Record: 37-125 (Last in JL Frontier, 68 Games Back)
Attendance: ~2.3 million (15 out of 16 JL Teams)
Payroll: ~$77 million (Lowest in Johnson League)
Runs Scored: 562 (Fewest in JL)
Runs Allowed: 1,092 (Most in JL)
There is now real way to sugar coat what was a disaster of a 2047 season for the El Paso Chilis of the Wichita Aviators. As a collective unit, nothing good came out of it. The worst run differential of any BBA team combined with the worst record I can think of in league's history. Perhaps someone with more time can dig up the actual record assuming this isn't it. The one bright spot, I suppose, for this organization is it wasn't the lowest attended ball team in the league as it wiped the floor with Brooklyn who barely managed a million fans a season ago. After 6 consecutive seasons of winning 50-59 games, I predicted in the media guide for this team to climb over the hump and not lose 100 games for the first time since 2040. Well, that didn't happen. But hey, it's a new year in El Paso and hopefully brighter days are ahead. Perhaps this is the season the franchise can begin a climb to respectability. A franchise that is still in search of it's first winning season and break "The Curse of the Genius".
2048 Preview
Starting Pitching:
Despite the poor showing in runs allowed last season, there are some bright spots here with the rotation. Former #1 overall pick Phil Cole has not disappointed in his time with El Paso, even if the record doesn't show it. Despite a 13-27 overall record, he's posted a 7.7 WAR in 2 seasons and the knuckleball expert has proven he can pitch in the BBA. The club bought the services of Luis Rojas this off-season. Rojas, departing from Charm City where he spent the last 8 seasons, is a serviceable next guy in the rotation despite a poor showing a year ago. AFter a 6 year run where he produced over 20 WAR with the Jimmies, the Chilis hope he can boost some credibility to their rotation and bounce back in 2048. After Cole and Rojas though, it begins to drop off. Opposing batters will face the wait staff at the local Chilis after that, or the liquored trio of Jesus, Jose, and Jorge. Jesus comes over from Hawaii where he performed better than his ability shows he should the last 8 years. Jose is in a similar boat. Jose was pretty darn good last year with Jacksonville but the 34 year old is clearly on the decline. El Paso is hoping to catch one more solid year out of the old arm. Jorge may have the most promise of the final trio, but hasn't put it all together yet with his time in El Paso. Last season was his best to date, but only produced a 0.7 WAR.
If you go just by WAR numbers alone from a season ago, this Chilis staff has to be better than last year's version.
Bullpen
Now here is where we have a major problem for El Paso. The Chilis invited 15 relievers to Spring Training, and only 4 of those arms are graded above a 45 ability by scouts. Augusto Ramirez is the most interesting of the bunch. The hard throwing, all stuff closer is an all or nothing guy. The all is his 483 strikeouts in 265.1 innings pitched. His nothing is his 71 homeruns he's allowed in that span. Not a good stat when your closer is prone to 1 HR in every 4 innings he pitches. The last two years have not been kind to Ramirez (7.52 and 7.39 ERA) despite his 70 overall ability. Takahashi is the next best bullpen arm. That's assuming you count a -1.5 WAR in 2047 your "next best". He did post a 1.7 WAR in 2046 so he's shown ability to be a good bullpen arm. Unfortunately that 1.7 WAR was when Takahashi was in the El Paso rotation. Kelyn Lomond is a prospect on the rise for the bullpen but he won't be ready for this season. There are also some high hopes on Mark Perkins, the Sacramento transfer, but I fear his best days were with the Mad Popes.
Overall, El Paso might want to let loose of the reigns on the starting pitchers and allow them to go as deep into games as possible this season because I really fear the damage that could be done to this bullpen in 2048.
Catcher:
El Paso, like most teams, look to employ a platoon catching system. Jason Bowen will get the nod against LHP while Howard Burton and newcomer from Portland Michael Dunn battle in out for starts against RHP. I think El Paso fans will be happy if the catcher's spot produces replacement level stats in 2048.
First Base:
Jose Hernandez is back for another season with the Chilis. He's not an all-star, but he's not worse than replacement level either. He's only produced 1.0 WAR or more once in his career. If El Paso has the funds, perhaps there could be a cheap 1B find on the late FA market going into opening day. (Ping: Bartolo Ortiz)
Second Base:
The Chilis signed Richard Drouin fresh off the UMEBA bus. Drouin has spent the last two seasons in Jerusalem where he produced 0.6 and 0.4 WAR. I'm not sure how that translates into the BBA, but it might not be good. Drouin was extremely successful in the BBA prior to heading to the UMEBA as he had some solid seasons with Brooklyn prior to Jerusalem. He doesn't have a lot of range, and he can't hit lefties at all. Expect Leonard Jones (AAA-Nashville) or Annrique Guincho (AAA-El Paso) to perhaps grab some platoon starts against LHP at 2b.
