The Hunt For Red October - Havana Leones blog

[Leones]

19 Apr 2021

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. With 12 games played, the Leones finally secured their first win. Serendipitously, the win came in a 12th inning comeback against division rivals, the Amsterdam Lions. Fate it seems has a sense of humor.

Nonetheless the club perseveres. It’s quite sunny in Cuba these days both on and off the field. With the exception of a 6 run loss to London (game 2) all the losses have been by one (6x), two (2x) or three (2x) runs. No time for panic. We knew this was going to be a season of settling in and this is all part and parcel of the process.

Early on it looks like the we trend towards giving up games in the late innings (8th & 9th) It’ll take a while to settle in the bullpen. Miguel Mercado has been slated to close. The 21 year old Cuban and 2020 LRS All Star Selection has come a long way quickly and he’ll need (and get) time to adjust.

Fellow Cuban Joaquín Aguilera has the early inside track on the setup role. The bully will need more time to sort itself out. It’s a little weaker than the typical PEBA pen and there are no quick fixes here. It’s going to be a long slog while the farm system gets rebuilt.

The transition to PEBA has overall gone pretty well. SP Takanibu ‘Decoy’ Murata, a longtime fixture on the mound in the LRS with Championships has performed well posting a 3.66 ERA though his numbers are generally down a bit.

At the plate, 6 time LRS All Star C Yosuke ‘Bus Driver’ Imai has put up a respectable .280 AVG with 1HR and 3 RBI, though his numbers, too, are slightly below last season’s.

It’s early days though and both appear to be on track.

Guys off the rails at this point include perpetual club spark 3B Takeshi Hayashi (.098 AVG 17SO 3 GDP with 51 AB) and the precocious RF Motoki Suzuki (44 AB .142 AVG ) Suzuki, who was playing college ball only two years ago obviously gets a pass. He’s here to learn at this point. Sone of Cuba, 1B Manuel Herrera needs more time to get it all sorted out and will be benched for Sosuke Yoshino, who’s like RF Suzuki is young, impressive and probably still sorting things out.

While 1-11 isn’t where we’d hoped to be it’s ok as we have our eye on the bigger picture. The guys at the top will need to hold down the fort. That will allow us to develop those promising guys down in the system today and let the club restock the system.

“La leña roja tarde pero llega” :)

[Leones]

17 May 2021

Quiet optimism, hope, loathing, acceptance. These are the steps one takes bringing a weak club up a level. Not taking anything away from Gloucester we've become the caboose on the PEBA train. It wasn't entirely unexpected. Nor is it entirely unwelcome. As Chesty Puller once said “We’re surrounded. That simplifies the problem.”

We aren't pitching well. We aren't fielding well. And we aren't batting well. Chesty would have opined "You don’t hurt ‘em if you don’t hit ‘em.”

In additional to sharing the caboose with Gloucester the two cubs are linked by the presence of SP Herb Martin a former Gloucesterman. He just hasn't figured out pitching in PEBA. In fact only 'Decoy' Murata has a winning record amongst the starters. John Gaines has become the #2 fan favorite on the roster. Not sure why he's 0-5 with a 7.44 era. Perhaps they enjoy seeing angry 31 year old men suffer in the tropic sun. Who knows?

Injuries have taken a toll as they always do. 3B Takeshi Hayashi and promising SS Kanne Nijland are riding the pine for extended injury time. On the plus side FA pickup SS Rubén Díaz had been a pleasant surprise. We knew he could flash the leather but he's shown some good stick work as well. CF Julio Medina was finally showing signs of his promising potential when he sprained an ankle. He'll be back this week to show he can maintain his previous level of play. RF Motoki Suzki who was playing college ball only two years ago has transitioned well and will continue to improve.

Overall the bats are cold though. An order of hats has been placed with the Jobu Sporting Goods Company.

Here's hoping the Cuban sun starts heating things up! The mojitos are not making the headaches go away anymore!

[Leones]

This year the club went into the draft looking for guys who had demonstrated a high level of performance over a long term. Priority was to draft pitching to restock a very weak collection of arms in the farm system. With limited funds for signing bonuses, sign ability and bonus demands shaped the list of players to be considered. The goal was to get useful guys signed in the first week after their selection and start putting them to work. The club has achieved that goal signing all picks in a week.

rd 1 pick 15 SP Jonathan Sherwin
He hails from Derby England. Derby’s biggest employers are Rolls Royce plc and Toyota . Havana hopes Sherwin will be another dependable Derby export along the lines of the famous Rolls aircraft turbines and trusty Toyota motors. Our scout feels he could end up being a #3 or #4 eventually if he works hard.

rd 2 pick 15 LF Bill Jones
Our scout really likes Jones bat. He’s only really got a single year of High School ball under his belt but he made the most of it. Defensively he’s a bit of an orphan which proved useful as he’ll be learning a new position at the hot corner.

