2048 Charlotte Cougars
The Cougars are in trouble! Nobody, nobody lost more WAR than the Cougars did this offseason. They lost 9 players for a total of 19.6 WAR from their JL Atlantic Division championship team. Just 5 of those players totaled 19.4 of that WAR. 5 players, 19.4 WAR! What team comes back from that?
The lead of this preview for the last couple of seasons used to be about the Cougars Stopper, Keijo Reini. Reini has just over 1,500 strikeouts, with only 48 starting appearances compared to his 415 total appearances. His 19.7 WAR over the last 4 seasons will certainly hurt but former starter Ashton Brooks seems like he might be up for the challenge of the role this season.
Of the other players lost, 1B Caesar Feliciana and OF Dennis French were rentals anyway. French only brought 2.4 of his 3.5 WAR to Charlotte. Feliciana brought 1.1 of his 3.5 WAR. At 1B, the Cougars are looking like they will use some combination of OF/1B Ricardo Ruiz, 1B Manuel Aguilar, Jr, and 1B Bryan Gill. That combination could surely make up for the loss of Feliciana. French is a little tougher - but he couldnt hit lefties anyway. OF Manoell Whanon was brought in via a trade with Montreal last year and while he's not French, he is younger and cheaper than French and can do a decent imitation of the man.
The two that are bigger losses for the Cougars are OF Ramon Pagan and 2B/3B Roberto Viramontas. Both players started slow in their Cougars careers but have progressively gotten better over the years. The loss of their leadership, production, and flexibility will be hard to replicate for the Cougars. Charlotte is hoping 3B Rafael Gutiérrez can stay healthy and will be giving him as much rest as possible this season. If Gutierrez can stay healthy and 2B Jorge Aranda (obtained in the French trade) can keep being the player he has always been, the Cougars infield may not miss a beat from the Viramontas loss. The OF fix for the loss of Pagan might be another story however. The only OF help brought in this offseason was OF Jean-Francois Hamon. Hamon might make you forget about Pagan's loss versus right-handed pitching but against lefties, it wont be pretty.
The strength of this Cougar team, which is the same as last season, is their pitching staff. Yes, the loss of Reini will hurt. But, with the move to put Brooks in the Stopper/Closer role, and the additions of SP Lance Harrison and RP Roberto Frias, the Cougars shouldnt miss a beat in being at the top of the JL again in most pitching categories. And to top that off, in his limited spring training time, SP Thomas Turner looks like he may have improved his velocity and stuff this year - not good news for the Atlantic.
Offensively, the Cougars could use some help. We thought that last year too yet they still won the JL Atlantic. They arent going to be the team to hit 3-run homeruns. They are the team that will constantly get on base and play the small-ball game. The Cougars dont strike out. The Cougars get on base and run, the entire lineup. There are very few teams that are built for the ballpark that Family Dollar Field is but the Cougars are definitely one of them.
The backstop duo of Roelof Klooster and Alfonso Jareno is a set that many teams would covet, offensively and defensively. SS Robert Menzies is one of the best shortstops in the game (and could be equally as good if moved to the CF position). 2B/1B Bob Irwin is one of those players that everyone would love to have, if you dont care about HRs. SS Ivan Sosa makes for a great utility back-up player for when Gutierrez gets hurt at 3B or if Menzies is needed in the OF. The retuning outfielders of Pete 'Gambler' Davis, Dennis ''Lil Whitey' Murray, and Lorenzo 'Little GM' Bueno are nice if you are looking for pesky little defensive players that can run - you know, you're typical 4th outfielder, but arent necessarily everyday players, especially for a Corner OF position.
The prospect cupboard isnt going to be much help for the Cougars either. Its pretty bare. They have some players that can provide them some flexibility should someone get hurt or traded but nobody that can be counted on to help them with a push towards the post season. Players like SS Carlos 'Big Stick' Benitez, SS Carlos Gutierrez, and Util Damodaragoun Neela could all see some time on the big league club this season, but that isnt necessarily a good thing for the Cougars and their fans. If the Cougars' top pitching prospect, Teddy Silver, gets a call to the big club, that definitely wont portend a good situation for the Cougars.
Early pre-spring training predictions from some other publications have the Cougars running away with the JL Atlantic on their way to winning 103 games. While the pitching staff will definitely keep the score low, the Cougar offense might not have enough to make that matter. I foresee 85-87 wins and a possible shot at a Wild Card berth, unless GM Golden can pull off some mid-season trades that he has been known for over the years.
