Let's look at Toledo. The Class A farm team of the Phoenix Talons has been around for 29 seasons, making the playoffs in all but three of them, and winning the … uh … 'Charlie Pegler, Baxter League, Upper Midwest Division' title 19 seasons in a row, and winning a total of eleven Pegler Series Championships, their eleventh coming last season. The team led the BL in most offensive categories.
Will there be room for Fung on the Talons roster in 2058? As it happens, yes. Last season's every day right fielder, John Hopkins, departed the club for free agency, along with 16 others (and about 17 WAR of production, yipes). The Talons will be reloading and retooling at several positions this year, and Fung looks to have a good shot at landing a spot in the Phoenix outfield, which does return center fielder Jyri Kulmala (2.3 WAR), and corner outfielders Jorge Peña (-0.7 WAR) and Manuel Torres (2.4 WAR). Fung compares favorably with ratings of 6/8/9/7/4 against both right- and left-handed pitching. He's a right-handed hitter with better splits than most switch hitters. This guy is a keeper.
The second most productive position player for the Liberty in 2057, as measured by WAR (5.3), was Winston Carreon, who is also a corner outfielder, and who is also at Talons spring training. He's more likely than Fung to find himself back in Toledo when the season begins, however. Carreon is a natural left-handed switch hitter with low power and eye; ratings of 7/8/4/3/10 against RHP and 7/8/3/3/10 against LHP. This ratings distribution doesn't look like it will translate as well to big league at-bats as Fung's. His outfield defense is just a hair inferior to Fung's.
Outfielder Michael O'Halloran, who has seen some scouting bumps, is hanging around as well, but he really looks like he could use some more seasoning at Class AAA.
The third most productive position player on the the 2057 Liberty team was second baseman Mike Collins. He is also spending spring with the Talons. Collins has a tougher road to the big league active roster, with free agent acquisition Ski Melillo and living legend Ángel Zalapa in front of him … potentially. With the Talons having to fill the spot at third base vacated by Don Pérez, arguably the MVP of the Talons' 2057 squad, Zalapa may be spending time at the hot corner, a role for which he appears to be well suited. This may help Collins's odds of claiming a spot on the Talons bench this season.
Another addition to the Talons squad that doesn't involve a former Liberty player includes the free agent acquisition of Niaz Minhas to replace outgoing shortstop Luis Peña, now with Omaha. Minhas is currently out with an injury. Get used to that. Backing up Minhas will be Jorge Gallegos, who is all bat and no glove.
On the pitching side, things are a bit more settled. The rotation of Alaric Wullenwebber, Damian Theophanous, Jaypee Estancia, Slobodan Omeragic, and Nick Rivers returns. Phoenix starters had a collective 4.66 ERA last season, 6th best in the JL. A similar performance in '58 looks probable, while Wullenwebber manages his steadily declining velocity. The bullpen (4.02 ERA, 7th in JL) is also largely unchanged, with Josh Dougherty (78 FIP-, 1.8 WAR) likely to return as the closer.
Despite the scope of the departures in Phoenix, computer projections are big on the Talons, crediting them with 91 wins. These projections are particularly bullish on the strength of the Phoenix lineup. The Talons will possibly be enjoying a full season of Ron Shiplack behind and at the plate, which would be nice. He is 37 years old, fragile, and a catcher, so a full season of Shiplack seems … optimistic? Taking Chenoweth's place at first base is probably Jorge Peña, who was primarily a left fielder last season. Peña had a down year in '57, so down, in fact, that he got to go on a tour of the Talon's upper minors (too old for Class A, you see). An alternative to lefty Peña at first is righty Kenan the Kenyan. Kenan Reis signed a one-year contract to play for Phoenix on New Year's Eve. He spent 2057 exiled to the minors as well, having seen his own production at the plate take a dive in 2056, though it should be noted that he never forgot how to hit against left-handed pitching. A platoon suggests itself.
I'm not as optimistic about Phoenix's prospects in the Frontier in 2058, I'm thinking of a win total closer to 87 than 91. You can pretty much put Toledo down for 105.
