The Brewster

There's an intense sense of drowning when looking at the Vancouver roster. Part of the feeling comes from the overwhelming number of guys with ratings splashing the screen in blue. The rest of it comes from knowing the behemoth, which we've all seen coming the last couple years, is now mostly in Vancouver, and it's ready to shove the aging heads of its division foes far beneath the water.

I mean, seriously? How do they even see in their clubhouse with all the potential hanging in the air? It's like a damn 'who's who' of BBA alpha ballplayers.

What's even more frightening for the rest of the Pacific division is Vancouver General Manager Taylor Bettencourt didn't just sit around in free agency patting his young superstars on the head. Instead, Bettencourt went out and threw countless wheelbarrow-loads of Loonies and Toonies at top catching free agent, Aaron Stone. Stone is coming off the best year of his career, posting 4.7 WAR and slashing .302/.396/.591 for the much hated Yellow Springs Nine. I'm not even sure where Stone bats in the lineup. Seventh? Good grief.

"I break out in hives every time I look at their lineup," said a San Fernando pitcher who wished to remain anonymous. "It gives me chills thinking about standing 60 feet from those guys in Vancouver. I mean ... I have a family to think about."

PROJECTED 2041 LINEUP (2040 slash-line)

3B Rashardo 'Skull' Menne III (.276/.372/.406)
LF Fernando Castillo (.290/.370/.468)
CF Ángel González (.304/.348/.531)
RF Jeffrey Smith (.278/.342/.502)
C Aaron Stone (.302/.396/.591)
DH Masaki 'Icon' Sato (.243/.305/.455)
1B Alejandro Ortíz (.292/.347/.496)
SS Carlos Martínez (.266/.323/.437)
2B Robbie 'World Famous' Krok (.249/.340/.351)

The only discernible holes in their lineup come out of the middle infield positions, but even one of those holes will be filled shortly by SS prospect, Roberto Beltrán. Current shortstop, SS Carlos Martínez, hit acceptably for the Mounties last season, but his defense was abysmal. He finished the year with a -7.6 zone rating and a .973 defensive efficiency. Look for Vancouver to deal for a defensive shortstop in the short term. With such offensive power throughout the rest of the order, a step back offensively at shortstop in exchange for run-saving defense could be net-positive.

For a team coming off their first winning season (82-80) since 2031, the future looks especially bright when looking at the solid pitching prospects finally arriving in Vancouver to supplement the offense. Although, 19-year-old top pitching prospect, Richie "Unmarked White" Vanness, who looks to be the only guy with staff-anchoring stuff, is still years away from an appearance in Vancouver, many other workmanlike arms are now vying for spots on the Mounties' starting staff. The staff will be anchored by Lando Klomp, who Bettencourt traded for at the deadline last season.

"Klomp must have found some cute Canadian girl to keep his right arm warm at night," said a Pacific Division top executive. "He put up 1.4 WAR in just seven starts for the Mounties last season. That's more WAR than he put up in the previous six seasons combined."

If Klomp continues his success in Vancouver and the rest of the starting staff can keep games within reach for the offense, look for Vancouver to be pushing for the Pacific Division championship this season.

PROJECTED STARTING ROTATION

R Lando Klomp
R Gustavo Hernández
R Miguel Ayala
R Dermott Halford
R Luis Miguel Durán

The starting staff needs to be strong as the Vancouver bullpen tries to find an identity in 2041. Bettencourt brought in veteran reliever, Pavel Bure, Jr. to help solidify the back-end of the bullpen. Bure had a mediocre season in Chicago last season despite pitching half his games in Chicago's pitchers' park and in front of the league's best defense. Bettencourt is betting on Bure returning to dominance for the Mounties. Outside of Bure, the bullpen is stocked with a bunch of serviceable, although not dominant, arms.

Questions going into 2041

Will the pitching be good enough to win a bunch of 8-7 games?

Will Aaron Stone find himself a cute, little Canadian girl to keep him warm at night like Klomp did?

Will Chicago Black Sox owner Vinnie Vitale put a hit out on Pavel Bure Jr. if Bure pitches better than he did last season?


Predictions

2041 Record -- 89-73
Record against rival Portland -- 10-4
Playoffs -- Fourth wildcard spot, losing in the first round to Yellow Springs (3-1), despite Aaron Stone hitting .426 with three home runs against his former squad in the series.

those bear pitchers know a good offense when they see one, so that is a high compliment. I know taylor tried, but that money would have been better spent on a guy like Rafael than stone. Not only is the offense plenty loaded as is, but also that ballpark suppresses offense massively.

usnspecialist wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 27, 2019 10:21 am

those bear pitchers know a good offense when they see one, so that is a high compliment. I know taylor tried, but that money would have been better spent on a guy like Rafael than stone. Not only is the offense plenty loaded as is, but also that ballpark suppresses offense massively.

I agree with this. I liked the addition of Klomp, but one anchor in the rotation would have made Vancouver all the more scary. I think the team's good enough to make the playoffs, but without clamp-down pitchers at the top end, the other playoff teams should handle Vancouver in a series.

I should also note that this preview was quite a bit of fun to do. Generally, I like the moves Taylor has made. If I didn't feel Vancouver's big ugly hand on my neck, slowly pushing my head under water, I'd almost consider myself a fan.

Vancouver does give me the willies ...

As to question #3, Vinnie's unlikely to put a hit out on Bure ... but you can bet he's seen his last melon ball!

Great preview! Yeah I would have loved to have gotten Rafael but it just wasn't meant to be I guess. And I just wasn't paying what Behner and Amaral got. I will definitely be scouring the pitchers market this season, but for now I want to see what Ayala and Hernandez do.