Vegas Review Updated!!

We're young and we're ready. The rebuild has been slower than anticipated but we've stockpiled a bunch of young talent that is ready to burst onto the scene. We expect to contend for the division and hopefully do some damage in the NL playoffs.
Result: We're currently tied for the WC spots with two other teams at 61-50. One of us will be disappointed.

Catcher - Signed Mark Lee in the off-season. He's just keeping the seat warm for Charles Blankenship who'll start the season in AAA. Lee is a capable player so, if he's up to par, we bought Blankenship one more year in the minors. Vic Ortiz returns as a defensive catcher who'll spot Lee vs. the occassional lefty.
Result-Lee wasn't getting it done so he was dealt and Blankenship got the call. After a slow start, Charles is hitting .256/.341/.487 in 78 AB.

Firstbaseman - Steve Corino's career as a catcher has come to an end. His pitch calling never developed but he can still rake so he'll play 1B until Michael Evans is promoted. Evans is better right now but he can use some more minor league seasoning. Corino hit .319 and slugged .586 last season.
Result-In 288 AB, Steve has put up the following: .281/.357/.510. Despite that, we made a trade for David Stankiewicz(.313/.395/.535 in 217 AB). Steve was just sent to AAA to make temporary ML roster room. He'll be back shortly but if anyone should file a complaint over shoddy treatment, it's Steve.

Secondbaseman - Ol' Vic Seguignol made the transistion from CF to 2B last season. Vic can still play despite being our 2nd oldest position player(that belongs to Lee now) at 32. Vic hit .290 last year. Lenny Swann is chomping at the bit in AAA and will get the call sometime this season.
Result-Vic was traded yesterday. Lenny and Geoff Young have been splitting time at 2B. In 287 AB, Lenny has 28 SB but is only hitting .247 on the year.

Thirdbaseman - We'll probably go with a platoon between Luis Diaz and Brent Waters to start the season. Both can hit and have power but neither has much of an eye. Luis stroked 25 homers with a .272 BA in 523 AB last season. Brent slugged .564 in 259 AB. Someone will win the spot and the other will fill in at the infield/outfield corners.
Result-Both are performing adequately. Brent has 28 homers in 310 AB while Luis is hitting .267/.336/.440 in 266 AB. Both have also seen action in the COF spots.

Shortstop - Davey McKnight will start the season at SS. He won the GG in season 5 but fell off ever so slightly last year. Only 27, he's expected to rebound. Unfortunately, Davey should take a boat oar to the plate because he can't hit. His numbers from last year: .244/.298/.298. He'll be with the team for quite awhile but Brad O'Toole and Geoff Young are coming. May be this season. May be next. But they're on the way.
Result-Geoff got the call. Davey has hit surprisingly well vs. lefties(.291/.362/.403) and remains the starter when a southpaw is on the mound. Geoff starts vs. righties and gets time at 2B/3B. He's hitting .292 and getting on at a .366 rate.

Leftfield - A bit of a problem spot. Wayne Ramsey, Kenny Ripken and Matty Starr form some sort of a three-headed monster out there. Unfortunately, it's the type of monster that scares no one. They're adequate but LF should be better. That's why Diaz, Waters or O'Toole(until he gets his SS ratings) might see plenty of time in left.
Result-Obviously we weren't comfortable with this situation. So we traded for Blade Harris. After a slow start, he's hitting .280/.349/.551 with 24 homers in 336 AB.

Centerfield - Braden Burks is solid in center. He hit 22 homers and stole 26 bases last season. Only 24, we expect him to develop into a 30/30 man.
Result-Braden is playing exactly as expected. He's hitting .299 with 21 homers/28 SB in 395 AB.

Rightfield - Eugene Sinclair was signed to a one year deal as a FA. Only 24 and with 37 BL AB, Eugene has a ton of potential. On our current big league roster, he has the best eye and the 2nd most power(behind Waters). He's the big bat we need until Blankenship, O'Toole and Evans get the call.
Result-Another position that played out as expected. Geno is hitting .271/.340.518 with 25 homers in 240 AB.



Starting pitchers - Looks like we'll have to utilize 6 SP this year. Bonk Daniels will anchor the rotation. 27 and just acquired via trade, we're expecting big things from him. The next group, Alberto Alonso, Dusty Bates, Sean Cooper and Robb Morton, are aged 24-27 so we've got a young group. Bates is the only lefty so we're a little unbalanced. Andrew Worrell, 37, was brought back to finish up the rotation. He's pitched well and has shown no significant decline. However, his low stamina, along with Alonso's, pretty much force us into a 6 man rotation. Daniel Santangelo would be #2 in our rotation but we've decided he needs a few more innings in the minors. He should be in the bigs before the A/S break.
Result-Daniels has been the ace. 144 IP with a 3.74 ERA. Cooper leads the team with 10 wins despite his 4.76 ERA in 132 IP. Worrell has been a pleasant surprise with a 1.21 WHIP/4.12 ERA in 98 innings. Bates has been a fine #2 with a 3.83 ERA in 108 IP. Our #5 has been troublesome with Morton, Alonso and Octavio Benitez all getting starts. Benitez has been the latest to get a shot and he's done the best with a 4.41 ERA in 49 innings. Alonso and Morton have 5+ ERA.

Long relief - We have a ton of candidates and this is not yet set. Octavio Benitez, Sammy Keeler, Joe Flores, Dicky Dickey, D.T.Sullivan, John Oliver, Alex Saez and Tony Rodriguez all have big league experience(and contracts). All seem to have a fatal flaw that keeps them out of the rotation but they are good enough to spot start or relieve.
Result-A mess. I don't want to talk about it. Bah.

Short relief - There are 3 minor leaguers who are ready(Bret Kile, Cyrus Mullens and Keith Watson) but I'm not ready for them. We're going with a little more experience and have brought back Frank Leary(30), Mike Kirk(33), Jack Ulrich(29) and Brian Hong(37) this year. Kirk will close while the other three split set-up duties. It would not be surprising if all 4 were job hunting next year.
Result-Leary became the closer and has done a fine job with 30 saves in 32 opportunities. Opponents are hitting .185 against him and his WHIP is south of 1. Kirk and Ulrich have been adequate as set-up men while Hong was dealt. We recently added Eli Estrada and Jeff Service to the mix via trade. Both have done well in limited appearances.