2062.11-Addressing Needs Part 1-Defense

[Krathan]

As I looked at my team entering the offseason, I knew I wanted to address a couple of areas before getting to Spring Training. My pitching was pretty bad last season. Some of that fell on the starters, but there were other factors as well.

The defense was not as good in 2061 as it had been the previous couple of seasons. Elvin Masuki was still solid at short, but he was pretty much an automatic out at the plate and had produced negative WAR before I traded him. I tried Jose Valle, who had been brilliant defensively in the minors while providing just enough offense to keep him in the lineup. He posted almost 2 WAR at AAA in 2060 and had about 1.6 WAR in 92 games in 2061 before being called up. He played in 43 games with a ZR of 5.43, an RF of 4.62, and a Def Eff. of 1.104. However, his wRC+ of 6 was so bad that he put up negative 0.6 WAR in those 43 games. He was on pace for over 20 ZR and -2 WAR. That's just not usable. So I ended up with Loo Yang at short the rest of the way.

I did have some conversations with other GM's about trying to add a starting shortstop or a known quantity at backup SS but none of that turned into any deals. Yang ended up playing really well for me after taking over the starting role. He played in 92 games and had an OPS of .847, with 12 doubles and 13 home runs, while driving in 46. He played 55 games at short, making 5 errors, while posting a Def Eff. of 1.028 and a ZR of 1.5. Those defensive numbers aren't comparable to Masuki or Valle, but they aren't bad. If he played that well in a full season, that could be about 4.5 ZR or so, putting him in the top half of the league at that position. If he could repeat his 124 wRC+ with upper half defensive production in 2062, he would be one of the more productive players at that position in the league. His ratings don't really scream 124 wRC+ though, so I can't count on that. However, he was really solid as a starter, especially outside of an awful July. If he can sit at 100 wRC+ with good defense, he could still be a real asset.

The problem is that I released Valle because I don't see him as a viable option at the BBA level anymore. That left me with only 2 players other than Yang with an infield range of 9 or better. Tommy Anderson, who spent 2061 in Short A, and Eduardo Gonzales, who spent 2061 at the Rookie level. Both of those guys are listed as "6's" at SS and need some development time before they could possibly see time in the BBA. So that meant I needed to try to create more options in case Yang gets hurt, plays poorly, or just needs a day off. I have a 7 rated SS, Wally Willis, at AAA, but despite some recent dev bumps, I'm not really comfortable going into 2062 with him as my only possible backup SS option in the organization. (I also don't love that he only has 8 range. Maybe it's a high 8, but...

So, I started collecting backup SS options like my life depends on it. I signed Khalil Esam and Young-Sick So (who I absolutely had to assign the number 60) to minor league contracts with small signing bonuses. So has a range of 10 and a 9 arm while Esam has 9 range and a 6 arm. Then I signed Tristan Colenutt to a minor league contract with a major league option. His OPS has been under .500 the last two years, but he has also had a couple of recent seasons over .600. He can also play just about any position on the field outside of pitcher or catcher with 9 speed. I picked up John Jowers, Leonardo Campos, and Edwin Harrington in the Rule 5 draft while claiming Zakiy Shadi off of waivers. I only had room for three of them on my 40-man so I sent Harrington back to Montreal. Jowers is a lot like Colenutt, but not as fast and not quite as rangy in the outfield. Campos is probably not a capable SS because he only has a 5 arm, but he has a little more offensive potential than some of the other guys on the list. I also tried sending Domingo Chavez to the dev lab to see if I could get his range bumped up to at least an 8, making him a less rangy option if needed. That didn't work out , so his 7 range will have to stay at 2B.

Speaking of 2B, that was a position that turned into a defensive nightmare in 2061. I ended up resigning Robert Menzies in the offseason because the other 2B options I tried to go for, all ended up signing elsewhere. Then Menzies lumped defensively, making him a less than ideal starter at the keystone. I also signed Carlos Gutierrez to play some 2nd base. Unfortunately, he also lumped defensively as the year progressed. I even ended up using Dallas Dixon there a few times, despite his range falling to 5. Yang played there some before he had to move to SS, and was the best defender of the group. He played second in 33 games, but only started 5. He was the only guy to have a ZR above 0 (0.63) and Eff above .980 (1.047). Gutierrez started 99 games there and ended with a ZR of -1.39. Dixon started 16 games and put up -3.24 ZR. Menzies started 42 games at second with a ZR of -3.94. That led to a lot of balls getting through the infield that probably shouldn't have. Chavez will be the primary starter at 2B. Played 60 minor league games there in 2061, with a ZR of about 5.4. He also posted a combined 3.9 WAR in 115 games between AA and AAA. He's had a good amount of positive development this offseason and should be an upgrade offensively and defensively at 2B for the team in 2062. Another fun thing that happened this offseason, is that Jacquot Natta successfully improved his defense in the Dev Lab and could now play a pretty solid 2B if I needed him too once in a while.

[trmmilwwi]

Fun look beneath the hood here. Middle defense certainly makes a difference. Great read!

[ae37jr]

I always try to grab any 9/10 range INF or OF, no matter how bad they are. If you are lucky, you have one legit SS/CF prospect. May as well put the best defender possible at all other levels to help develop your pitchers.

[Krathan]

I always try to grab any 9/10 range INF or OF, no matter how bad they are. If you are lucky, you have one legit SS/CF prospect. May as well put the best defender possible at all other levels to help develop your pitchers.

I agree. I just kind of let up on that for a season and ended up with almost nobody in the system with great range.

[BaseClogger]

I’d play Natta at 2B. You’re loaded with 3B.

Hmmm. I don’t know what that means for Chavez lol

[Krathan]

Right. That’s part of why I was really hoping to get Chavez some more range. My dream was to have Chavez at SS and Natta at 2B.