The off-season is among us and with that it is time for teams to begin moving the pieces around to try and improve their team from a season ago. Free agency is just around the corner, but before that begins, teams and players are hitting the development lab to get in some extra off-season work to try and improve and harness a given skill. The Lumberjacks coaching staff announced this week that ten players have joined the team's development lab facility to get in extra work during phase 1 of the lab session. Here are those 10 players and the skills they'll look to improve this winter.
C Allan Uecker - Quality of Contact
Uecker is an elite defensive catcher and on that skill alone will continue to produce WAR that helps the Lumberjacks win games. Despite back to back seasons of an OPS of .655 and .652, he's still managed to post 6.8 combined WAR over those seasons. But the team would love a return of 2059 Uecker when he hit .276 and combined with that defense managed a 5.3 WAR season. So Uecker is going to see if some extra winter work might help his ability to tally a few more base hits this season. He is currently a 5-5-6-4-6 overall rated hitter.
P Mauro Esperanda - Improve Pitch Arsenal
Esperanada spent most of last season in the bullpen but was thrust into the rotation late and even started game 1 and 5 of the Geoghegan Series versus Long Beach. HIs movement and ability to keep the ball in the park seem best suited for extended times on the mound in the rotation. If he could improve his pitch arsenal he could be even better. His Curveball-Sinker-Splitter combination currently rank 4-5-4 overall. Those are pretty good already when combined with 8 movement and 8 control. But let's see if he can become even better heading into 2062 where he's expected to be in the rotation from day 1.
LF Bartolo McFadden - Improve Defense in LF
McFadden was drafted last season and didn't take long in the minors to make the jump to Portland. He'll compete for a corner outfield job this season but will definitely make the roster as a 3-5 outfielder on the team. If he can somehow improve his defense some this winter there is a good chance he'll roll into opening day as the starting LF. Currently rated a 6 in LF with 5-7-6 outfield ratings
OF Alvin Conley - Plate Discipline
We thought that job was Conley's for years to come. Especially after a 39 homerun, 103 RBI season in 2058. But it has been a steady decline for Alvin since then, so much so that his -1.3 WAR last year was the worst on the team. Alvin still has 2 years on a small extension signed last off-season so the team isn't giving up hope. If Conley can improve his plate discipline in the lab this winter he becomes a very viable corner guy to rotate with McFadden and spell Greg Squires. Conley is currently a 6-5-5-3-8 overall hitter.
2B Edward Roundfield - Improve Defense at 2B and 1B/2B Izz al Din Abdul-Sami - Improve Defense at 2B
I'm listing these two guys together because the hope is the same: Replace Rich Dares!
If you squint, both have some characteristics that can make their bat a decent addition to the lineup. Roundfield has shown the ability to provide some pop in the order and Abdul-Sami has a decent all around bat if he boosts a little more. But what both lack over Dares is the ability to play solid defense at the position. One of the reasons Portland has been improved these last 3 seasons is because of their defense. They can't afford to slack off now. Roundfield is a 6 at 2B with 6-8-4-8 infield ratings while Abdul-Sami is a 5 at 2B with 5-6-4-5 2B ratings.
LF Bill Fredrick - Quality of Contact
It scares me to throw prospects in the Lab for fear of screwing them up. Fredrick is our highest rated one and closest to being BBA ready. He still has a couple seasons in the minors left but his first positive WAR season last year has us optimistic he's going to be a solid COF for us in the future. So we want to see what the Lab does for his ratings. We're going to see if his contact ability improves. HIs current ratings are: 5-5-7-4-4 with his potentials being 8-5-7-6-6. Please don't fuck this up!
RF Cosmo Maganas - Quality of Contact
We've sent Cosmo twice and he has failed both times. So maybe the third time is the charm. Unlike Fredrick, we aren't too worried about screwing Cosmo up because we've about given up on him anyway. Our $20 million IFA investment is likely a bust at this point but we'll hold out hope for a miracle. Current ratings: 1-3-3-3-1. Potential Ratings: 4-7-8-8-4
1B Roberto Compton - Generate Bat Speed
This is just kind of a flyer addition. We don't have any big plans for Compton. He's on that cusp of being like "hey, maybe this guy could do something" but also being a "sucks he's a 1B and he'll never help much" type of guy. So we're going to throw him int he lab and see what might happen if he finds some bat speed. Maybe he surprises us and can be a 27th man type on the roster or a potential replacement for Ohayashi that won't cost us much. Current ratings: 5-5-6-5-5. Potential Ratings: 5-5-7-5-5
P Aswad Azeem - Improve Control
We discussed this in the Pacific podcast about how some guys look better than what their overall rating suggests. I think Azeem could be better than a 45 rated pitcher. A guy with 7 stuff and 7 movement with a solid 4 pitch repertoir could be very serviceable. Moreso if he boosts his control just a little bit. The former 1st round pick is probably 1 more season away from cracking the BBA staff but if he can improve just a little bit then he could be a guy we fill Wullenweber's vacant spot with in 2063*. Currently a 5-6-5 pitcher with Potentials of 7-7-5.
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* We aren't comparing Azeem to Wullenweber. Just stating Wullenweber will be gone in 2063 and Azeem could be the next man up for the rotation. Pluse we really want a guy on the team we can call Ass-Wad. Goes good with Ass-Hat Ohayashi at 1B.
