Talking Trends - Team Blog (short thoughts)

[Reg]

****Unashamedly copying west virginia****


Trendsetter nation is starting to rise up in response to the fact that Cal Edwards did not make the all-star team. It seems a little strange that the league leader in HRs and third in RBI's doesn't make the team. Edwards has chewed through lefthanded pitching this year and would make a great bat to put in the lineup late in the All-star game when you needed power. Instead, he will be watching from the comfort of his sofa.

[John]

Hooray for more blogs! For anyone who missed it, I'll be counting blog content towards the CPs you're earning for writing. Just because it doesn't appear on the homepage doesn't mean you're not getting credit!

What's more interesting than Edwards not making the team is that he didn't get a single vote. I'm sure the lower batting average played into that somewhat. Sabermetrics-oriented guys may have noted Edwards lower VORP or RC/27. Still, it's tough to deny Edwards has a legit All-Star case to make. Aside from leading the league in HRs he's 3rd in RBIs and 5th in runs. He's also 4th in ISO and TB and tied for 2nd in XBH. Pretty impressive standings for a man who didn't receive a single All-Star vote!

[Reg]

Edwards actually recieved three votes but because the Trendsetter outfield is full of very good fielders edwards plays the majority at dh (even though edwards is no slouch defensively) unfortuantely this means going up against Cruz from NJ....which was like asking a fat kid to vote for carrot cake over chocolate cake

[Reg]

Single A- Recently discovered canadian prospect CF Brendan Street has been patient at the plate so far..in his first 5 games he walked 8 times and after playing 14 games he has walked 13 times. Another oddity for Street is the fact that he has recorded 12 hits, 7 of which have been doubles.

Much beleagured SP Sin Orji shone in his first appearance going 8 innings and allowing only two singles. Orji has found the New Orleans organization to be much more suited for his name, especially considering New Orleans is famous for its Mardi Gras parties

Triple AAA- CF Todd Hansen has managed to get at least one hit in all 17 out of the 18 games he has played for the Braggarts. He has also scored 14 runs since being drafted.

[Denny]

Stupid Sin.

[Reg]

CF Todd Hansen has extended his hitting streak to 22 games at AAA this season. That means that Hansen has gotten a hit 22 out of the 25 games his has played (44 hits total, 40 of them singles).

[Reg]

The buzz word is that Aragon is out and Hansen is in. Aragon has been mentioned in a couple of trades but so far New Orleans has yet to confirm any of the specifics, except to say that by 9 tonight Aragon will be out. Replacing Aragon is the hot hitting Hansen who currently has a 22 game hitting streak for the Braggarts in AAA. Word is that the Trendsetters are looking to acquire a 5th starter for the rotation in exchange for Aragon, which would displace Hashimoto, who has been decent if not stellar at the bottom of the rotation.

Replying in an email about the possibility that Aragon would be gone and questions about the impact on offense Tanner wrote, " Aragon is a great player. But offensively he has struggled to establish himself and we felt like it was time to shake up the roster to breathe some life into the second half of the season. Hansen is averaging two hits every 5 abs at AAA and if he can average one hit every four at bats in the majors who will be acheiving more than the majority of the current starters for the Trendsetters."

To put things further in perspective, Hansen has 44 hits in 25 games while Kato has 43 hits in 53 games, Rodriguez has 49 hits in 65 games, and Lloyd has 50 hits in 64 games.

The fact is that if Hansen struggles and the Trendsetters do as well, Tanner will be in the doghouse. If Hansen struggles but the team still wins, nobody will care. If Hansen excels and the Trendsetters begin to widen thier lead over the division, Tanner will be declared a baseball genius.

Hansen is going to be asked to fill in an important role that has not been filled successfully by any Trendsetter this year, the leadoff hitter. Lewis has most consistently been pegged as the leadoff hitter but he really has a skill set that makes him a more valuable hitter in the second spot. The Trendsetters new lineup will be on display in a very important division matchup against the Statesmen who are currently only 2 games back. It should make for some great games as the top of each team's pitching rotation will face off. Each team has won 3 of the previous 6 games played against each other.

[Reg]

Sources confirm Aragon has been traded to the Maulers for SP Onne Adriannse. The peasants rejoice!!!

[Reg]

Sources confirm Aragon has been traded to the Maulers for SP Onne Adriannse. The peasants rejoice!!!

