Austin vs. Jersey; First Round CLDS Breakdown

After a 2 year absence the Austin River Sharks are back in the playoffs.  For the 3rd straight year the Jersey Shore D-Bags will be participating in the playoffs, though this is the first time as a division winner.  With a better regular season record Jersey Shore will have home field advantage when the two play this series starting next week.  Jersey finished with a record of 119-43, the best in the CL and best in the BSA.  Austin won the CL Central division with a record of 88-74, 7 games better of that of the 2nd place Kansas City Cougars.

This season the two teams played each in 3 separate 3-game series, 9 games total, 2 of those series being held in Austin and 1 being in held in Jersey.  Jersey pretty much had their way with Austin winning that season series by an 8-1 margin and winning all 6 games played in Austin.  The one game that Austin did come away with a victory came in July and was one of closer Mungo Saenz's two losses on the season.

Let's break down the teams:

Offensively

As we can see here and it's clearly no surprise that Jersey has the overwhelming majority offensively.  Austin's offense struggled this season and will be without the injured Jerome Miles for the playoffs.  Jersey is stacked at most positions and there are very few easy outs in this lineup.  If Austin is going to win this series it probably will not be by out-slugging Jersey.

Pitching

Compared to the offenses the pitching side is fairly even.  The starters were nearly dead even for the season while Jersey's pen was a little bit better.  Both teams feature top end closers and very good back ends, if it gets to the back end of either bullpen, it will be tough to make a comeback.  The Austin starters need to hold the Jersey bats at bay, if this happens, like Toronto did last year, it's anyone's game.

The Starters vs Austin

Greg Schaefer: 2-0, 0.55 ERA, 16.1 IP, 7H, 1ER, 1BB, 13K
Rob Goodship: 1-0, 4.20 ERA, 15.0 IP, 17H, 7ER, 3BB, 10K
Dan Macias: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 8.1 IP, 6H, 0ER, 1BB, 4K
Drew Schaefer: 0-0, 2.30 ERA, 15.2 IP, 14H, 4ER, 5BB, 10K

Art Ellis being injured most of the season did not get a start against Austin.  For whatever reason neither did Jose Ramos, who will be the Game 1 starter.

Lineups:

Jersey plans to go with the usual lineups with Ibarra included playing CF.  He has only been up for 17 games but will get the start, at least to begin the series.

vs RHP

LF Peterson Larson
SS Lawrence Schroeder
2B Mike Bryant
DH Matt Doyle
RF Dave Dodd
C Warren Goyer
CF Fransisco Ibarra
1B Alberto Perez
3B Adam Morrow

vs LHP

3B Adam Morrow
SS Lawrence Schroeder
2B Mike Bryant
DH Matt Doyle
C Warren Goyer
CF Fransisco Ibarra
RF Dave Dodd
1B Alberto Perez
LF Peter Larson

Jersey Hitters vs. Austin's Top 5 SP:

vs Daniel Ramos

Morrow 4-7      .570
Perez 4-8         .500
Larson 5-11     .455
Romero 1-3     .333
Schroeder 1-3   .333
Doyle 2-8       .250
Bryant 3-14     .210
Goyer 0-3      .000
Dodd 0-6         .000

vs. Chuck Phillips

Goyer  2-3        .666
Romero  8-19   .421
Schroeder  2-5    .400
Dodd    2-5        .400
Doyle    7-22     .318
Morrow  7-22   .318
Ryan     3-10      .300     1 HR
Lopez 2-7         .286
Perez  3-14       .214
Rodriquez  2-14    .143
Bryant 3-23       .130  1 HR
Larson   0-11     .000

vs. Fransisco Rivera

Morrow  6-12     .500
Lopez   3-6         .500
Dodd   6-14        .429   2 HR
Perez    6-16       .375
Ryan     3-9         .333   1 HR
Schroeder  3-10  .300   1 HR
Doyle    5-17      .294
Bryant   5-20      .250
Larson  3-18       .167
Goyer   1-7         .143
Torres   0-9         .000

