After the worst season in the franchise history, the San Diego Dirt Bags decided to get the hell out of dodge and were rechristened the Hot Pockets of Helena, Montana (the ultimate small market team). That's not the only change this season. A busy offseason of trades, Rule Vers, FA leaving (I'm not paying $5.3m in arb for a bad 1st baseman) and promotions has left the Hot Pockets only a slight resemblance of the former DB's.
The Team
Catcher - Last year's starter was traded away for the rights to up and comer Louie Neruda. He will join Jeffrey Fleming in a platoon situation behind the plate.
1st - Last year's starter left to languish on the FA market...no worries, because young gun Jamey Perez gets his shot in the bigs. Rule Ver Walt Mills will backup.
2nd - Thank God for the Rule V draft because both starter Phil Ganzel and backup Sean Carlson were hijacked from other teams.
3rd - Will Jackson will get a shot at 3rd this year...last year I had about 245 3rd baseman on the roster, but trades and other moves have made this position a little thin.
SS- Another high (over) priced FA let go, another young one (Larry Williams) steps up to fill in while other prospects mature one more year.
OF - The staples (Lee Coleman and Trevor Stevenson) are joined by two acquisitions from last season (Don Garcia and Doug Wise)
The Starters - A vastly improved starting 5 includes a big IFA from last year (Carlos Espinoza), a IFA who just got promoted to the big leagues after ripping up the minors (Benji Alfonseca), a trade acquistion (Al Blanco) and two solid performers from last season (Brady Garcia and Pedro Bolivar).
The Pen - The biggest glaring weakness this year is the pen. Not a lot of great relievers on the team unfortunately. However, John Savage, Adam Riggs, Jerry Goodwin, Daryn Lambert, Russ Thomas, Earle Magadan and Lawrence Mitchell will do their best to hold it down when the HPs get a lead.
Prediction - Last season was a Florida Marlins-esk blowup that saw a lot of established players leaving and a lot of new ones coming in. This season looks to be much brighter, but we won't be popping champagne in all likelihood.
Predicted Record: 75-87 (a 10 game improvement from last season)
Team Song: Obvi...the Hot Pocket jingle
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