1999 Philadelphia Freedom Season Preview

[BradZ]

Debated about putting this out at all. The whole thing was more of an exercise due to boredom as I waited for Opening Day. Now we're off to a 1-5 start and our 2B is out for 2 months . . . again. It's going to be a long season.

[BradZ]

Catcher

Shawn Bowen - Age: 27 – We toyed with the idea throughout the offseason of trying to find a replacement for Bowen behind the dish. In all honesty, if prices had been more to our liking we would probably be writing a blip about someone else heading into the ’99 season. As it stands we’ll keep waiting and hoping that Bowen will put together a representative season that matches our scouts take on him: Nothing special, but should be able to perform at a solid level.


Infield

1B - Wessin Ramirez - Age: 28 – Two straight years of Jekyll and Hyde performances at the plate. He’s been awful at the plate for the first half the last two seasons and then put on an offensive show in the back halves to bring his numbers up to a respectable level. (124 and 113 OPS+ figures in ’97 and ’98). If only he could get off to a better start this season perhaps we wouldn’t immediately dig ourselves such a hole in the standings right off the bat. He’s 28 so we’re hoping for a career year.

2B - Dave Ritchason - Age: 23 – This will be Ritchason’s 3rd go-round in the BLB and we’re hoping for steady improvement over his first 2 seasons. He can’t seem to avoid the injury bug and put in a full season, so we’ve made provisions on the roster to make sure we have capable backups that can play up the middle. He’s an excellent defender at the 2B position, so we’re really wanting to get a full season out of him since it’s been a while since we’ve been solid defensively at the position.

3B - Joe Dominguez - Age: 34 – This one’s still a bit undecided, but we’ll pencil in the vet Dominguez for now. Poling could get the call here, but he’s going to begin the year playing quite a bit at SS. Dominguez is nothing special, but he’s posted an OPS+ north of 100 8 out of 10 BLB seasons. That’s nothing to sneeze at especially when you consider the level of defense he is able to provide at 3B. He was originally brought to the team because the fans like him, but he’s also a decent player on top of that. He’s on a fairly team friendly deal this year and next so for now he’ll see his name in the lineup at 3B on a consistent basis.

SS - Josh Poling - Age: 36 – It’s virtually impossible for Poling to reproduce the year he had a season ago. Not at this age. But then again, it was virtually impossible for him to produce the season he had a year ago at the age of 35 too. The ’98 season represents a career year for Poling and there’s a good chance it was a swan song type year for him. He’s got a $13mil team option carrot dangling in front of him, so we’re pulling for him to have at least a decent year, though we’d like an encore.

Outfield
LF - Pete Lawson - Age: 28 – He’s a fill in for Dave Watkins who is slated to miss the first 2 months of the season as he recovers from a lengthy injury suffered late last season. Lawson’s biggest attribute is in his ability to steal bases at a fairly successful clip. His slash figures were putrid last season and it cut into his playing time (though he’s always been a part-timer), yet he still stole 34 bases (while being caught only 8 times). He has to return to better form at the plate to keep getting regular ABs and we think he has it in him to do so.

CF - Tom Swanson - Age: 25 – Swanson has to take a big step forward for us to have any chance of a decent season. He spent many years on every top 10 prospect list and it’s time for that potential to translate into production on the field. It didn’t translate last year, but the idea was to get him experience at this level when we had zero chance in the standings last season in hopes that experience would result in growth for future seasons. He’s immensely talented, but he’s getting to the age where he has to prove it. He’s either a late bloomer or he’s never going to get there. Time to find out.

RF - Jed Foster - Age: 27 – These are the types of players/situations that I love and hate about this game. Foster was an afterthought in our organization for years but he just kept creeping and creeping, until he forced his way into our OF mix (that’s the love part). He rewarded that faith in him with a great start to the ’98 season and he was set to be a great story for us. Then, (this is the part I hate) he suffered an injury, then a devastating setback and he wasn’t (and probably won’t ever) be the same again. He’s a place holder for now until something better comes along (Jon Robles, please pop soon).


Bench

C - Wally Yates - Age: 35 – Veteran backstop who’s in his second go round with Philly. If he’s more like the ’97 version he’ll get his fair share of playing time. If he’s more like ’96 he’ll see plenty of bench time. Solid defensively behind the dish so he’ll probably get plenty of late inning defensive replacement work.


IF - Adrian Romero - Age: 30 – We’ve liked Romero for many years and took the opportunity last season to pick him up when he was on the block despite not really having a place to play him. He could easily unseat Ritchason at 2B if the youngster struggles, or he can be a super utility player to give breaks to our aging left side of the infield. Despite the fact he starts the year on the bench, it’s highly likely he sees plenty of action this season.

