After a bittersweet loss in the S11 ALCS to Dover, management packed up the moving vans again and headed east to settle into Durham, as close to the MLB theme as the AL South options allow. This franchise stumbled around in the first 10 years of the league (only 1 playoff appearance & winning season, both in S1) but is now firmly entrenched among the top teams in the AL. HOF inductee Frank Gates hit .409 and the offense led the way to 93 wins but in the ALCS, the bats went cold and wasted rare, good pitching performances from Hub Strange & Giomar Cortez. Bolstering the starting pitching was priority #1 heading into the offseason, but management decided that the cost on Paulie Sanders & Carl Baker were going to exceed their actual value and instead chose to lock up franchise player Albert Johnson. The trade market yielded veteran hurlers Cam Anderson & Jake Owens and Cy Bruske is expected to provide some assistance for Jorge Owen & Jaime Phillips in the pen.
Lineup & Reserves:
DH- Frank Gates. recently signed a 2 year, $5M contract extension which is either highway robbery or proof the FA engine is broken. Management loves Frank Gates and his silly numbers.
LF- Ramon Dong returns from his S11 neck injury still looking like a guy who can add to his HOF candidacy/resume. Will probably score his 1500th run and record his 1000th career BB, 400th double and 50th triple this season after breaking 2000 hits last season.
2B- Albert Johnson got $110M over 5 seasons to anchor the lineup and play 155+ games. Sure, he's overpaid but he's one of the few players with elite ratings in almost every key category, so if not him, then who?
3B- Oswaldo Santos finished in the top 5 of the NL MVP voting, leading the league in RBI (185) and winning the Gold Glove.
C - Felipe Frias & Pedro Martin will split time behind the plate, with Rule 5 pick Ricardo Gongora picking up the late inning defensive duties. Combined, Frias & Martin went for 39 dingers and 120 ribbies last season, with a near-.300 BA and more BB than K. The only minus to this platoon is their DUR, which necessitates carrying a 3rd C who can catch the 8th & 9th innings.
1B- Richard Yamada won the S11 ROY and looks to have refined his skills in the offseason.
RF- Kerry Thurman gets the default nod for now, as he'll likely split time until the Draft with a guy like Horacio Lopez or Apollo Powell. Just keeping the spot warm for Harold Bonds, who will come up to stay after the Draft.
SS- Albert Gonzales & Stephen Weber will split time at SS, with Gonzalez getting the chance to win the job with a hot streak and lose it with his first 0-10 stretch. Neither is counted on for offense and are really only needed to keep the errors down while waiting for Esteban Galarraga in mid S13.
CF- Raymond Hughes should have won the ROY in S11, having a much better season than teammate Richard Yamada. Great defense in CF and good numbers in the 9-hole.
Pitching Rotation & Bullpen:
SP- Hub Strange got over the tomato incident in CLE and had a stellar first half of the season, even winning a PotW award. He struggled down the stretch but rebounded to pitch reasonably well in the playoffs. He is asking for a lucrative contract extension in the coming offseason and might be on the move as a result.
SP- Cam Anderson ,the veteran hurler, was acquired on the eve of ST, in a swap for Tony Torrealba. Managment believes that if he can maintain his career peripherals, he'll win more games as beneficiary of the offense. Needs to pitch well to justify the $ investment made in him.
SP- Giomar Cortez cannot possibly be worse than he was in S11. No matter what role he was used in, he sucked. The hope is that a consistent 5th day and 75 pitches will enable him to contribute some useful innings.
SP- Jake Owens is a wily veteran who can hopefully keep the team in games long enough to get to the "A" side of the bullpen.
SP- Graham Maxwell is that "mistake" all HBD owners make. Forgot to check his contract status before claiming him on the wiaver wire in S10, his contract is finally about to expire. He'll log innings in the 5th spot of the rotation, on a 5 pull rating to ensure he can't destroy the team's ERA the way Richard Park, Crash Kingston & Giomar Cortez did last season.
Mop- Victor Aguilera has a great, useful arm with 88/45 DUR/STA and decent split against RH. He'll log lots of garbage innings at a very low cost.
LRA- Jorge Owen deserved the AL Cy Young in S11. You will never find a better relief pitching season in HBD; he was Mike Marshall in 1974, with an ERA significantly below league average, won 15 games and did most of his work in a rocket lauching pad. He'll probably pitch worse this season, but still figures to be league average or better as the first man out of the pen.
LRB - Davey Morgan will again be the LRB, providing some solid work in losing efforts.
SuA- Cy Bruske pitched effectively in the post-season, filling in for LRA Jorge Owen. He'll be counted on this season to provide Jaime Phillips with some help in the 7th & 8th innings of close games.
SuA- Jaime Philips pitched too much last season, resulting in an ugly W-L record of 4-11. However, he had a great season as the #1 setup option out of the pen and will be expected to bring something similar to the table this season.
SuB- Terry Riley is a durable, useful LHRP with options. He'll be able to close out many losses this season.
CLA- Moises DeJesus was signed to a ML contract and sported a $4.5M salary last year, before reverting to $500K for the next two ML seasons He was a finalist for Fireman of the Year and will again try to close out games for the Bulls.
*Written by soxfan121, posted by firesign34
PS: Next time use Player Text Link instead of Forum Link
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