8 April 2063
Boise, Idaho
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by Tony Toney
The 2063 BBA/GBC Media Guide has been published and, within as always, the guide's predictions for the upcoming season. It is an excellent preview but things change rapidly and The Tuber has taken the time to rebut and/or clarify the information in the predictions and publish our own:
2063 BBA/GBC Media Guide
This was very in-depth material behind the Spuds projections and we'll tackle each piece below, but we'll note here that the payroll is the 5th highest in the BBA while the budget, $112m, is the 24th. Projected room for contract extensions is $18.7m and for the current season (free agents, personnel, etc.) $10.3m.
"Boise is a club doing their best to shed salary and build up their farm system. They had the 19th best system at the beginning of the 2062 season and the 26th best system now..."
Boise did, indeed, shed salary in 2062, but with the goal of freeing $$ to take advantage of a pitching staff that returned virtually no one and, thus, could be restructured. Why refill the current staff? In short, it's to take advantage of the young talent present on the position player side of the house. Boise's current lineup includes:
24yo C Tadanobu Otani 2062: +2.8 WAR ($500k for 2063)
28yo 1B Tracy 'Jigga' Allison +2.6 WAR ($3.7m)
26yo 2B Fernando Segura -1.3 WAR ($500k)
25yo 3B Bill Kuhn +3.0 WAR ($2.7m)
27yo SS Dan Raymond 0.0 WAR ($1.9m)
27yo LF Cosmo Pan +3.4 WAR ($1.8m)
27yo CF Amphibian Johnson +0.8 WAR ($8.1m)
27yo RF Tsutomu Yamauchi +2.6 WAR ($3m)
22yo DH Perry Taylor +1.3 WAR ($500k)
22yo rookie 1B/DH William Coleman ($500k)
Boise GM Ben Teague did anticipate a complete rebuild from a losing squad - in 2061 and 2062 - but recognized that any fresh-faced lineup he could build would look about like what is there now. If not worse. As mentioned, that turned the focus to a refresh on the pitching side of the house. To that end, pitchers 38yo Thomas Turner, 33yo Josh 'Kid' Clark, 31yo Niegloslaw Woywitka, 30yo Samir Qasim, 34yo Art Cherry, and 26yo Dan Boman were acquired in the offseason via trades and FA market.
"...if [Boise] can find a better solution, possibly in the draft, Kuhn should eventually move to 1st."
Moving Bill Kuhn to first is a logical, and frankly preferred, change. But with Tracy Allison in place and the rookie William Coleman just arriving, first base is full for the near future.
"Fernando Segura is another all-glove no-hit middle infielder who also had an OPS+ score of 24 last year..."
That's a mostly true view of Segura, but his ratings and minor league performance leave no excuse for him being a "no-hit" middle infielder. His OPS+ in 2062 at AAA Salt Lake City, in 81 games, was 108 and he sported a .322/.414/.411 slash. He needs to translate that to the majors post-haste.
"...Boise fans still miss Lou Bayou..."
No lies detected.
"...I would probably trade (CL Mario) Santos as I have always felt that a top-of-his-game closer is fairly useless when you can’t hand that closer leads to close..."
This has been Teague's plan, off and on, for a couple of seasons. Santos would generate a lot of interest on the trade market and, likely, fetch a good return. But CL Alfredo Morán - the natural incumbent - still needs to refine his game in AAA and when he does arrive, if the Spuds are winning, a one-two punch of him and Santos should be lethal.
"Projected Record: Boise has the pitching staff to avoid the basement and good defense up the middle. I doubt they will compete for a playoff spot and the team is young enough that adding some core players will help in a few years. But they are probably looking at a 77-85 record."
This is a very fair assessment. But, with the fresh perspectives mentioned above, we feel that closer to +/- 81 wins is a fairer bet and would make owner Francis Nephi Grigg, IV much happier.