2049 Hawaii Tropics Preview

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2049 Hawaii Tropics Preview

Post by CTBrewCrew » Sat Nov 27, 2021 9:53 pm

What better way to Preview the Hawaii Tropics than to the theme song to Mr Hawaii himself, Magnum PI.


Please click to listen and get the full experience while reading the best review of 2049. ;)

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All ratings for the team / players will be given using the "Magnum Scale", on a rating of 1 to 5 Magnum's, and a Rick for 0. The International Bureau of Weights and Measures has fully sanctioned this method. With that said let's begin.






Players Lost:

SP – Alaric Wullenweber Well, DUH, I’m not going to bury the lead, the bill was coming due after 8 seasons and over 19.3m spent on arguably one of the Brewster’s top (if not top) rated pitcher over the last few seasons was shipped off to division rival San Fernando, for picks. The ink had barley dried on the contact, when Bears GM, quickly flipped that into 5 players for SF, by trading him to the Popes. With C Ron Shiplack making 20m in 2049, and 22m though 2053, I can see why the “Crouton” GM needed to make some cap space, and not tying up almost 38% of their cap space between two players. Although Hawaii still eats 9.6m of Wullenwebers salary over the next 4 seasons. Potentially, that’s still 24m for a player who’s no longer with the team (and who will get paid by Hawaii to pitch AGAINST them for the 4 season). Not #NoMons retention bad, but perhaps the only way he could move Wullenweber and get something of value in return. I said potentially because this could still work in Hawaii’s favor, if Wullenweber decides to opt-out of his contract after the 2049 (player option). Hawaii is off the hook for the remaining money, or if Sacramento decides to renegotiate as seasons end, OR he hits FA, and rumor has it the Bears would be willing to throw some money his way my sources say. Who knows, may Alaric give his old team a discount to resign?

RF – Mike Campbell Looks like Campbell & Wullenweber can be roomies again, as the two of them ended up at division powerhouse Sacramento for the 2049 season. The Popes gave Campbell 78m over six seasons, after spending his first 10 with the team that drafted him. How will he fair in a "pitcher park" next season? Time will tell. But he led Hawaii in almost every offensive category last season, and losing that bat is going to hurt.

SP – Zach Johnson At 30yo last season, Johnson ate up innings (184) while posting a 1.0 WAR. Another home-grown product not-resigned, drafted in 2037 it looks like Johnson will finish his career in Louisville after signing a 2-year deal for 5.6m. Not as big as a household name as Wullenweber, but his loss will be felt in the staff this year.


FA Losses Rating:

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I give them a Rick. The loss of two powerhouse, and 3 home grown fan favorites in the same season/off-season is a real kick in the ol' crouton sack.

Notable Additions:

P – Atmo ‘Mole’ Ananas – the 23yo was the top prize in the Wullenweber trade last season. He was the #2 pick overall in the 2047 draft by Des Moines. Shortly after he was named the BBAs #2 prospect. The hard throwing lefty has is a 12/6/7 overall with a 9/9/11 (Slider/Changeup/Cutter) in his arsenal. To boot he’s CHEAP, 500k and controllable years to boot. Hopefully Hawaii’s medical staff took a long hard look at him, as Ananas is coming off two serious injuries, (torn labrum – 2047), and fractured elbow (2048), that cost 13 months of playing time for the ‘Mole. Starting only 11 games for the Bears after being trading in 2047, he started 8 games for Hawaii at the end of last season, while also spending some time in AAA Death Valley as well. This season I’m sure he will get the chance to show what he can do in the Brewster, and his worth as a former #2 BBA prospect. Sliding into the back half of the Tropics rotation.

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2.5 Magnums

SS – Thomas Kramer – The 28yo SS is a solid player at SS with a 10/10/11/10 rating. In his 8 seasons in the Brewster he’s put up 7.3 WAR, and now finds himself back in the Pacific with Hawaii (he was originally drafted by California in round 2 in 2039.) He played all INF positions with Montreal last season (no 1B), the most being SS (70 games), where I see him sliding into in Hawaii. The last two times he’s played a full season a SS for Sacramento, he put up some astounding #s posting z-ratings of 12.7 and 23.7, averaging about a 13.2 ZR in his 8 full seasons at SS.

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3 Magnums

Hawaii hasn’t been too active in the big-name FA market this season, working mostly via trades (mentioned above), and some waiver wire pickups like RP – Seung-hwan Yu from Nashville, Sumitomo Takahashi (El Paso), and SS Enrique Hernandez from Charm City.

Hernandez is a 30yo SS who looks to have been signed as a short term stop gap / utility player. He should get some spot time in the lineup when Kramer doesn’t play at SS, and could land the starting role at either 3B or utility bench player come opening day. He’s an upgrade for Hawaii at either spot defensively, where he could see more time is if he pushes Logan Niles for that role. He doesn’t have as much power as Niles, but overall, he’s better defensively and is a better hitter.

