2066 Spitters Preview

[DRiccio21]

While 2065 was seemingly a boring wasted year in New England from the outside, the team used it as a necessary transitional year for their financial future. After unloading the rest of their toxic assets, the Spitters used a combination of trades and prospect sales to enter the 2066 season somehow in financial order. After being roughly 270 million in the hole 2 years ago with no farm system, this is something the organization is proud of as they now have some flexibility and a few bright prospects to go along with a nucleus of hitters still in their prime.

While that all sounds great, the product on the field hasn't really improved all that much. Following 2 ALCS appearances in the previous two years, the Spitters were only able to muster up 75 wins last season. Almost all of the issues came from the minor league pitching staff that was used for 3/4 of the year. The team used some old league minimum vets with AAAA type talent and some young prospects not quite ready for a full ML slate and the results were less than pedestrian.

The 2066 version of the staff is slightly better but much of the same, lets take a look:

Starting Rotation

1) Alonso Villareal, 25 -- "Sleepy" "Sneezy" got his first full taste of ML action and had his ups and downs. With a year under his belt we expect some strides into what we believe will be a productive ML career.

2) Kenny Gates, 33 -- Nobody really believes in the former #1 overall pick, including much of the Spitters brass but he performed well enough to keep a job into the 2066 season. His 120 ERA+ and 4 FIP is enough to let him get another crack at redemption in his disappointing career. The team doesn't expect he'll be on the roster the entire season but hopes to be surprised.

3) Roberto Gutierre, 31 -- The former #3 overall pick is a new addition to the Spitters franchise. His outspoken ways are something that isn't normal in the locker room so he'll have to fall into Spitter ways if hes going to be around long. His career has been mostly in the Atlanta bullpen, but the Spitters want to give him an opportunity to show he can be an ML starter. Hoping we found a little value for a season or 2 on a very cheap deal.

4) Lanny Johnston, 30 -- Johnston had a middle of the road tenure in Miami and then struggled mightily in Seattle last year. He takes a cheap 1 year deal to try to patch up the back end of the rotation. Not much expected here.

5) Antonio Garcia, 24 -- An acquisition from OCD, our scout thinks he has potential to be a middle of the rotation arm for years to come. He will get plenty of leash to work out his kinks this season.

The bullpen is filled with low cost vets and highlighted by Chris Holley. Holley has been the closer since the departure of Jason Hood and has been a bright spot at the back end of games.


Lineup

1) Luis Torres, 32, LF -- Torres regained form after an injury in 2064 and was back on his 200 hit+ ways. The team vet is back on top of the lineup and we hope he continues to climb up the all time leader boards.

2) Earl Elliot, 27, 2b -- Elliot is a flat out big league hitter at a position its tough to find offensive production. He .850 OPS is going to be needed again this year if the team has any hopes of competing.

3) Jason Riley, 26, 3b -- Riley posted basically .300 30 hr 100 rbi season in 2065 but it almost seemed like a let down after his monster 2064 season. Still in his prime, Riley is the cornerstone of the lineup.

4) David Ryan, 26, RF -- Ryan emerged on the scene in 2065 to become officially one of the better players in the league. His .885 ops 34 HR's and 100+ RBI's cemented him in the middle of our lineup for years to come.

5) Kel Sampson, 30, 1b -- Steady Sampson does what he does. 30ish HR's 100ish RBI's. As long as he continues to perform like this he'll have a spot in the middle of our lineup.

6) John Becker, 29, DH -- Becker had a bit of a let down year after posting an avg of 40 HR's over the previous 2 seasons. Only hitting 29 HR's in 2065 wasn't the worst outcome but it also wasn't what we've come to expect. The team hopes he can compete as the best hitter in the lineup in 2066.

7) Julio Gonzalez, 27, CF -- Gonzalez is a bit of an enigma. Some scouts hate him, some think he's a star. He struggled all of 2065 as we threw him into CF to learn a new position. He seems to be at a respectable place now to at least manage defensively... We hope that takes the pressure off of him to be able to focus on his hitting this year. If Gonzalez struggles again the team will look for alternatives in CF in the trade mkt.

8) Jason Wise/Mark Leonard, 27/25 , C -- The catching platoon is 2 average players. Wise brings the locker room presence and leadership we desire behind the plate. Hoping one of these guys can put together a decent season but not much expected.

9) Shi-Fa Song, 22, SS -- The slick fielding/left handed hitting Song will get a full season in the ML at the age of 22. He's probably not ever going to be a world beater at the plate but we hope he can inch his way into respectability while flashing a + glove in the middle.


The lineup is filled with mashers from 1-6 then has a few question marks towards the bottom. The main guys have very little margin for error and must stay healthy for this team to be able to stick around in games.


Overall, this isn't a Spitters team anyone has to worry about in it's present form. They are good enough to win a few series here or there but not nearly good enough to contend in the postseason. The team remains active in the trade market as we transition to the part of this quasi rebuild which has taken us out of financial hell and into the ability to sign/acquire talent.

prediction -- 80-82

[DRWebs]

Wrong dwarf

[DRiccio21]

Wrong dwarf

haaa took me a minute!

[wdoupis]

The team is not quiet ready but it still looks good with a nice farm. Still in awe of the financial job done 2 seasons ago and it has positioned the Spitters very well for the future.

[Cnasty]

Screw New England

[ajalves]

Screw New England

man, you said it!

[nick]

Alberto Ramirez better not be one of these "toxic assets" youre talking about. We'll be speaking to the NDLBPA about this.