2036 Montreal BlazersOverview
For the first time in a very long time, the Montreal Blazers will start a new season with John Callahan guiding the ship as the General Manager. After stepping down late last season, the Blazers organization hired Gary Bartle to fill the rather large shoes left vacant by John's departure. Gary stepped in and took an organization that had made it to 8 consecutive post-seasons and missed out on a spot in 2035. I'm not blaming that on Gary. Perhaps John saw some magical writing on the wall and chose to leave. Or perhaps, real life just got in the way. We all know the latter to be true. But now Gary is left to helm a franchise and an organization that is accustomed to making it to the post-season. The Blazers fans will expect it. The franchise has averaged a post-season spot every other season since 1995.
Last year's Blazers fell just a game short, so it's not like they were a disaster. They were 5th in runs scored a season ago and middle of the pack in pitching. It'll be interesting to see what direction Gary looks to move this team heading into the season. Is a rebound on the horizon and this team makes the post-season? OR do they drop off?
Key Additions Manuel Freyta (6/6/4/6/6 Ratings) Free Agency and Emilio Martinez (5/7/2/6/10 Ratings) Waivers
Key Losses
Jorge Martinez (Retired) and Bob Sanderson (10/6/7 Ratings) Free Agency
Offense
Catcher
Jake Blues (7/6/7/5/5 Ratings) and Joaquin Camacho (7/7/3/4/9 Ratings
Camacho, who got a bulk of the starts last season, will likely get them again in 2036. He posted a solid 3.7 WAR and had a career best 15 homeruns and 80 RBI last season. Blues will be a fine backup. It's unfortunate for the Blazers that platooning isn't a great option as both prefer to hit RHP. Blues was rumored to be on the trade block. He'd be a decent fit in say a place like.... Madison. If we had the money to take on the contract.
First Base
Benjamin Dale (7/8/9/7/6 Ratings)
Dale has good ratings, but produced a subpar 2035 in his first "full" season in Montreal. Only hitting .257 and having 74 RBI a year ago was not what the Blazers front office had hoped for out of their middle of the lineup stud. Ownership will hope to see a huge improvement from this still young 24 year old. They'll need a better year if they want to regain their spot in the post season.
Second Base
Charles Martin (8/7/1/4/10 Ratings)
A solid offensive player that is hurt slightly be an inferior glove. Martin is a high contact, high average hitter who has hit over .300 in each of the 6 seasons he's played in the BBA. Despite that, he's never produced anything higher than a 3.8 WAR despite playing a tough infield position due to a Zone Rating that is typically in the negatives. But then again, who am I to judge a guy who hits for high average but can't play defense? (See: Steve Dempsey)
Shortstop
Luis Gonzalez (9/7/2/5/9 Ratings)
Another outstanding offensive guy who, if he plays SS full-time, could turn into a liability on the defensive side. He's a career .308 hitter and has produced over 200 hits twice in his career. He was one of the key components in the famed Gillstrom trade with then Havana and offensively he's holding his own. Unfortunately, he's listed as just a 6 at SS and only having a 7 range in the infield makes him a potential liability. He's had a -5.8 and -6.4 ZR at the position the last two seasons. If he can play 2B or 3B, he'd be a far higher WAR player but sometimes teams have to do what they have to do to get all of the pieces in the lineup.
Third Base
Gary Schneider (6/7/7/9/5 Ratings)
The trend continues here with Schneider. I like his hitting ability and love his eye and ability to get on base. His .378 OBP a season ago was the best of his career. At the prime age of 26, he could and should continue to put up similar numbers I would think. If he had any threat as a base stealer, he'd be even more valuable. But on the flip side, he's not a strong defender. Infield defense could eventually be the downfall of the Blazers in 2036.
Left Field
Juan Santana (9/8/6/4/9 Ratings)
Santana had a very nice rookie season in 2035 where he hit .314 with an .873 OPS, 21 homeruns, and 91 RBI. He's not a huge power threat, but I think he's good for 25-ish homeruns each and every season. What he lacks in power he makes up for with hits. Montreal has him listed as their middle of the lineup guy and with Gonzalez and Martin ahead of him, it should provide Santana with plenty of RBI chances.
Center Field
Pedro Navarro (5/6/7/5/6 Ratings)
Navarro is a defensive guy, going against our previous mold. He should be a purely platoon guy, facing only RHP but as of now the Blazers have him listed to bat 9th against both LHP and RHP. If he faces LH consistently, he may be lucky to hit .200 overall against them. Regardless of hitting 9th, Navarro would be a hole in the lineup against LHP. But with that said, he's a good option against RHP and with his glove and speed is a very nice platoon option. I'd expect to see Juan Diaz (6/3/1/7/9 Ratings) listed in the lineup at some point.
