The Pheasants, with 93 wins on the season just proved to be a bit too much for the Downforce, who battled into the wildcard race despite often losing players to the major league club, such as Tony Bunce, Attana Sangeeta, Cecil Durdle, Pete Hulett, and Byron Radcliffe.
"It's not always easy being the AAA manager," said Dave Tallent, who took over in 2060. "You have to get used to there being a steady stream of players that either are going to get called up at some point, are sent down because they're struggling, or cycled through in an attempt to find a bounce-back candidate, like Radcliffe was. But we got there, even if it didn't work out the way I'd hoped. You know I made the playoffs 5 times in a row before coming to this backwards organization, right?"
"Dave's rather outspoken," said GM Rob McMonigal, but I do agree the job can be hard at times. Still, he did a great job with the players we gave him, and while we'd loved to have done more damage, just getting into the playoffs is huge for people like Leslie Hartman and Javier Martinez.
Top players on the Downforce who stayed all year included:
SS Leslie Hartman, 1st round pick in 2060. .318 average, 5.15 range, 19.8 ZR, 4.6 WAR
OF Mark Denham, 2060 minor league free agent. .348 average, .945 OPS, 2.2 WAR
SP Chris Lacy, 2061 minor league free agent (originally 3rd round pick in 2045 by the Nine). 10-9, 3.66 ERA, 118Ks, 1.27 WHIP, 3.3 WAR
SP Guo-liang Chen, 2061 minor league free agent. 12-9, 3.75 ERA, 137K, 1.26 WHIP, 2.6 WAR
"This is a transitional time for us in Indianapolis," added McMonigal. "We're looking less at just rewarding organizational talent who have "earned" their way up and more towards people who can help the Nine win games. So there's a much older mix to the team than there used to be. But we appreciate what these veterans bring to the table."
Indianapolis will look to do more than just make the playoffs in 2063.
