San Antonio Outlaws
Looking back at 2031
Last year, some skeptical jerk pegged the Outlaws for a third straight 79-83 season characterized by a frustrating waste of superb starting pitching and defense. The bats were supposed to be too old, or too over-matched to help. Instead, Mike Calvaruso's group of cagey vets outscored their opponents for the first time in six seasons en route to an 85-77 record and a Doubleday appearance versus the mighty Las Vegas Hustlers. Juan Jose Ornelas finally got his much deserved first Steve Nebraska Golden Arm Award. Along with Nelson Ramirez, the 34 year old ace with the 3.31 career era has defined pitching excellence for the franchise for over 10 years. It's hard to believe a pitcher of his caliber won his first award in his age 33 season. (See 2024, 2025, and 2029 ) 2031 seems like the year it all came together. Will it be a blip on the radar, or will Outlaws follow up a strong season with another playoff run?
Stats at a glance
Record: 84-78, 3rd
Runs Scored: 744 (4.6 per game - 9th)
Runs Allowed: 706 (4.4 per game -2nd)
Payroll: 106,788,724(4th)
Attendance: 4,015,836 (1st)
Notable Players Added:RP Chris Dougherty (FA), 1B Dale Jones (FA), 2B Alex Ramirez (trade-LV), DH Frank Thomas III (trade-CAR)
Notable Players Lost:C Juan Castillo, 2B Jonathan Archer, RF Mark Stuart
Offseason Recap
Frankly, the offseason tally of the players added and removed from the big club looks like a wash. Mark Stuart was an absolute giant in a very mediocre offense last year and his .401 OBP will be missed. However, Little Hurt should have no problem duplicating and even topping that mark. Alex Ramirez likely can step in an replace Archer's production, while providing a better glove. Juan Castillo's production from the catching position was quite nice, Antonio Tobias looks ready to step up. If Dale Jones can turn his power potential into home runs, this series of transactions might represent and upgrade offensively. On the pitching side, the Outlaws didn't do much, other than return the second best staff in the Johnson more or less intact. Chris Dougherty is a league average reliever, and should give some useful innings.
Starting Pitching
The answer to the question posed a couple segments ago about the Outlaws ability to continue to progress will like largely on the backs of this group. Nelson Ramirez and Juan Jose Ornelas are getting a bit old, but still look as good on paper as any one-two punch in the league. The duo now has three Nebraskas and 323 wins between them. Keep in mind that during their run of dominance the TEAM has 900 wins over 11+seasons (Ramirez has 12 years and Ornelas 11). Two pitchers account for more than a THIRD of the clubs wins since 2020. Remarkable. Speaking of remarkable, what's it like to have the Boogeyman as your number 3? More than a handful of teams in the league don't have a single starter of his caliber. Juan Rodriguez has been a league average starter over his 11 years with the club, and his durability make him a solid back of the rotation asset. The final spot in the rotation looks to belong to Elliot Buckland, who scouts think has the goods to fit in a mid rotation role. However, the 24 year old groundball specialist has yet to put it all together against the competition at the highest level. This group will give the Outlaws a chance to win every day. Whether or not the offense will help them out, or the bullpen won't let them down is another question entirely.
The Pen
On paper, this bullpen doesn't inspire a ton of confidence. The excellent Jonathan Bowen returns in a closing role. Outside of giving up the occasional long ball, he's a tough has they come. Groundballer Javier Ortiz has a fantastic debut in 2031, but some are skeptical about his ability to repeat. The aforementioned Dougherty has been hot and cold throughout his career, and will need to bounce back from a disastrous 2031. Roberto Cruz, Parker Morris, and Brandon Shoemaker will walk their share of batters in the middle innings. San Antonio sports an excellent defense to go with its spacious park, and that will help some. Adding big bullpen arm would go a long way towards improving my confidence in this group.
Position Players
C Antonio Tobias has the tools to be a very good hitting catcher. He has the potential to be a high OBP, 30 homer contributor from behind the plate. However, his attitude and glove could use some help. Twenty 27 year old Waylon Taylor looks to be the primary backup option.
1B This position looks like a platoon of Dale Jones and Leon Garcia. Jones proved he was a legitimate power threat during his time with Charm City, but couldn't get on base enough to keep his job. It will be interesting to see who things work out in the tougher to hit in San Antonio environment. Leon Garcia will face the lefties, and to be honest I'd like to see a better bat in this kind of specialist role. Those type of players have been hard to find in recent seasons.
2B Alex Ramirez's career took a little while to get going, but since landing a full time job with the Hustler's a few years back, he's been a .340 or better OBP second baseman. Most teams would take that in a heartbeat, even ig he hadn't stolen 97 bases last year. He's a solid defender to boot.
3B John Aguilera probably won't post a .319/.344/.489 year again. Should he regress to his career averages, he still possesses a great deal of value as a Zimmer caliber glove at the hot corner. Rob McNeill looked a like a decent enough prospect a few years back, but seems to have capped at the "backup corner infielder" level, which frankly does not have a ton of value.
SS Another platoon here. Javier Alfonso and George Bluth will split time at short. What do they have in common? Neither can hit a lick, but both sport very good gloves. Bluth in particular is beyond superb. He bat is beyond terrible. Still, I wonder if it would be worth punting Alfonso's (admittedly weak) offense just to have Bluth's glove in the field full time.
LF Mike Calvaruso likes the leather, which explains Jesus Fernandez's spot on the big league roster. He's an elite left fielder and can play an acceptable center in a pinch, but has no bat to speak of. He does possess excellent wheels, but I wonder if he'll give way to Paul Warren before season's end.
CF James Cunningham is one of the best defensive center fielders we've seen in recent years. His bat seems to have taken another step backwards this offseason but he'll still provide value as long as he keeps turning doubles into outs.
RF Robert Gowron, get your shit together. Get it all together and put it in a back pack, all your shit, so it's together.
And if you gotta take it somewhere, take it somewhere ... you know, take it to the shit store and sell it, or put it in the shit museum. I don't care what you do, you just gotta get it together
Get your shit together.
DH Frank Thomas III
This group is essentially Little Hurt and friends. Ramirez could be a nice OBP guy. Maybe Warren later. Tobias has potential. Jones could hit some dongs. The others are all slightly below average for their positions or worse. Robert Gowron could change things a ton if he could get his shit together. ...but that defense.
2029 Outlook
I like this team a lot better than I have more recent editions of the Bandoutlaws (this is probably the last year I can call them that). I think they got a little lucky with some of the veteran bats last year. On paper this group is jsut is good or better. Still, they could end up being another team that just can't hit enough if things go the wrong way. Does Calvaruso sell Thomas if it's mid May and they have a last place offense? Does he empty what little is left in the minors for the extra bat that could make all the difference? The division looks a little more winnable than a few years ago. The Hustlers are still the Hustlers, but the rest of the field has drifted towards the middle.
Prediction
San Antonio is by no means a complete or even well rounded team, but I could easily see them getting hot for long stretches, even ending up in 90 win territory. Still, I think that's a bit much. I do believe there is a playoff spot available for them. Prediction 86-78, 3rd JLS
