45.3 Checking the Locks: Second Base

[crobillard]

This is a series where I will evaluate the options in each position leading into Spring Training. This is the third of eleven parts. I will be taking a look into the second base position in this post.

Near lock: Joey Nethersole
Trying to get in the door: Semer Hakimi, Kevin Mitchell, Kel Bacon, Juan Carlos Ortiz, Rafael Gonzales, Roberto Puente

This is a momentous occasion in this series. I don't think I've ever wrote a part in this series that didn't have a sure lock. With the departure of Hakim Ngowa this offseason, comes a changing of the guard and Edmonton isn't holding anything back. In this area, we've seen free agent acquisitions, rule 5 acquisitions and now trades for players at second base as well. Edmonton is looking for their next starting second baseman. In the end it might just be Joey Nethersole, who they rolled with at shortstop when Pepe Espinosa went down with his injury last season, but I think the thought for the Jackrabbits front office is that they could have gotten much better production at the second base position all year regardless of Espinosa's injury.

Just to be clear though, Nethersole wouldn't be a terrible option for the Jackrabbits. Based on his production in 2044, he would be right on line with Ngowa in terms of WAR, probably a little better. Nethersole has excellent defense that is even better at second, 12 rated at the position. His offense doesn't stack up though with an OPS under .600. That's certainly the reason the team has brought in so many different options this spring. The Jackrabbits are expected to employ the same kind of irregular roster composition as last year with at times 15 pitchers on the active roster and only 12 hitters. That meant only three players on the bench at times last season. If that is the case again, Edmonton will probably only have room for one or two of these guys.

I don't believe any of these guys lead the group, but the one with the most experience in the majors comes out of Charlotte in Bacon. He spent most of his time starting at second base in Montreal from 2037 through 2039. He looked good back then too with a .282/.324/.464 batting line in 511 starts in Montreal. The 30 year old comes off a year he spent in AAA and Edmonton is wondering if he has enough in the tank to start for them. His ratings aren't terrible at 7/6/5/4/7 and he has good speed with 10 ratings everywhere. He was 115 for 141 in stolen base attempts for Montreal. His issue come with his defense. He totaled 6.4 WAR in his best three seasons in Montreal, but he was severely limited in WAR due to his terrible defense. He had 34 errors and -12.5 ZR over the same time period. Edmonton could mitigate that a little bit with Nethersole coming in as a defensive replacement, but is his offense good enough to warrant a limited, very competitive roster spot?

Hakimi and Puente were acquired via trades. Hakimi from Vancouver and Puente from Calgary. Hakimi looks to be a straight upgrade over Bacon in ratings with 7/8/5/3/9 ratings and he is rated and 8 at second. He's almost 24 though, has never played in the majors and in AAA last season he hit only .279/.321/.390 for 1.0 WAR in his only real significant playing time in the minors. Puente looks to be more like what the team is looking for. A 10 rated second baseman, that has flexibility to play 10 rated third base or 8 rated shortstop. He has 8/7/2/4/9 actuals and he's durable. He's also started in the majors for Calgary in 2043 with 140 starts and a .263/.300/.359 batting line with 39 doubles for 0.8 WAR. He even started at second base with nine errors and a +1.9 ZR, so that should give Edmonton a better glimpse into what they're getting in Puente.

Our rule 5 draft pick is the youngest of the bunch in Mitchell. At 21 years old, Mitchell is rocketed up to the most intriguing option since he has more room to grow. He has plenty of hurdles to jump to make the team, not to mention become the starter at second. He's rated 7/8/2/3/9 with 8/8/3/3/10 potentials. His 6/7/6/8 defensive ratings only give him a 7 at second base and I'm thinking that's almost a 6. His durable status helps him out, but by far the biggest reason that Edmonton wouldn't clear out a roster spot at an incredibly competitive position is that he's never even been close to playing in the majors. He only has time in SINGLE A at his highest level playing. He was really good there with 84 games started last season with a .315/.366/.482 batting line and a 2.5 WAR, but I think it's safe to say for that reason alone he's a long shot. Look to Edmonton to try to seal a deal with Nashville to try to keep Mitchell in the organization.

This part of the series rounds out with two minor league free agent signings in Ortiz and Gonzales. Ortiz played a few years in UMEBA before playing the last couple years in Montreal's minor league system. He draws a ton of walks with 5/6/2/10/8 ratings. He's 30 years old, durable and Edmonton could use the walks after losing Ngowa, but calling up Ortiz to start the season would be an unexpected move. Gonzales is the longest shot of them all. He's just not that good in any area. 6/6/2/6/6 ratings, a 6 at second and not particularly good at anything, Gonzales is not making the team with all this competition around him. I would be surprised if we actually end up getting a look at him in spring training.