vs Ron Eager

Bryant   7-21    .333
Taylor  5-15    .333
Ryan         3-11  .273  1 HR
Rodriguez  2-8   .250  1 HR
Lopez  1-5   .200
Larson    3-17    .176   1 HR
Perez   1-6       .167
Romero  2-17   .118
Goyer  0-3   .000
Morrow  0-4   .000
Doyle  0-9    .000

vs Bill Allan

Torres       3-6     .500  2 HR
Ryan       2-4       .500  1 HR
Bryant   7-15       .467  1 HR
Morrow   4-11    .364
Rodriguez  3-11   .273  1 HR
Dodd     2-9        .222  1 HR
Doyle   3-14        .214
Goyer  2-10        .200   1 HR
Schroeder  2-10  .200
Larson   1-5         .200
Perez  2-12         .167
Romero  1-7       .143  1 HR

Some success against some starters, some struggles against others.  With Austin with 5 men in the rotation it will be interesting to see which 3 or 4 Jersey does see.  The veterans or the new guys.  Whoever the bats to see, expect to see the Bags come out swinging in full force like they have all season long!  Expect a mid-series report later this week!

GO D-BAGS

Jersey Clinches 1st Division Title; Breaks CL Record for Wins

An improbable season, an improbable break out star, business as usual for the D-Bags.  September 14th, Jersey was on the road in the middle of a 3 game series with the Vista Panthers.  After winning the first game of the series 4-2, Jersey knew that this was the first day they would have a shot at clinching the the CL Eastern division for the first time in their history.  It would take a Jersey win over Vista and a Greenville loss at Reno to clinch on that night, not probable, but what was probable this season?

Both games started at 7:05 MST and were played in the Pacific time zones.  Jersey would get the scoring started in the 2nd inning, when singles by Goyer and Perez would put runners on the corners with one out.  A RBI single by 3B Adam Morrow would score Goyer and back to back wild pitches from Michael Hoffmeyer would bring in Perez making it 2-0 Bags in the 2nd.  Vista would get one back when a Yun-qi Qiao would hit an RBI groundout making it a 2-1 game after 2 innings of play. 

Jersey 2-1. End of 2.

Cruising along in Reno, the Cards would get on the board first when Kent Hall, who is having a very rough year, doubled down the left field line scoring breakout rookie Sugiyama who had earlier tripled.  Reno would lead 1-0 after 3.

Reno 1-0. End of 3.

Back to Vista, it didn't take long for Jersey to get the run they gave Vista in the 2nd as they quickly loaded the bases and Mike Bryant would score on a long fly out sac-fly from Warren Goyer.  A walk from rookie Fransisco Ibarra would re-load the bases for Alberto Perez, whose solid hit line drive would find the outfield and bring home 2 more runs making the Jersey lead 5-1. A 1-2-3 inning on 3 pitches from Greg Schaefer would put Jersey to bat again and MVP candidate Bryant hit a scorching line drive that left the park easy for a 6-1 Jersey lead which would stand through the 4th.

Jersey 6-1. End of 4.

While Jersey was busy scoring in Vista, 1st overall pick in this year's amateur draft Jaime Guzman and and fellow 21 year old rookie Cristobal Santos had a pitchers duel going.  Few men reached base as threw zeros  up on the board which lasted until the bottom half of the 6th inning.  Free agent signing Cade Delaney would hit a fly ball that looked routine which just kept carrying 401 feet for his 34th HR of the year giving Reno a 2-0 lead heading into the 7th inning.

Reno 2-0.  End of 6. 

After getting in a little trouble in the 5th Greg Schaefer switched on cruise control and would walk one and hit one batter over the next 3 innings.  Jersey threatened a couple of times but Vista pitching would skirt out of trouble each time as the score remained the same through 7 innings.

Jersey 6-1. End of 7.

