Opening Day 1981 Discussion

[Clay]

With Opening Day coming up shortly, just curious how everyone sees their season playing out....

What were your Owner's expectations?

Any rookies starting the year with the big club?

Any rookies we might see down the road?

Anyone on your roster looking at a breakout or bounceback year?

[Z]

Not sure what my owner's expectations are. I think that's in the news inbox somewhere but I forgot to check; I'll look for it later.

My catching situations is awful. Villarroal was my guy since I got him from Pittsburgh for Lacour at the trade deadline 3 years ago, but he's just regressed every year and probably isn't close to being even a .200 hitter at this point. I signed Tim Cox, but a rookie Rafael Ramos won the job in spring training, so he'll be my starting catcher on opening day.

My top prospects are still my pitching trio at Single A. Aurillo's probably the closest among them, and even he's still 2 years away at least. Anyone else who comes up this year will just be a patchwork solution.

I need my pitching staff to step up this year. I'm hoping for a bounceback year from Jorge Lorral, who showed promise 2 years ago but was pretty lousy last season. I don't expect Marco Rubia to pitch the way he did last year, so I'm also looking for one of my 3 remaining starting pitchers to step up. I also need 2 of my corner outfielders to produce, given our sudden deficiency at the position due to injuries.

[Andrew]

My Owner wants me to win it all this year. No surprise there with the team I have.

I took a slight hit in my pitching rotation by trading Dante Geake, but I'm really hoping Gil O'Moore can step into the #2 spot. It's a lot to ask of a 20 year old guy but considering his performance last year and this spring, I think he's up to it.

My lineup is loaded this year, with the addition of Drewitt at 3B. According to my head scout, my entire starting 9 is rated 50 or above, with 7 of them rated 60 or above. Also it looks like Bill Johnson is staying in a Guides uniform for now. I got some offers, but I think he's worth more in my lineup this year rather than giving him away for a few middle of the road draft picks.

I have 3 Rule 5 guys on my roster this year. Castel Lafantano will be my #5 starter, Eddie Taylor will be my mop-up reliever and Tim Crump will be my #2 Catcher. All 3 are rookies, so it should be interesting to see how they perform. I have some decent players in the minors that can be called up if they falter.

[rubisco43]

i'm basically looking at a 3rd-4th place finish. guys are getting older, and i have no young guys ready to take their place. everyone in my division got better but me. :(

[Andrew]

Please remember to get your active roster down to 25 and 40 man roster down to 40. I will need to move players around if you don't and the results will probably not be what you wanted.

Also minor league rosters need to be down to 30 by Sunday's sim.

[Clay]

My Owner told me that he expects me to go about .500 on the season. I'm hoping I can do that, but I will need to win a lot of games that I shouldn't because I won't be favored going into many series.

CHANGES: The new configuration of Virginia National Park and Baseball Canyon should help my team find the basepaths a little more often this season, but will also require my pitching to improve. The new field pretty significantly favors left-handed hitters and I should field a steady diet of them with starters like Sargentini, MacAdie, Hutchins and Neill as well as subs like Wilkerson and Jiang all batting from the left side.

ADDITIONS: Joe Sargentini made a great first impression hitting over .400 in spring training and should pile up decent numbers from the #3 spot all season. Antonio Neill came in via Rule 5 and solidified his starting role during ST. Neill should see most of the action at SS this season. UPDATE: The Pre-Opening day addition of Bill "Sabertooth" Johnson gives the Colonials a formiddable 3-4-5 punch with Sargentini-Nelson-Johnson.

POTENTIAL BREAKOUTS: Archie "Taz" Murray (SP) and Joe Samala (C) both spent the majority of the 80/81 offseason on the trading block with no interest. We made a very strong push to find a new everyday catcher, but could not. Samala had a great spring training and will start the season as a confident #1 catcher and hit (most days) out of the 2 spot. Murray is 29 and ready to contribute to this staff. He beat out a few more veteran pitchers to secure his spot on the Roster and will be the #3 arm behind O'Laughlin and Cafferty.

POTENTIAL BOUNCEBACKS: Danny Nelson had a great spring and could return to his Refreshing New Brew (1979) numbers in the new confinds in Virginia. He'll bat cleanup and should have amble opportunity to drive in runs batting behind a Sargentini and a developing leadoff man in Jim Coker.

ROOKIES: Neill is the only rookie that will definately see action this season. Delmar Oyos (our #1 prospect) will start '81 where he ended '80 - as the #1 starter in AAA. Oyos is only 21 and I hope to not bring him up at all this season.

[Sully]

My offense should be scary. I still have a hole at 2b I'd like to fill, but moving Campoveroe to 1b allows me to slide rookie John Gorrie into LF, and move Robbins over to RF. Gorrie is a pure leadoff hitter, batting .381 in the spring with 11 runs scored, 2 homers, 8 rbi, and 6 sb out of that spot. Delarruz is a OBP machine, and is more suited to bat second. After that, it's Campoveroe, Robbins, and Dupuis.

My starters should be solid. McNeilage and Dealba will be fine. I need Peyton to keep his homers down, and perform like he did after I acquired him last season. The bullpen took a hit in the preseason, losing promising rookie Jose Nunez for 2 months and setup man Troy Sisk will miss the first 4 games of the season because OOTP thought it'd be a great idea to have him throw 25 innings in the preseason. Kenshin Krsnich was sensational in his first season as a closer, and Doug Liggins is quickly becoming one of the league's best middle relievers.

