2012 Valencia Preview

[wualumni]

in 2011 Valencia finished 79-83 and missed the playoffs for the 13th straight season, but there is a lot of young talent to like on this team. Part of the reason for the continued playoff drought has a lot to do more with dominant rosters that Hawaii and Vancouver have had in recent memory, but both of those teams are starting to come back to the pack as Valencia's young roster matures.

Off-Season Moves

Key Depatures - C Jarrett Ellis (Designated for Assignment)
Key Additions - OF Tony Alvarez, DH/OF Will Simmons, SP/MR Herman Mitchell

Offense
Catcher - Valencia has officially passed the torch at catcher to top prospect Jason Dunn who made his debut during last September. He has a ton of potential, but will have some big shoes to fill with the departure of Jarrett Ellis who was designated for assignment. Ellis had a career year last season batting .293 with 21 HRs and 69 RBI while posting a .870 OPS. Even if Dunn reaches his potential this season there definitely will be a dropoff defensively behind the plate. Dunn projects as a below average catcher while Ellis was an above average defender. Veteran Juan Rodriguez will server as Dunn's backup and may start a good bit against left handed pitching. In 2011 he posted a solid .805 OPS in 175 ABs last season. He is also an excellent defender behind the plate.

First Base - Vicente Medrano will be the primary man at 1B in his 3rd full season with Valenica. In 2011 he hit .298 with 16 HRs and 62 RBI while posting a .783 OPS in 132 games. It looks like rookie Willie Hudson will serve as the primary backup at 1B getting some starts occasionally against right-handed pitching.

Second Base - Former 1st round draft pick Roger Rouse is back as the starting 2B after another decent season in 2011. Last season he hit .258 with 10 HRs and 54 RBI while posting a .719 OPS. Alonso Perales will be the backup at 2B and 3B for Valencia. In 2011 he posted a .708 OPS in 66 games and brings a superb glove to the infield.

Third Base - Han Witter is back for his third season with Valencia after coming over from the EBA in 2010. Last season he hit .247 with 22 HRs and 79 RBI while posting a .705 OPS. He will be backed up by Alonso Perales.

Shortstop - Another 1st round draft pick will man SS in 2012 for Valencia. Jared Stuart will be Valencia's starting SS after a solid rookie season where he hit .280 with 12 HR and 38 RBI while posting a .868 OPS in 78 games. He also brings excellent defense to the middle of the infield. He will be backed up by Travis Cantrell who will also see some action as the DH.

Outfield - The Stars will start free agent signee Tony Álvarez in LF for 2012. Alvarez is a solid bat who should be a nice addition to the Valencia lineup. For his career (10 seasons) he has a .290 average and has averaged 14 HRs and 66 RBI per season. In RF Yi-lin She is back for his 9th season with the Stars. Last season he hit .246 with 26 HRs and 75 RBI while posting a 764 OPS. CF looks to be a platoon amongst several players including 2nd-year player Jared Delger, Carlos Quick, and Orazio Casale.

Designated Hitter - The DH spot will be handled mainly by free agent acquisition Will Simmons. Simmons is on-base machine with a career OBP of .415 and will definitely be a nice leadoff option. Travis Cantrell will see some action as well as the DH mainly against left-handed pitching who Simmons struggles against.

Starting Pitching - Valencia's pitching staff as a whole hasn't changed much from 2011 to 2012 and for good reason - they were 4th in the league in 2011 in runs allowed per game. The starting rotation is unchanged from the end of 2011 with young ace Brian Middleton leading the way. The 26-year old hard throwing right-hander had another excellent campaign in 2011 going 15-9 with a 3.24 ERA and league-leading 1.07 WHIP. He also led the league in a bevy of other categories including IP, K/BB ratio (5.12), BB/9 (1.45), Shutouts (3), and VORP (71.2). Veteran Bob Blaisdell returns for his 7th season with the Stars (11th overall) after recovering from a torn labrum in July of last year. Before he was injured Blaisdell went 10-6 with a 4.34 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. Another youngster in Mario Méndez is back as well after his first season as a full time SP in 2011. Last season he went 13-15 with a 4.35 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. With some more maturing he should continue to be a solid middle-of-the rotation option. The youngest member of the rotation belongs to 3rd year starter Sheng Yen who has incredible stuff, but still has some improving to do against RH batters. He is absolutely a terror against LH batters and if he can adapt some of that domination against RH batters, he could be one of the best pitchers in the game. In 2011 he went 8-14 with a 4.84 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. He finished with 177 Ks in 173 IP which led to him being 2nd in the league in K/9 (9.21). The 5th spot in the rotation goes to Jesse Mountbatten who took over that spot in the rotation towards the end of 2011 after mainly being a middle relief/spot starter for the Stars for the past seven seasons. For 2011 he finished 5-6 with a 4.27 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP.

Bullpen - The Valencia bullpen is mostly unchanged outside of the signing of EBA/MBBA veteran Herman Mitchell. Mitchell will be the elder statesman on the Stars roster at age 38 and should give the team a nice option for middle relief and provides the team an option to use him as a starter in case someone struggles or is injured. Mitchell has a total of 275 starts in his career (MBBA 123 / EBA 152). The rest of the bullpen is made up of returning members from the 2011 staff. Look for Ralph Nelson, Julian Anderson, and Finley Nickerson to be the setup men for closer Donald Long. Jesús Flores, veteran Deshawn Pines, and Ralph Nelson will fill the middle relief role in addition to the previously mentioned Herman Mitchell.

Closer - Donald Long returns as the Valencia closer in 2012. Long a 13-year veteran had a great season in 2011 as the closer after struggling in that role in 2010 (his first as a full-time closer). He finished 9-4 with 38 saves and a 2.97 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. He should excel in that role again in 2012.

Prediction - 2012 is a tough one to predict for Valencia. They made a few additions that could bolster the offense some, but will it be enough? Their pitching staff should continue to be in the top half of the league if not slightly better than last season. If all things fall perfectly for Valencia and they stay healthy they could see the playoffs for the first time in a long time. With Vancouver and Hawaii falling from their "juggernaut" status the opportunity may be there for a magical season. One other issue for the Stars to contend with - the California Crusaders are starting to become a legitimate threat in the division as well after many years of horrid baseball.

2012 Predicted Record - 80-82 (No Playoffs)

[trmmilwwi]

Wonderful team preview! Job well done... appreciate the layers of depth.

Tough injury to Stuart... 6 weeks. Ouch. Hope Simmons does well in Valencia. Great pickup for a minimal salary. Wish I had room for him in Marquette still.

Another reason I love team previews is that I get to catch up on where ex-Marquette players end up and what they've done. Blaisdell for Armas was a horrible trade for Marquette. I never knew Blaisdell had a 3+ ERA and a 4+WAR a few years back. Ouch!

[leejay56]

great write-up... we do have allot of depth, pitching really needs to step it up or its going to be a long season,,,