Treasure Chest 12/4/07

[Cardinals]

After about a month or so without making a big deal the Pirates decided to go ahead and pull the trigger on a few major moves to shakeup the team. I have an uber top secret philosophy when it comes to building my team, so explosive that I can't mention it here, but I'm getting closer to where I want to be with my team.

I have become younger in the lineup, which makes me more comfortable, even though a hitters shelf life is fairly safe. Still, the people that will be doing the main damage in my lineup will only be improving every year, which is a comforting thought.

In mid October or so, we had a pretty lame lineup in Pittsburgh that would have looked a little like:

C- Ross
1B Sexson
2B Hoffpaiur
SS Cabrera
3B Seabol
LF Ibanez
CF Beltran
RF Ethier

That has now been transformed into something old and not getting much better, sans Ethier, and somebody in his prime (Cabrera, Beltran) and players declining (Sexson, Seabol -although could he ever decline?) and a defensive whiz in Ross.

Now it feels a lot better, albeit lacking a leadoff hitter, but looking something to the tune of:

C McCann
1B Koshansky
2B Loretta
SS Betancourt
3B Zimmerman
LF Bradley
CF Young
RF Milledge

I feel like I've picked up one of the top 3 catchers (eat shit haters) in McCann and somebody who's staying unless I were getting elite talent elsewhere. Loretta is a stopgap, but there's not many elite 2B's,and Hoffpaiur is still in the back pocket for a nice projection possibly. Betancourt can't draw a walk, but he hits .290 and can field as a plus defender. Zimmerman is a player who will be 23 on opening day next year and have two full MLB seasons under his belt. He has 70 and 72 XBH in both those years, moving into a new park which will hopefully be a little more hitter friendly, and he was third in the league in Zone Rating among all 3B in the MLB last year and second in range factor. He was also #2 in OOZ and #4 in RZR behind players who's golden days are long gone (Feliz, Rolen, Lowell) Pretty confident that he'll continue to develop, and hopefully he can learn from his broken hammate bone and use that to develop more patience.

The outfield is in pretty good shape with Bradley who posted a .947 OPS. Just need to keep his mouth shut and keep him on the field. Brian Giles is his backup, so his lofty OBP is a nice fall back option (sorry to all those who offered 5th round picks for him.)

The new prize of my outfield, where CF was in the hands of an unproven commodity after Beltran's departure for all of a day, is Chris Young. True, he didn't hit well for average or draw much in the way of walks, but let's also remember we're dealing with a player in his rookie season. 32 HR, 29 2B, 27 SB and a .467 SLG is something we'll take out of anyone's rookie season. He also brings a plus glove to the field and was 4th in OOZ and his ZR et al should all increase and improve as his development continues. Once he learns to draw walks, Kenny Williams will really be kicking himself in the gonads to sleep every night.

In right field I'm fairly thrilled to have the new Washington National Lastings Milledge patrolling it. He will have every opportunity to become the everyday CF of the Nats for a long time to come, so we'll take the extra range. Should he not hack CF and be moved to a corner, well that's A-OK too since that's what he'll be playing in Pittsburgh. Hoping that his raw power pans out and that he can reach up to a fair amount of his potential that he has. A change of scenery has long been rumored and said as being best for Milledge, and he has received that and has every opportunity to succeed now.

We also have an extremely promising 4th OF'er in Rajai Davis who the Giants stole (yes, stole) for Matt Morris. A Connecticut native, Davis brings a plus arm and speed and he hits well for average. Looking forward to seeing him develop behind Lincecum and the MLB Giants.


This lineup transformation has thinned out a lot of the depth that we've had, but the rotation has, in my estimation, managed to improve with the offense. Tim Lincecum will be the opening day starter even if he had a projection of 17.03 for his WHIP. Chris Young will be the #2 pitcher and like it, even if he had a .192 BAA last year and has improved in each of his seasons in San Diego. Princeton grad pitching with Greg Maddux, should learn a lot and continue to make strides. 3-5 will involve a bit of juggling but will include Jason Schmidt (God-speed to his arm), Sean Marshall, Kam Loe, Gavin Floyd, Mark Mulder and Humberto Sanchez, though his likely destination is the bullpen. Hoping Henry Sosa stays in the rotation too, but if not, he should be a force out of the bullpen in the longrun.

The bullpen after losing Marmol/Valverde will need a bit of a juggle but it's still in good shape overall, just need to add a shut down arm. Percival, Lopez, Wise, Cameron, and even Bruney and Paronto can prove to be solid arms, and probably Humberto Sanchez as well. Lacking that 9th inning here, but we'll bring one in.


Pretty big strides in Pittsburgh and a great time to be a Pirates fan.

/douchebaggery