Right Field
Robert Gowron (7/8/9/3/4 Ratings)
Gordon is an all or nothing guy. He has hit 62 homeruns over the last two seasons with Montreal while driving in 92 and 87 RBI respectively. But he has also struck out 231 and 186 times over the last two seasons. In fact, over the last 4 years he has led the league in strikeouts 3 times. The 4th season he finished 2nd.
Designated Hitter
Ettienne R. LaFitte (10/6/9/6/6 Ratings)
Lafitte is the real deal. He's the main cleanup hitter and threat in the middle of the lineup. In 6 seasons with Montreal, he's hit 227 homeruns. And he's not just a homerun hitter as he's been a career .316 hitter during his time. He had a real down season last year though, posting a career worst in batting average, WAR, and hits. But in 2034, he was a 50/50 guy as he hit 50 homeruns and stole 50 bases. So yeah, he's the total offensive package. Montreal needs a rebound season from him if they want to return to the post-season.
Pitching
Rotation
Jubal Troop (10/6/7 Ratings)
Troop has everything to be an ace, number 1 starter. Minus the 3rd pitch. The 4 changeup has probably kept him down the last 2 years after going 18-8 with a 3.22 ERA in 2033. But in 2034, he was pretty bad. He recovered nicely last year, but is still probably not as dominating a starter because of the lack of a solid 3rd pitch. But he's a lefty. And I love me some lefties.
Aki Kondo (10/5/9 Ratings)
Kondo finished 2nd in the league last year in strikeouts thanks to a blazing fastball and 3 outstanding pitches. If you gave his pitches to Troop you'd have likely the best pitcher in the league. Kondo's weakness though is his lower movement rating. But with pinpoint control, you also have the guy that was 2nd in WHIP last year.
Jesus Ramos (9/7/9 Ratings)
Ramos was an 18 game winner a season ago. Truth be told, anyone or all of Troop, Kondo, and Ramos could push 20 wins this season based off their pure, raw ratings. Ramos, like Troop, is cursed by a weak 3rd pitch. It didn't hurt him that much last year so perhaps the Blazers get lucky again in 2036.
Manuel Pena (7/7/6 Ratings), Eric Franklin (8/6/7 Ratings), and Matt Hansen (7/6/8 Ratings)
Pena and Franklin are both solid, back of the rotation starters. Pena has had an up and down career, with 2035 being his best season to date. Franklin was shifted from the pen to rotation last season, making 41 appearances with 14 of them as a starter. Hansen was used in spring training as a starter but I expect him to move to the bullpen during the season with maybe some spot starts or being the guy who fills in if someone gets injured.
Bullpen
Chris Adkins (10/5/9 Ratings)
After 12 seasons with the Blazers organization, Adkins declared for free agency in November. Two months later, he signed a 5 year contract extension to return and stay in Montreal. Over his 12 years there, it appears he's been in and out as the team's closer over that time. He has 105 career saves, but only has 12 last season and a career high 24 in 2034. Expect more this year with Bob Sanderson now in San Fernando.
Luis Flores (7/6/8 Ratings), Alberto Ramirez (10/6/7 Ratings), Steve Russell (7/7/9 Ratings), Jacob Pilbeam (10/6/8 Ratings), andVicente Lopez (9/6/7 Ratings)
These guys are decent, though be it a little underwhelming. They all have their positives, but there are some flaws there as well. I like Pilbeam probably the most and Lopez is solid and I could see some spot starts for Lopez down the road. Flores is the default set up man despite his FB topping out at only 90 mph. But he's crafty I suppose. Probably because he's a lefty.
Prediction
I'm not extremely high on Montreal. I'm not completely down on them either. Without knowing the rest of the division well, I and most of the league would have to assume that Rockville is the class of the division in 2036. Brooklyn made the post-season and a run there behind some out of the box thinking and quirks with the rotation. Montreal has some good pieces. I like some of the bats. The rotation, despite some flaws, has 3 really good pieces at the top. If the lineup clicks and the top 3 in the rotation do their thing, Montreal can be a post-season team. But on the flip side, I don't think the bullpen is great and the infield defense is very suspect. Will those things neutralize the positives? I still see a winning season in the future for Montreal but fear there are too many things against them for them to make the post-season in 2036. Those things include a Vegas rebound, a likely Huntsville run, and Rockville owning the division. I'm gonna go with 84-76 record this season for Montreal, 3rd in the division, and just shy of the post-season.