This will be an interesting battle to watch in Spring training. As of the writing of this preview, Hernandez has seen the majority of time at 3B this spring. The future for Hawaii at 3B is Rhys Brickell, who is also seeing time with the club this spring (acquired with a trade with the Bears). A solid signing to shore up the back end of the roster and keep 3B warm as Brickell gets ready.

Sumitomo could be an innings eater in the Tropics bullpen this season, so far, he’s thrown just 4 innings in Spring Training. He hasn’t had much success in El Paso (then again who has), but he’s been solid at their AAA club the last two seasons, putting tossing 264 with an ERA in the low 3’s. Perhaps a change of scenery will do him some good.

Seung-Hwan Yu was a waiver Claim from Nashville. Yu has spent the last 2 seasons at the ‘Birds AAA club. He been used solely out of the bullpen (no career starts since 2045 at rookie ball), which is good since he really only as two pitches to speak of. He can gas it though, hitting 100 when needed. Yu is on the bubble for an opening day spot.

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2.5 Magnums


Let’s take a look at Position Players

The team has 4 catchers in camp, they will start the season with 2.

Catcher – Let’s be honest, it’s going to be Ron Shiplack – the 20m dollar man for Hawaii. There’s no story here. The story is who will backup Shiplack? It’s a 3 man show in Spring training, with Katsumi Matsumto (jesus can Hawaii get some guys with shorter names), Noberto Salinas , and Carl Thibodeaux. None of these 3 guys are as skilled as Shiplack, but there’s not much separating them either. Both Thibodeaux & Matsumoto spent time with the club holding Shiplack’s clipboard, but didn’t really accomplish too much. Salinas made it to Hawaii in 2047, but didn’t sniff the club in 2048.

IN: Shiplack, Matusmoto
OUT: Thibodeaux, Salinas



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Position Rating: 4 Magnums


Infield: The team has 8 Infielders to camp this year, realistically they are only going to keep 6 on the opening day 27:

IN: Garcia, Gonzalez, Metha, Hernandez, Kramer, Niles
OUT: Brickell, DeCourteney, Cox



First Base
Last year’s opening starter Sanchez had the best arm for a 1B in the BBA @ 11. The converted 3B started 46 games at 1B last year for the Tropics, soon gave way to Otto Altaner (who is now with the Baghdad Kings) in the UMEBA, who played started 121 games for the club at 1B. The club needs to find someone to fill the roll. They seem to have two players vying it out in camp, 29yo Lorenzo Gonzales, & 25yo Stephen Cox (thank you for a short name). But let's no forget 29yo FA signing Bernado Garcia. Bernardo has spent what some might say a career in the minors (the better part of 13 season). looks to be primed to fill that role on opening day. This guy is a 10 rated OF at 2 positions (CF/RF) and a 9 at LF. He is also an 11 rated 1B. Running the numbers through the BBA super computer he projects to have a .254/.325/.360 slash putting up 1.3 WAR on the season. Let’s hear it for the 29yo rookie, I'm rooting for ya!

IN: Garcia, Gonzales
OUT: Cox


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Position Rating: 2.5 Magnums

Second Base
Last season 3 players logged over 350 innings each at the spot for the Tropics. What’s that saying in football, about having two QBS? Metha’s was a part time job last year, and by the way our crack reporting staff has told us what’s going on in spring training with Hawaii’s depth charts, I’d say is Metha’s job to lose this season. Decourteney is fighting for a roster spot, and could be demoted back to AAA, and with two options left, its might be looking that way.

IN: Metha, Hernandez
OUT: Cox


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Position Ratings: 3 Magnums

Shortstop
Last year’s starter was Niles will be replaced with the signing of Kramer in the off-season. The only decision that needs to be made is who will be backing up Kramer on his days off.

IN: Kramer, Niles
OUT: DeCourteney


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Position Rating: 3 Magnums

Third Base
Last year’s opening day starter was Gonzalez – but the position turned into a platoon just like 2B. With 2 players with over 540 innings and one at 355. I think we will continue to see this type of rotation until Brickell is ready to make his big-league debut. Perhaps the end of the 2049 season, but for sure by 2050. Hernandez is a possible FA eligible at the end of the season, and with Brickell waiting in the wings, it’s probably his last go around with the club. With the off-season pick up of Hernandez, this position will most likely be a platoon again in 2049.

IN: Gonzalez, Hernandez
OUT: Decourteney, Brickell


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Position Rating: 2.5 Magnums

Designated Hitter
Steven Cox Played 104 for the Tropics, 54 at 2B the rest of them primarily as the teams DHs. He doesn’t really have the arm to play anything else in the IF, but with the addition of Hernandez & Kramer, Cox’s bat will have to keep him on this team. With Cox’s lack of versatility, I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s not in the starting lineup after the first few weeks. Perhaps a Brickell callup after 3 weeks?