[Dave]

The Bulldogs are already in hold it together mode for the next seven weeks due to another injury to Pete Kellum. Between his injury and the continued underperformance from high-paid veterans like Henry Stafford and Amato Albors, I'm expecting to struggle to score runs during and following Kellum's injury hiatus since his skills seem to have eroded slightly due to injury and age. Newcomer Abran Lanbin had a very good spring and he will be expected to provide immediate punch in the middle of the lineup and I'm hoping my ballpark will inflate my offense, but I think we'll be scratching out runs all season.

On the pitching side, things look considerably brighter. Walter Lacour looks to have lost nothing off his game at age 38 and #2 BLB pitching prospect Jeff Franklin looks like an immediate impact starter at age 19 after a very good spring. Frank Dallyn and Tim Nathan look to build on last year's performances, while Joe McKeag is under fire to provide 5th starter stability due to a lack of other options at the major and minor league levels. Innocente Degadillo returns for another run as the team's closer at age 39, but dominant setup man Brian Hanrahan is eager to take over the closer role. Ted Jackson, Bronson Johnson and Mike Fritsch round out a very good young bullpen.

OF prospects Roy Gilbert and Carlos Bamentos could both see time in the major leagues this season and are penciled in as eventual OF replacements for Raimundo Santana (36) and Lanbin (34).

[BradleyB]

With all the offseason moves I made, I've either set myself up for success or a huge embarrassing failure. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go shove my head into a bucket of ice water.

[Pat]

CHANGES: Made a few changes in the ballpark. Should be more neutral with a little help to the pitchers. Which is a big difference compared to last years hitters paradise. The Bats also have some new coaches, scouts, doctor, as well as new uniforms and logo.

ADDITIONS: The #1 and #5 starting pitchers are new faces. Acquired in a trade with Dallas, the Bats added Joe Chavarraga who looks to be the ace they have been searching for. In spring training he struck out 22 batters in 20 innings while only giving up one free pass. Signed through free-agency was former Pittsburgh SP Johnson "Haystack" Bedell. The Bats believe that if you can post a 5.18 ERA pitching for the Millers, the sky is the limit.

The Bats also addressed the bullpen by claiming 35-year-old starter John Stritch from waivers. The former Javelina is switching to the setup role where he has flourished in ST.

Via trade the Bats also landed a new SS who will bat cleanup. Domingo Bandillo hit four home runs and knocked in 18 runs in limited spring training time.

The Bats also drafted four players in the rule V draft. Two SP in Jack Cantrell and Anton Estalillia, a reliever in Xever Garced, and a RF in Nicolas Faurrieta.

POTENTIAL BREAKOUTS: Keep Chicho Ochoa on your radar. The LF has not played in the majors since 1979 because of a spring training injury that stole his entire 1980 season. He will start the season as the every day leftfielder and should flourish with the playing time. He hit .350 in ST.

POTENTIAL BOUNCEBACKS: Two years ago former All-Star CF Joe Santiago hit .316, played glove wizard defense in the outfield, stole 46 bases, and scored 70 runs through the first 92 games of the season. Then he dislocated his shoulder and was out for 8 months. He did not participate in spring training in 1980 and his entire season was a funk. While he hit a career high 17 HRs, and still won his second defensive award, he hit only .229. Some believe he might not be the same players before the injury, but he is looking to bounce back.

ROOKIES: The only rookies on the 25-man roster to start the year are the rule V picks. One has already gone down with injury and will be out another six weeks. SP Cantrell will be used for spot starts, and long relief out of the pen, and is first in line to take a spot in the rotation should someone falter or get hurt. RP Xever Garced should be a mainstay in the bullpen all season long. RF Farrieta was brought in because of his power. He hit 48 homeruns in 1980 in AA, AAA, and the majors combined. In ST, he hit zero. If he struggles don't be surprised to see him sent back to his original team.

Other rookies who could make an impact later in the year:
LF Tony Rajanna - Could fill the spot in RF if Santiago doesn't regain his form. Rajanna has hit over .300 for his minor league career with an OBP of over .400.

SS Jack Dynes - This fielding wiz is being put to the test. If he can prove to be an adequate hitter at AAA, he could find his way on the big league club. He is the best defensive middle infielder in the entire organization.

SP Tessai MacArthur - Tessai is the Bats #1 prospect. He will be making his first starts ever in AAA this spring, and could rise fast.

[liquidcrash]

My owner's expectations are for me to win it all. My expectations is we'll be one of the best teams in the league, but still finish behind Windy City. There's really no reason to expect someone other than Windy City to win the Bock Division. So my prediction is 95-100 wins, sitting out the playoffs.

Additions The Tobs added reliever John Frahill from Los Lunas in a trade. He's expected to be one of the top relievers in the league in the setup role for the Tobs.

Other than that, the team is practically the same as last seasons.

Breakouts OF Will Porter came on strong to end last season, he'll probably start from opening day this season. We're expecting a big season from him.

Bouncebacks I'd like to see Joe Reyes do better, but I'm pretty sure he's going to be awful again. Vincent Nino will hopefully finally show why my scouts are so high on him.

Rookies Catcher Italo Cossa could start. He hit around .300 in AAA ball, and we have no other catchers of note.

[Clay]

Updated my original post to reflect addition of Bill Johnson. Who doesn't need a BJ, right????

[Guest]

The Bats believe that if you can post a 5.18 ERA pitching for the Millers, the sky is the limit.

As for my team, I'm aiming for .500. The offense isn't going to be a problem, it's the pitching I'm worried about. I've added some depth in the bullpen, and I got 2 guys who I hope to be at least average starters in Boladeres and McAllinder. I'm also expecting EG to have an MVP year.