Pitching
The Bears pitching staff will be headlined once again by Dan Small and Shea Valance, though they hope Alexander Swanson can not only repeat his success found in his first full season, but build upon. The 24-year-old features an arsenal of pitches and keeps the ball on the ground; a skill especially valuable Chico’s Bail Bonds Field and their fair poles set just 279 feet away from home plate. Veteran, Scott Davis was signed to a $12M deal, but showed signs of decline as soon as he hit the field for the Bears, so he might not be the best candidate for the rotation. However, the other options are Fernando Ferretti and Bruhier Najeeb, so Davis doesn’t really have the stiffest competition. The Bears will be hoping top pitching prospect, Keith Mays, will develop into a middle of the rotation starter, but he will begin the season on the IL. Candrata Parmar] got a cup of coffee last season, but he, too, will begin the season on the IL. Parmar has the most upside of any of San Fernando’s starters, but shouldn’t be relied upon as an ace. The rotation is filled with uncertainty and GM Kurt Imber can’t be too confident with the men taking the hill each night.
It's not like the manager can turn to the bullpen early, either. With no lockdown relievers, the Bears will have to squeeze the most out of the little talent they have in the pen. Joel Woollams and Paul Norton will likely be the best two options for save chances, which should make Frick League batters drool with chances for the late game heroics. The rest of the bullpen is filled out with warm bodies, but by no means is there a reliable guy in the bunch.
Infield
The signing of Joe Zwicker was a nice one and his framing ability should help disguise some of the pitching staff’s weaknesses. His left-handed bat is valuable and is coming off two straight seasons with an OPS+ over 100. Slugger, Francisco Martinez was signed to replace Tyler Ober at 1B and put up 9.2 WAR for the Storm over the past two seasons. Marcello Custello has been a consistent fixture in San Fernando and has settled into his role as 2B nicely after struggling to play shortstop early in his career. He does a little bit of everything and averaged 2.5 WAR a season for the past two years. Imber is gambling that Pepe Espinosa is able to stay on the field for enough games to make an impact, but his best shortstop days are behind him even if he does stay healthy. You could spend $7 million worse ways. Expect a platoon at the hot corner with Ron Ritchie and Murray Healey. The pair won’t hurt you, but don’t expect a ton of production.
Outfield
Jamie Angwin appears to be the best option to patrol CF, but his range isn’t gonna get the job done in the massive baseball boneyard in centerfield. Jim Young and Hyeon-uk Hong are my two best bets to man the corner outfield positions, but one of them will be losing a job when top prospect, LF Michael Schultz, arrives in the Valley in a few weeks. Schultz had an impressive spring and now it is just a matter of service time before he become the Bears next star. Regardless, the lack of defense in the outfield is worrisome.
Designated Hitter
To be honest, pick any outfielder not named Angwin and insert him into the DH role. The Bears have some mashers, but most of them can’t play a lick of defense. Tynan Rose, Vio Gal, and Don Moore are all options and I expect Moore to get the majority of the time here. Naoaki Kurioka is another candidate for the position versus southpaws.
Overall, the Bears are still an incomplete rebuilding team. They might score a lot of runs, but they’ll give up far more on the defensive side. I see the Bears taking a step back this season and finishing with 70 wins, five fewer than last season. It might be a fun team to watch, but will be Bad News Bears for the most part.
