A couple spots in the bullpen are open, but most of the attention will be on the position players, where in addition to the bench, starting roles at C and 1B are unsettled.

Ed Delahanty and Al Simmons (Brooklyn’s first and second round draft picks) are probably a year away, but either could make a strong push in Spring Training.

Injuries

Trevor Hildenberger is likely to miss the start of the season with a back injury, opening up another spot in the Royal Giants’ bullpen and SS Germany Smith–the early favorite to start at that position–will be out until very close to opening day with a broken bone in his foot.

First Cuts

Both Doc Newton and Tom Sullivan were longshots to make the team, and neither showed enough to stay in camp past the first round of reassignments; nor did Ted Blankenship, Lew Krausse Jr., Nap Rucker, or Dustin McGowan. Dave Van Ohlen has pitched as poorly as the rest of them, but being an established WBL arm has its privileges.

Likewise, Al López and Mike Piazza have both struggled, but it’s Al Todd and Jeff Torborg who are reassigned. The axe also fell for Tommy Everidge, Marco Hernández, Hank Majeski, and Ken McMullen. These moves preserve spots for Ray Dandridge and Ed Delahanty, despite their mighty struggles so far.

The OF remains an incredibly tangled puzzle. Assumed starters Duke Snider and Beals Becker have combined for only 2 hits, while Matt Holliday, Ron Fairly, George Selkirk, and Jermaine Dye–all considered relative long shots to make the team–are pounding the ball with OPS’ over 1.000. Even Morrie Arnovich and Raúl Mondesi, who have not hit well, remain in camp, largely based on their performances in the minors last year.

Clearly, figuring out the OF spots is the major concern of the next week or so for Brooklyn.

Second Cuts

Walker Buehler and Jordan Zimmerman head to minor league camp, as do Ron Fairly and Dan Brouthers. Phenom Ed Delahanty heads to minor league camp for at least a year of seasoning while only Germany Smith‘s injury keeps Tim Foli in camp. In the OF, Raúl Mondesi heads down along with veteran Jermaine Dye.

Third Cuts

Rick Aguilera, Tim Foli, George Selkirk, Davey Lopes, and, perhaps most surprisingly, Al López were all sent down.

This means that the catching duties will fall to some mixture of Mike Piazza and Duke Farrell (assuming Dick Bertell cools off at some point), and indicates that the Royal Giants are looking to play Ray Dandridge at 2B with Maury Wills earning a strong look at SS in Germany Smith‘s absence.

Final Cuts

The Royal Giants have some very hard decisions. Their first cut comes from the outfield, where 20 year old Al Simmons has hit well, but clearly needs to spend some time as a fulltime player, something he’ll be able to do at AA. Morrie Arnovich follows Simmons, clearing up some space in the OF.

Part of Duke Farrell‘s value was his ability to fill in at 3B as well; with Pedro Guerrero‘s arrival, that means a bit less. Combine that with Farrell’s struggles and Dick Bertell‘s excellent Spring, and Farrell becomes expendable, off to start the year at AAA. Some see this as a clear sign that the Royal Giants are going to go with Mike Piazza behind the plate; others insist that Bertell still has a shot to seize the starting role.

Jim Gentile is the only true 1B on the roster. And he’s posted an OPS over .800 this Spring. But roster space is scarce, and Gentile only plays 1B, so off he goes to AAA.

Trevor Hildenberger had struggled mightily before being shut down with back spasms. The Royal Giants got to 30 players by placing Hildenberger on the DL–he may be off by opening day, but a rehab stint in the minors to regain his form is needed regardless.

This is so hard at the end. Two or three more arms have to be sent down from Burleigh Grimes, Orel Hershiser, Juan Mateo, Dick Redding, Fernando Valenzuela, and Dutch Leonard. The problem is none of them have pitched badly. Leonard has struggled the most, so he’s the first, followed by young Dick Redding, who was solid last year, but gave up a lot of hits this Spring.

Germany Smith was placed on the DL.

Everybody else hit really well all Spring, making these final two choices very difficult. The Royal Giants sort of fell in love with Maury Wills and in the end, despite almost equal production, Dickie Thon‘s in ability to play other positions sends Thon to AAA. Finally, Matty Alou had a strong Spring, but it’s all just too crowded, to the veteran heads to the minors.

Overall

The penultimate team to be eliminated from the playoffs, the Royal Giants were a bit of a surprise, but still need help to move into true playoff contention. Most of that needs to come from the offense, where there is a lack of elite talent virtually across the board. But they are one of the few teams in the league stacked on the mound.

