What moves did the Rocky Mountain Oysters make this off season?
Key Free-Agent Signings/Trades/Rule 5/Waivers:
• 1B Dylan Malloch (3 yr/$18M)
• 2B Sid Turcotte (2 yr/$9M)
• LF Nam-cheol U (1 yr/$3M)
• RP Felipe Vega (1 yr/$1.6M)
• P Arthur Dunn (1 yr/$1M)
• RP PauI Berry (Rule 5)
• P Kensaku Sato (Rule 5)
• CF Ramón Trujillo (Rule 5)
Key Departures:
• SP Chris Thompson (4.2 WAR)—player option voided
• SP Rubén bin Majid al Din (3.1 WAR)—free agent
• 3B Mahine Karetu(2.4 WAR)—free agent
• LF António López(1.9 WAR)—released
• RP Jimmy Huggins(0.9 WAR)—released
• RP Fred Taylor (0.9 WAR)—non-tendered
• 2B Zenobius Kazantziakis(0.3 WAR)—traded
• LF Jen-kan Zhai(0.2 WAR)—free agent
• SS Francisco García(0.1 WAR)—released
• LF Muhsin bin Abdul(0.0 WAR)—released
• SS Logan Niles(-0.1 WAR)—waivers
• RP Ralph Sanders(-0.1 WAR)—non-tendered
• 2B Thomas Jefferson(-0.2 WAR)—free agent
• CF Brian Haynes(-0.3 WAR)—released
• RP Jeff Doane(-0.9 WAR)—non-tendered
• SS Felipe Chávez(-2.4 WAR)—released
I hope you were sitting down. That’s a lot of players leaving an organization in one offseason. If I understand the Oysters financial situation correctly they have a lot of cash tied up on their balance sheet which limits them to an $81M payroll as of this writing. None of these free agent acquisitions move the needle significantly but I like the Malloch signing well enough as a guy who should give them 2 WAR from his bat. Turcotte hopefully fills an enormous void on their roster last season, shortstop, which he can accomplish by simply playing replacement-level. The other guys are warm bodies to fill out the roster so they don’t have to completely rely on unproven rookies from their farm system. From the Rule 5 list the guy I like the best is Berry. He’s nothing special but I could easily see him sticking in their bullpen for the full season and producing above replacement.
The only departures that really matter are Thompson and the pair of strong relievers, Huggins and Taylor. Bin Majid al Din was brought in for the stretch run in late August when Rocky Mountain saw an opportunity to shed some other contracts and he pitched extremely poorly for the Oysters. The position players were either bad or aging and should be replaced easily enough.
The most important accomplishment was their new GM putting his own stamp on the roster and clearing the chaff.
Kurt Imber off-season grade: B-
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Players to Watch
Team MVP?
Malik bin Mazin, 3B: About as easy as they come. Who else?
Most likely trade candidate?
Federico Linares, CF: The Rocky Mountain front office has made it known Linares is available, and with only two seasons of team control left his value should be at its highest during this season’s trade deadline.
Most likely to take a step back this season?
Arturo Gonzáles, 1B: Gonzales had never been worth over 1 WAR before 2057 when he hit .307/.377/.500 with 68 XBHs for 4.1 WAR as a 24 year-old. He’s a good hitter but the scouts don’t think he’s a perennial all-star. I’d expect something closer to 3 WAR.
Who has the most to lose (or gain) this season?
Nam-cheol U, LF: U’s only got 49 career ABs in the Brewster after spending much of his prime in the GBC. Rocky Mountain’s $3M investment in him this offseason was a vote of confidence, but if he falls on his face he’s unlikely to get another major league contract next year when he becomes a free agent.
Most likely to have a bounce-back season?
Ken Steele, SP: Steele’s 5.56 ERA earned him some time in the minors last season but he was worth 2.9 WAR in 2056 and his peripherals were still strong.
Likeliest to outperform their projection?
Ramón 'Phenom' González, SP: Gonzalez has probably been the answer to this question a half dozen times now in his career, but even though he’ll soon turn 32 years old he’s still got the scouting report to be an impact player.
Rookie most likely to make an impact?
Aaron Stevens, SP: I’ll put more faith in Stevens than Denny Tabb (more on these guys later) since his ratings are fully developed and he has the higher movement rating to protect him in the mile-high environment.
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How good is the Oysters farm system?
No. 1 prospect: SP Denny Tabb(#19 prospect in the BBA)
Denny Tabb was a 12th round pick by Atlantic City in 2050. He played ok as he progressed through their farm system before being traded in a prospect swap to Rocky Mountain in 2056. He took off from there, highlighted by a 2.80 ERA across 137 innings in AAA in 2057 that earned him a cup of coffee in the show. His 9/10 slider, 1 point of stuff, and 1 point of movement is all this young pitcher needs to have 10-8-7 ratings. Expect the 24 year-old to pitch in the Rock Mountain rotation in 2058.
Organization’s ranking: No. 16
This ranking looks light for a system that’s been replenished recently with a few trades. Their second best prospect is #49 overall in the BBA, SP Aaron Stevens. His pitching ratings read 9-9-7 and he has no developing left to accomplish according to scouts. He got a cup of coffee alongside Tabb in 2057 and also should pitch from the Rocky Mountain rotation in 2058. Record setting base-stealer Akeem Joffer is another name to watch. Yet another young Oyster to get a September taste of the Brewster, he still has some polishing of his offensive game required but he is one of several young hitters rising up the ranks of the replenished Oyster farm system.
What to expect from the Oysters this season?
Kurt Imber season projection: 84-78
The Frontier Division is notoriously cutthroat and Rocky Mountain’s GM finds himself in his first season back in the Brewster steering a financially strapped ship following a sustained run of success that culminated in a Brewster for the Oysters in 2056. On the bright side, Rocky Mountain’s 2057 pythag record was five wins better than their actual record of 84-78. They suffered from brutal performances from some portions of the roster, most noticeably shortstop. That position itself still won’t be a strength but I still expect less valleys overall. On the downside, they’re replacing some veteran starting pitchers with rookies which is always risky. This team could go in either direction, as I think it’s easy to imagine this team winning 90 games and locking up a wild card, but if they’re five games out of the wild card in August I could also see them selling off some key players like Barber and Linares. So I’ll go with a record in the middle, a repeat of their 2057 record.
Bold prediction:
Starting pitcher Jamie Barber builds on a very strong 2057 campaign to be the best pitcher in the Johnson League (at least before the trade deadline).
@bcslouck