Players like Jaime Guzman are the reasons Reno fans have bright hope for the future.  Guzman would go 7 1/3 before being pulled after a 10-pitch AB resulting in a single from 84's catcher Fransisco Diaz.  It was by far the rookie's best ever outing and left to an ovation from the Reno crowd.  A combination of relievers would take us to the bottom half of the inning where Kent Hall's 2nd RBI double of the game gave Reno a 3-0 heading into the 9th inning.  Closer Didyu Ghosh would be called upon to save the game for the Cards.  He would get Donahue and Hickman easily before a mini scare as former MVP Felix Morales would ruin the shutout with a solo HR into the RF bleachers.  It would take only 3 pitches to get promising youngster Enzo Diaz to groundout and secure the win for the Cards.

Reno 3-1. FINAL 9:32 MST.

The final score was posted on the scoreboard in Vista and cheers came from the Jersey dugout and sparingly throughout the crowd.  Schaefer would be pulled after 7 1/3 finishing his night on his 6th K of night night getting Artie Kelley swinging.  Jose Gomes would take over and finish the 8th and 9th with no more trouble sending the D-Bags running out onto the field as 1B Alberto Perez fielded an unassisted ground-out for the final out of the game.  Smiles could be seen around the crowd and Schaefer received a gatorade bath as this performance improved his record to 17-3 on the season, his previous career high coming in 2015 with 13 wins.

Jersey 6-1. FINAL 10:14 MST.

This win was Jersey's 109th win of the season and later and 4 days later with a walk-off win against Seattle Jersey would break the CL record for wins in a season with 112 which was previously set by the Regina River Sharks (now Austin) in the 2013 season where they would advance to the World Series. At the time of this publication Jersey sat with a 117-42 record with 3 games left to play in the season.  117 wins puts them 3rd all time behind two juggernaut Hendersonville teams of 2015 and 2014. 

Not only did this Jersey team set the record for most wins in the CL, they also clinched the best record in the BSA this season, the 1st time a CL team will ever finish with the most wins in the BSA for a season.  Quite an improbable run from a team who lost their ace in spring training which left big question marks heading into this season.  With 3 games left, GM Swain plans on playing mainly back ups and saving pitchers to start in the playoffs.

It has been confirmed that Jersey will take on Austin in the 1st round of the playoffs.  Swain has come out and said they plan on throwing Ramos, Schaefer and Ellis in the 1st 3 games as well.   Here's to the boys finishing the season strong and looking forward to this year's playoffs!

GO D-BAGS

Revisiting Old Trades; Part 2

In my 2nd installment of revisiting old trades we look back on two more deals that happened years in the past that helped shape the BSA as we know it today.  Who got the better end?  Today we visit trades where two aces both moved from the CL to the NL in mid-season deals.  The first being between Kansas City and Boston and the 2nd being between between the LA Bruins and the Reno Cards.

Trade 1: 

7/31/2013 (4 years, 2 months ago) Boston receives SP Jean-Thomas Francoeur from Kansas City in exchange for SP Julio Leon, MR Estefan Jimenez, RF Nick Phillips, CL Brian O'Tormey and 1B Judson Backstrom.

One of the brightest and best starting pitchers in the league coming off his first no hitter earlier in the month and in the last year of his contract gets traded on trade deadline day to the defending champions the Boston Rebels.  In exchange Kansas City received a handful of young talent to help cushion the loss.  Who would get the better in the long run?

To Boston:

SP Jean-Thomas Francoeur - 29 years old. 5/5* - $21M for 1 year, pending FA.

