2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

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2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

Post by bigmike13 » Mon Sep 10, 2018 11:21 am

Getting Their Goat

You can’t blame Nashville for sitting around the Les Paul Field, sipping on some local Jim Beam Single Barrel and dreaming about the past since the present has been less than kind to the Goats. This is a far cry from the team that made five straight playoff appearances from 2016 to 2020 and brought home the big prize Landis Trophy in 2017 when they were the Halifax Hawks. The current Goats have been mired in a horrendous slump with 2025 being the last year they were over .500 and having triple digit losses three of the last four. But before you write the Goats off for 2036, let’s take a look at how this team is starting to transform back into a quality opponent.

Additions: CF Abdelwahab Kamade,
Losses: C Jose Gamboa


C: Xie-li Luo returns as the primary Catcher for the Goats in 2036. Acquired from Huntsville in 2034, Luo preformed adequately for the Goats in 2035 batting .256 with 56 RBI’s and 40 runs scored. The 16 Homers was a nice addition from Luo who has average Power and had a positive ZR behind the dish giving him a 1.4 WAR. The only other Catcher in camp is veteran Juan Guerrero, who also came over from Huntsville in a trade last season. More defense than offense, Guerrero is a solid backup in the league.

1B: While the Goats coaches talk about the expected battle at First base to between Raymond Aguilera and Barney Everhart, all eyes will be on youngster Miguel Suarez to see if he is ready for the big stage. There isn’t much more for Suarez to prove in the Minors and neither Aguilera nor Everhart have his gifts at the plate. If the spring goes well I expect the 21 yr old to win the job and become a fixture at 1B for many years to come.

2B: Unless there is a trade this spring, it looks like the Goats will open up 2036 with longtime BBA veteran Andre Wellington at Second Base. Wellington has had many highlights in his career but at this stage this can only be described as a black hole in the lineup for Nashville. Wellington has become a below average hitter and his range and arm look shot after 13 year career. It’s possible that the loser of the Pedro Gomez/Voitto Stromberg battle at SS will slide over to 2B but that remains to be seen.

SS: As mentioned above, the Shortstop position appears to be a battle royale this spring between Pedro Gomez and Voitto Stromberg. Both are excellent defensive infielders and both are adequate at the plate. Last years starter, Gomez, is still only 24 years old and while he has no real power to speak of his main purpose should be to get on base any way possible and let his speed take over.

3B: Jesus Mojica returns to Nashville and since he is currently the only 3B on the spring roster, one may assume he will be the leading candidate to break camp at the hot corner. Mojica will be looking to break out of a year long slump in but he was on the move a lot and really had little time to settle in. He was selected by Wichita in the Rule 5 Draft from Montreal at the beginning of 2035 and was then traded to Nashville in August of that same year. Mojica is still living out of a suitcase, afraid to unpack.

OF: 2032, 1st round pick Justin Jackson made his permanent debut for the Goats after a cup of coffee stop in 2034. Jackson looks every bit the future face of the Nashville franchise and brings excellent bat skills and defense to the table. With 30 Home Runs between AAA Montgomery and Nashville, big things look to be in store. Veteran Ken Jenkins, who came over in a trade with Long Beach last season, is back to patrol the outfield. Jenkins is a superb OBP guy with great speed and the ability to put the ball in play at will and will be opposite Jackson in the outfield. The big move of the offseason for Nashville also closes a gasp they had in their outfield as the worked a deal with The San Fernando Bears to grab star CF Abdelwahab Kamade. Kamade was a superb addition to this team and should flourish as the outfield general in Nashville.

Starting Rotation

This was, without a doubt, a weak spot for the Goats in 2035 as they finished the year with a team ERA of 5.40 and giving up an average of 5.8 Runs Per Game. After “Ace” Atsumori Maeda things get a little squirrely. The Goats are looking to experiment putting last years Closer Jonathan Frank in the rotation this spring, he is a borderline starter and it will be interesting to see if they can get him stretched out enough this spring to get a good reading on whether he can truly make the move to the rotation. Nicholas Sutton will be looking to rebound from a very taxing year that saw his ERA jump a full 1.5 Runs over 2034. Kidanu Cherono is another one who struggled mightily in 2035 going 2-13 with a 5.49 ERA. The Goats have 2033 3rd round pick Alfred Perales in camp and the 20 yr old does show some promise. Guillermo Martinez is back as an option but he can’t keep the ball in the park. Francisco Luna, Francis Jesty, Kyle Elston, Manuel Bruno and Lane Aldridge are all in camp to tryouts.

Bullpen:

If Frank stays in the rotation, look for Armando Figueroa to assume the Closing duties for Nashville. Figueroa has the usual issues that go with a power arm, lots of K’s and Lots of HR’s. Armando has a blazing Fastball but tends to groove too many pitches out over the heart of the plate. If he can get a little more movement on his pitches he would become far more effective.
The Goats have Miroslav Tomanek, Kurt Hier, Kyle Wright and Wu-Han Liu all returning from last year but there are a ton of options in camp and all jobs in the pen seem up for grabs. Nashville would LOVE to see some of the young guys step up and grab a role by the throat.


