Talking Trends - Team Blog (short thoughts)

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Re: Talking Trends - Team Blog (short thoughts)

#376 Post by Reg »

Every off-season owners, personnel and players go through a complicated dance to see how the future of the organization will go and look...of course that means that sometimes fan favorites and hometown heroes get the heave ho to be replaced by cheaper, younger and hopefully more productive players...

One such player is Carlton Wilson who thrilled fans in 2017 after batting .337 and 46 extra base hits. But injuries have limited both his playing time and effectiveness over the past two seasons. Wilson is not out the door yet but he is definitely being reported as being available if another team would be so inclined. The most telling state for Wilson is that despite being the all time hits leader for the Trendsetters...not one of those hits was a home run.
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Re: Talking Trends - Team Blog (short thoughts)

#377 Post by Reg »

Trendsetter fans flock to the internet boards to proclaim surprise and joy over the extension of Nash and Collins. After a decade of shuffling through veteran players the Trendsetter organization has finally developed talent from within that was worthy to sign to long term contracts that bypass the arbitration process. Nash is listed by the BNN as the second best left fielder in the PEBA, though the Trendsetter faithful argue he might be better than the guy slotted at number one, WV Don Mercer. Trendsetter fans also may be a little biased.

Collins is one of the best young catchers in the game and his offensive contribution took a giant leap forward in his second full year in the bigs. Finding a catcher who can offer both elite offense and defense is rare but scouts believe that Collins is one such player. The fact that he is a switch hitter is rare in the PEBA and doubly so at his position.

While the team is officially in the rebuild mode, the two moves actually mark a new era in Trendsetter baseball. Since the departure of Jeff Cline the team has not really had a signature star to build their team around. Now it seems they have found two!

When asked about early rumors indicating that Nash was not going to be with the team much longer, Tanner replied, "Sometimes it is the trade that doesn't happen that shapes a franchise. We had some pretty serious discussions about Nash with another team, but when the LRS blew up...so did that deal. Either way you move forward and you keep looking for ways to improve the team. I have no doubt that by the end of his career Nash will own most of the Trendsetter batting records."
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Re: Talking Trends - Team Blog (short thoughts)

#378 Post by roncollins »

Always good to see local stars getting the green.
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Re: Talking Trends - Team Blog (short thoughts)

#379 Post by Reg »

Despite a rocky start in April, May and June have solidified the Trendsetter lineup as one of the best in the PEBA. Currently with one less game played Arlington has scored 365 to New Orleans 364. Morimoto has seen a resurrection of sorts as he even found himself tied for the league lead in home runs. His .287 batting average and 12 home runs over the past two months have him on pace to match numbers he hasn't put up in years including the chance to top 40 home runs again. During that time the Trendsetters have also been the best team in the Dixie collecting 28 wins to Florida's 27 and Kentucky's 26. With five games left in June they are 3.5 out of first place...which is a surprise on all accounts.

They head to New Jersey to the face a team that they have won 5 out of the 6 games so far. New Jersey has been on an upswing though so the Trendsetters aren't going in thinking about another sweep. Then the Nutmeggers come to New Orleans, a season series that is tied at 3-3 this year. Out of those five games if they are able to win 2 they will tie May's high mark of 15 wins...three and they have their best month record wise.

The month of June has seen marked improvement in the pitching department with a staff earned run average of 3.77 (May was 4.91, April 4.96). June has also seen some tough luck games as well. In the last series against the Calzones, the Trendsetters out scored the team 12-4 yet lost two games. 6 of the 10 losses in June have been by one run. The Pythagorean difference sits at -5 which would equal out to a record that would put them atop the Dixie.

On the farm side, the Trendsetters welcomed in the largest intake of talent in organizational history. After dropping 12.8 million dollars all but C Robert Phillips are now playing in the minors. Phillips has decided to try out college...good luck to him getting anywhere near the money New Orleans offered him this year. Number one draft pick John Turner pitched a couple of games at HI-A and has been called up to experience AA ball.
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Re: Talking Trends - Team Blog (short thoughts)

#380 Post by Reg »

Trendsetter fans, especially those who are cheering in Anchorage are looking on to see just how good Felix Zavala might be. Zavala finished his four years in high school with a .445 career batting average and never hit below .400 in his high school career. Not to be intimidated upon entering the pro ranks this season in SSA, he is batting .416 one game shy of the half way point. It is rumored that Zavala scouted poorly amongst the Trendsetter scouts but that his production was simply too much to ignore and was nabbed with the 1st pick of the 4th round. Tanner has gone on record to state that he is reminded mostly of a young Pexego when he watches Zavala, though with a little less power potential.

Zavala has all the time in the world to progress because currently both 1b and dh are being locked down by PEBA legend Morimoto and up and comer James Heard. James has flipped the switch on in July hitting .360 with 11 home runs for the month, while Morimoto has experienced a bit of a rebirth and is currently leading the league in home runs with 28. Morimoto has topped the 30 home run mark in every single PEBA season in the short history of the league and looks sure to do so again. In July he is hitting .297 with 10 home runs.
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Re: Talking Trends - Team Blog (short thoughts)

#381 Post by Reg »

In a rare trade deadline move, the Trendsetters have acquired long time Dino Craig Hampton in hopes of shoring up their pitching staff, which has had a terrible July. The staff has had a terrible go of it and their combined earned run average is 6.21. Tanner has also indicated that Bernado Alacorn is most likely to be designated as the official closer, unless another trade were to come about and bring bull pen relief.

It is a crazy year in the dixie where every team has a shot at coming out on top, but if New Orleans can't relieve some of their pitching woes it won't matter.
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Re: Talking Trends - Team Blog (short thoughts)

#382 Post by Reg »

It's trade deadline time...so in honor, a few thoughts...

From the desk of the GM


It only took two days for time to run out on a dream. The team was off and on their way to London as Tanner sat in his office staring at the stats from the Trendsetter’s post all star break performances and felt sick. Oh, there was plenty to be proud off, the offense by all standards was still performing by putting in 82 runs over the past 13 games at a mark of 6.3 runs per game. The offense was definitely not the problem. No it was the 105 (8 plus/game) runs allowed by the pitching staff that was causing the dream of an almost competitive team to crumble into bottom dwelling mediocrity.

They had won just 3 games of the 9 at home and dropped all four away games.
Now the Trendsetters were about to face their toughest test in the schedule consisting of a 14 game road trip. Already the team had proved to be terribly inconsistent on the road. With Edwards and Collins on the disabled list for the duration of the road trip, things were not looking up. Having lost 9 of the last 10 has done little to bolster confidence.

For a moment it seemed that the Trendsetters could beat the world into submission by constantly drumming out runs and having games that resembled football scores rather than baseball. But post all-star break has provided the team with the opportunity to have the tables turned and even their 6 plus runs per game has not been enough.
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