2065 Preview-Yellow Springs Nine

[Krathan]

This preview will take a look at the 2065 Yellow Springs Nine. This is a pivotal year for the Nine. By the time we get to October, the organization will have either reached a level of success not seen in 13 years, or GM Rob McGonigal will be moving from the small town of Yellow Springs to the big city lights of Las Vegas, replaced by the commissioner himself, Matt Rectenwald.

This preview is about so much more than just one season, or one group of players. This preview is about 162 games that will determine the fate of two franchises and their leadership.

Let’s get into it.

The Nine won 72 games in 2064. That’s the highest win total that Yellow Springs has seen since 2056, when they almost reached the .500 mark, finishing 80-82. They won 71 games in 2063, and 70 in 2062. McGonigal has been looking toward 2065 for some time now, even referring to it as “Operation 2065” on at least one occasion. Now is the time for the Nine to move forward. How will that be achieved?

I’m going to start by taking a look at the offense.

Tony López will be the team’s primary catcher in 2065. Last season Yellow Springs used 4 players behind the plate. They combined to provide 0.9 WAR. Two of those players, Vladik Paulus and Qaseem Kahil are still battling to make the big league roster as the backup to Lopez. Lopez is coming off of a year in which he produced 1.1 WAR on his own. That was a down year for Lopez, who had posted more than 3.5 or more WAR each of the two previous seasons. He should be a big upgrade for the Nine.

At first base, The Nine will count on Emillio Navarro once again. Navarro is a fan favorite, who McGonigal can count on for about 25 home runs and 90 RBI. He posted 3.3 WAR in 2064, his best mark yet, and should continue to provide good production in his age 27 season.

Alberto Hernández is an exciting young player who will be given an opportunity to show what he can do at the big league level. He isn't as good of a defender as the potpourri of players who manned the position last year, but he should be a better hitter. I believe he will be an upgrade for the Nine at the beginning of the year, and has a chance to be an impact player if he can grow into his potential a bit as the year goes on.

Tony Bunce will once again man the hot corner. He has been a good player since debuting in 2062, and is coming off of a year in which he posted 3.7 WAR. He has back to back seasons with 19 home runs, and should continue to be a key piece of the offense.

Leslie Hartman is the envy of many GM’s across the BBA, and the reason that McGonigal’s DM’s are always full. Hartman is an incredible defender with a very good offensive skill set. He has posted 6.7 WAR in his first two seasons in the league. He will continue to provide tremendous value to the Nine in 2065.

McGonigal has some great options in the outfield.

Ricardo Santos has been playing left field in Spring Training. He mostly played right field after joining the Nine in the middle of the 2064 season. He was absolutely fantastic. Santos put up an OPS of .911 with 2.4 WAR in just 65 games. The 22 year old should take off in 2065, as he prepares to play his first full season in the league.

Don Anderson is a slick fielding, and very fast, center fielder, who has not been as good the last two seasons as he was the two before. Last year, he posted 1.9 WAR as the team’s primary centerfielder, starting 131 games there. He has, unfortunately, lumped a bit, and doesn’t look likely to get back to the 4 WAR performances he put up in ‘61 and ‘62. However, he is still a valuable player on this roster.

Manuel Nevada is another useful player who hit the cover off the ball in AA but was not quite ready to contribute offensively in Yellow Springs after being recalled midseason in 2064. He only managed an OPS of .651 in 70 games. He did play solid defense and should improve at the plate.

Carlos Morales is another young player who appears to be ready to make an impact at the big league level. He posted 6.5 WAR in AA last season and looks like he is fully developed. I think Morales could be a key part of the team’s success this year.

Rodrigo Keeter is another exciting young outfielder who has yet to play a game in the BBA. Keeter put up 6.9 WAR in AA last year and also looks ready to contribute at the big league level.

I’m not sure how McGonigal will choose to deploy his outfielders this year, but it would be hard for him to go wrong with so much talent at his disposal.

Roberto Gabriel should return as the team’s designated hitter in 2065. He has successfully held down that role the last three seasons, and is coming off of an excellent 3.8 WAR season, in which he clubbed 45 home runs and picked up 125 RBI.


OVERALL POSITION PLAYER EVALUATION:

This is a good group of players who should combine to score a lot of runs and play solid defense. I didn’t get into the infield bench much, but there are some nice players there, who you don’t want to have to start often, but who could be productive if needed in short stints.