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Position Rating: 1.5 Magnums

Outfield
The team has 6 OF invited to camp. 2 of them will not start the season with the big-league club.


IN: Salas, M. Garcia, B. Garcia, Cortez
OUT: Ferri, Kennedy


CF – Jorge Salas – He was the opening day starter in 2048, and will be so in 2049 barring a spring training injury. He played 680 innings last year at CF. Look for him to hold down CF again this season.

RF – Campbell – He was lost to FA and the Tropics will need to make up his team leading 5.7 WAR .307/.256/.576 though the aggerate. Manny Garcia will most likely take over his role, as he played 191 innings in RF last season. If the team moves Garcia permanently to RF, they will need to find another versatile player to fill in on rest days. Perhaps that 29yo rookie we mentioned ealier?

LF – Pierangelo Ferri He started opening day at the LF for the tropics in 2048, but they have better options this season with Bronx Cortez


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OF Rating 3 Magnums


Starting Pitching
SP – Wullenweber – he’s gone now, so who takes up the mantle as the teams #1? How about Zach Johnson? Nope wait, he’s gone too. OK, OK how about Niccolo Destefani…WAIT him too?

With 21 Pitchers invited to camp for up to 14 roster spots, the club needs to find 3 bodies/starters to replace Wullenweber, Johnson, and Destefani.

IN: Manshert, Poole, Maddukuri, Takahashi, Dempsey
OUT: Wellon, Crudge, Franco, George


From where this staff was just a few short years ago, to now it's in a bit of a rebuild phase, with Manshert looking to take on the SP1 role.

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Starting Pitching Rating 2.0 Magnums


Bullpen: With the off-season pickups by the club, GM Walker looks to be trying to move some innings towards the bullpen until he can shore up the starting staff.

IN: Martinez, Hamilton, Sprinkles, Whiteford, Yu, Andres, Whaley, Castaneda, Lucas
OUT: Santiago, Wiley, McConnell


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Bullpen Rating 2.0 Magnums


Overall, it's going to get worse before it gets better again for Hawaii. With Sacremento not looking to fall back to the pack anytime soon, and the rest of the division getting better.


2049 Prediction – 63-99. I think Hawaii will avoid its first 100-loss year in 12 seasons. For a team that made the playoffs 4 out of the last 6 seasons will need a few years to turn it around again.
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Re: 2049 Hawaii Tropics Preview

Post by Dington » Sat Nov 27, 2021 10:33 pm

Nicely done.

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Re: 2049 Hawaii Tropics Preview

Post by Jwalk100 » Sat Nov 27, 2021 10:57 pm

Thanks @CTBrewCrew!
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Re: 2049 Hawaii Tropics Preview

Post by DugoutDesperado » Sat Nov 27, 2021 11:12 pm

These previews are getting to be pretty good but no rating for TC? :)

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Re: 2049 Hawaii Tropics Preview

Post by DugoutDesperado » Sat Nov 27, 2021 11:13 pm

DugoutDesperado wrote:
Sat Nov 27, 2021 11:12 pm
These previews are getting to be pretty good but no rating for TC? :)
And that does not stand for Twin Cities.

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Re: 2049 Hawaii Tropics Preview

Post by usnspecialist » Sun Nov 28, 2021 2:34 am

Brickell is going to be good. Potential hot take is that he will end up with more BBA WAR than the headliner of that trade in anenas.
Randy Weigand

Havana Sugar Kings/San Fernando Bears: 32-50 (1608-1481)
Des Moines Kernels: 52-

League Champion- 34
JL Champion- 34
FL Champion- 36, 37
JL Southern- 34
FL Pacific- 37, 39
Wild Card- 33, 35, 36, 40, 43

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Re: 2049 Hawaii Tropics Preview

Post by usnspecialist » Wed Oct 12, 2022 5:04 am

usnspecialist wrote:
Sun Nov 28, 2021 2:34 am
Brickell is going to be good. Potential hot take is that he will end up with more BBA WAR than the headliner of that trade in anenas.
Random update because I was looking through the parties involved in this, and remembered being high on brickell.

Through Mid 2052:

Brickell: 9.5
Anenas: 3.2 (and currently unsigned after massively lumping so unlikely to go higher)
Franco: -0.2
Kalil: 2.2

Not only is my "potential hot take" going to be massively on the money, but brickell has a pretty good chance of outdoing the 3 pitchers who went with him COMBINED.
Randy Weigand

Havana Sugar Kings/San Fernando Bears: 32-50 (1608-1481)
Des Moines Kernels: 52-

League Champion- 34
JL Champion- 34
FL Champion- 36, 37
JL Southern- 34
FL Pacific- 37, 39
Wild Card- 33, 35, 36, 40, 43

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