TN 62.03 Shredders Better, But Still a 2nd Division Team

[Chuck V]

with just three games left in the 2062 season, the Austin shredders took a look at their vision board. then they threw it in the garbage. Make the playoffs? Nope. Get to .500? Nope. Yet another year of futility. however, there is hope on the horizon.

After spending the first three years of his gm career choosing the best available player, GM Chuck Valenches finally started addressing actual needs. The first three drafts featured corner outfielders as their first pick and Austin managed to have some success there. Luis Rúbio looked pretty comfortable in his first full season, batting .278 with 21 HR while also winning a gold glove in left field. However, this year the league may have figured him out. Rubio's average hovered around .250 all season, the power was not there and he just did not contribute the way he has. With other OF up and coming, Rubio's Austin stay may be brief. Jorge Herrera, taken in 2060, tore the league up in his rookie season, leading the Johnson League in hitting while also providing plenty of power at the plate. The #1 pick in 2061 for Austin was Julio Blanco. Blanco has also moved up the ladder quickly and may make an appearance next year which, if he replaces Rubio, would give them an OF with all three outfield spots featuring players 23 or younger. Takanobu Komatsu has turned into a threat at the plate with another solid year, but he may not be up to snuff to roam CF. The shredders will try and get him some time in the development lab, maybe work on his speed and see if he can get his abysmal zone rating up.

As i was saying, this year the Shredders drafted for need and their biggest need was pitching. and plenty of it. When your team is consistently at the bottom when ranking pitching staffs, you have to address it sooner rather than later. That is why, with the 6th overall pick, the Austin Shredders chose Henry "Steamboat" Bransington. a 19 year old pitcher out of Australia College. Bransington got his feet wet at AA and AAA before donning a Shredders uniform. his first start was abysmal as he didn't even get out of the second inning, but his next four starts were outstanding, allowing just three runs over the next 26 innings.

Lets not forget rookie 2B Félix Cabral. With such a stacked rookie class this year, Cabral may not even get a vote, but he did put up prodigious numbers. .283 with 29 HR and 91 RBI, Cabral was a revelation. especially for a 7th round pick just a year ago. it remains to be seen if he can repeat that performance next year or suffer the ignominious sophomore slump.

The 2062 team did total more wins than any Shredders/Jackrabbits team since the 2054 version went 81-81 and the best this team will be able to do is get within two games of .500 if they sweep the last three games this year. The team didn't have the worst pitching and the team era went below 5.00 for the first time in recent memory.

What do the Shredders need? Well, they still need pitching, especially starters. Bransington can't fill spots 1-5. They also need defense up the middle. despite and inability to hit, the shredders did extend Haydar Syeda for another year because of his stellar defensive skills and pitch framing, but they need to make some adjustments. again, the hope is that some development will turn Komatsu into a serviceable cf, or maybe Blanco can handle the job if he starts the year in Austin next year. shortstop is still a void with someone so unremarkable manning the position i cant be bothered to switch windows to look up his name (fine, its Jack Wesman). Wesman isn't a bad fielder, but he is not a starter and his glove is not good enough to make up for his wiffle bat.

Austin still has some bad contracts with another year to run. Socrates Kazantziakis didn't have a bad season at all, but he is definitely not worth the 12 mil he is getting in the final year of his contract. Outfielder Glenn Fox is due 10.4 mil if he picks up his player option. As it is almost a sure thing nobody will pick him for a tenth of that, he will likely pick up the option. So much was expected of Glenn Hargrove and so little was delivered. He is now less a prospect than a suspect and just never developed past a back of the rotation schmoe. he still has three more years at 6 mil plus. Yuck. Finally, father time continues his unbeaten streak as it looks as if Ray Hoskins, a solid 1B for years, has gotten a bit too creaky. Do not be surprised if Fox and Hoskins are cut loose next spring while the Old Professor maybe sticks around minus any free agent additions at 3B.

The team is not in bad shape financially. they will end the season with roughly 4.5 mil in the black. The payroll next year will be close to the same at roughly 80 million. The team may go out and look for some gloves up the middle and may even overpay for another solid starter to pitch behind Bransington, but the continued development of the #1 ranked farm system should continue to push this club closer to the .500 mark and maybe even a playoff spot.

[RonCo]

It feels like things might be coming together in Austin.

[Trebro]

You have a plan and it's starting to work. if the young guys can keep it up. you should break .500 this year