Phnom Phen Phillies Phinal Phile
Lineup (Ideal):
1. Denard Span (CF)*
2. Asdrubal Cabrera (SS)^
3. Miguel Cabrera (3b)
4. Justin Morneau (1b)*
5. Nelson Cruz (RF)
6. Alex Rodriguez (DH)
7. Chris Davis (LF)
8.Devin Mesoraco (C)
9. Dustin Ackley (2b)*
Bench: Austin Romine (C), Sean Rodriguez (INF), Julio Borbon (OF), Juan Pierre (PH)
Lineup (2013 Opening Day):
1. Denard Span (CF)*
2. Dustin Ackley (2b)*
3. Asdrubal Cabrera (SS)^
4. Miguel Cabrera (3b)
5. Justin Morneau (1b)*
6. Nelson Cruz (RF)
7. Chris Davis (DH)
8. Devin Mesoraco (C)
9. Juan Pierre (LF)*
Bench: Alex Rodriguez (DH), Julio Borbon (OF), Sean Rodriguez (INF), Austin Romine (C)
Optimistically, I only completely blew it at one position, catcher. I intended to pair Mesoraco with a decent partner but it just got away from me and then I picked the shitty Yankee catcher who didn't make the roster. If I get anything from this position, it will be a surprise.
Miguel Cabrera should keep this team offensively competent; he's that good a hitter. If Morneau has a few years left, if Cruz wasn't a BioGenesis mirage, if Davis can make consistent contact and if Alex Rodriguez isn't completely and utterly washed up...this could be an interesting and productive group. For a few years. If all those guys are out of baseball in five years it would not be a huge shock.
Juan Pierre might never retire - he bought a necklace from Julio Franco when Franco retired at 48 (!) and seems not to age. Borbon should bounce around baseball because of his speed and glove...his bat sucks. Sean Rodriguez figures to play more than a typical middle infielder while in Tampa and he'll play a ton for this team as the primary back up everywhere in the infield (Miggy moving to 1b whenever Morneau sits).
Denard Span, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Dustin Ackley. If this team is going to be any good, they all need to get on base in front of Miggy and they all need to play great defense.
Overall, this team could be good offensively for 3 years and no more than 5, but most likely none.
Pitching (Ideal):
1. Matt Moore*
2. Michael Pineda
3. Martin Perez*
4. Jake Odorizzi
5. Ricky Romero
LR/SS: Dylan Axelrod
LR/SS: Josh Collmenter
LR/SS: Travis Wood*
SU: Mitchell Boggs
SU: Chris Perez
SU: Boone Logan*
SU: Edward Mujica
Pitching (2013 Opening Day):
1. Matt Moore*
2. Josh Collmenter
3. Travis Wood*
4. Dylan Axelrod
SU: Mitchell Boggs
SU: Chris Perez
SU: Boone Logan*
SU: Edward Mujica
Disabled List: Michael Pineda, Martin Perez
Minors: Ricky Romero, Jake Odorizzi
That Ideal Pitching scenario is pretty heavy on the ideal, huh? Ricky Romero was a TERRIBLE pick, quite possibly the worst pick in the whole draft. Brian Cashman believes in Pineda; frankly, if the Yankee never pitches again, I'll have "won" something as a Red Sox fan. If he recovers completely and becomes a monster, I will be a genius for taking him when I did. And even if that does happen, I will still have Ricky Romero on my resume.
Matt Moore is as good a bet as any other young starter to become an ace; all the signs are there for him to really blossom this year. Martin Perez's injury isn't a recurring one and he looks like a very good prospect developed by a team that develops very good prospects properly. Jake Odorizzi is serving his Tampa Timeout for arb control and looks to be a guy with some upside. And we're back to Romero. Fuck.
The swingmen - Collmenter, Wood and Axelrod - all have varying chances of becoming more than swingmen. And by varying chances I mean they're more than likely to end up swingmen. But OK swingmen. I'd probably prefer to use Collmenter to replace Romero permanently (god, he sucks) as having Wood's left arm in the bullpen has some marginal matchup value. Axelrod just eats innings until his arm falls off.
I like the four true RP I've got; Perez is wild and crazy, Mujica is steady, Boggs has a beard and Boone's the lefty. As a manager, I'd ride the hot hand with respect to key leverage spots - using any of them to snuff out a fire if they were going well and the matchup was good. I'd give the 3-run "saves" to whoever leads the clubhouse in hot feet given.
Overall, I really regret two picks: Romero & Romine. The heft of the offense is all going grey but the middle of the field is good defensively and possibly not at their ceiling offensively and Miggy makes up for lots of other deficiencies. The pitching might be very good or it might be an utter disaster. Oh, and Arod. Clubhouse cancer.
Can we start over?