All right, let’s take about those wet dishrags in Mexico City, known far and wide as the Aztecs.
Yes, we all know about the rain outs, and the extra games at the end of the year. Consider them Mexico’s gift to starting pitchers around the post season. Did you know that the situation goes deeper, though? I mean. It makes sense, I suppose, but in addition to those rain outs, did you know that the Aztecs park was also responsible for thirteen of the league’s forty-nine rain delays? That’s 26.5%. Pretty cool, I suppose.
Did you know that the average rain delay in Mexico City lasts 41.9 minutes?
Compare that to the 44.1 minutes the average delay runs everywhere else, and you’ve got quite the conundrum. Kind of. I mean, it apparently rains really hard in the golden lands of Aztecdom, but not for as long. Go figure.
See? The learning you get from a BBA preview is really not matched anywhere else, right?
BBA fans: future meteorologists unite.
This is a long way of saying that we really don’t know what happened in Mexico City last season. The team came out of the gate like gangbusters, then laid a literal wet rag of a summer before playing some decent ball in September when it was far, far too late to make up ground. All total, the offense was not good, managing only 681 runs. The pitching was not a lot better, allowing 734. A.J. Mahoney’s torn labrum didn’t help, but it’s a pretty heavy burden to place a dive like Mexico City’s all on the shoulder of one guy—even a shoulder as fine as Mahoney’s.
They finished 79-83, afterall. It was the team’s worst performance since 2040 when they also managed only 79 victories.
Off-Season Moves
The good news is the GM Fred Homes was on the move a bit this past winter. The team made a deal that brought in outfielder Fernando Reyes and reliever Javier Baca. Both are solid, if not spectacular baseball players--though Baca looks like he'll start in the minors. They also dealt with Des Moines for second baseman Jorge Aranda, who is hoping a change of scenery will put him back on track.
In the Free Agent market, Holmes gave fan favorite, but veteran catcher Hsin Mei $18M in hopes that he might return to some past glory. That’s not a bad bet.
Finally, they recently claimed Damon Tipping off waivers—a guy whose previous claim to fame was that he was involved in the infamous Mons Raider salary retention deal. Still, an okay guy.
Will it be enough to replace what they lost?
Well …
What Will 2045 Look Like?
The offense really should be better—but then, it really should have been better last year. The root of the problem was that this team, traditionally a team who can put the ball in play and create chaos, just never got on base. Combing that with a power system that was next to last in the league in homers, and you see the problem.
Mei, Aranda, and Reyes may not put them at the top of the homer chart, but barring injury, will fix the power side of that coin. Jharod Thealer, who one suspects might be on thin, um, frozen rainwater after receiving only 32 AB last season, could provide OBP if he plays.
Defensively, the team would probably like to play Wagaw Fakihi at second base, but that puts both Thealer and Aranda in some question. Beyond that, Fakihi has a shortstop’s bat despite a weakish arm. He’s a solid shortstop, though. Holmes has a true conundrum here, though, as they’ve been hoping Marvin Isworth’s spring camp performance might show the ability to play short. I’m not sure they’re getting what they hoped for. As a shortstop, Isworth is also a pretty good second baseman. Will the team screw up his 4.5 WAR last year at second?
We’ll see.
The bottom line here is that if you add these guys to hitters like Fernando Moreno and Jean-Francois Harmon (who, really, really should do better than that .303/.297 on base percentage he’s dropped the past two seasons, shouldn’t he?), and you should have an offense that creates runs.
Really, you should.
Pitching though … well .. I dunno. Mahoney is back, and that’s good. But he’s looking a little worse for wear and tear, and that’s bad. The bullpen no longer has Gerard Wagner to cover up their cracks, too. 26-year-old Bob Glen has looked sharp this spring, and has a solid enough register in his past to think he’ll be able to manage games. Same for Shinsaku Ine, who at 23 is a four-season veteran now. My how time flies. Veteran Luis Gracia feels like a glue guy for this rotation. Ad 39 years old, it’s just fun to watch him pitch.
In the bullpen, it’s Jose Castro’s time to shine. I don’t think he’s got the 150 inning chops, though, so we’ll see what kind of workload the Aztecs plan to give him.
With the ratings flip there could be even more here than meets the eye. In other words, there are some guys here, but the key concept right now is that the eye doesn’t see a lot of true depth. The club is going to need a few arms to come out of the woodwork. Given that this is possible, I won’t be surprised to see Fred Holmes playing a lot of mix and match in the early part of the season as he tries to find combinations that work. If the dice fall really well for the team, it’s possible the patchwork quilt could be quite good. And if that happens, you could see the Aztecs become a pretty bold little team in the Frontier.
I’m not betting on that, though.
I’m thinking the team will be better than 79 wins, but not as better as most of their rain-soaked fans would like to see.
Let’s say they do a perfect flip, and finish 83-79.
