2045 Hawaii Tropics Preview
Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 1:29 pm
2045 Hawaii Tropics Preview
The Pacific Division runner-ups finished 2044 with a 92-70 record, their most wins since 2026’s hangover from winning the 2025 Landis. The 2045 Hawaii Tropics team will be largely the same squad returning with one glaring difference after losing CF Ronnie Hubbard to free agency. The Tropics finished 2nd in runs scored and 7th in runs allowed in the Frick League last season and hope to reproduce similar numbers moving forward. Let’s take a look at their roster and see how they’ll stack up this season.
Pitching
Once again, Hawaii will depend on their ace Alaric Wullenweber as the right hander seeks his first Steve Nebraska Golden Arm Award after finishing in the top 3 of voting the past three seasons. Fellow RHPs Zak Johnson, Niccolo Destefani, Jesus Gonzalez will fill in nicely behind Wullenweber, but they may want to invest in a LHP to deal with the amount of left handed sluggers in the Frick. Stephen Taub is their main weapon against lefties and was good out of the pen last season posting a 3.21 FIP. FA signing Steven Bobovnik should replace the loss of Douglas Wils and the bullpen should improve after an underperforming season amongst the relievers.
Infield
Power hitting 1B Gary Allen looks to repeat the success he saw in 2044 with a .953 OPS. His success is crucial to Hawaii’s offense, as it lacks any other star power in the infield aside from C Ron Shiplack. SS Fernando Rodriguez doesn’t have the bat to make up for average defense at the most crucial position up the middle, but looks like the best candidate for SS again. The same can be said for 2B Jack Nichols and whoever will play 3B as top candidates Ben Vaive and Ernesto Angel more closely resemble AAAA players. The Tropics will likely want to upgrade here, although options may be limited.
Outfield
Bastião Fardos and Mike Campbell will continue their slugging ways while manning the corner outfield positions, but losing Hubbard in CF will be tough to overcome. Manny Garcia will likely see the bulk of the playing time in CF, but Michel Noël may see time versus southpaws. With leftfielders Bronx Cortez and Jose Camacho on the bench, depth is not a problem.
Designated Hitter
Ernest McBride is one the BBA’s premier hitters. A fractured hand cut his 2044 season short, but he was able to return in time for the playoffs. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to shake off the rust from missing two months of playing time and was ineffective. Hawaii will hope he returns to form in 2045 and hits homeruns near a 10% pace as he did in 2043.
In summary, 2045 looks like a promising season for one of the BBA’s most balanced teams. The uber-competitive Heartland division may limit the Pacific division to one playoff spot, so Hawaii will want to win their division. In order to do so, they may need to trade one of the veteran outfielders in Fardos or Campbell in exchange for an all-star middle infielder. They shouldn’t lose too much production with Camacho and Little Bron able to slide in and perform at a big league level. As things stand, you can expect to see Hawaii finish 88-74 and just missing out on playoffs.
The Pacific Division runner-ups finished 2044 with a 92-70 record, their most wins since 2026’s hangover from winning the 2025 Landis. The 2045 Hawaii Tropics team will be largely the same squad returning with one glaring difference after losing CF Ronnie Hubbard to free agency. The Tropics finished 2nd in runs scored and 7th in runs allowed in the Frick League last season and hope to reproduce similar numbers moving forward. Let’s take a look at their roster and see how they’ll stack up this season. Pitching
Once again, Hawaii will depend on their ace Alaric Wullenweber as the right hander seeks his first Steve Nebraska Golden Arm Award after finishing in the top 3 of voting the past three seasons. Fellow RHPs Zak Johnson, Niccolo Destefani, Jesus Gonzalez will fill in nicely behind Wullenweber, but they may want to invest in a LHP to deal with the amount of left handed sluggers in the Frick. Stephen Taub is their main weapon against lefties and was good out of the pen last season posting a 3.21 FIP. FA signing Steven Bobovnik should replace the loss of Douglas Wils and the bullpen should improve after an underperforming season amongst the relievers.
Infield
Power hitting 1B Gary Allen looks to repeat the success he saw in 2044 with a .953 OPS. His success is crucial to Hawaii’s offense, as it lacks any other star power in the infield aside from C Ron Shiplack. SS Fernando Rodriguez doesn’t have the bat to make up for average defense at the most crucial position up the middle, but looks like the best candidate for SS again. The same can be said for 2B Jack Nichols and whoever will play 3B as top candidates Ben Vaive and Ernesto Angel more closely resemble AAAA players. The Tropics will likely want to upgrade here, although options may be limited.
Outfield
Bastião Fardos and Mike Campbell will continue their slugging ways while manning the corner outfield positions, but losing Hubbard in CF will be tough to overcome. Manny Garcia will likely see the bulk of the playing time in CF, but Michel Noël may see time versus southpaws. With leftfielders Bronx Cortez and Jose Camacho on the bench, depth is not a problem.
Designated Hitter
Ernest McBride is one the BBA’s premier hitters. A fractured hand cut his 2044 season short, but he was able to return in time for the playoffs. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to shake off the rust from missing two months of playing time and was ineffective. Hawaii will hope he returns to form in 2045 and hits homeruns near a 10% pace as he did in 2043.
In summary, 2045 looks like a promising season for one of the BBA’s most balanced teams. The uber-competitive Heartland division may limit the Pacific division to one playoff spot, so Hawaii will want to win their division. In order to do so, they may need to trade one of the veteran outfielders in Fardos or Campbell in exchange for an all-star middle infielder. They shouldn’t lose too much production with Camacho and Little Bron able to slide in and perform at a big league level. As things stand, you can expect to see Hawaii finish 88-74 and just missing out on playoffs.