Letterhead: Desk of the commissioner
Vancouver previewed Portland for 2047 season. Return the favor. Be nice!
"Be Nice" Wilson thought to himself. How can I be nice? It's bad enough we get stuck playing in that piss hole of a town two or three times a season now I have to preview their god awful team. I stare around the room, wondering if I can put this on Kate, but she's on the road, coming back from motivating the troops in Arizona for the spring. Fuck it, I guess it's on me.
So, Vancouver went 69-93, their 5th consecutive losing season ["be nice" runs through my head]. But hey, they did at least finish .500 against us, their biggest rival. That record placed them 6th in the Frick League Pacific, behind us I might add. They were better than Valencia and Long Beach though who both were pathetic, losing over 100 games apiece [no one said I had to be nice to them]. Their pitching and offense both ranked 11th in the Frick League in runs allowed and scored and both dictate that the team underperformed a year ago. Their attendance was the second worst in the Frick last year, and lets be honest, the stadium smells like a public toilet in downtown New York City so showing up to a game isn't exactly attracting in Vancouver ["be nice", sure. But facts are facts]
Over the off-season, the Mounties were one of the few teams that had ample cap space to make some moves, but thus far they've not done much. They just recently signed Augate Balun to a $6.5 million contract to help in the pen. Balun had a 1.4 WAR last season in Atlantic City. They also brought in Declan Hounsell, but he had a negative WAR with Madison last season. The team also brought back 36 year old veteran David Noboru to be play 3b. Noboru's better days may be behind him at this point. The biggest lost from last year's squad is Luis Torres who heads to Madison this season via free agency. Torres went 18-20 in 2 seasons in the Vancouver rotation with 3.5 WAR total over the 2 years.
On the offensive side of things, the club still has a couple of stud OFs that will do damage. Jeffrey Smith is a lock for 5.0+ WAR a season and at least 30 homeruns. In 2046, he hit .314/.372/.580 with 34 homers and 111 RBI. He's joined by Fernando Castillo who is also a lock for 5.0+ WAR, producing 5.8 last season after 6.7 in 2045. This duo of players reminds you a lot of the pair of studs out in Boise. The problem with last year's squad, and perhaps this years, is those two have little help. Hounsell is currently slated to play CF. He'll have to hit a ton to be an above average player at that spot. Francisco Martinez had a rough "rookie" season in 2046. He has the makings of a good player and Vancouver needs him to take a step forward in order to boost the offense. Behind the dish and at SS are two pretty big holes. Atissi Mbamba better field every ball hit to him if he wants to be considered anything close to an average BBA player.
The pitching staff has some real intriguing pieces. They have the potential to be good, if the wart some have don't cost them. Hideaki Shibutani throws hard, has good control, and has a nice 4 pitch repertoire. But the low movement will hurt him in the homerun department. He allowed 42 bombs last year during his rookie season. Which isn't bad for a guy with a 1.18 WHIP. Jose Torres is the same. Has good stuff and a pitch arsenal, but little movement and control will hurt him over the long run. He was a positive WAR guy last year, his rookie season, but I don't see him going up much. Angel Romero is a possibility in the rotation. If he's anything more than a #5 guy or Long Reliever/Replacement starter at this point it won't be good for the Mounties. The bullpen has a couple solid notables and then drops off hard. Angel "Commie Child" Herrera needs to find more than 56 innings in 2047 to help this team. Herrera might be the most talented returning pitcher on the staff. Herrera needs to see the same number of innings as Raul Garcia who tallied 113 last season en route to a 2.3 WAR season. These two plus Balun should see almost all of the innings when Vancouver has a lead this season. Because the other guys are just not that good.
The Mounties could also be channeling some young guys to help this year. Most notable is Rick Childress. Scouts aren't very high on him but I am. Assuming he doesn't have rookie jitters, he could really help the rotation in 2046. Don Castor is another guy that could help add some depth. Castor can be used in the pen or as a starter to allow Taylor's squad to shuffle some guys around and find what works. Offensively, we may see Pete Brace at 2B sometime this season. He's yet to play an inning at AAA so we'll see what Taylor does there. Does he send Brace back to AAA to start or allow him to skip the level straight to the bigs. The Mounties may have no other option. Eduardo Garcia is another young prospect to keep an eye on. He has some power potential, but as a 1B/DH guy, he'll really need to hit to be a positive asset to the team.
Overall Prediction
The Mounties have some good pieces, and then some bad pieces. Smith and Castillo are as good as it gets in the OF. I like Childress and Herrera on the staff. If you took just those 4 guys and put them up against most teams, the Mounties are contenders. But the problem is, baseball isn't played with just 4 guys. The team does have some other solid parts but then some really bad pieces. Catcher looks bleak right now. Same goes for SS. Can Hounsell manage CF well enough to be an asset or does he hurt the team? Noboru is well past his prime as well. I'm afraid the bad parts will hold this team back a little more than the good parts will allow them to achieve. I don't think the team is 69-93 bad like they were last season but I don't see a lot of ground being gained overall. I'll put them at 74-88 this season. And yes, they'll finish BEHIND PORTLAND in the standings.