ShortStop:
So what does a good glove and no ability to hit get ya? It gets you Teruo Jouda. After several seasons of Portland teasing Jouda with a little playing time here and there, the Chilis have taken Jouda and given him a bulk of the time at shortstop. And he's not seized the opportunity well. A -0.3 WAR in 2046 was followed by a -0.9 WAR last season proving you have to post more than a .600 OPS if you want to be a positive player in the league.
Third Base:
My eyes light up when I see the last name Love in the league. Typically it's a good player. Curt Love was a good player for Valencia between 2036-2042 when he was hitting around 30 homeruns a season for the Stars. Since 2042 however, Love has been to Louisville, Vegas, Boise, Charlotte, Beirut, back to Boise, and now El Paso. The Chilis gave Love a 1 year contract this off-season to come in and play 3B for the club. It's a 1 year deal, so no long term committment here. If the Chilis can get a positive production they'll be happy with their investment. However, like Drouin, Love can't hit lefties at all. Perhaps El Paso was hoping to see more out of Edward Leialoha at 3B but his -1.6 WAR last season may have forced the Chilis front office to pull the plug on Eddie.
Left Field:
The Chilis spent a little money this off-season and brought in Hao Hang from Chicago to play left field. Hang can only hit RHP, but has performed well during his time in the Heartland. He belted 49 homeruns, a career high, back in 2042 and has put up 5.5 WAR over the last two seasons with the Black Sox. He'll be an anchor in the middle of this Chilis offense. The Chilis have a few other COF you may see stick around on the roster as a possible platoon option against LHP for Hang as well.
Center Field:
Another free agent pick up, El Paso brings in former Lumberjack Miguel Cortez to roam CF. Cortez has had a roller coaster career, all of which has been spent in Portland. He was a negative player in 2045 and 2047 (-1.4 and -0.6) but a solid performer the other years, posting a solid 3.0 WAR during his rookie season in 2042. In that year, Cortez won the Diamond Glove for his defensive prowess in CF. Unfortunately Cortez has lost a little bit of that defensive ability of late but can still be a solid contributor as indicated by his 2046 season. It all depends on which version El Paso gets this season. If all else fails, El Paso make take a shot of [Jim] Hennessey in CF. Of course El Paso has THIS GUY ready to play CF but he didn't get a spring invite so we'll see what happens there.
Right Field
Just as spring training was coming to a close, El Paso went out and added Ramon Pagan off the free agent list from Charlotte. Pagan brings 451 career homeruns with him and will help provide a little more support to the middle of the lineup with Hang. He's not the upper 40 to low 50s homerun guy he once was while with the Stars in Valencia but he does add something to the offense to give fans to cheer about in 2048. Unlike some of the other guys mentioned, Pagan will be an everyday guy in the lineup so the other COF guys currently on their roster may be competing for some platoon time with Hang in LF as mentioned.
Designated Hitter:
Raul Hernandez used to incite fear in opposing pitchers. 54 homeruns one year, 63 another. He was a homerun beast. Unfortunately those totals all came with Baghdad in the UMEBA. He did hit a lot of homeruns once for California, but those totals were 10 years ago. Hernandez signed a 1 year deal with El Paso this season despite having not hit a HR in the BBA since 2040. He still has some pop in the bat and I wouldn't be shocked to see him push 20 homeruns this season, but that may come at the expense of a .210 batting average. This could also be a spot where you see 1B Hernandez in or Leialoha flipping in to play some 1B as well.
Overall Thoughts
I've not talked to John to know exactly what his plans are with Cano. If Cano comes up and plays CF, this is an entirely different looking team. A lineup with Cano, Hang, and Pagan provide you with some wins. The club still doesn't compete for a post-season berth or anything, but it looks more solid. If John keeps Cano down one more year to wait on some other prospects to mature, then this team is worse, clearly. The rotation has the ability to be ok. Cole gives them a top of the rotation arm and the rest of the guys may be serviceable. The bullpen and infield however just look weak. This team is better than the 37 win version of last year. If Cano comes up, then I could see this team approaching my prediction of last season and maybe climb over the 62 win mark. If he doesn't come up this year, I expect another one of those 50-59 win campaigns.
I'd personally like to see the Chilis (assuming they have it) use some of their money to bring in some more of these late free agents that are out there the team could perhaps sign cheaper. They've locked up the #1 pick this year and probably for another year with last season's bad showing so even winning a few more games this year won't hurt that standing. The franchise still has a relatively high fan interest. Keep boosting that up with some FA moves and try and grow the budget a little bit with some more positive winning ways while you continue to build up a few more #1 picks.
