2063.10 Monsters Shed Salary

[ae37jr]

Not even 24 hours after losing a thrilling Cartwright Cup to the Nashville Bluebirds, The Twin Cities River Monsters went right back to the drawing board to plan for 2064. Second Baseman Miller Shed is rumored to be heading to the Vancouver Mounties in exchange for SS Tyler Conklin.

On the surface, one has to ponder why the Monsters are trading a 50 rated player for a 40 rated player. But this deal is more about team success than having a bunch of highly rated players. For starters, this deal will save the team $4 million in 2064. That is a fairly significant amount of money. It will drop the teams commitments to the $90 million range. Enough to go after a big fish or several role players.

The next reason for this trade is the emergence of Octavio Sanchez. The 23 year old second baseman has quietly bumped up to a 55 rating and posted 1.6 WAR in 63 games. He is a slightly plus defender with great power, a solid eye, and even some speed. This is the type of guy that fills up the box score with a lot of different things. It's his time to sink or swim.

The third reason may be a bit hard to understand for the casual fan. Shortstop Randall Gray has been a top 4 SS in the BBA in recent years. He's posted at least 4 WAR each of the last 5 seasons. Every team would love to have a Randall Grey. But part of building a perennial second place team is addressing problems before they become a reality. Grey is not a stud defender. The fact that he is a scratch to slightly plus defender is all about his 10 range. As Grey approaches his 30th birthday next July, one has to wonder when his range is going to slip. Because once his range drops to 9, he becomes a terrible option at SS. So by turning Shed into Conklin, the River Monsters are alleviating a potential log jam of having Shed, Sanchez and Grey all being able to play 2B, but not SS.

In best case scenario, Grey continues be the player he has in the last 5 seasons. Having Conklin will enable him to get more breaks. Perhaps sitting or playing a less demanding position VS LHP. Maybe even being subbed out late for defense. But if all goes wrong, Conklin is a professional glove who can step in and the versatility of Grey and Sanchez will keep them both in lineup.

Of course losing Shed does put some added pressure on Sanchez. There is no safety net anymore. If he fails or gets injured, there is no clear cut second baseman to step in. Like mentioned earlier, we can go defense and start Conklin and slide Grey to 2B. Last season Phillip Warner played some second base. He did horribly in the field, but it didn't stop TWC from stacking W's. Jorge Flores is free of his rule 5 tag and will stay in the minors as insurance. Abdul-Rafi bin Sayf is an under the radar3B prospect looking to crack the threshold. He'll be hitting the D-lab and playing 2B next season to increase flexibility. While Niaz Minhas is technically still on the roster, it's widely expected that he will be released by opening day. The team just wants to keep him around to push season ticket sales and to see how spring injuries play out. So there are plenty of less than ideal in house options. Look for the River Monsters to add either a solid veteran with BBA experience or a prospect trade to give them more 2B depth at the AAA level.

Will this trade work out? Only time will tell.

[trmmilwwi]

I always liked Shed, his defense seems to have held but he certainly doesn't have the upside at the plate like Sanchez. It'll be fun to watch the shifts in strategy in MSP.

[BaseClogger]

“But part of building a perennial second place team” lmao

Calling Gray a terrible defender with 9 range is a bit dramatic. Still solid.

[BaseClogger]

You talk about your bad farm system but then here comes Sanchez and Warner ready to take on full roles.

[ae37jr]

You talk about your bad farm system but then here comes Sanchez and Warner ready to take on full roles.

Neither player was ever considered a top 100 prospect by either BBA or Breum's Prospect Pipeline. I think it's because I prefer higher floor, lower ceiling players. So they fly under the radar. But I'm quite proud of the current core that I'm building in homegrown/almost homegrown players. Majority of my roster next year will have never played for another team.

[Trebro]

You talk about your bad farm system but then here comes Sanchez and Warner ready to take on full roles.

Neither player was ever considered a top 100 prospect by either BBA or Breum's Prospect Pipeline. I think it's because I prefer higher floor, lower ceiling players. So they fly under the radar. But I'm quite proud of the current core that I'm building in homegrown/almost homegrown players. Majority of my roster next year will have never played for another team.

With all respect to Bob, his rankings and my internal rankings don't square. Like you though, I'm more inclined to solid vs huge potential. Call that the Tsfallout from Tsao.