Once again Tanner finds himself having to respond to emails with thinly veied threats of bodily harm over roster moves. The question on everyones mind is why Adriannse? The second question is how in the world do you pronounce his name?

Tanner explains, about the move and not the pronunciation, " Aragon had made it clear that he did not want to talk about any deals and he was dead set on free agency."

It is not a surprise that the front office is very adamant that they will committ the most resources to resigning pitchers, as several will be arbritration results. This left the distinct possibility that Aragon would walk away from the organization and New Orleans would be rid of the contract, but get nothing in return.

Added to this fact, Hansen has torn up AAA pitching and could offer signs of life for a sluggish New Orlean's offense. Aragon found himself facing reduced playing time, and at 5.9 mil would be an expensive part-time player.

Tanner began to search for a paticular type of player, a SP who was at least rated 3 stars and had a contract similar in price to Aragons, if not in length. After a few other tendered offers fell through, Manchester jumped on the chance to be rid of the struggling dutchman.

"I really feel like the change in scenery and the added effectivenss of the Trendsetters bullpen will help me tremendously," stated the soft spoken Adriannse.

Tanner added, "Adriannse has a skill set that far surpasses Hashimoto, he should be able to excel where Hashimoto has been effective. Regardless, he gives us a solid arm at decent price to fill in the fifth spot of the rotation, until our younger arms in the minor leagues mature."

Tanner drafted two highly touted starting pitchers and is anxiously awaiting the results of Rob Lambert's rehabbing, although he is predicted to be out until next years spring training at the least. Unless Adriannse tanks at the end of this season he will allow the Trendsetters prospects to grow and mature without having to rush them directly to the PEBA.

Adriannse is slated to start against London Underground on July 12. From there, Tanner is eager to see how the chips will fall, and considering unlisting his contact information.

[John]

Blogs that get enough action during a sim cycle (like Talking Trends did this time) will get their entries posted on the front page. If you want, you can go ahead and include fake handles of people posting on the blog. I'll include that when I post them up.

[Reg]

Rumor has it that Tanner is once again feelin safe enough to walk the streets and mingle with the people. He has been sighted shaking hands at banks, grocery stores, and cd shops. Which has lead many to wonder does he actually do any work? And what's with all the hand shaking is he running for office?

New Orleans won 2 out of 3 in Charleston and rookie call up Todd Hansen made his prescence felt immediately, in his first at bat he hit a deep high hopper to short stop which he legged out for his first PEBA hit. He then proceeded to unceromoniously steal secon and third. He scored on a fielder choice on a groundball from Lewis. He recorded his second hit in the next at bat and scored again, being the sole player to score as the Trendsetters won the game 2-0.

But as a great a start as that was, check out what he did in his second game. He went 3 for 3 and stole 5 bases...yep count em...5. Once again the Trendsetters won 2-0. So far Hansen has gotten a hit in all six games he has played in, which extends his hitting streak to 28 games counting 22 played at the AAA level. He is currently batting .480, scored 6 runs, and stolen 8 bases. What a week!!!!

[Jhonny Baseball]

Hansen is a unique player who can turn a single into a triple. If his bat can get him to first often enough he could score alot of runs. So far his strike out rates have been fine. I hope he can keep it up, watching two tool players excel is good stuff.

[John]

I am extremely interested to see how Hansen fares in NO. To the best of my knowledge this is the first player drafted in the Amateur Draft to be called up to the bigs. I have to admit that I was highly skeptical of this guy - I really thought his college success was a fluky result of "aluminum bat syndrome" - but so far he's proving me wrong. If he's able to keep up the success, I wonder if other teams will begin aggressively promoting their recent draftees?

[Reg]

yeah, since i had to prerank everyone for the draft, I was quite surprised I wound up with him after the article San Antonio wrote up about him, and I wasn't sure he would be able to even perform at a nominal level at AAA, especially with the fact that he strikes out alot, but after he got a hit in 22 straight games, I was like I gotta get this guy a shot...plus like I said even if all he hits is .250 he will be hitting .25 points higher than the previous lead off man...so my standards were pretty low...the fact that he has stolen 8 bases including a couple of third bases, and not gotten caught yet is an added bonus...

[Duane]

You probably got Hansen because each of our scouts had their own opinion about him. I know my scouts liked guys and gave them high potential ratings that other scouts thought was nothing more than a 1* guy.

COngrats on getting a player you thought you were getting, my guys will be in Single A for the duration as none are hitting above .220