2035 Boise Spuds - An Inaugural Season

[bcslouck]

The Boise Spuds are 1 of 2 expansion teams that will have their inaugural season in 2035. Headed by BBA veteran Brett Schroeder, the team should be in good hands for the foreseeable future. The roster consists of some names you may of heard of and some you may not of. As far as expansion rosters go, it's a solid one. It may not be the 2017-2018 Las Vegas Golden Knight, but they won't embarrass themselves this season. With it being Spring Training, the team has a full roster of players in Spring Training, so it's hard to tell who will be making the team for some roster spots, but I'll give it my best guess.

Rotation
The Boise rotation has some intriguing arms. Felipe Murillo is a name you know from his days as a relief Ace for Louisville. While he always had the repertoire to be a starter, he has trouble going deep into games and staying healthy, even as a reliever. If he stays healthy, he could very good and if the season goes sideways, could fetch the organization a nice haul of prospects. Cris Rios is listed as their number 2 and is also solid. He will also have trouble going deep into games, but has a better track record of health and has been a solid SP for 3 years with Mexico City (and Omaha). Maxence Mace was also a SP for Mexico City, and while he hasn't had the success of Rios, he can go deeper into games and peripherals suggest he may be a tad better than certain numbers suggest. Speaking of going deeper into games, Tavio Ciccolella is listed as the #4. He has pitched 506.1 innings over the last 2 seasons. One has to assume he will have no pitch count and will be counted on to be the guy to give the bullpen nights off every 5 days. Personally, I'd have him as the #3 as your horse to soak up the innings Murillo and Rios won't. It probably doesn't matter though. Just one writers opinion. Mark McCray and Leon Flores will battle for the #5 spot. McCray has the looks of a backend, AAAA type of SP while Flores best days are behind him. I'd guess whoever loses this battle will be a long reliever. It's a solid group. I do like their 1-2 punch, but I worry about Murrillo's health.

Bullpen
The active roster of relieves have some solid arms but lacks depth. Caleb Benavides seems like he could be solid, though at 29, hasn't been that impressive in his time in the BBA. Orlando Zٌْiga is young, but fairly developed, and could make the team if he has an impressive Spring. Bill Pidduck is another young, developed arm that has had a little bit of BBA experience. He's a solid lefty that could be a future closer. Bill Marsh just dropped his changeup and will probably be a late inning arm. You could do better, but you could also do worse. Donald Foster is probably a long reliever and the 7th SP on the roster. Leonard Walden may just be a warm body in Spring Training and I'd expect him to not make the team. If he does, that may not be great news for the season. Unless I'm missing something, I'm not seeing much else that's useful, unless the team plans to have a SP prospect or 2 in the 'pen. Overall, I think it's a below average group. I don't think any 'pen arms will get by Boise on the waiver wire.

Lineup
The lineup is probably one of the more RH you'll see in the BBA. That is by design, as the field favors that type of power. While it's good to build your team to your park, I wonder if it needs some more balance from the left side.

J.J. McQuade was the big free agent add. At only 26, we still may be waiting on his best years. Even with that, he's probably a slightly above average hitter, though he's shown at times to be better than that. He probably isn't a leadoff hitter though. 1B Mike Barnett is a solid contact hitter versus RHP and has a solid track record. I'd consider having him bat leadoff against RHP. Juan Parra will be DH'ing and has plenty of power and a good eye. It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for him to have a .350 OBP and 30+ HR's. He may hit below .250, but he's a useful hitter and should have even splits. Manuel Jimenez will man RF and also comes with big power, but that may be about it. He hasn't had much success, but has proven he's done with AAA. At 27, this is probably his last real shot at ML AB's. Jorge Dominguez could be a better option, at least against RHP, as he's at least had some BBA success. Ken Gerhart will be out in LF and looks like a solid all around player. He should be average or better at everything. Jose Rivera should get the nod as the starting C, keeping the seat warm for Claudio Perez (more on that later). He'll be better versus LHP, but the split won't be too different, and he should be average behind the plate. Dave Molina is another hitter that may be all power, but that works if you can play defense in CF. He should be above average out there, though last years numbers suggest he could be declining. Pedro Nava is a solid all around 3B that could be average across the board. 2B Richard Beran will bat 9th versus RHP and 2nd versus LHP. He should be very good against southpaws, but could struggle versus RHP. The group overall is below average, to me. They could be better than that at home, but I'm not sure how they'll do on the road.

Defense
Defensively, they could be average. Nobody really sticks out as slick fielding other than McQuade, who would be better at 2B. Other than him, its mainly serviceable players who don't have elite range. Up the middle, again other than McQuade, it's just okay. The group should be able to handle anything they can get to. They just may not get to much.

Bench
Yasutoki Yoshida looks to be the bench C. He is a better defender than Rivera, but the bat is behind. He is a solid guys to give days off or help finish off games. Pedro Martinez is also a solid bench option. He won't wow you defensively with the bat, but he can give you AB's and innings in the field if needed. Zhong-qi Wan is also a good bench option. His bat lags behind Martinez, but his glove is plus at all over the infield. Boise has a couple decent OF bench options. Javier Javier, Randy Richardson, and Jesus Enriquez can all manage to play all 3 OF spots and not kill you with the bat. It's a group similar to the starting lineup. Won't wow you, but can be solid. When comparing to the league though, it's probably average at best.

Prospects
Yunosuke Terada, aptly nickname Godzilla, raked at AA last year. He will begin the year at AAA and will probably be in the majors by the All-Star break if he rakes again. Claudio Perez should also be at AAA. He hit well at AAA last year, but with no reason to rush him at only 20 and a little more development to go, he could also be in Boise by the All-Star break. Antonio Sanchez still has a shot to be a SP, but will need to finish developing his circle change and gain a little more control. If that doesn't happen, he could be a solid power reliever down the road. Hector Flores probably is a couple years away, but will be a Zimmer level SS once he makes it to Boise. Jorge Baez is similar to Sanchez but a lefty.

A couple names on their top prospects list are already on the ML team and will probably stick. Most of the prospects are solid who may be able to hold down jobs. Overall, they are strong at C and 2B and the upcoming draft, which is now in June, will help boost the system.

Prediction
As stated above, this isn't a bad team as expansion teams go. The have some nice players and some solid prospects that could impact the team this season. That being said, the team still has some work to do and may have issues if they get hit with the injury bug. I do think they are in one of the weaker divisions, so they have that going for them. Calgary should run away with it. I don't know if they will avoid the basement, but I think they can. If thinks break right, they could win 75. If things go bad, they may only win 65. I'll split the middle and predict them being a 70 win team. I know some, including Brett, may see this team as better than that. I just think they lack the top end talent to make up for some of the teams shortcomings and have some unpredictability if he plans to move players having good year. I think 70-92 would be a solid inaugural season and a good foundation for the future of the organization.

*Editors Note: This was done without the game in front of me. Apologies if I missed something in game.

[RonCo]

Seems like a pretty fair overview to me. I'll be rooting for McQuade and wondering from afar about how he's going to do in a fulltime role.

[bschr682]

It’s all up in the air at this point. I think both my ceiling and my basement are higher/lower than you said. Injuries will determine everything. If I stay healthy those top guys in AAA will make the jump to the bigs. If the injuries derail the season, you won’t see the top guys at all.

Worth noting that based on my park and my division mates parks, I’ll probably play 110-120 games in parks that favor rhb over lhb. So yea the extremely right handed nature of the lineup is by design.