That's him.... that's our guy... sign him up
The Twin Cities River Monsters made a calculated move this winter by letting centerfielder Arthur Daniel leave via free agency. While Daniel's .252/.327/.356 offensive line should be easy to replace, his defense in center field will be greatly missed as he stood out like an apple in a bag of oranges on this defensively challenged team. Ironically, it was projected defensive value that skewed TWC away from Daniel as the club didn't feel it was a good baseball move to give a 33 year old centerfielder a multiyear extension. Projecting that he defensive is likely to slip any day now, Arthur Daniel as a mediocre fielder would add no value to the team.
Let's take a look at some candidates to fill Daniel's cleats. Just for fun, I've added a poll to hear some feedback.
1. Jorge González
Jorge is not really an option. He is the incumbent short side platoon CF who is mostly on the roster for his leadership skills, pinch running and late inning defense. A niche role player who did a good job in his role. No real need to ask too much for him. But since I'm asking for feedback, maybe you have a different opinion of him.
2. Bernardo García
Garcia is a 33 year old journeyman who Twin Cities added to the 40 man roster at the start of the offseason as a fail safe option in the event that a centerfielder could not be found. He is the best defender at 10/8/8. His offense is AAAA at best. It should be noted though that last season in AAA, Bernardo posted a 4.0 WAR with a .755 OPS and a +17.4 zone rating.
3. Wladimir Voorneveld
By far the best name in the group, Wladimir was stolen away from the hated division rival Bluebirds. He has some popularity, great small ball skills, a little bit of power, and the TWC secret ingredient... 4.11 career pi/pa. While many will scoff at his 8 range in CF, his +3.9 ZR in half a season in AAA last year suggests it's a lot closer to 9 than 7.
4. Ralph 'Red' Kennedy
Another player ransacked from a division rival, Red is fairly similar to Voorneveld. Maybe a little better defense(still not a true CF though) and not as good with the bunting and speed. For what it's worth, my manager has endorsed Red as our guy.
5. Eric Singleton
Singleton might be the dark horse in my eyes. Despite being drafted in 2052 and not playing above S-A, Eric is fully developed with 9 power and 8 eye VS RHP. He also leads all the current candidates with a 4.17 pi/pa. His defense on the other hand, might not even play for most as a LF'er.
The thing is... his bat fits the #9 spot of our lineup perfectly. And I'm kinda on some sort of mission to prove that defense isn't as important as some may think. Last season we made it to the Cartwright with the 6th most errors in the BBA and the 8th worst zone rating. And no, it wasn't our defense that eliminated us, our offense got shut down by a great pitching staff.
Of course there is always a chance that a trade could come about. But this is where we are at right now.
