2035 Twin Cities River Monsters- Next Step Is Now???

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2035 Twin Cities River Monsters- Next Step Is Now???

Post by recte44 » Fri Jun 15, 2018 11:10 am

2035 Twin Cities River Monsters- Next Step is Now?

The Twin Cities River Monsters are already entering their seventh season of existence. Can you believe how time flies? In 2033 the River Monsters reached the 90 win mark and a playoff berth for the first time in their history, but took a step back in 2034 despite being in the playoff mix until the last day of the year, in fact losing a one game playoff to end the year with a disappointing 81-82 record.

Additions:
RP Will Franklin (8/6/8 Ratings, 20 - 20, 3.00 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 262 K) (FA)
3B Jerome Marion (6/8/6/4/6 Ratings, .251/.288/.423, 159 HR, 573 RBI) (FA)
RP Cedric Andrews (7/7/9 Ratings, 15 - 25, 4.42 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 426 K) (FA)
RP Jose Garcia (FA)

Subtractions:
RF Mark Sturdivant (6/6/8/7/7 Ratings, .262/.341/.437, 167 HR, 558 RBI) (FA)
SP Juan Jose Eilzando (10/7/1 Ratings, 51 - 52, 4.46 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, 1020 K) (FA)
RP Felix Alvarado (10/6/6 Ratings, 38 - 36, 3.18 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 669 K) (FA)
RP Mark McCray (6/6/7 Ratings, 1 - 2, 4.29 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 12 K) (Expansion)
1B Juan Perez (Expansion)
RP Caleb Benavides (9/7/6 Ratings, 9 - 12, 4.64 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 121 K) (Expansion)
2B Yong-hun Kim (4/4/5/4/8 Ratings, .215/.290/.300, 13 HR, 78 RBI) (Rule 5)
3B Colin West (4/5/5/7/5 Ratings) (Rule 5)

Major Injuries:
P Vladimir Reichel (10/7/6 Ratings, 4 - 4, 4.75 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 38 K) (torn flexor tendon, out until at least September)
P Alejandro Alvarado (7/7/7 Ratings, 0 - 0, 5.52 ERA, 1.70 WHIP, 11 K) (torn rotator cuff, out until at least August)

Starting Pitching:
The River Monsters have a lot of young, emerging talent all over the pitching staff. No star shines as brightly as does Chris Kelly (10/7/9 Ratings, 26 - 22, 3.78 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 370 K) who sits atop the rotation and is, at age 22, one of the very best starters in the entire BBA. Their #2 starter in Josh Brown (8/7/7 Ratings, 14 - 10, 3.94 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 159 K) is no slouch himself, and he will look to build off a successful first full year in the bigs. There was some confusion with the River Monsters roster reporting to the league office to start the year, so the last three spots in the rotation could be fluid. To start the year Jerry Coyle (7/8/8 Ratings, 9 - 15, 4.11 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 122 K) was the #3, though his best fit is probably in relief. Travis Arnold (8/6/8 Ratings, 31 - 24, 3.94 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 345 K) is the #4 starter and will look to bounce back after a disappointing 2034 campaign. Veteran Reese Raynor is the #5 and while he gives the club innings, he also gives them fits with his tendency to allow the big fly (184 over the last five seasons with TWC).

Relief Pitching:
It’s unsure who will ultimately end up as the relief ace with all of the promising young arms, but to start the year Juan Suarez got the nod for the ninth. It’s doubtful this will last long as he hasn’t had much success of late, but the one time EBA star did save 21 games for TWC way back in 2031. Jessie Stewart (9/6/8 Ratings, 48 - 61, 4.50 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 622 K) has been in the rotation the last couple of years and it is highly likely that he will swap roles with Coyle before too long. Garcia was a decent signing as a bounceback candidate, as was Franklin. Alphonse Salvarani (8/6/7 Ratings, 16 - 14, 4.02 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 256 K) is another former EBA player who is slated for heavy middle relief work but might be best suited as a LOOGY. 23 year old George Galetto (10/7/5 Ratings, 2 - 6, 2.90 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 67 K) is an interesting power arm who looks to establish himself in meaningful innings this year. Carlino Omoboni (8/5/9 Ratings, 30 - 45, 5.31 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 376 K) has been unable to establish himself but gets what could be his last shot to start the year. The most interesting free agent signing is Andrews. He made an unlikely comeback with Omaha last year despite not pitching in the majors since 2030, and at age 38 is the grizzled veteran of the group. I’d use Andrews strictly as a ROOGY- we’ll see how Twin Cities ends up utilizing him. 24 year old Yann Legrand (10/6/5 Ratings) didn’t make the Opening Day roster due to a numbers crunch but he’ll be a big part of the pen this year and could ultimately end up as the River Monsters’ relief ace.

