Below, we break down the pre-season outlook for each position and what Featherheads fans should be looking for during March as several key position battles are taking place.
Catcher
Lorenzo Amador is the most bittersweet move of the many off-season acquisitions made by the team. A six year veteran, Amador has shown that he is one of the premiere backstops in the league. With a short 3 year deal, many see this as a coup for the Featherheads, although the signing was dampened somewhat by this also being one of the last moves ex-GM Kevin Lewis made.
Backup catcher is perhaps one of the more exciting battles for a bench spot that we'll see. Youngster Jack Hudson is said to be the favorite to win, although the vets Jessie Kimball and Ju-chan Park are thought to be right on his heels.
Jack Hudson has been an outstanding player in all levels of his minor league career, posting no less than a 1.9 WAR during a season of play. Further, he shows a quick arm with a high contact swing that could lead Hudson to be a perennial All-Star candidate if all goes according to plan.
First Base
Ray Kimball and backup Kaoru Morimoto make a return this year as one of the more consistent places of production the Featherheads line-up. Kimball led the team last year with 36 dingers while Morimoto fed in nicely as a backup with a fair amount of offensive output himself, racking up a high average, low K slash line.
While we believe that first base is pretty much locked up, Alexis Hancock is at major league camp this year. Hancock is a raw 24 year older was a third round pick back in 2017, and has been pretty non-existent in terms of prospect projections, however he shows flashes of a high-contact hitter with plus power that has yet to translate out of batting practice. We expect him to start in AA this year.
Second Base
There was perhaps no more dramatic positional switch-up this year than at second. After the year was through, Florida was stuck in a situation with a bunch of question marks, but no real answers.
They had returning back-up Tom Wickersham who was only a season removed from a 1.7 win season, but had put up a depressing -.7 win season during year, slashing an uninspiring .214/.282/.297.
They had 29 year-old AAA star David Morrison who has never had an opportunity to prove himself in PEBA, but has been consistently great for Chesapeake, averaging almost three wins a season for the past five years.
They also had Roberto Rodriguez who had put up great numbers with Tempe back in 2018 (2.3 wins in a mere 81 games with a .295/.337/.447) at 24 years old, but had since been relegated to a minor league role after being signed by the Featherheads back in 2019.
Yet the options presented to the new GM did not provide an adequate answer, and so the powers-that-be went out and acquired All-Star and longtime Arlington Bureaucrat Dave Crocker to a five year, 55 million dollar contract. Crocker slides in easily at the top of the depth chart above all other options, although there does exist a slightly troubling downward trend to his last three years. The Featherheads will look to stymy that trend and get him back to the All-Star game over the course of the next five seasons.
Shortstop
Perhaps one of the more surprising pick-ups of the off-season, the Featherheads reunited with Raul Medina. The long-time Featherhead was expected to walk during free agency, yet the deal offered by Florida could not be beaten. The 33 year old joins the team for another 5 years for 95 million and an additional 10 million in incentives he is less than likely to earn.
Back-ups for SS include Featherheads minor league free agent Brad Lee and Tony Meade. Both backup options are in spring camp and getting reps, although their likelihood of making the 25-man roster at the end of spring are almost solely reliant on Raul Medina getting hurt.
Third Base
Andy Sharp had a slow start to PEBA league baseball in 2022, posting a lowly .213/.286/.329 slash line, yet he finds himself a shoe-in at third base due in no small part to the outstanding salary owed to him over the next few years and the fact that his tools continue to make scouts dream. he flashes prototypical lead-off hitter skills with plus-plus speed, and a plus eye to go with plus contact which amalgamates in a role not usually designated to third basemen. Although his OBP was less than .300, and he only played in less than a hundred games professionally, he still led the team in several metrics that lead many to believe that the young man is a season away from having all of his tools coalesce into an all-star calibur 3rd basemen and lead-off hitter.
Another free agent signee was defensive specialist Mark Holmes. Originally with Yuma, this former Bulldozer has shown the ability to produce at high levels in the past with his glove and his bat. For many, Holmes' signing represents an obvious glove-first utility man that can play every infield position to a premium level for little salary. His bat is serviceable and should amount to a fair amount of success -- similar to that which he's seen with the Bulldozers in the past four seasons.
Left Field
Is there a more locked in position than Danny Burton in left field? Probably. But not many.
Jorge Martinez is considered to be the fourth outfielder, however he is far better than that designation signifies.
Center Field
It seems like there has never been quite the mish-mash of has-beens and never-wases like there is this year out in center field for the Featherheads.
Many of Hannahs' first moves after heading up the front office duties involved signing any center fielder with a pulse to a pittance of a deal to come essentially try out for a starting spot in CF. The three finalists seem to be Jose Martinez, Alan Doyle, and Todd Ayres -- in that order.
If it were possible to sort of combine center fielders into a megazord-esque amalgamation of features, these four may represent one very good player, however as it stands, they all have strengths... but also very evident weaknesses.
Jose Martinez stands as the most well-rounded option with good defensive abilities and evidence that he can flash above average offensive production (wRC+ of 115 in '17 and '18 for Bakersfield with over 1k plate appearances in that time). The problem is that since 2018, he's been a liability at the plate. Martinez is on a one year "prove it" deal and seems to be the frontline candidate for the opening day center fielder.
Right Field
Right field is set to platoon Tony Velazquez and young phenom Alfredo Hinojosa -- at least that's the feeling going into the season. While Alfredo does seem to have the ability to capture the position full-time with his elite hitting, his paltry numbers against lefties do allow for a platoon.
Back up options include Pablo Rodriguez -- a long-time Featherheads back-up with an entire 3 days of service time, and Antonio Arias -- a longer tenured option, but with a negative 2.5 WAR against top competition.