What Went Right

Not a lot of high spots offensively. CF John Briggs destroyed AA, was promoted to Brooklyn, and totally crushed WBL pitching over his first 40 games. RF Beals Becker, against all expectations, was the team MVP, combining power and speed to great effect.

Roy White was the heart of the team and Duke Snider their best source of power, but neither were true stars if we’re being honest, with OPS’ in the low .800s.

Beyond that … I dunno … they stole a lot of bases (7 players had over 15: Becker, White, Snider, Frank Isbell, Jackie Robinson, Dickie Thon, and Davey Lopes).

If that all sounds very wishy-washy, let’s move on to a more encouraging topic: the Royal Giants kicked ass on the mound, led by Don Drysedale and Frank Knauss. Sandy Koufax and Dutch Leonard were a little erratic, but very solid behind them, and the bullpen was spectacular, led by Watty Clark (likely to be converted to a starter), Eric Gagne (likely to take Clark’s place as closer), Trevor Hildenberger, and Darren Dreifort.

How good were they? Only one pitcher–Ralph Branca over 31 innings–had a negative WAR.

ALL STARS
SP Don Drysedale

What Went Wrong

The IF was a bit weak all year, with Jackie Robinson and Ray Dandridge both being decent, but not quite good enough to hold down a steady spot in the lineup. Mike Piazza was horrible at C, earning a trip to AAA and leaving duties behind the plate to Al López and Duke Farrell, who weren’t very good.

Probably the biggest mistake on the mound was not calling up Smokey Joe Williams earlier.

Transactions

March

None

June

P Don Sutton to New York Gothams for OF Don Mueller, P Ray Lamb, P Gil Heredia, P Lew Krausse Jr, 1st Round Pick {Al Simmons} & 8th Round Pick

A big win, especially for a team rich in arms.

OF Curt Flood, 2B Manny Trillo & 6th Round Pick to Birmingham for IF Frank Isbell

Isbell did well, but that’s a lot to give up for a 30 year old.

July

None

Looking Forward

SP

The Royal Giants could have as many as 7 starters under long term contracts: Don Drysedale, Smokey Joe Williams, Sandy Koufax, Watty Clark, Orel Hershiser, Dick Redding, and Nap Rucker sounds like a very intimidating staff …

RP

… especially with Darren Dreifort, Eric Gagne, and Ron Perranoski coming out of the bullpen.

C

Brooklyn is hoping this is Mike Piazza but early indications are not great.

1B

A clear void at the moment, but the Royal Giants like the potential of Dan Brouthers.

2B

Hopefully, Jackie Robinson can do a bit more offensively.

3B

At some point, the Royal Giants will need to decide between Ron Cey and Ray Dandridge.

SS

Germany Smith‘s surprising power earned him a look for next year, but if that doesn’t work out, it’s not clear what plan B is.

LF

Roy White for a while, and after that, who knows?

CF

This could be interesting. Right now, this is John Briggs‘ position to lose, but Brooklyn also has Ron Fairly and Duke Snider in the mix.

RF

Beals Becker will hold this down for a while, but the team is really hoping Raúl Mondesi can take it over at some point.

The Rookie Draft

Rounds 1-4

The Royal Giants have 2 first round picks, so they have a chance to address some of their offensive struggles. The first went to Ed Delahanty, who should actually fit in well: he plays a mixture of 2B, 1B, and the OF, allowing him to slot in around their current talent. The second was more of shock that OF Al Simmons was still available.

Brooklyn was annoyed when Los Angeles took Babe Herman just before their pick in the 2nd round, forcing them to scramble. They eventually settled on Dazzy Vance–an odd choice for a team as pitching rich as the Royal Giants, but Vance projects as a late bloomer.

In the 3rd round, the Royal Giants picked up OF George Selkirk and in the 4th C/OF prospect Elston Howard, their final franchise exemption.

Rounds 5-8

5th round pick Jimmy Johnston is an OFer now, but may end up in the IF eventually and 7th round pick Walker Buehler may actually end up being a bit of a steal.

From here on out, it’s C, pitching, and perhaps some OF depth for the Royal Giants, beginning with Ps Doc Scanlan and Vic Lombardi in the 8th round.

Rounds 9-12

P Odalis Pérez; IF Greg Pryor; P Doc Newton; and P Victor González.

Nap Rucker‘s stay was brief, as the lefty was sent down to clear room for Ralph Branca to make a start at the big league level.

#Portland Sea Dogs

Mike Cuellar had 9 wins out of the bullpen when called upon to make his first start of the year. He tossed a solid 5 innings against the Black Yankees, getting the win and improving his record to 10-5. Rogers Hornsby and Gary Pettis (who pushed his average over .400) had 3 hits each and Hornsby and Kent Hrbek went deep for the Sea Dogs in the victory. Hrbek now has 29 dingers, good for 2nd in the league.

