1996 Oklahoma City Stars Season Preview
Lineup
Code:
C- Tony Eusebio 28 75/75 $330K/2YRS
1B- Todd Helton 22 87/90 $168K/ARB96
2B- Eric Young 28 79/79 $570K/3YRS
SS- Tony Womack 26 81/81 $168K/ARB96
3B- Willie Greene 24 79/81 $168K/ARB97
LF- Brian Jordan 29 78/78 $220K/3YRS
CF- Tom Goodwin 27 81/81 $540K/3YRS
RF- Jeromy Burnitz 26 82/82 $168/ARB96
BENCH
C- Angelo Encarnacio 26 68/71 $168K/ARB98
2B- Craig Counsell 25 77/79 $168K/ARB97
3B- Kevin Young 26 76/76 $220K/2YRS
3B- Scott Sheldon 27 61/68 $13K/ARB98
LF- Allen Battle 27 70/73 $13K/ARB98
RF- David Hulse 28 74/74 $210K/2YRS
Lineup Vs RH Lineup Vs LH
1. 2B Eric Young 1. 2B Eric Young
2. CF Tom Goodwin 2. CF Tom Goodwin
3. 1B Todd Helton 3. RF Brian Jordan
4. 3B Willie Greene 4. 1B Todd Helton
5. RF Jeromy Burnitz 5. 3B Kevin Young
6. LF Brian Jordan 6. SS Tony Womack
7. SS Tony Womack 7. LF Allen Battle
8. C Tony Eusebio 8. C Angelo Encarnacion
The biggest move is that Womack will have to handle SS duties but the offense largely remains geared the same. Hulse will see his fare share of starts in LF against righties. Willie Greene still has a lot of pressure on him to produce from the cleanup spot and the fact that neither he or Burnitz can hit lefties is a concern but we have a balanced bench so we'll have to work around it. All in all I expect more big time production from this lineup.
Pitching Staff
Code:
SP- Brad Radke 23 88/88 $1.7M/7YRS
SP- Joey Hamilton 25 85/86 $168K/ARB97
SP- Hideo Nomo 27 82/83 $168K/ARB96
SP- Steve Cooke 26 79/79 $530K/4YRS
SP- Aaron Sele 25 77/79 $168K/ARB97
CL- Mark Small 28 73/76 $168K/ARB98
SE- Tim Davis 25 77/80 $168K/ARB98
SR- Dave Veras 29 73/76 $168K/ARB98
SR- Kevin King 27 65/65 $168K/ARB96
MR- Alan Embree 27 77/77 $168K/ARB96
LR- John Hope 25 75/75 $168K/ARB96
Is it fair to say that our season rests on Radkes arm? Probably not. Our pitching sucked last year and we lasted till the final weekend. That being said, going forward and for the money we gave him, we need him to be an ace. Nomo and Sele are very important pieces as well, I'd like them to be better than they've shown but if that's realistic I don't know.
The bullpen is a total rework. So much rests on my belief that Small and Veras can be reliable late inning guys something I only have my gut to go on, but i've got quite a gut so...... Hope is a guy that I trust if either of them falters. Our lefties are a major question mark. Everything about them but their performance says they should be good, but performance is all that matter and theirs has sucked. All I know is that our pitching probably can't be as bad as it was last year so there ya go.
Minor Leagues
Code:
AAA
C- Tom Wilson 25 64/75 $168K/ARB98
1B- Mike Busch 27 65/68 $13K/ARB98
2B- Dave Berg 25 62/68 $13K/ARB97
3B- Dave Hansen 27 77/77 $168K/3YRS
LF- Hideki Matsui 21 72/84 $13K/ARB98
CF- Jesus Tavarez 25 69/75 $13K/ARB98
SP- Sean Lawrence 25 67/74 $8K/ARB98
SP- John Dettmer 26 59/61 $13K/ARB98
RP- Bill Hurst 25 71/73 $13K/ARB97
RP- John Ericks 28 69/71 $13K/ARB98
RP- Rich Loiselle 24 66/69 $13K/ARB98
RP- Chris Bushing 28 62/65 $13K/ARB98
RP- Dennis Moeller 28 64/65 $12K/ARB97
AA
C- Chris Tremie 26 66/69 $13K/ARB98
1B- Pedro Castellano 26 63/66 $13K/ARB98
2B- Roberto Mejia 23 68/75 $6K/ARB98
SS- Miguel Tejada 21 73/89 $13K/ARB98
3B- Fernando Tatis 21 62/86 $8K/ARB98
SP- Ryan Rupe 21 72/81 $8K/ARB98
A
LF- Carlos Lee 19 68/80 $8K/ARB98
CF- Scott Podsednik 20 66/85 $8K/ARB98
SP- Javier Vazquez 19 63/83 $6K/ARB98
R
SS- Alex Gonzalez 19 50/72 $6K/ARB98
SP- Mark Mulder 18 61/87 $6K/ARB98
SP- Roger Deago 18 49/87 $6K/ARB98
SP- Roy Halladay 18 68/83 $6K/ARB98
RP- Chris Reitsma 18 52/78 $6K/ARB98
RP- Matt White 18 47/77 $6K/ARB98
Matsui is penciled in to play all year at AAA with next year and a starting job in LF in his sights. Tejada will likely see AAA at some point this season but I want to be careful with him.
Tatis is still a ways away, full seasons in AA and AAA are likely before he even sniffs the big squad but I like how he's coming along. Rupe is not gonna be an ace but he's maturing into what I hope is a solid rotation guy, I'd like to get him to AAA sometime this year but i'll be careful with him.
Lee and Podsednik should be playing in AA at some point this season but Vazquez will likely get a whole year at A ball.
Down in Rookie ball I anticipate all those guys moving to A Ball after the amatuer draft.
FINANCIALS
Farm System: $5,200,000 (3rd)
Scouting: $5,300,000 (5th)
Medical Staff: $3,200,000 (3rd)
Ticket Prices: $5.30 (League Average $5.86)
Cash: $2,523,959
Payroll Budget: $5,600,000
Payroll: $7,500,000
We've got enough that even the worst projections don't have us as going broke but we need to aim for better. My hope is that if we start strong the fans will begin coming out but that's probably a pipe dream. The biggest problem we have financially is that Burnitz is arbitration eligible after the season and he wants $1.6 Million per year to sign long term which we can't afford. If he goes to arbitration he's going to get his money so......yeah. That's an issue.