Your 2046 Madison Wolves

[crobillard]

Madison Wolves

The Wolves haven't been competitive since 2032 when they won the division and the last time they won a Landis was in 2009 during their incredible run. I find the Wolves really interesting because I find my team kind of going down the same path as the Wolves. Currently they are a solid .500 team. They've been floating around that mark for the past eight seasons. The last time they were above .500 was when they won 87 games in 2037. That was a year of Mons Raider, Jharod Thealer, Niccolo Machiavelli, Jon Mick, David Katzenbogen, Steve Dempsey, a rookie year Natanael Barral and a 39 year old Mario Gonzalez. Madison was quickly ousted from the playoffs that year losing to Omaha in five games in the Geoghegan. I remember that season because San Fernando had a stupid good offense that booted yours truly from contention in the Cartwright that year.

So the question I would like to answer in this preview is, will the Wolves be a team that gets over the .500 mark this year, by how much and if not what do they need to do to get there. Let's take a look.

Additions:
RP Javier Garcia
SP Juan Garcia

Subractions:
2B David Guerra
SP Eru Likiliki
RP Manuel Orozco
C Cesar Pena (to AAA)

GM Mike Simon is undergoing a grueling rebuild and he is struggling to compete in the exceedingly competitive Heartland division. The Wolves have a really good offense that's highlighted by a few huge talents, but it's hindered by a pitching staff that really leaves quite a bit to be desired. I can understand what Mike is trying to do here though. Get as much as you can out of what you have and can afford. Since Madison is right up against the cap there's no room to do any more unless he wanted to trade off some expensive pieces. From what I gather, Mike is not doing this and once I get into it I think you'll understand why I agree with Mike's approach.

At catcher, it appears that the Wolves will have Felipe Mercado behind the plate in 2046. The 9 defensive veteran has been a platoon guy most of his career because he hits lefties pretty well and combined with that excellent defense Mercado is a fine option. He was a 130 game start one season for Rockville in 2043 when he put up 2.0 WAR so I wouldn't be surprised if Mike is hoping he can get similar production again. There will likely be a competitive Spring Training for backup catchers in Madison since there is not clear backup I could find. Maybe Mariano Lopez, but he seems like more of an option to cauterize a wound than anything else. Like, "we hope we never have to use you, but if we do than we're in big trouble."

First base is led unequivocally by Chris Mann. Always a threat for the batting title in the Frick, Mann is a hits machine. He had a .365 average in 2044 and .350 in 2045 with nearly 50 doubles each season. This is on top of a 9 rating at first and a 7 rating at third if the team needs him there. I have to imagine that the former 11th overall pick will continue reeking havoc upon the Frick this season along with his other compadres on offense that I will get into in a moment.

Second is firmly in the grasp of Jose Hernandez. With an incredibly consistent batting line of around .280/.330/.450ish each season, you know what you're getting from him. If he was better defensively he would be a no brainer, but only rated a 7 makes him a challenge to keep out there all season with his WAR of under 1 for three of the last four seasons. In fact, whenever he is out there full time he is good for a negative double digit ZR with double digit errors. The Wolves try to get him involved by giving him reps at first base, but it seems like a difficult marriage at 6.5 mil. 2046 ends his arbitration with Madison, so it's probably a good idea to look at his backup should Madison try to ship him away either during or after the season. They currently have Eitor Vasconcellos on the active roster. He looks really solid defensively with a 9 rating at second, but his bat is meh at 6/7/7/5/6. He's durable though so at least you have a good safety net.

Third base is brought to you in part by one of the league's best hitters in Salvador Allende. I've been wanting to steal this guy away from Mike for several seasons now and Mike isn't having it. A .305/.450/.410 batting line last season with 46 homeruns at one of the leagues most challenging positions to find good talent at is incredible. At 6.7 WAR last season Allende is phenomenal, only 25, has a 10 rating at third, only makes 12 mil and he's signed through 2049. Is there a more perfect third baseman on any roster right now? Don't tell me. I love this guy.

Mauro Soto is such a beast at SS. He is definitely not anyone you ever want at the plate, but you sometimes you're willing to sacrifice some offense for some good defense and Soto is it. The Iron Man 11 rated shortstop has probably never seen a ball get past him. I think of players like Omar Vizquel when I look at Soto. Last season he had an absolutely nuts +19.8 ZR at the game's most difficult position. Yeah, I'll take your sub .600 OPS sir if you can stop everything hit anywhere near you tyvm.

