42.xx3 Early Look at the 2042 Edmonton Jackrabbits

[crobillard]

As of right now, it doesn't look like we're getting Julio Alicea back. He declined his option and his agent claims his client is in the last decade of a Hall of Fame career in which he will be compared to Perry Eccles at the end of it and he wants to be paid accordingly. Love Alicea, but no chance he's getting top pitcher in the league money.

Fernando Cruz has been set to depart for awhile now. Edmonton and Cruz have been far apart on a deal all season to the point where Edmonton royalty reportedly hasn't spoken to Cruz for months. Jose Luna and Edmonton were close to signing a deal, but at the last moment it broke down. It's not clear whether a deal will happen in the last moments before the Free Agent Signing period opens.

Edmonton actually has a lot of pitchers in their staff that are set to leave this offseason with Alicea, Luna, Vicente Ventura, and Ricardo Baez set to depart after their Landis win. Remember Bobby Lynch was traded after Edmonton's last Landis win, so the team has been in this spot before. Although, this time feels a lot different as Edmonton's pitching staff is in shambles after finishing middle of the pack in the Johnson League last season.

Chandler Hall is not injured though, so maybe we will get a full season out of him? Jubal Troop just won 21 games leading the team despite not having any actual talent on the mound. Mauro Flores looks set to claim the #3 spot in the rotation (god help us). Uh...I guess it's Rodrigo Gallegos next. Then, Landis savior and trash heap pitcher Ryosei Akahori probably rounds it out. During the Landis Series, San Fernando Bears GM Randy Weigand was heard saying that Edmonton's pitching staff might be worse than San Fernando's at this point. So I guess we need pitching this offseason...is it worth spending the league's highest per year salary on Julio Alicea? To not be San Fernando, it might be.

Who takes Cruz's place? Well Jose Salas and Pedro Huerta were not good in the outfield last season. Not even defense extraordinaire Niccolo Machiavelli could help them. He was so frustrated running foul line to foul line during games that he asked to be traded to Charlotte of all places. I'm sure getting Mons Raider off the field to make sure he doesn't get pelted by a Robert Menzies throw and have to sit out a season would be desirable. Carlomaria Donadoni has played a lot of third base in AAA. Does he take the DH role? Edmonton is really used to good outfields with Mitch Dalrymple, William Wood, and Luis Costello previously leading a gold glove outfield. My guess is that Jose Salas is destined to sit on the bench and the extremely versatile Menzies moves to CF. That would pave the way for another rookie, Pepe Espinosa to make his debut.

Espinosa is the highly touted middle infielder the Jackrabbits received from Calgary for Bobby Lynch. Espinosa really hasn't had the breakout season in AAA that everyone expected, but coaches rave about his potential and his outstanding defensive range. My guess is that we'll see him in Spring Training and manager Juan Carlos Gonzales will give him an opportunity to hold down short.

A full season with Robert Menzies should feel like a god send to Gonzales. Fans went wild for North Korean Supreme Ruler descendant Myeung-hwan Kim at the end of 2041. During the Landis series he stole third base in a key moment of the series that allowed Edmonton to score a run. Gonzales may prefer to keep Kim in the outfield with Wilson Villanuela and have an outstanding middle infield of Menzies/Espinosa. This construction would likely move Steven Collins III, Raider or Donadoni to DH though.

Another option is to have Menzies at center, Collins at second base (where he's started 31 games), keep Raider at first, Salas to DH and Donadoni at third. Of course this is assuming Donadoni gets the call up to the majors, but it seems clear that he can't be denied. Carlomaria Mania in Edmonton is running rampant after Donadoni's 7.4 WAR for Winnipeg last season that included 45 homeruns. With Cruz's anticipated departure, that power will be missing without Donadoni's inclusion.

The Edmonton bullpen looks to be in trouble. It's likely Edmonton needs to sign several pitchers this offseason or they will need to call up several pitchers from their AAA team to fill holes. None of them are good though. Edmonton has plenty of cash on hand after Cruz and Alicea's departure. It may be prudent to save the cash on the looming Mons Raider extension unless Edmonton is serious about making Madison pay for him again.

Free agent class is pretty bare though. Is anyone in the free agent class better than Alicea, Luna, Ventura or Baez? Tough call. If Robillard feels like he can get someone at a better price though, maybe he tries to fill their holes with someone less flashy.

[shoeless.db]

This was a fucking let down after reading the Buzzfeed-esque post...

[crobillard]

This was a fucking let down after reading the Buzzfeed-esque post...

lol yeah I have only 69 buzzfeed topics there so I need to sprinkle in some snoozers to make it to 100, but it draws you in and gets you reading. Gottem.