To Kansas Citty:

SP Julio Leon - 26 years old.  3/3* - $7.35M for 2 years.
MR Estefan Jimenez - 26 years old.  3/3* - $1.2M for 1 year.
RF Nick Phillips - 27 years old. 2.5/3* - MLC
CL Brian O'Tormey - 24 years old. 1/2* - MLC
1B Judson Backstrom - 18 years old.  .5/4* - MLC

On the surface it looks as though Kansas City was just trying to get something in return for JTF before he left for free agency.  The got back 3 younger players in Leon, Jimenez and Phillips who would contribute right away, a project flame thrower in O'Tormey and the big piece was Backstrom a very raw 18 year old.  As for Boston, they would sign JTF to 7 year extension worth an astonishing $150 million before the season and pair up aces with Lara and JTF

2013 Stats:

SP Francoeur:
w/KC - 13-3, 2.72 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 2.46 FIP, 142 K, 24 BB, 155.1 IP
w/Bos - 7-1, 1.80 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 2.01 FIP, 90 K, 20 BB, 85.0 IP

SP Leon:
w/Bos - 5-8, 4.92 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 4.40 FIP, 102 K, 42 BB, 126.1 IP
w/KC - 1-4, 6.25 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, 4.69 FIP, 48 K, 18 BB, 63.1 IP

MR Jimenez:
w/ BOS - In Minors
w/KC - 0-1, 7 saves, 5.79 ERA, 1.79 WHIP, 9 K, 5 BB, 14 IP (season ending injury)

RF Phillips:
w/ BOS - .214/.240/.429  70 AB, 3 HR, 15 RBI
w/ KC - In Minors

O'Tormey and Backstrom both were in the minors for both teams in 2013.

JTF was everything and more Boston could have imagined and they still missed out on the playoffs in 2013 severely underperforming winning 14 less games than the year before.  They did sign the big extension to keep JTF around, which if they hadn't a rental wouldn't have been worth the price of the trade. KC actually improved by 10 games from 2012 winning 80 games and finishing a solid 3rd place by far out of the division that Regina ran away with.  Neither Leon nor Jimenez would help the team much in the few months after the trade while the others were in AAA.  

Let's see what ended up happening since the trade:

Francouer: 2 years, 2 months.  40-20, 2.23 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 2.75 FIP, 555 K, 136 BB (Traded to ORL)

Leon: 2 years, 2 months.  15-29, 4.72 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 5.02 FIP, 315 K, 151 BB (Lost to FA - 2016)
Jimenez: 3 years, 2 months.  10-7, 7 saves, 4.02 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 116 K, 67 BB (Lost to FA - 2017)
Phillips: 4 years, 2 months.  .262/.314/.412  142 2B, 48 HR, 298 RBI (Still on KCY)
O'Tormey: 4 years, 2 months.  9-14, 5 saves, 4.41 ERA, 1.73 WHIP, 239 K, 162 BB. (Still on KCY)
Backstrom: Yet to play for KCY, 22 years old, 91st ranked prospect in BSA.

Even 4 years later we have yet to see the ramifications for this trade.  Having the dual aces for Boston, they went to the playoffs 2 of the 3 years they pitched together but could never repeat as champions.  JTF was traded for ORL before the 2016 season for a package at the time looked a lot better than what they paid to get him.  Getting good return helps Boston even if they couldn't win the big one.

As for KCY, Leon remained a back of the rotation starter before leaving via free agency and Jimenez proved to be a decent an option out of the pen, even after having major arm surgery.  Phillips and O'Tormey are both cogs for Kansas City right now.  I would say Phillips is nothing more than average OF while O'Tormey has been an above average reliever for the past 2 seasons.  The real wild card is Backstrom, and was at the time of the deal as well.  He has broke out in AAA this year and if he plays up to his potential he could be a star for years to come.

So did Kansas City get a good deal trading one of the top starting pitchers in the game?  From my point of view, it depends how you look at it. If they couldn't sign him, getting some return was better than nothing. At least they still have 2 players on their active roster and a good hitting prospect still as a result.  After seeing the past few years what aces have gone for, especially in their prime, looking back the Cougars probably should have gotten more than they settled for.  In the end with the return Boston got for JTF, they probably have more now than they started with before they traded for Francouer which is saying something.

