A Whole Bunch of New Guys To Disappoint Me

[chicoruiz]

Whew…it’s been an active last couple of weeks, culminating in the monumental Phil Cole trade. Let’s take a look at the new Chilis who have arrived recently, so I can at least get them straight in my own head. I'm not including new call-up Hector Cano Jr., since about 25 of you know him well enough to have asked about trading for him...

SP Maziba Isa- Waiver claim from Mexico City. He’ll get first dibs at filling Cole’s spot, at least until the end of the season. Extreme GB pitcher, which is a point of emphasis for me. His 11 stuff rating is good; his 4 movement rating not so much.

P Jose Torres- Arrived in the Cole trade. Vancouver had been using him in the rotation; I think his 5 stamina lends itself better to a multi-inning relief role, where I think he could be really good.

RP Horst Duineveld- Another Cole trade piece. Only 25, and with the track record and ratings to suggest success. I may actually have relievers to trade; how crazy is that?

RP Angel Herrera- You guessed it; another Cole trade piece, and another solid bullpen candidate. Has a 2.6 million team option for next year, so he has the rest of the season to prove he’s worth it.

Pitchers Chris McMillan, Tim Gibbs and Luis Gonzalez- Bright shiny minor league arms. How they do will tell the tale of the Cole trade; of course, by the time they reach the majors the Cole trade will probably be long forgotten.

2B Pete Brace- Hasn’t really found his mojo in the majors yet, but his skill set should play well in my park, and he’ll get some playing time now to prove that his 65 rating isn’t fool’s gold.

SS Rick Chambers- FA signing. Between the majors, AAA, and AA, I have five shortstops with season-ending injuries, which explains why a nonentity like Chambers is now my starting shortstop.

3B-SS Fernando Rodriguez- FA signing. Will take some playing time from Chambers and back up 3B until his inevitable injury (he’s rated fragile, and as I mentioned before, being a SS in El Paso is like being the drummer for Spinal Tap).

OF Declan Hounsell- The castor oil I had to swallow to make the Vancouver deal happen. Making 3.5 million, hitting .206 and rated as “wrecked”. Oh well, he’ll be off the books after this year, if not sooner.

[7teen]

Who's that Cano guy? He looks good!

Curious as to why you'd bring him up now though and waste a year of salary on him.

[woods]

I am very happy to see Rick Chambers back in the big leagues. He was my favorite player on Cairo. He managed to play terribly but look pretty good doing it. He'll never make an error on defense, but will cost you many games with his lack of range. And he pretty much only hits singles. I see he's slashing .185/.185/.185 for you in his first week, which seems pretty on brand for him.