rd 3 pick 16 1B Dewey Beatty
Dewey is the primary reason the aforementioned Jones is going to learn to play 3B. He put up some strong numbers playing 1B for the South Florida Citrus (COL). He’s much more polished defensively than Jones so he gets the nod at 1B which will give him time to focus on getting his batting up to speed at the A ball level.

rd 4 pick 13 SP Will Strickland
A sold arm who put up consistently good numbers in his four year college career. The last of our draft picks to sign he hasn’t taken the mound yet but were eager to see if he can continue his previous performances.

rd 5 pick 13 MR Kumanosuke Motsuzuki
Another workhorse type who is probably a bit of a project. He could be a starter potentially but will start as a reliever. He put up an ERA of 0.90 in his final year at college.

rd 7 pick 13 MR Robbie Snyder
In the same mold as Motsuzuki he’s a durable guy who will be coming out of the bullpen.

rd 8 pick 13 SP Allen Cook
Cookie has the luxury of youth which will allow the c;ub to bring him up slowly. He’ll be starting in short season ball.

rd 9 pick 13 SP Ángel Ramírez
Ramirez is another guy who’s demonstrated an above average performance level over a lot of innings.

rd 10 pick 13 MR Billy McMillan
Billy is yet another guy who can carry a load and persevere. He’s made the transition from college to AA ball straight out of the gate. He’s already making positive contributions to the club.

rd 11 pick 13 SP Walt Cobb
rd 12 pick 13 SP Mike Ríos
rd 13 pick 13 SP Tadamichi Nomura
rd 14 pick 13 MR Roy Robinson
More guys who put together innings in college and had potential to shore up spots in the minors. Nomura was released by the club when it became apparent there wouldn’t be enough opportunity for him on the crowded roster.

rd 15 pick 13 3B Alonso Piña
The young Cuban is a natural third baseman but on a crowded roster he’ll be looking at backing up the corners and learning right field where he has the best opportunity to hold down a roster spot.

[Leones]

A week of redemption for the struggling club and some key players.

The club went 5-1 this sim which was a welcome change from the usual beating.
With players returning from the DL we were able stabilize things and put up some runs.

3B Takeshi Hayashi broke out of a slump to lead our top performers for this sim:
23 AB, 7 H, 4 HR, 9 RBI, .304 AVG, 1.216 OPS


SP Tomas Solís was slotted into the 5th spot in the rotation to tray and shore it up and he delivered in a big way:
2 Wins, 16.0 IP, 1 BB, 5 K, 1.69 ERA

With LF Nimulodi Chekhemani still out on the DL how fun was it to see that old warhorse Morihiro Nakamura return to left field to post :
21 AB, 6 H, 2 HR, 4 RBI, .286 AVG, .994 OPS

I just love seeing the big guy showing flashes of his old form. :)

[Leones]

We're doing well in attendance for a team with a .330 winning percentage, coming in at 11th in the league attendance 18th in gate revenue and 8th in merchandising.

For some reason the fans still love SP John Gaines and his 1-12 5.66 ERA record. The only player more popular is C Yosuke Imai who is not impressing anybody with a .231 AVG 6 HR 38 RBI.

Anybody on the roster who is north of the league average $2.8 mil is going to get a serious look and may well be in danger of not returning next year. We can probably win 1 of 3 with far less expensive players and there are plenty of youngsters looking for a chance.

Next week we should get LF Chekhemani back which might provide a spark at the top of the lineup.

[Leones]

Whoo boy we stink! A little past halfway in August and we've posted a 5-16 record. Attendance is beginning to reflect our record. Somehow throughout this long slow train wreck 'Decoy' Murata has cobbled together an 11-5 record. We're left to wonder what could he do with some help from the hitters.

The hitters just don't get it done. With Nimulodi Chekhemani coming back from the IR there really wasn't much point in trying to rush him back to the lineup so the club sent him down on a rehab stint to see if he can find get his groove back. That will give old LRS warhorse Morihiro Nakamura an extended pass in LF to see if he too can pick it up. It's not looking good. He's only posting a .529 OPS with 9 HR. Not really the numbers you want to put up when your 36 years old and looking at a team option on your contract at the end of the season.

3B Takeshi Hayashi is in a similar situation. He's been riding the pine while Dutchman Kanne Nijland has been filling in at the hot corner. Nijland has been doing a mud better job which doesn't bode well for Hayashi.

September is looming and you can expect a lot of eager young faces to get a call and plenty of chances as it would appear the club is about to shed a lot of old-timers in the offseason.