2036 Prediction
Maybe not this year, and maybe not next year but the Goats do seem to be making a slow turn to the positive side of the ledger. Patience and understanding are virtues, but they are never easy to give.

65-95, Fifth Place in JL Southeast Division.
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Re: 2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

Post by RonCo » Mon Sep 10, 2018 11:57 am

Nice write-up. Of course, pretty much as you were posting, Jenkins got traded...but that's the nature of previews. :)

Suarez is ready, but I'm projecting that the club's hitting coaches will try to say he needs to do some extra work on his pre-batter's box ritual and send him to the minors for a couple months just to get him totally prepared. :geek:
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Re: 2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

Post by bigmike13 » Mon Sep 10, 2018 12:29 pm

Darn, never even saw the trade. I will adjust this afternoon
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Re: 2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

Post by agrudez » Mon Sep 10, 2018 1:53 pm

Suarez, Kamade and Jackson is the start of a nice offense. They still need some pitching (both in the majors and the prospect pool baaaaaaad :), though.
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Re: 2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

Post by bigmike13 » Mon Sep 10, 2018 3:19 pm

Changes Already

As of the posting of this article a trade between Nashville and Wichita has already altered the makeup of the Goats . Out are OF Ken Jenkins & SP Lane Aldridge and In are SP Arturo Cruz, OF Jack Bullock and prospect Domingo Rivera.

With Jenkins leaving, this opens up one spot in the Outfield for newly acquired Jack Bullock and recent acquisition Raul Miranda. This also brings last years RF Elijah Curry back into the picture for starts. This muddies the waters somewhat for the last OF spot for the Goats. There is always a platoon option but Bullock and Curry look to be the exact same person, both are good at hitting lefties but are very bad at hitting righties. This leaves Curry who hits righties very well, but that is using abbreviated stats since he has never been a full time starter. Then there is defense where Curry has the glove but not the arm for Right Field and is better suited for CF or LF.

While the trade creates potential problems in one area, it was obviously made to fix problems in another area with the acquisition of SP Arturo Cruz. While Cruz wouldn't be considered an exceptional pitcher, he does have some ability and comes with a great work ethic to show the youngsters on this team. The trade also brings in prospect Domingo Rivera but probably the most important aspect is the salary relief as Nashville gets rid of about $25k and only takes on about $6k.

It remains to be seen if Nashville is done with trades this offseason.
Last edited by bigmike13 on Mon Sep 10, 2018 4:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

Post by RonCo » Mon Sep 10, 2018 4:30 pm

Nice double-clutch. Assuming I remember when I'm counting, I intend to award two bonus points. :)

Feel free to remind me if I screw up.
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Re: 2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

Post by GoldenOne » Mon Sep 10, 2018 5:30 pm

Thanks Mike. About what I was thinking/hoping for even before the Jenkins trade. We'll be a lot better this year and hoping some of those younger pitchers learn something this year and can jump in the deep end next season. Always on the hunt for a good trade or two, we'll see what we can dig up. The Plan remains in motion and on track!! :pickles: :pickles:
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Re: 2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

Post by GoldenOne » Thu Sep 13, 2018 2:34 pm

RonCo wrote:
Mon Sep 10, 2018 11:57 am
Nice write-up. Of course, pretty much as you were posting, Jenkins got traded...but that's the nature of previews. :)

Suarez is ready, but I'm projecting that the club's hitting coaches will try to say he needs to do some extra work on his pre-batter's box ritual and send him to the minors for a couple months just to get him totally prepared. :geek:
Wrong. Suarez is in! Bring it on!
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Re: 2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

Post by GoldenOne » Thu Sep 13, 2018 2:35 pm

agrudez wrote:
Mon Sep 10, 2018 1:53 pm
Suarez, Kamade and Jackson is the start of a nice offense. They still need some pitching (both in the majors and the prospect pool baaaaaaad :), though.
Majors, yes. Prospects....they arent as bad as you think.
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Re: 2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

Post by agrudez » Thu Sep 13, 2018 2:42 pm

GoldenOne wrote:
Thu Sep 13, 2018 2:35 pm
Majors, yes. Prospects....they arent as bad as you think.
You have some relievers, sure, but I only see 2 legit SP prospects (Likiliki and Perales) and neither excites me. I was mostly making my statement to be able to do an animal noise pun, though.
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Re: 2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

