe even a Sawyer Silk if things break right. That is if he doesn't break his ankle first. Flanking Durham in right is Rich Ayers. He's another injury prone youngster capable of playing solid baseball. The rest of the outfield is fairly nondescript. Claudio Moreno looks great in centerfield. But he needs to hit better to be a starter. Diaz is a decent 4th outfielder, Torror shows flashes of respectability, and Rodríguez hasn't been good in a couple of years.