Trade 2:

5/1/2013 (4 years, 4 months ago) LA receives SP Jesus Moran, SP Drake Davis, $5M in cash from Reno in exchange for SP Aurelio Ramos, LF Alexander Head, SP Luis Noriega, SP Carlos Garcia, MR Hector Reyes, MR Yu-shu Kong, 1B Lorenzo Morin, SS Susumu Sugiyama, and 3B Miguel Gonzalez.

Whew, the 9-2 plus cash trade.  Moran was the prize being a fully developed 22 year old ace coming off a very good season where he put up an ERA+ of 141 at the age of 22.  Davis a 14 game winner, 125 ERA+ at the age of 27 and $5 million cash leave Reno.  Coming in are 7 players under the age of 21. Would there be enough talent to off set losing an ace and 2/5 of a pitching staff AND cash?  Let's check it out.

To LA:
SP Jesus Moran - 22 years old - 4.5/4.5* - $10.5M for 1 year.
SP Drake Davis - 27 years old - 3/3* - $2.34M for 1 year.
$5M in Cash

To Reno:
SP Aureilo Ramos - 31 years old - 2.5/2.5* - $1.1M for 2 years.
LF Alexander Head - 28 years old - 2/2* - $10.1M for 1 year.
SP Luis Noriega - 17 years old - .5/4* - MLC
SP Carlos Garcia - 18 years old - .5/2.5* - MLC
SP Hector Reyes - 17 years old - .5/1* - MLC
MR Yu-Shu Kong - 17 years old - .5/4* - MLC
1B Lorenzo Morin - 18 years old - 1/2.5* - MLC
SS Susumu Sugiyama - 16 years old - 1/2* - MLC
3B Miguel Gonzalez - 19 years old - 1/3.5* - MLC

The salary swap was almost completely even before Reno decided to throw in an extra $5 million cash in.  Moran was a free agent to be and it's possible Reno would have had trouble signing him long term and traded because of that.  It's a tough thing to do trading a 22 year old ace.  Trading 40% and your 1-2 starters usually has ramifications and this was no different.  2012 the year before the trade was the last time Reno won above 60 games and had more than 60 wins in a season, and we are in year 5 after that.  The group of youngsters are finally seeing the higher levels and the major leagues, let's take a closer look:

2013 stats:

SP Moran: 
w/REN: 1-4, 5.48 ERA, 1.76 WHIP, 4.16 FIP, 26 K, 16 BB, 42.2 IP
w/LA: 17-5, 2.27 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 3.28 FIP, 135 K, 54 BB, 182.2 IP

SP Davis:
w/REN: 0-5, 11.88 ERA, 2.28 WHIP, 6.38 FIP, 11 K, 10 BB, 16.2 IP
w/LA: 0-2, 7.11 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 3.91 FIP, 8 K, 3 BB, 12.2 IP (traded 20 days later)

SP Ramos:
w/LA: 3-1, 2.28 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 3.12 FIP, 18 K, 7 BB, 23.2 IP
w/REN: 2-8, 7.45 ERA, 1.77 WHIP, 5.13 FIP, 75 K, 39 BB, 96.2 IP

LF Head: 
w/LA: .400/.426/.533, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 45 AB
w/REN: .304/.350/.374, 2 HR, 22 RBI, 171 AB

None of the 7 youngsters had any time even close to the ML level at the time of the trade.

As you can see both pitchers were struggling for Reno after very good 2012 campaigns and both players for LA had hot starts and cooled down considerably after reaching Reno.  Moran would have the best season of his career until his 2016 season in Jacksonville.  Interesting enough, the year of the trade was only year LA didn't make the playoffs, missing the Wild Card by 1 game, even though it wasn't Moran's fault.