Post by GoldenOne » Thu Sep 13, 2018 3:01 pm

agrudez wrote:
Thu Sep 13, 2018 2:42 pm
GoldenOne wrote:
Thu Sep 13, 2018 2:35 pm
Majors, yes. Prospects....they arent as bad as you think.
You have some relievers, sure, but I only see 2 legit SP prospects (Likiliki and Perales) and neither excites me. I was mostly making my statement to be able to do an animal noise pun, though.
My baaaaaad. There may not be any really big studs but there is enough for a solid 2-5 rotation. And we’ve gpt money to go get that Ace is FA when the time comes. In the meantime, we found some lefties to help us with a couple of the left-handed heavy lineups in the division.
Last edited by GoldenOne on Thu Sep 13, 2018 3:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

Post by RonCo » Thu Sep 13, 2018 3:13 pm

GoldenOne wrote:
Thu Sep 13, 2018 2:35 pm
agrudez wrote:
Mon Sep 10, 2018 1:53 pm
Suarez, Kamade and Jackson is the start of a nice offense. They still need some pitching (both in the majors and the prospect pool baaaaaaad :), though.
Majors, yes. Prospects....they arent as bad as you think.
Nashville's finally getting to the point where it looks like it would be fun to work on. :)
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Re: 2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

Post by udlb58 » Sat Sep 15, 2018 3:17 pm

With the number of wins they had last year, you'd have to really try to not get better. Still, there offense should be okay. The pitching staff....
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Re: 2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

Post by bigmike13 » Wed Oct 31, 2018 8:20 am

Goats are blowing my prediction away. Sitting at 65 Wins at the end of August

Go Nashville!
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Re: 2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

Post by RonCo » Wed Oct 31, 2018 9:00 am

Always fun to go back and look at predictions.
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Re: 2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

Post by GoldenOne » Wed Oct 31, 2018 9:14 am

bigmike13 wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 8:20 am
Goats are blowing my prediction away. Sitting at 65 Wins at the end of August

Go Nashville!
You beat me to it Mike. I was going to come back to this after tomorrow's sim (Friday should be an easy day at work so there still might be a TN coming on this.) The lineup defnitely looks different than it did in spring training. I think I was hoping to get to 70 wins (I'll have to dig that up to be sure) but now I'm even shooting for maybe even 80. Will probably fall just short but you never know - everyone else seems to be catching the injury bug that I had at the beginning of the season.
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Re: 2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

Post by agrudez » Thu Nov 01, 2018 9:06 am

There are a lot of ways that a team can exceed expectations. Some are sustainable and some aren't. When you're in a position like this, where your team surprises you, it's important to try to understand which type of factors are contributing to it. If you don't, you run the risk of being disappointed next year (not so important) or making long lasting decisions based on smoke and mirror inputs (much more important).

(Not really a comment on NSH either way - though I do have my thoughts, that I'll keep to myself, crystalized in this case - but rather a general observation that can conversely be attributed to teams that are 'surprised' the other way [ie. doing poorly when they thought they would do well].)
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Re: 2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

Post by GoldenOne » Thu Nov 01, 2018 1:29 pm

agrudez wrote:
Thu Nov 01, 2018 9:06 am
There are a lot of ways that a team can exceed expectations. Some are sustainable and some aren't. When you're in a position like this, where your team surprises you, it's important to try to understand which type of factors are contributing to it. If you don't, you run the risk of being disappointed next year (not so important) or making long lasting decisions based on smoke and mirror inputs (much more important).

(Not really a comment on NSH either way - though I do have my thoughts, that I'll keep to myself, crystalized in this case - but rather a general observation that can conversely be attributed to teams that are 'surprised' the other way [ie. doing poorly when they thought they would do well].)
Best part is, it wasnt (totally) a surprise to the Goats Front Office. There are some performances that are better than what I hoped but there are also some that arent doing what I thought they could/should do. The part that is most suprising though, how the Goats have been able to maintain their pace based on all the injuries they've had, especially to a pitching staff that nobody envied/envies. Maybe its everyone else having injuries as well or maybe it does have something to do with having The Plan® and sticking to it. I'll go with the combination of both things....as well as a little smoke and mirrors; afterall, you cant have a 'special season' without a little bit of Magic.
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Re: 2036 Nashville Goats - Trending Up

Post by udlb58 » Thu Nov 01, 2018 11:04 pm

agrudez wrote:
Thu Nov 01, 2018 9:06 am
There are a lot of ways that a team can exceed expectations. Some are sustainable and some aren't. When you're in a position like this, where your team surprises you, it's important to try to understand which type of factors are contributing to it. If you don't, you run the risk of being disappointed next year (not so important) or making long lasting decisions based on smoke and mirror inputs (much more important).

(Not really a comment on NSH either way - though I do have my thoughts, that I'll keep to myself, crystalized in this case - but rather a general observation that can conversely be attributed to teams that are 'surprised' the other way [ie. doing poorly when they thought they would do well].)
:plus1:

I definitely made this mistake back in 2027. Thinking we were one or two players from winning the division.
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