[Leones]

A big week in Havana. With the roster expansion there will be a new look club taking the field this sim. Many big salaries will be polishing the pine as the youngsters get a look and big opportunity to impress. It's 'limbo season' as the bar is set very low. Why pay tens of millions of dollars for a .321 winning percentage when you can do it, or even better for less? You simply don't. These guys will have to fail pretty miserably to save the pine polishers. Look for the losing record to continue and for lots of luggage to start getting packed in short order.

We're also rolling out 'the opener'. Closing pitcher Miguel Mercado stinks when closing out the game but he's got a ton of potential. Perhaps the Cuban heat and humidity were making him sleepy. To help him out we're putting him on the mound in the first inning. Makes good sense to put the best against the best. We'll let him bring his blazing fastball in early. If he can shut down the opponents top of the order and last an inning or two we've got plenty of arms wanting to come to his aid. It'll be fun to see how it works out.

[Leones]

Big names and lots of salary monies on the last flight out of Havana to Tokyo. On board were 3B Takeshi Hayashi and LF Morihiro Nakamura. SP Herb Martin left on a flight to Miami and local player 1B Manuel Herrera walked home in disgust. LF Nimulodi Chekhemani is reportedly on his way home too as the bean counters have come to roost. They were some of the best talents on the club which frankly isn't saying much. It was time to fold the house and start taking the long view.

The club is many many years from being competitive and these cuts were needed now to allow the signing of guys who have been making more contribution to the club; generally for much less. To be fair Martin has been performing ok and has a ton of talent. He also has a delusion about the value of his contributions. A combination which wins him a golden ticket - to Miami.

Really hate to see Homu-ran end this way but he's done. Not sure why he didn't just retire. The move had to be made.

We're also going to need that money to sign all the high draft picks we seem to be in line for over the next 5 years at least. An inglorious state of affairs for the club.

The fans are growing restless....

[Denny]

Well, you still have to pay them all their guaranteed salary. How does releasing them now save the team any money versus simply not re-signing them after the season?

[Leones]

Well, you still have to pay them all their guaranteed salary. How does releasing them now save the team any money versus simply not re-signing them after the season?

Good point. It doesn't save any money right away. It probably cost us a little more and certainly hurt in terms of losing guys who could contribute.

The guys we cut were all either arbitration eligible or in some position where the team had an option to renew them. Problem was OOTP was counting those contracts, which we were not going to renew, against us for next season. This tied our hands in terms of extensions on a few guys we wanted to hang on to. I didn't want to wait until the end of the season to get extensions signed.

By cutting them now I freed up the money OOTP was counting against next season which allowed us to get the extensions down now.

[roncollins]

OOTP's method of accounting saves owners who don't pay attention to those things by hiring this who do. I've been debating a similar strategy, but I have only a few extension-ready players.

[Leones]

This day in Cuban History

U.S. Removes Cuba From State Terrorism List

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVISMAY 29, 2015

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Friday removed Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, a crucial step in normalizing ties between Washington and Havana and the latest progress in President Obama’s push to thaw relations between the United States and the island nation.

"They didn't foresee what we'd do to Havana baseball in 2021 apparently." - SP John Gaines

[Denny]

Well, you still have to pay them all their guaranteed salary. How does releasing them now save the team any money versus simply not re-signing them after the season?

Good point. It doesn't save any money right away. It probably cost us a little more and certainly hurt in terms of losing guys who could contribute.

The guys we cut were all either arbitration eligible or in some position where the team had an option to renew them. Problem was OOTP was counting those contracts, which we were not going to renew, against us for next season. This tied our hands in terms of extensions on a few guys we wanted to hang on to. I didn't want to wait until the end of the season to get extensions signed.

By cutting them now I freed up the money OOTP was counting against next season which allowed us to get the extensions down now.

That makes sense. Essentially you are moving all their future years' salaries to *this* year's budget.

[Evas]

Well, you still have to pay them all their guaranteed salary. How does releasing them now save the team any money versus simply not re-signing them after the season?

Good point. It doesn't save any money right away. It probably cost us a little more and certainly hurt in terms of losing guys who could contribute.

The guys we cut were all either arbitration eligible or in some position where the team had an option to renew them. Problem was OOTP was counting those contracts, which we were not going to renew, against us for next season. This tied our hands in terms of extensions on a few guys we wanted to hang on to. I didn't want to wait until the end of the season to get extensions signed.

By cutting them now I freed up the money OOTP was counting against next season which allowed us to get the extensions down now.

That makes sense. Essentially you are moving all their future years' salaries to *this* year's budget.

More like he is eliminating any possibility of picking up that option, which allows OOTP free up that amount for other uses.

[roncollins]

Right. They are not multi-year contracts. They are contracts that carry options or arbitration values that OOTP treats as if they are guaranteed, and retrains GMs from making offers or other moves if those "out years" take you over your projected budget for those out years.

I understand why OOTP does it, but it's artificial, and it makes it harder to manage your team effectively at times.