How did they fare after the trade? Let's see:

Moran: (2 years, 5 months): 39-19, 3.21 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 3.69 FIP, 326 K, 160 BB (Traded to JAK)
Davis: (20 days) 0-2, 7.11 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 3.91 FIP, 8 K, 3 BB, 12.2 IP (Traded to SF)

Ramos: (5 months): 2-8, 7.45 ERA, 1.77 WHIP, 5.13 FIP, 75 K, 39 BB, 96.2 IP (Become FA 2014)
Head:  (1 year, 5 months): .271/.322/.373, 11 HR, 96 RBI, 712 AB (Still in REN, AA club)
Noriega: (3 years): 5-16, 1 save, 8.39 ERA, 1.82 WHIP, 172.2 IP.  20 years old, 1.5/4*
Garcia: (2 years): 1-5, 7.71 ERA, 2.16 WHIP, 63.0 IP.  22 years old, .5/3.5*
Reyes: (1 year): 2-4, 5.30 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, 73.0 IP. 22 years old, 3.5/4* (Traded to VIS)
Kong: Hasn't played yet for Reno.  22 years old, 1/4*
Morin: Hasn't played yet for Reno.  22 years old, 1/2.5*
Sugiyama: (1 year): .329/.363/.429, 17 2B, 2 HR, 30 RBI, 252 AB.  21 years old, 1/3.5*
Gonzalez: Never played for Reno. (Traded back to LA in 2015) 23 years old, 4.5/5*

This is one of those trades which even though it's 4 years later, it's still a little premature.  Ramos was space filler and left Reno after the season, Head played part of 2 years before being buried in the minor league system.  The trade was really about the other 7 players.  Unfortunately for Reno the only 2 that have matured have both been trade away in Reyes and Gonzalez.  Still a lot of talent in the system from the trade and it will probably be another 3-4 seasons before we start seeing most of them make a true impact.  

As for LA, Moran pitched well for them for 2+ seasons and was traded the off season before LA won it's first championship.  They did get 3 valuable players who all played key roles in their championship run though.  As for Davis, he lasted 3 starts in LA before Mikey shipped him off to division rival San Fransisco.  That trade looked like this:

LA gets:
SP Tyler Law (3/4* at the time, 2/2* now)  $3.869M for 1 year.
382K

SF gets:
SP Drake Davis
MR Jose Castro (.5/2* at the time, 2.5/4* now)
RF Miguel Montes (1/2* at the time, 2/2* now)

You should by now Mikey wasn't done trading, as he sent Law away less than 2 months later and that trade looked like this:

LA gets: 
MR Zi-jun Chou (4/4* at the time, 4.5/4.5* now) 3.35M for 2 years.
$5M Cash

New Orleans gets:
SP Tyler Law 

After the season was over the trade looked like this for LA:

LA gets:

SP Jesus Moran
MR Zi-jun Chou
$10.382M CASH

LA gives:
SP Aureilo Ramos - 31 years old - 2.5/2.5* - $1.1M for 2 years.
LF Alexander Head - 28 years old - 2/2* - $10.1M for 1 year.
SP Luis Noriega - 17 years old - .5/4* - MLC
SP Carlos Garcia - 18 years old - .5/2.5* - MLC
SP Hector Reyes - 17 years old - .5/1* - MLC
MR Yu-Shu Kong - 17 years old - .5/4* - MLC
1B Lorenzo Morin - 18 years old - 1/2.5* - MLC
SS Susumu Sugiyama - 16 years old - 1/2* - MLC
3B Miguel Gonzalez - 19 years old - 1/3.5* - MLC
MR Jose Castro -18 years old - (.5/2* at the time, 2.5/4* now)
RF Miguel Montes - 16 years old - (1/2* at the time, 2/2* now)

While the trade will be hard to judge for Reno for a couple of seasons, LA did give a lot that season in terms of their farm system.  9 players under the age of 20, all between 2-4* potential.  They got back an ace, a very good middle reliever and over $10 million in cash, not to mention giving away equal salary.  They turned Moran and Chou into valuable parts that help win a championship.  I would say this trade was surely a win for the Bruins and depending on what a couple of the youngsters still in Reno's system, could very well end up being a win for them as well.

GO D-BAGS