Catcher:
Sang-duk Sim (8/7/6/4/9 Ratings, .385/.429/.769, 1 HR, 3 RBI) starts the year as the River Monsters primary catcher, and he’s a rookie to watch in the Brewster this season. Ignacio Marrero (5/5/8/5/5 Ratings, .230/.296/.405, 54 HR, 177 RBI) will platoon with him to start the year even though Sim looks to be a better hitter versus lefties. Because of the Opening Day roster crunch, Gerald Gonzalez (6/6/7/7/5 Ratings, .258/.342/.424, 43 HR, 176 RBI) was optioned to AAA to start the year despite the fact he’s been the Monsters’ primary catcher the last three years. Ultimately they could decide to give Sim more minor league seasoning and go with a more true platoon of Gonzalez and Marrero but Sim’s defense and overall upside should trump that idea.

Infield:
This is the strength of the River Monsters, and one of the best infield groups in the entire league. Hunter Eisenhower (7/7/7/8/6 Ratings, .278/.367/.474, 378 HR, 1247 RBI) is like the Energizer Bunny, he just keeps on going and going and going….and after his bounce back year in 2034 will be the full time first baseman. That means Duane Whitley, Jr. (7/6/7/5/8 Ratings, .267/.331/.444, 39 HR, 151 RBI) is the primary DH- the Monsters will be looking for a big jump from the young slugger in 2035. Xue-quin Man is the second baseman, despite going to the All-Star Game and winning the Zimmer Award at his position last year it was actually a disappointing year for Man. Chris Limon (5/6/7/9/7 Ratings, .248/.367/.455, 128 HR, 404 RBI) was also an All-Star last year and won the Puckett Award at third base, he’s a solid player at the hot corner. Stop me if you’re sensing a pattern here- shortstop Mark Wareham (6/5/7/10/6 Ratings, .250/.394/.413, 90 HR, 279 RBI) also was an All-Star and the Puckett Award winning shortstop last year. Wareham is a “Three True Outcomes” player who hit 25 homers with an amazing 162 walks, 169 strikeouts and 82 stolen bases last year. Their bench is awfully good as well, featuring the veteran Marian and Dennis Giguere (5/5/6/8/6 Ratings, .235/.335/.368, 16 HR, 63 RBI) who could start for many teams in the Brewster. In the minors, Twin Cities already has the heir apparent to Eisenhower at first base nearly ready for the majors in Richard Wishart (6/4/8/6/8 Ratings) .

Outfield:
As good as their infield is, the outfield is no slouch either. Ray Cooper (7/7/8/6/7 Ratings, .283/.358/.504, 143 HR, 497 RBI) is a stud in left field, it’s hard to say a 4 WAR season was a “letdown” but that was indeed that case for him last year. Jayden Harsnett (6/7/7/9/5 Ratings, .235/.348/.398, 72 HR, 291 RBI) has been bandied about as a trade candidate- despite fantastic tools he has not performed well but hope remains that he will be an impact player. Rookie Ricardo Juarez (7/8/7/4/7 Ratings, .231/.266/.436, 7 HR, 13 RBI) will try to establish himself as a full time player as is 21 year old Gilberto Lopez (6/7/4/5/7 Ratings, .235/.278/.235, 0 HR, 0 RBI) who projects to be a plus lefty bat. If Harsnett is traded or slumps again, Man could also be a factor in the outfield- this makes the Marion signing make even more sense.

Projection:
The BNN Preseason Predictions are quite interesting as they have the River Monsters at 88-74, one game behind the Madison Wolves and one game ahead both the Omaha Hawks and the Yellow Springs Nine. Wait, what??? The Nine are projected to be tied for third? That seems unlikely, as does Twin Cities being that good. They certainly have the offense to be a contender but will the pitching hold up? Might they smartly deal from their positions of strength to find a solid veteran starter and fill their bullpen? Only time will tell.

I’m projecting Twin Cities to improve this year, but not as much as BNN thinks.

84-78, 3rd place Frick League Heartland, 50% playoff chance

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Re: 2035 Twin Cities River Monsters- Next Step Is Now???

Post by Spiccoli » Fri Jun 15, 2018 5:20 pm

Thanks for the write up.

Really enjoyed it
Scott Piccoli GM Twin Cities

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Re: 2035 Twin Cities River Monsters- Next Step Is Now???

Post by recte44 » Fri Jun 15, 2018 8:28 pm

Hope it was helpful AND entertaining. I really like what you have going in the Twin Cities. Going to be an exciting team if you can just upgrade your pitching staff.

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Re: 2035 Twin Cities River Monsters- Next Step Is Now???

Post by usnspecialist » Fri Jun 15, 2018 8:31 pm

recte44 wrote:Hope it was helpful AND entertaining. I really like what you have going in the Twin Cities. Going to be an exciting team if you can just upgrade your pitching staff.
agreed, but unlike a lot of teams that need a pitching upgrade he already has the hard part (the ace). Lot easier to acquire those 3-5 guys, as i think brown will develop into a good enough #2 man for a title team.
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Re: 2035 Twin Cities River Monsters- Next Step Is Now???

Post by RonCo » Fri Jun 15, 2018 9:25 pm

I think the Twin Cities pitching staff is fine. No need to upgrade at all.
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