Baseball The Way It Never Was

Tag: Steve Yeager

TWIWBL 55.4: Offseason Notes – Marvin Miller Division

#Birmingham Black Barons

IF Rabbit Maranville decided to hang up his cleats after a year that saw him play in only 9 games as a 39 year old.

34 year old Charlie Keller decided to retire, despite a solid showing for Atlanta (after a horrible start to the season with Newark).

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

Reliever Eric Gagne will be back for at least one more year, signing a $890k contract. There are rumors that this may mean Gagne moves into the closer’s role with Watty Clark becoming a starter. The challenge here is that Clark was very effective as a closer.

The Royal Giants released C Steve Yeager and OF Michael Brantley.

#Miami Cuban Giants

32 year old 1B Carlos Peña decided to hang up his cleats, despite slugging over .700 at AAA. But with only 10 WBL at-bats and a bit of a logjam at 1B in front of him, he decided his best choice was to move on from his playing days.

The Cuban Giants avoided arbitration with Gary Sheffield, signing him to a $1.2M, one year deal. Clearly, the amount is based on Sheffield’s potential, not his somewhat underwhelming numbers from last year.

#Portland Sea Dogs

A trio of 35 year old hurlers retired from Portland’s AA club: Jim Perry, Will Harris, and Tippy Martinez. Perry was hit hard and Harris rarely used, but Martinez had a decent year, so his announcement at least was a bit of a surprise.

40 year old knuckleballer Charlie Hough decided enough was enough, deciding to retire at the end of the AAA season.

#San Francisco Sea Lions

40 year old Chipper Jones had wanted to go out with a little more fanfare. Instead, a 131/233/263 start over roughly 100 AB’s with Birmingham led to him being cut, picked up by San Francisco, but hitting even worse for the Sea Lions at AAA. Jones and fellow 3B Lave Cross both announced their retirement from the game.

Minor league OF Tony Armas lost his arbitration case, but will still earn $310k next season.

San Francisco released 2B Keith Ginter and P Carlos Carrasco, with neither move being particularly surprising.

TWIWBL 24.2: Mid-Season Reviews – Brooklyn Royal Giants

Summary

Brooklyn sits in 2nd place in the Marvin Miller Division, only 3.5 games behind Portland, despite a general sense they’ve underperformed on the season. So, I guess that’s good?

What’s Gone Right

The pitching. Don Drysedale has been among the better starters in the league, and Frank Knauss has emerged as a quality #2 starter. Don Sutton, Dutch Leonard, and Sandy Koufax have been solid behind them with Koufax occasionally spectacular (including the only 1-hitter in the league). Add to that a back-end trio in the bullpen of Dave Von Ohlen and Trevor Hildenberger setting up Watty Clark, and the Royal Giants have everything they need on the mound.

The AAA Shuttle. The Royal Giants have been quite successful in their call-ups.

  • Orel Hershiser and Smokey Joe Williams started the year in the WBL, but struggled. Their replacements–Tommy Hanson, Knauss, and Von Ohlen–have been excellent.
  • The original duo behind the plate–Mike Piazza and Steve Yeager–were horrible. Their replacements, Al López and Duke Farrell, look OK so far.
  • Raúl Mondesí, who earned a spot on the roster out of spring training, struggled, but Jermaine Dye looks to be the real deal as his replacement.

The Running Game. Five players (Duke Snider, Beals Becker, Jackie Robinson, Davey Lopes, and Dickie Thon) have more than 10 steals each.

What’s Gone Wrong

Power. Only Snider and Ron Cey have more than 10 homeruns (although, to be fair, both Becker and Robinson have 9). Still, some more pop would be a welcome addition.

Catching. As referenced above, Piazza was especially a disappointment, as he was expected to add some power to a lineup that really needs it.

The Infield. Cey is set at 3B, and Robinson clearly has a role. But the rest has been … unsettled at best. Dan Brouthers has been miserable at 1B, and may be on his way out of town, and neither Lopes (2B) nor Thon (SS) have really convinced. Ray Dandridge has been excellent in a limited opportunity, and should be an everyday starter from here on out.

Key Storylines

The Royal Giants have managed their AAA movement very well, as detailed above. Probably the key storyline here is their ability to remain competitive while still searching for their identity.

Koufax is a bit of an enigma, and his continued development bears watching–and the thought of what he and Smokey Joe Williams could be is quite enticing.

What to do with Robinson remains a challenge: he doesn’t field well enough to play 2B a ton, and doesn’t hit well enough to play 1B.

Trading Outlook

BUYING.

OFs Dye, Hi Myers, and Matt Holliday have some value. If the right opportunity came along, some of their SP surplus could be on the trading block: Hershiser, Leonard, Knauss.