Unfortunately for Portland, their pitching staff was still in need of rest even after Cuellar’s effort. That necessitated some roster moves, and Hughie Jennings was the odd man out, at least temporarily. Hal Griggs was recalled: Griggs struggled from the bullpen earlier in the year, but has been dominant at AAA since.

It didn’t work: Griggs was rocked, and Pascual Pérez injured. The former was returned to AAA, the latter placed on the DL. Ray Fontenot was recalled from AAA, along with Ruben Sierra.

Bobby Murcer went deep twice and the Sea Dogs pounded out 14 hits in a 10-4 win over New York. Walter Johnson moved to 10-3 on the year with a strong 6 innings of work.

More rough news for the Sea Dogs: Joe Mauer‘s recovery hasn’t gone so well, and will take at least another week before he’s ready to return.

#San Francisco Sea Lions

Tommy Bridges has struggled since being acquired from Miami over the all-star break, posting an ERA approaching 9.00. Needing an emergency starter, the Sea Lions finally pulled the trigger, sending Bridges to AAA and recalling James Shields.

It didn’t last: the Sea Lions needed another emergency starter, and Shields didn’t do that well, so he headed back, with Rick Langford coming up to make the start. Langford was excellent: 1 run in 6 gutsy innings, so he should remain with the WBL for a while.

Reggie Jackson had quite a day: a record-tying 3 homeruns, 7 RBIs, 4 runs scored, and a hamstring injury that is likely to keep the Sea Lions’ best offensive player out for at least a week. Pedro Guerrero, Bobby Bonds, and Jack Clark also went deep in the 12-5 win that also saw Tim Hudson‘s best start for San Francsico.

Jackson was put on the DL after the game, with 20 year old phenom Jimmie Foxx being called up to make his debut.

The Black Barons just keep on doing their thing since the All-Star break. against Cleveland, 3 hits from Adrián González and a key homerun from Eddie Mathews sparked a comeback from a 5-0 deficit. Bruce Chen got the win and Juan Rincón picked up his 15th save in the 6-5 victory.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

Ralph Branca was recalled from AAA to start in Brooklyn’s doubleheader with Dick Redding being sent down, most likely just for the one day. Indeed, after giving up 5 runs in 4 innings, Branca was immediately sent back down to AAA. Jermaine Dye was waived, and Nap Rucker and Michael Brantley joined the big leagues.

Beals Becker tied the WBL record with 5 hits (all singles) in a 6-3 win over Indianapolis. Roy White had 3 hits and 4 RBIs in the game, but not all the news was good for the Royal Giants, as Ray Dandridge headed back to the DL after spraining his knee in the first inning. Davey Lopes was waived and Todd Walker promoted to the big leagues.

Both Dye and Lopes cleared waivers, rejoining the franchise with AAA Queens. Tommy Hansen has earned a shot at the #5 spot in the Royal Giants’ rotation.

#Miami Cuban Giants

José Canseco almost brought the Cuban Giants back single-handedly, hitting a pinch-hit homerun in the 7th and another in the 9th to give him 5 RBI’s on the day. It wasn’t quite enough, as Miami fell to Baltimore, 6-5.

The Cuban Giants did salvage the final game of the series, as Roenis Elías, Phenomenal Smith, Ed Bauta, and Aroldis Chapman combined on a 5-hit shoutout. Gary Sheffield went deep and Miami won, 2-0, with Elías improving to 4-3 on the year and Chapman picking up his 15th save.

Prize acquisition Minnie Miñoso came off the DL, and was sent to AAA on a short rehab assignment before being recalled to the big league club, along with infielder Alexei Ramírez. Sandy Amorós moved to AAA, along with struggling slugger Jim Thome with more moves expected as Paul Molitor and Carlos Morán return from the DL this week.

On the mound, Steve Brown–hammered in his WBL stay–moved to AAA, along with once-WBL-darling Marcelino López. Ramón Martínez was brought back from a rehab assignment, nudging José Méndez out of the rotation with his return. Braden Looper will be brought up once space is cleared on the 40-man roster.

#Portland Sea Dogs

Joe Mauer will be out a couple weeks, but the Sea Dogs have a stellar replacement as Pudge Rodríguez takes over slashing 347/364/533. Cliff W. Lee, one of the best young catchers in the minor leagues, was recalled for a taste of the show.

Somehow, against all odds, Greg Litton still has a roster spot: playing 6 positions, no matter how badly you hit, has its benefits. But his offensive woes do continue to lessen his projected playing time.