2058: Bikini Krill

[chicoruiz]

As we all know, Bikini is the old Seattle team, a franchise that, if not actually neglected, was at least not given the TLC that some other teams were. It’s now beginning its second year under the stewardship of Ron Collins. Ron, of course, is one of the acknowledged Jedi masters of the BBA, and many of us are watching carefully to see what moves he makes to turn this bunch into a playoff-caliber unit. No pressure, Ron…

PITCHING. According to statistics, one out of every eleven adult males is a pitcher currently in camp with the Krill. Okay, it’s not quite that bad, but there are a bunch of pitchers in camp. Let’s see if we can sort through them, knowing that we’re not privy to what’s going on in Ron’s head…

Starter Samuel Nebraska has a storied name to bear, and if he hasn’t quite lived up to it so far, he’s at least okay and could very well get better. Scouts love Enrique Aguilar; unfortunately, so do opposing hitters. Jayden Nichols signed on in midseason last year and showed well in a small sample size. Past that, it seems to be fairly grim: Bill Keefe, John Parrish, Howard Brown and Lucio Juarez are the obvious names, but Ron may have as surprise or two up his sleeve.

In the bullpen, newcomer Shea Valance and holdover Adrian Fox would seem to be the bell cows. Norberto Garcia, Steven Grant and John Hurry will fight for the lefty spots. Zhi-Xin Fung, Karim Marwat and Yoshinori Sugiyama all have stuff to dream on, but they’re all wilder than Ozzy Osborne in his earlier days.

POSITION PLAYERS: I was reading a while ago about the “Lost Generation” in France; how they lost so many men in the First World War that there was almost no one to teach the World War Two generation how to be soldiers. I bring this up because I discovered an odd fact when looking at Bikini’s hitters: of the 37 position players in camp, do you know how many are ages 26 through 29- prime production ages? Two. Right now, they’re either too young or too old. That will change…

CATCHER: Manuel Hernandez’s glove skills probably give him an edge over Pedro Jiminez. Whoever gets this job, look for them at the bottom of the batting order.

INFIELD: If your doorbell rings this time of year, it’s either girl scouts trying to sell you Thin Mints or Ron Collins trying to sell you Wilson Andrade. Ron’s done everything but abandon Wilson in a basket outside a fire station, but as of this writing his age and hefty contract keeps him a Krill. That said, he could rebound from a disastrous 2057 and be an asset at third, where he’d be a place-holder for uberprospect Benji Amberman. Larry Barkin is 35 but still the obvious choice at short- but will Ron do the obvious? Napoleon Mellott is kind of a young Pete Brace; he shows power for a second baseman, but his defense is meh and Ron may choose Micah Rogers or Run-Ming Gui, or someone else there. First base might be oldster Theo Bourges, or prospect Clyde Hughes. It’s really hard to predict how this will all shake out.

OUTFIELD: The hope here is that Michael Buckley will start to produce results that match his talent. He’s probably a right fielder or a DH at this point. Elsewhere, the Krill will try to squeeze one more year out of the decaying carcass of Gilberto Falchionetti. Graham Aubrey and Robert Shephard could figure in here somewhere, and Bourges could help the outfield cause if he’s not needed at first.


PREDICTION: Well, I’d predict a bunch of more player moves, and some promotions that I didn’t see coming. As far as their record, if it were anyone else, I’d say no way this aggregation can win 70 games, but In Ron We Trust.

[RonCo]

70 games would be nice.

Good write up. To be honest, I have no idea how good we're going to be. But Mellott will definitely play second base for the semi-forseeable future. He just bumped a point of Eye, too. So...we'll see.

[chicoruiz]

70 games would be nice.

Good write up. To be honest, I have no idea how good we're going to be. But Mellott will definitely play second base for the semi-forseeable future. He just bumped a point of Eye, too. So...we'll see.

Thanks. I thought since you’ve been active writing previews someone should attempt doing your team. It was a hard one, because I really don’t know what your plans are, so I tried to make it at least kind of amusing to make up for the lack of insight.

[RonCo]

Thanks! It was a good read, and about as right as anyone could do. Including me.

[CTBrewCrew]

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