2058 Nashville Bluebirds Preview: Mighty Mighty Bluebirds

[Krathan]

The Nashville Bluebirds win. They win in the regular season. They win in the postseason. They just win, over and over again. The last time the Bluebirds failed to make the postseason was in 2047. That’s right. They have been in the playoffs in 10 consecutive seasons. In six of those seasons, including the last two, they won the Heartland Division. They have won 101 or more regular season games 6 times during that stretch as well. In 2057, they tied the franchise record for wins in a single season with 105. They have won 309 games in the last 3 seasons. The Bluebirds have played in the Monty Brewster Memorial Series 3 times and have won 2 BBA championships in the last decade, including last year.

That’s the past. Will the Bluebirds continue their dominance in 2058, or will they be dethroned? Let’s take a look.

Key Departures:

The top 3 players, by WAR, who left the team are as follows.

3B Salvador Allende led the departing players in WAR last year with 1.0. That’s right. The most productive player who was allowed to leave in the offseason only provided 1 WAR to the team. He exercised his contract opt out and became a free agent. He is now a member of the Mexico City Aztecs.

RP Turon Kuruturk had his worst season as a member of the Bluebirds in 2057 with a 4.02 ERA and 0.7 WAR. He failed to meet his vesting option and became a free agent. He is now with the Long Beach Surfers.

RP Tak-keung Liao was a useful but unexciting pitcher in the Nashville bullpen who produced 0.4 WAR. He is currently a free agent.

No other departing player produced positive WAR with the Bluebirds in 2057.

So that means that the team that won 105 games lost 2.1 WAR from that squad at the end of the season. That’s not a number that GM Chad Nason will lose any sleep over.

Key Acquisitions:

None. The Bluebirds didn’t sign any free agents or make any trades this offseason that will impact their big league roster.


2058 Position Player Outlook:

The Bluebirds were an offensive juggernaut in 2057. There is no reason to believe that will change this year. They were top 3 in the Frick in most offensive categories and 1st in runs scored. With a slew of stars filling the lineup on a nightly basis, led by CF Crissy Tingle (6.4 WAR), 1B Wafid Bishr (5.3 WAR), and 2B Colby
Triska (4.9 WAR) among others, Nashville fans can expect to see the runs continue to pile up. Especially when you consider that they will get a full season out of RF Alfonso Gonzales, who put up 3.1 WAR in only 51 games after being called up.

Possibly the biggest question mark in the lineup is 3B, where youngster Jorge Cano will be tasked with taking over the everyday duties left behind by Allende’s departure. Cano has the tools to be an impact player in the BBA. He put up very good numbers in AAA before being called up last season. He struggled to put it together in his 39 big league games, slashing .191/.238/.383. However, Cano showed everyone what he is capable of in the playoffs. He was 8-19 with 5 walks, 4 home runs, and 7 RBI in 10 postseason games.

The team has some outstanding defenders, like Tingle, Gonzales, and SS Brooks Eliot, but their overall team defense was not statistically one of the best in the Frick last year. Their defense may not have been one of the top 5 or 6 in the league, but it wasn’t bad enough to cost them many wins. They will likely continue to be a solid defensive squad with some standout performers.

There are other strong players on this side of the ball as well. The team is deep and full of quality all over the diamond. This team is going to score a lot of runs and make life difficult for other Frick League pitching staffs.

2058 Pitching Outlook:

Nashville’s pitching staff was also one of the best in the Frick last season. They led the league in strikeouts, WHIP, and K%-BB%, while being near the top of the leaderboard in most other categories as well.

Their starting rotation of Barney Lindsay, Jim Fleming, Billy Kelly, Steven Clayton, and Eric Stevens are all outstanding pitchers with experience and successful track records.

Their bullpen, anchored by Mark Lolololo, who transitioned seamlessly from starting in the minors to coming out of the pen in the BBA, Quirke Roddis, who goes from saving 32 games to setting up Lolololo this year, and Gustino Modica looks to be a strength of the team once again. The pitchers outside of these marquee players are also excellent pitchers.

There is every reason to believe that this pitching staff will be outstanding again in 2058.

Farm System:

The Nashville farm system has consistently been ranked at, or near the top of the league for quite a while now. They are currently ranked 2nd just behind Yellow Springs. That will be impacted negatively this season, as their top 2 prospects, Jorge Cano and Mark Lolololo will be losing their prospect status because of their roles with the big league club this season. While they still have quality prospects, their time listed as a top 2 minor league system will be coming to an end for now. That might be the on thing that other Frick League teams can look at as a glimmer of hope for their ability to compete with Nashville’s dominance. The Bluebirds won’t be able to fill all of their holes from inside the system every year like they were able to this offseason, but they will be able to fill some of them. Nason has built a deep system. Even though several of the top prospects are graduating to the BBA, there are still quality young players working their way up.


2058 Biggest Weakness:

There aren’t any glaring weaknesses. Maybe Cano isn’t as good as they hope. Maybe they have to deal with some injuries. It might not matter. The team is great and deep. They can deal with some things not going their way and still end up winning a lot more than they lose.

2058 Season Outlook:

The Bluebirds are going to win a lot of games. They are going to continue their streak and play postseason baseball for the 11th straight time in 2058. Over the next couple of years, Nason will have some interesting decisions to make as team and player option decisions come up and their younger players need to start getting paid more, but none of that comes into play this year. A great team will stay great and win over 100 games for the 4th consecutive time. I’m going to predict a regular season record of 103-59 with another deep postseason run.

[Dington]

Thanks for the preview, except you didn't even mention HOF Juan River or 2056 Silk winner, Roger Kidd. Or 5-time Zimmer catcher J-Rod. Or David Molina. I'm just kidding, of course. Just wanna gloat before, as you mentioned, the decline happens. Should still be some time away, but my far is dwindling.

That being said, I do hope to exceed 105 wins this season. Excited to see Gonzales' in a full season.

[Krathan]

Ha! Right. There’s just no end the list of great players on your team right now. I think you have a legitimate chance to win more than 105 games this season. I chose 103 because I think that’s a pretty safe number for you to hit. It’s absolutely possibly for you to go well over that number.

[Lane]

Great preview, i hate this team.

[Dington]

Ha! Right. There’s just no end the list of great players on your team right now. I think you have a legitimate chance to win more than 105 games this season. I chose 103 because I think that’s a pretty safe number for you to hit. It’s absolutely possibly for you to go well over that number.

I'd really like to hit 110 wins. I thought I would last season but had a horrendous September. Luckily that didn't seep into October.

[CTBrewCrew]

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