Down the Rabbit Hole (35.03): Tender Love and Care

[bpbrooksy]

The Edmonton Jackrabbits have officially non-tendered the contracts of relief pitchers Joseph Turberville (7/7/6 Ratings) and Rodger van der Knaap (8/6/8 Ratings, 3 - 7, 5.19 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 93 K), as well as first baseman Ruben Flores.

Turberville, 31, made his BBA debut in 2030, and largely floundered at the major-league level, really only succeeding in 2032, when he put up a 1.74 ERA in 31 innings. In spring training of this year, Turberville fractured his elbow while working on his breaking ball in a spring training game, and was sidelined from major-league action for the full season. He made seven appearances later in the year at Triple-A Winnipeg, pitching eight shutout innings but walking nearly six batters per nine.

van der Knaap is 32 and debuted with the Rabbits during the '29 season. Beginning his career that year as a below-average swingman, van der Knaap transitioned into a full-time starter over the next three years, before gradually returning to his roots as a below-average swingman. Over the last two seasons, van der Knaap was worth -2.2 WAR and routinely pitched with an ERA up over 5.00.

Ruben Flores is a one-trick pony, who started the year decently strong, but cratered so hard down the stretch that he managed to put up -2.1 WAR over 162 games. How often do you see that? After hitting 33 homers last season, Flores knocked out 25 more this year, but struck out 162 times and hit a dazzling .196 on the year, his sixth with the Edmonton organization after being selected in the expansion draft from the California squad.