AAA Shuttle

Piazza and Yeager have both done well at AAA, and may be due for a recall if López or Farrell falter. Likewise, Hershiser has been dominant in the minors and he, along with Darren Dreifort, are ready should they be needed.

Midseason Changes

Infield changes a-plenty. Robinson becomes the everyday 1B, with Brouthers being sent to AAA (Eric Karros was recalled to backup Robinson). 2B/SS is trickier: Dandridge becomes the starter at one of those, but there’s just nobody in the system arguing for playing time. So Dandridge will start, with a bit of rotation between Thon and Lopes, if no other moves are made.

Hildenberger moves into the setup role, demoting Eric Gagne.

Awards

All Stars: Don Drysedale (P).

Pitcher of the Month: Don Drysedale (April)

Offensive MVP: Duke Snider (CF)
Pitching MVP: Don Drysedale (SP)

Down on the Farm

AAA: Queens Kings

Next to the Show: OFs Matt Holliday & Curt Flood, RP Darren Dreifort.

Prospects: P Ralph Branca (22), P Tim Stauffer (26).

Projects: There are a ton, but let’s just focus on the 24 year-olds: P Smokey Joe Williams, C Mike Piazza, OF Raúl Mondesí, OF Curt Flood, and 1B Dan Brouthers.

Suspects: Ron Perranoski (25), Jordan Zimmerman (26), IFs Todd Walker and Manny Trillo (both 33), SS Germany Smith (28).

AA: Jersey City Skeeters

Prospects: CF John Briggs (20), P Lou Marone (23), 3B Hank Majeski (23).

Projects: P Chris Short (21), P Fernando Valenzuela (23), P Dustin McGowan (23), OF Morrie Arnovich (25), C Phil Lombardi (23), SS Sonny Jackson (19).

Suspects: P Ben Hendrickson (23), 1B Kevin Maas (30), IFs Don Heffner (33) and César Izturis (27). P Johnny Ryan (22).

TWIWBL 18.4: Series XV Notes – Marvin Miller Division

#Birmingham Black Barons

With a pitching staff decimated by use, the Black Barons went ahead and placed Scott Baker on the 10-day DL, even as they await details on the extent of his injury. John Malarkey was recalled from AAA to help out in the meantime.

Hank Aaron went deep twice and Tom Herr and Frank Isbell hit back-to-back triples leading Birmingham to a 10-4 win over Baltimore. Dick Rudolph got the win and Vic Willis picked up his first save.

Willis has allowed only 2 hits in 11 innings, earning the 5th spot in Birmingham’s rotation from here on out. The pairing of Del Crandall and Dale Murphy behind the plate hasn’t really worked out, but it still seems like the best option. Frank McCormick‘s struggles have reduced his playing time going forward, and Pie Traynor‘s incredible start is demanding some more starts at 3B.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

Ray Dandridge continued his torrid start in the big leagues, scoring twice and adding 3 hits and Duke Snider drove in 2 with 3 hits of his own as the Royal Giants topped Kansas City, 9-4.

The highly-touted pitching matchup between Brooklyn’s Don Drysedale and Kansas City’s Andy Petitte delivered, with both starters turning in solid performances. But the game was won in the bottom of the 9th on a walk-off homerun just over the left field wall from Raul Mondesi, his 7th blast of the season. Trevor Hildenberger moved to 2-0 with 2 innings of perfect relief.

The Royal Giants shook up their lineup a bit, sending Steve Yeager, Mike Piazza, and Mondesi to AAA–none of them with an OPS over .615. Coming the other way are C Al Lopez, and OFs Jermaine Dye and Michael Brantley. Hobe Ferris was released.

#Miami Cuban Giants

The Cuban Giants’ 2-1 win over Indianapolis was pretty costly. The win was fueled by 4 innings of one-hit relief by Marcelino Lopez after Rube Waddell had to leave the game complaining of a wrist injury. Roenis Elias got the win and Clay Condrey the save, with Alejandro Oms driving in the winning run. Waddell will miss a couple weeks; the news on Carlos Moran is worse, with the speedy outfielder out for 7 or 8 weeks with plantar fasciitis. P Dontrelle Willis and OF Sandy Amoros were recalled after the game to fill the roster spots.

It got a bit worse, even: Alex Colome will miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury, prompting Miami to recall Sandy Consuegra.

Willis was returned to AAA right after his first start, with Jose Mendez being recalled from his rehab assignment.

#San Francisco Sea Lions

Rick Langford was returned to AAA, with Bump Hadley taking his spot in the Sea Lions’ bullpen.

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