Montgomery Biscuits
Finish: Fourth place, NL South
2010 final payroll: $71.9 million
Estimated 2011 opening day payroll: $65 million
Offseason action:
The Montgomery Biscuits seem to be on the right track, but they will have a revamped Bullpen to work with or they will find themselves again resting at the bottom of the division. They also need to find that next great 3B.
3B Tom Randolph will be taking his speed to Free Agency and Montgomery will have to look at other solutions for their lineup.His10Hr and 30+ stolen bases will be missed from the top of the Ray order. CL Deion Dunn is probably equally gone or will comeback at a huge discount. For 10M a season he no longer offers enough talent. He could be a great long reliever or closer for a smart team. On again/ off again Closer Pedro Escobar will also hit the market in S19. Florida would be smart to try to retain his services. He has proven to be an effective reliever in Florida the last several seasons and would be missed.
Arbitration eligible 2B Andres Cedeno, LF Luis Mota, SS Tim Ray, Rp Paul Tobin are all guaranteed to get a contract for S19. Tobin is a necessity for the pen with all its holes. Ray's defense will be very difficult to replace. Edgar Cruz and Turner Hemingway both seem to be better released than paid.
Reality check
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RF Tony Lopez has always been a driving force of the offense the past several seasons. Last season fans, watch as the Ray's moved away from Lopez's bat and experience and started to shuffle the lineup and featuring other guys. As a result Lopez's numbers dropped in 100 less at bats. He dropped to 62 RBI and suffered a 20 point drop in batting average. Lopez is probably no longer the feature hitter in the lineup, but can still be a factor for Montgomery Biscuits victory. It is balancing him with newly crowned superstar Footsie Long. Long is still learning the field as a shortstop, but his bat has been the real treat. Long just missed hitting 30 HR and drove in well over 100 runs for only the 2nd time in his career. I would expect his opportunities to be there to do it from now on. Centerfielder Candy Zoltan also takes some of the offensive burden. Montgomery Biscuits put the red light on his free style running and have been having him being more cautious on the base path. The results are 0 stolen bases in 2 seasons after being caught 51 out of 99 times the previous seasons.
The starting rotation should look similar to last season with Gordon Potvin continuing to grow into his role as the new staff ace. Darren Walker and Tony Batista taking their spots when they find the strike zone. Damaso Alou will be the wildcard if he can further develop he could really step into a bigger role with the Montgomery Biscuits and bring one more day of consistency. Similarly Potvin will need to also take a large leap in growth to climb to the next level. Joaquin Andujar will also get a chance out of spring training to make the rotation, he performed well enough in long relief, but there are obvious concerns we would not be able to hold up to a full season of pitching 7 innings every 5 days. Only time will tell if he can do it or else he returns to lead the bullpen in S19. Pascual Alomar, Dick Dixon, Rogers Payton will all duke it out for the chance to be a spot starter or long relief in the pen, The rest of the pen will be revamped with prospects Orber Bonilla, Travis Kerr, and Mel Darr playing into a mix of new Free agents.
Summing it up with a quote
"Thought we would try something new, and have the AI pick all our coaches and do all our offseason action, we have a great feeling about this" - Montgomery management
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