75 in 75: A NY Preview

[TimGuru]

This will be a straight (not "in character") assessment of where I stand going into spring training.

My stated goal is to win 75 games this season (at least) and properly develop some major stars I have in my organization.

Analysis:

Starters: Last year I had 4 starters with excellent ERAs and a disaster at 5th starter, who I promoted from A ball because I didn't care if I screwed him up, and future star Micah Green just wasn't ready (more on him later). Between trade and free agency I added several starters, 3 of which now appear in my rotation. Ewart heads my rotation, with Betancourt, Praet, Minami and Barthen behind him. Two southpaw starters is good for my park which heavily favors the lefty bats. While not spectacular, I think my SPs will be the highlight of my team as a group.

MR and Closer: Conley is superb, again especially for my team since he throws from the left. Bayer and Terry were strong starters for me last year and I look to them to anchor the middle relief, spot start and mop up duty this year. Bennett should be solid as my principal set up man.

The Bats: The good news is this club will catch the ball a lot better than last year. I have enough players and enough depth to have people all playing positions where they are comfortable.

Offensively the club will not lead the league in anything. I have very little power, and relatively low contact ratings comparitive to the real contenders. However, I do not expect a team BA nearly as low as last year, have properly balanced lineups for vs left and vs right, and have enough effective lefties that at home vs right handed starters I should over perform. Aldridge and Edwards both have starting spots coming out of the trade with Hartford. Perez needs to prove he can play in the bigs, as does Tsou, coming from the VL and from the farm respectively. Catching is weak but the job is there for Robinson as soon as he earns it, hopefully in 77. Likewise, Tsou is really keeping the job warm for Conway, who may or may not belong in AAA but is going to stay there until he IS ready for the bigs.

In addition to Conway and Robinson, Waller, Woods, Zamora and Palmer are all highly promising position players down in the minors. If all can peak within the next 4 or 5 years (all are 22 or 23), while Perez, Garcia and future free agent signees are around to complement them, this team could be a home grown sensation around the turn of the century.

Pitching in the minors is thin, with only Green really worth mentioning, and even he may not amount to much. Pitching will need to be a point of emphasis in all drafts, free agent targetting and trades for the next few years.

[Tellistto]

Hope you return the team to glory. I always knew Ewart could make good when he was in the minors back before I left the team.

I'll miss the birdbrain, but he'd been underperforming for seasons now anyways, so getting something in return was a good move. Good luck with the team, I'll certainly be following along with how you do with them.

Go Highlanders!

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