10 July 2062
Boise, Idaho
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by Stubby Bardenwerper
Boise announced 2 trades today that indicate GM Ben Teague is pushing to nab an unlikely Wild Card spot this season. How unlikely? At the end of April the Spuds sat at 10-17, one loss away from being the worst team in baseball. May was much the same as Boise exited with a 23-33. However, though at the bottom of the Frontier Division, the Spuds somehow stayed within 4 games of that last Wild Card spot. Then June happened.Boise jumped into inter-divisional play with fire posting 9-and 6-game win streaks in a 20-8 June. That changed the mood in Boise offices as the Spuds were within 2.5 games of the last spot, though they were in a large grouping. The decision to charge ahead was made in the frame of the Spuds' unlikely production from the offense this season.
With offense typically a side note to pitching, Boise has posted the 6th-most runs in the JL thus far and ranks 6th in AVG, 5th in hits, and 2nd in stolen bases. This in the context of a head-spinning performance from pitching allowing the 14th most runs and ranking 13th in both starters' and bullpen ERA, 13th in WAR, and the defense efficiency is 12th in the league.
More importantly, this offense is young. 2B Ryan Geauxinue (.328/.357/.443, +1.0 WAR) is the elder statesman of the lineup at 36yo, but the next youngest lineup fixture is 31yo DH Pedro Hozven. The pitching staff, however, has not aged well. With 37yo Robert Hanson announcing his retirement in the offseason, the top two returning starters were 35yo Mahad 'Furball' Einan and 38yo Marvin 'Groucho' Winston. The Spuds were relying on 33yo Doug Eckhoff to be the solid presence he was in 2061 but he has made just 8 starts this season with a 7.40 ERA.
The bullpen has some younger pieces with 26yo CL Mario Santos heading the group and versatile 27yo Buddhapalita Kankipati a mainstay. Those are the only 2 players among the 13 pitchers on the roster under the age of 30. This means a lot of trades and waiver claims and free agency signing in the coming offseason. That sets up a situation where GM Ben Teague could deal some of the organization's young offensive players for some temporary help for the 2nd half of the year.
Teague pulled off two trades right after the All-Star break. The first sending 20yo P Pat Perkins, 21yo LF Carlos Díaz, and 19yo 3B Dong-joon Park to the Nashville Bluebirds for solid 37yo veteran SP Phil 'Brewmeister' Cole. The second deal saw 21yo C Roberto Martínez and 21yo P Rafael Garza head to Omaha with 35yo left-handed SP Ken Sproul setting up shop in Idaho.
This sets up a rotation with an average age of 34. But, and especially a factor in both trades, Cole and Sproul are in the last year of their contracts. 36yo Muneer bin Khairy is in his last year of arbitration and not likely to return. There will be a lot of heavy lifting for Teague in the offseason, but it's clear he's taking a hail mary shot at a postseason bid ahead of time.