OF - Tadasuke Uchiyama - Age: 29 – We don’t want to admit it, but he’s done. We’re still hoping he can fill the 4th/5th OFer role, but he’s fallen off precipitously in our scout’s eye (even though his ratings appear the same). He appears to be a guy who “peaked” in his mid 20’s. It’s a shame he never matured past that.

1999 Outlook

Our offense was offensive in the bad way last season, so there’s really no place to go but up from here. We’re counting on growth from Bowen at C, Ritchason at 2B and Swanson in CF, and more consistency from Ramirez at 1B. Poling almost certainly has to take a step back. The X factor will be Watkins and how he looks upon his return. Due to the length of his injury it’s possible he may have already had his 15 minutes of fame, winning the IL New Brew last year. It would be a shame if that’s as good as it gets for him. We’ll play a few positions by ear early in the season and mix and match as we go to try to get the most production possible out of this group.


Starting Rotation

Doug Miles - Age: 31 – Doug Miles is 31 now. My, how time flies. He missed the first half of the season last year, dealing with his first significant injury of his career. He came back and rounded back into shape by the end of the season. He’s not what he once was (most players aren’t), but he’s still our Ace.

Migdonio Manhos - Age: 25 – We often forget that he’s only 25 years old. He’s a solid SP and he’s primed to have a good year (he has a pattern of up and down years). He still produced a 3+WAR in his down season so that’s a good starting point for a “bounceback” year.

Nate Taylor - Age: 35 – Veteran presence brought in to eat innings and compete every time out. We’re interested to see how his 73% GB ratio plays in our park, with our defense. We’ve always had a strange (unwarranted) fascination with Taylor.

Hai-feng Goei - Age: 30 – Not asking for much out of Goei. He’s a cheap arm in the back of the rotation who has recent success. If he can produce a season with an ERA in the mid to upper 3’s, we’ll be happy.

Robby Sears - Age: 36 – End of the road for Sears. His numbers have gotten progressively worse each year over the last 3 seasons and he needs to stop the bleeding now. He’s in a contract year so maybe that translates into a slightly better season. If he starts slowly he might find himself in the pen as we’ll employ a short leash with him this season.

Raul Guzman - Age: 32 – There’s not much to say about most team’s #6 starters. Hoping Guzman can absorb some innings throughout the season, but should he falter or get injured we have a handful of guys who can fill the same role.

Bullpen

Bill Savard - Age: 25 – Young, power bullpen arm. Turned in a decent ’98 season, reaching 100 IP as the manager went to him early and often. Posted an ERA of 3.51 despite a fairly high BABIP of .323.

Pat Roe - Age: 32 – Last year of his deal and he’s likely gone after the season. He got a ratings boost from our scout, so he may find himself back in the rotation at some point this season if a spot opens up. He’s such a tweener we’ve never really let him get settled in any particular role.

Jon Flores - Age: 26 – Young arm that has the potential to join the rotation in a pinch if the need arises. The plan is for him to spend the full year in the pen.

Colm Engle - Age: 30 – He can setup, he can close. He’s in the last year of his deal. He may be a trade chip at the deadline depending on how things go.

Joe Sanchez - Age: 31 - Another hard throwing RH RP. Missed 4 months of the season with a finger injury sustained in ST and then quickly rounded into shape to finish out the year.

Don McNeill - Age: 30 – McNeill is entering his 10 year in the league. Hard to believe he’s been around that long. He’s been one of the true steady presences for this franchise during that time, turning in seasons somewhere between good and great on a consistent basis.


1999 Outlook and Prediction

We’re not sure we were actually as bad as our record last season. Our offense was horrible, but through organic growth and maturity it has to get better, right? Right?! We don’t think our pitching is as bad as it showed last year either, but who knows. This season could very quickly go right into the tank like last year, but that would be a true disappointment. We can’t be bad forever and it’s time for this rebuild to end sooner rather than later.

I’m going out on a limb and predicting 85 wins. That’ll put us either 2nd or 3rd in our division and we’ll miss the playoffs again. If things break wrong, that 85 win prediction will look quite foolish.

[Carlos]

I'm surprised people still write these things, but I think it's nice to emerse yourself in the world. For that I commend you.

[Jake]

I'm surprised people still write these things, but I think it's nice to emerse yourself in the world. For that I commend you.

Nice. Way to be positive.

[Ryan]

Do we still get bonuses for write-ups?

[Clay]

Do we still get bonuses for write-ups?

Bonus appreciatIon from the league.

[Ryan]

Bonus appreciatIon from the league.

Ah, gift that keeps on giving.