Poblanotes 52.2- New Faces of 2052

[chicoruiz]

A quick look at the new guys who will attempt to get El Paso back on the smiling side of the standings in 2052:

3B Alfonso Trinidad (FA, 13 million)- My idea going into the winter meetings is always to spend my money on starting pitching, but I always end up somehow veering off toward the position player aisle. Defensively, he’s got range the size of a bath mat, but he’s a solid bat who should give me four guys in the middle of the order with 30+ home run power. For a team that plays in a hitter’s park, we had surprisingly few dingers last year; Trinidad along with the return from injury of Chenoweth and Hang should fix that.

P Matt Alicea (FA, 1.6 million)- I got him to fill the void I had as a lefty out of the pen, but he might be too good for that. I kind of have a hankering to use him as an opener with a pitch count of 70 or so…

P Andres Salinas (FA, 2 million)- Seems like a tad much for a guy who hasn’t pitched in the bigs in a couple of years, but I like his ratings and his production in AAA in ’50 and ’51. Worth a bullpen shot.

OF Julio Garcia and James J. Barney (FAs)- Let’s lump them together because they’re pretty much identical: RH bats signed to be the short half of an OF-DH platoon. Both with power but unspectacular track records. One is making slightly more than a million, one slightly less. Hoping one of them pans out; two would be too much to ask.

P Dwight Dunn (Rule 5)- I look at his age (32) and his record (unimpressive) and I think, was I off my meds when I took this guy in the first round of Rule 5? Then I look at his ratings and I feel somewhat better. Then he had a really nice spring, so he’ll start in the rotation until Chad Keys pushes somebody out.

IF Wagaw Fakihi (Rule 5)- Grabbed him in the second round of Rule 5 to be a pure glove man. Ideally, in the late innings my infield would shift from Chenoweth/Brace/Sanchez/Trinidad to Chenoweth/Sanchez/Fakihi/Leialoha, but I’m not sure I’m savvy enough in the inner workings of the game to make that happen…