2033.03 - Sam Adams comes to town

[bcslouck]

The Jimmies today announced that they have come to terms with Sam Adams, a 32-year-old catcher, on a 2 year $10.62M deal. Year two is a player option.

For his career, Adams has hit 260 homes runs with a .767 OPS (103 OPS+), and averages almost 4 WAR per 162 games (~3.93). While Adams is known for plenty of power from the catcher position, he also brings above average defense with one of the stronger arms in the BBA.

The team already has C Don Logan on the roster, but the team has been employing a platoon at C for the last couple of seasons. Adams will be the weak side of the platoon while also being a defensive sub on his off days. While it may seem like a hefty price to pay for a weak side platoon catcher, last year, the team faced almost the same amount of lefties compared to righties. In 2032, Logan played in 110 games with 99 starts, accumulating 321 at-bats. Last years platoon mate Carlos Garcia played in more games at 123, but had less starts with 73. In those games, he had 278 at-bats. So over the season, Logan only had 43 more at-bats.

Now, it's known that things change and the split could change in either direction drastically. But Adams should provide some solid production to the team, giving power against LHP and helping close out games with his defense.

"We are excited to add Sam," said GM Brandon Slouck. "He's a good C with tremendous power. We think this gives us our strongest catcher platoon since we have been doing that and could provide a ton of production from that spot. He is someone we have liked awhile now so we are happy to have him."

This addition checks off another offseason need for the defending Johnson League Champs. They still hope to add another SP to the mix, some more bullpen depth, and a utility infielder who hits from the right side of the plate.

[ae37jr]

This was a great move. I was one of the teams that stacked lefties against you. Between your ballpark factors and Anderson, Ortiz, Hearle, and Logan being less effective against southpaws, it was almost a no brainer to have a chance at winning. Adams arm alone makes it a much harder decision. Not only Brooklyn, but the entire JLA runs a lot. Now the question becomes, do you throw a lefty to combat Charm Cities dynamic offense at the risk of muffling you're own offense. Or do you give in to their strengths to execute your own game plan.

[bcslouck]

This was a great move. I was one of the teams that stacked lefties against you. Between your ballpark factors and Anderson, Ortiz, Hearle, and Logan being less effective against southpaws, it was almost a no brainer to have a chance at winning. Adams arm alone makes it a much harder decision. Not only Brooklyn, but the entire JLA runs a lot. Now the question becomes, do you throw a lefty to combat Charm Cities dynamic offense at the risk of muffling you're own offense. Or do you give in to their strengths to execute your own game plan.

Yeah, I've been looking for some RH power in general to give me some more balance, and he fits perfect with how I've been platooning C anyway.

[jiminyhopkins]

Adams is a quality player. Glad to see his defense is still near elite.

[felipe]

Adams is a poor mans shag Hopkins