Mike's outfield is consisted of two of the best outfielders in the league with a centerfielder that I just like a lot. We'll start with Andrew Torres, his 3.3 WAR last season on a .283/.353/.495 batting line, he's remarkably consistent at the plate with around 25-30 dingers each season and he never gets injured. A drawback? His defense is middle of the road. +2.6 ZR in left field last season. At least it's not negative and he has Soto that probably ranges out to shallow left for him.

One of my favorite players in the league in Rocky Allen is Mike's centerfielder. An 11 range, Allen gobbles up everything. I had to deal him because he was way too expensive, but at 6.2 million, Allen is a steal. Especially when he's hitting at a .788 OPS clip like he did last season for the Wolves when he collected 3.4 WAR attributed to him. Some of that is due to a +8.9 ZR and a .996 defensive percentage in center.

Saved for last is the Wolves' star Manobu Shimizu. Where Mann tries to compete for the batting title every season, Shimizu wins them. Two of the last three seasons Shimizu has won the batting title with a .354 avg in 2043 and a .393 last season. His 1.112 OPS rocked the Frick and led the BBA with a 9.3 WAR. Adding 44 XBHs and 33 homers along with 9 defense in right field, Shimizu is an amazing asset to have and one Mike is not likely to give up any time soon.

Let's move onto the pitching because there's a lot to go through. I probably can predict half the rotation with a reasonable level of confidence. That is the newly acquired Juan Garcia, Yorikane Miyamoto and Jonathan Merritt. Those three look pretty solid on paper despite some struggles last season. You probably hope that Miyamoto can bring his WHIP down from 1.21 last season and Merritt was really solid with his 3.76 ERA in 129.1 innings. Garcia is a big question mark though. He's probably lights out as a reliever, but based on Madison's finances I'm not sure they want to give 6.5 mil to a reliever regardless of how many innings he's eating up. His 14/6/6 ratings are pretty awesome though if you can figure out how to best use him. The problem is that he had an ERA of over 6 last season in 142.1 innings with 38 homeruns allowed. That can't happen again if Madison wants to start winning. If Mike can figure out how to use Garcia to get production like the sub 3 ERA year he had for Des Moines in 2043 than Madison could be okay in the rotation, but that sub 3 ERA year...that came as a reliever. I don't think Garcia can start. He gives up FAR too many runs, but I honestly don't like any other options to replace him with either.

I'm going to shotgun through a few of those possibilities now. All under 50 rated. Takanori Goto, signed to a minor league contract with Madison this offseason after a 6.83 ERA in 120 innings with Boise last year. Keith Howard, third season in Madison. He was fine his first season with a 4.76 ERA, but last year he was terrible. Negative WAR, 5.82 ERA in 102 innings. Probably my least favorite option, John O'Corgley 5.22 ERA mostly out of the pen for Madison last season. 9/6/4. He's a lefty though, so maybe?

Madison's best bullpen guys are Raphael Castagna and Pedro Ortiz. Castagna had a 3.37 ERA in 66.2 innings last season with 35 saves and Ortiz had a 2.34 ERA in 34.2 innings. Castagna has a 10 stamina and could easily be moved into a stopper role if Mike liked that option. I think it would save a lot of runs. Juan Lopez and Jorge Feliciano soaked up a lot of innings last season and they weren't bad with an ERA of just over 4 with over 200 IP pitched total between the two of them, but Castagna and Ortiz would be a lethal combination. Madison has so many good bullpen arms that if I were Mike I would really consider making their top guys stoppers and cut their bad starters short with low pitch counts.

So I think after reading this and easy conclusion to make is Mike needs to make some trades for some pitching. I think the feeling right now is if Madison can just hit it big in regards to pitching in IFA or the draft than that's all they would need to be competitive in the Frick. Insert GME meme and HOLD. I actually don't think it's a bad strategy. Everyone's young enough. Madison's able to keep everyone signed probably. I think with a few tweaks and maybe a minor trade dealing a prospect or two, Madison could be a major player. They're probably not taking out YS9, but they could carve out a spot for themselves in the wild card easily. I think there are some pitchers in AAA that Madison should ABSOLUTELY be contacting those teams about right now. There are better pitchers in AAA that would be very cheap and would be better than what Madison might put on the field this season.

Prediction: I think this is the season the Wolves howl. They've had enough of this bullying. Their offense has everything they need and they just need some better results from the pitching staff. Mike will put it all together and make a big splash somewhere and shock people. 1st place competitor wont happen, but I'm putting Madison back into the playoffs by squeaking in there with an 88-74 gaining ten wins over last season. Let's go Mike!

[CTBrewCrew]

Thanks for the preview @crobillard - but remember when talking about Madison’s rotation - this needs to be playing in your head..