Starting Pithers:

If the Nine are going to get better this year, they are going to need a good performance from their pitching staff. McGonigal wasted no time addressing that need, signing two of the premier free agents pitchers on the market right out of the gate.

Micah Harrington is a veteran starter coming off of his second straight season with an ERA under 4.00. Harrington has 9 seasons under his belt in which he posted at least 2.6 WAR, including the last two.

Luis González was Yellow Spring’s other big free agent starter. He has been phenomenal in Montreal the last two years, with 27 wins and an ERA around 3.20.

Javier Martínez is ready to step back into the rotation for the third straight season. He missed several weeks with an injury last year, and didn’t have quite as much success as he did as a rookie. I think he will probably end up somewhere between the 10-9 3.42 that he put up in 2063 and the 4-9 4.67 that he posted in 2064. And that should be good enough to help his team win.

Aurelio García is a young southpaw starter who debuted in 2064, finishing 6-5 with a 4.32 ERA. Not bad for a kid making the jump from AA. Now that he has some big league experience, I expect him to take a step forward and have a great year.

Kevin Copley is another young lefty with great minor league numbers. He looks like he’s ready to step into the big league rotation, and should be well equipped for success.


Bullpen:

Dewey Harris, Ted Neill, and Héctor Delgado all started several games for the Nine last year of the team’s starters last year. They could all serve as depth or long relief options depending on how McGonigal wants to manage it.

Cornelio Martínez is a talented reliever who had a bit of a down year in 2064. He should rebound and be a quality reliever in 2065.

Paul Roberts is a talented reliever who, like many of the young players on this team, has had a lot of minor league success, but has little to no BBA experience. He looks to me like he is ready to compete at the highest level.

Carlos Torres also fits that mold. He’s not as fully developed, but he can likely pitch well enough for the Nine right out of the gate, with the possibility that he will just get better as the year goes on.

Yeow-whye Chao is a solid reliever that McGonigal picked up in a trade with Bikini in the offseason. He looks like a good addition to the club.

Cory McGuire has had an up and down career, but seems likely to be part of the pen.

I like Javier Díaz quite a bit. I also think that Saled Lahsini can be a useful contributor.


PITCHING STAFF OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

There is a lot of talent here. I like the starting rotation more than the bullpen, but there are some really nice pieces in the pen as well. It’s just not terribly deep. I especially like that there are veteran starting options if the young pitchers struggle or if there are injuries that need to be filled in.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS AND MY PREDICTION:

There is a lot to like on this roster. Rob McGonigal has put together a good group of talented young players that he can add to a nice mix of quality veterans. I would be a little nervous staking my job on so many young, unproven players, but there is so much talent here, that they should be able weather the storm if some of the youth underperform.

I think Rob gets to keep control of the Yellow Springs Nine and reap the benefits of all of his work building this team over the last several seasons. I believe that Yellow Springs will win at least 83 games, and possibly even push closer to 88. This is a team that has a chance to compete for a wildcard spot in a tough Heartland Division. There are a lot of strong teams in the division, but the Yellow Springs Nine can now be counted among them.

[BaseClogger]

Rob’s hoarding young talent, my goodness.

[Trebro]

Rob’s hoarding young talent, my goodness.

I learned a lot after the fiasco that was my 2059-61 push. I've been quietly working on this, and had planned for sometime between 2064/65 as the start of my window. Between disliking the FA pitching options that off-season AND the injuries early on, I decided to hold on for 2065.

Now, I'll be honest - I'm not sure how much we have to keep this going. But if all goes well, we should be able to perform strongly for the rest of the decade.

And if not, well, I've always wanted to visit Las Vegas...

[jiminyhopkins]

The Nine are stacked. Big fan of wht Rob is doing in YS.

Of course, if he comes to Vegas, I will not be so big of a fan..... and will focus on destroying his team every time they play the Talons!

[Chuck V]

So what is the deal with this franchise trade? This preview is the first I have heard of it.

[RT60]

On behalf of the Sluggers, I wish Rob luck. Not too much luck of course.

[Trebro]

So what is the deal with this franchise trade? This preview is the first I have heard of it.

I forget exactly what the context was, but I said something along the lines of "if I can't get this team to 82 wins, I don't know that I'll ever get the Nine to 82 wins."

Matt immediately laid out a challenge: If I don't win 82 games, we swap teams.

Never one to back down from a challenge, I accepted the bet.

And here we are. I can't say I would have done much different without the bet, but it sure has made each decision more exciting!