The Round Table: 2034 Season

[Apollos]

As we rapidly approach the trade deadline the Knights have once again failed to impress in 2034 and reports indicate that they are wide open for business with a number of players requesting to be dealt away from Tempe. Notably, sources inside the organization suggest that starting pitchers John Turner and Lance Harris, both of whom arrived via free agency during the most recent off-season, have become disenchanted with the Knights organization and are seeking deals to escape the desert.

Harris's recent injury which has landed him on the IL makes it unlikely that he will move, though there is reported to have been some initial interest in Turner despite his steep $24 million price tag. Turner has spent the better part of his career as an ace, most recently with Amsterdam, but has underwhelmed during his first four months in Tempe pitching to an ERA just over 4. If Turner does in fact move, any return would be expected to be minimal.

Other Knights reported to have drawn interest include relievers Jason King - long the subject of trade rumors given his recent dominance - and another off-season acquisition, Jon Browning.

Sources inside the Tempe front office indicate that there have been strong inquiries made on right fielder Pat Barry as well, though there is a general reluctance to move the multiple time Royal Raker winner given his continued strong production and relatively affordable contract. There has been additional speculation over super sophomore SP Cooper Harris, but his youth and top shelf performance coupled with cost controlled status almost ensure he will remain a Knight for the foreseeable future, barring another team overwhelming the Knights brass with an offer.

[Apollos]

Asleep at the Wheel

The trade deadline has come and gone and despite a whirlwind of rumors surrounding possible Knights moves, the day passed with nary a sound. Outsiders expected this team, which spent big in the offseason in anticipation of “enhancing competitiveness” as GM Hazelwood so eloquently put it, to continue their multi-year push to acquire pieces for the long term. Those expectations quickly vanished however with the arrival of August 1st and the realization that the roster remained unchanged from the day prior.

The lack of trade activity certainly begs the question: is hazelwood and the rest of the Knights front office asleep at the wheel? Despite the busy offseason, which cost the knights a handful of draft picks, the organization has done little to add to its development pipeline during 2034. Handicapped by last years splurge on international free agents and devoid of draft picks outside the first round, the organization has made few noticeable strides towards improvement this season and a recent losing streak has fans openly questioning the long term direction of the franchise.

How long the notoriously impatient owner Chris Van Hauter will tolerate the continued futility remains to be seen, but sources within the Tempe front office have characterized his current mood as “actively worried”.

[Apollos]

Recapping the Train Wreck: Offensive Highlights

Following the conclusion of the 2034 season, another year of 100+ losses, we focus on the offensive production of the ‘34 Knights along with their highlights and lowlights:

RF Pat Barry - The venerable Barry was brought in during the offseason on a 3 year $59 million contract in order to lend some legitimacy to the Tempe lineup, but largely struggled during his first campaign in the desert. While he led the team in most offensive categories, Barry’s number largely shrank across the board and despite spending the entire season in the 3-hole of the Knights lineup, only managed to generate 73 RBIs, which speaks more to his supporting cast. With potential upgrades around him during the upcoming offseason, Barry can still play a central role in returning the Knights to relevance, but he’s going to need help.

LF Eng-hee Chin - Little was expected of the Rule V selection this year, but he produced the team’s strongest power performance, ending with 17 home runs and a .459 SLG percentage. The 22 year old was largely platooned and saw action against righties, but was a solid surprise after making the jump to the majors directly from single A ball.

2B/SS Mark Edwards - An impending free agent, Edwards rebuilt his value following an injury marred 2033 season and was the team’s most consistent offensive producer throughout the campaign. Edwards posted a strong .261/.334/343 line on the year and sources inside the organization say that the glove-first infielder is seeking to cash in on his big year by testing the market this offseason.

2B Juan Rincon - The mid season call up provided a real spark to Tempe down the stretch, despite some initial struggles upon arrival. The slow start balanced out his torrid stretch drive and much is expected of Rincon in year 2, as one of the team’s top prospects. His .243/.302/.364 line this year should be considered the worst case scenario for the touted rookie moving forward.

[DrewV]

Its good to see Pat around still.

Juan Rincon is the name of a longtime Duluth outfielder who spent 10 years with the club. His first professional year was 2012, they year your Juan Rincon was born. Coincidence?!

[Apollos]

Its good to see Pat around still.

Juan Rincon is the name of a longtime Duluth outfielder who spent 10 years with the club. His first professional year was 2012, they year your Juan Rincon was born. Coincidence?!

In FM parlance I believe they refer to these younglings as “regens”

[Apollos]

Recapping the Train Wreck: Offensive Lowlights

Amidst a fourth place, but otherwise underwhelming performance by the Knights, we move on to recap the bad news story that the 2034 campaign ultimately was. Today we cover the team's offensive lowlights:

Catcher- Amongst many positions of ineptitude, catcher stands out this year particularly given the optimism that surrounded the position going into the season. Roger Ellison and Ernesto Herrera figured to split the year platooning but rarely has a true platoon produced such putrid results. Ellison compiled a paltry .509 OPS against primarily right handed pitchers this year while Herrera, who had shown some offensive potential in previous seasons, was a truly god-awful .181/.196/.258 on the season (good for a whopping .454 OPS). By any metric, Herrera's batting line was historically bad across his 230 PA's as his OPS+ checked in at 40 and despite his above average defense, he still accounted for a -0.4 WAR season. It's unclear if either of these veterans will return for 2035, but the team's recent DFA of AAA backup Jared Maxwell increases the chances that one of them is paired with prospect Alejandro Garcia next year.

3B/DH Kiyonori Suzuki- Suzuki was a modest surprise in 2033 posting a .606 OPS and respectable 1.1 WAR campaign, but the wheels fell off in 2034 as he was given full-time DH duties in the wake of the acquisition of fellow 3B Roberto Diaz. Suzuki proceeded to post a .197/.268/.281 slash line along with a team-worst -1.3 WAR campaign in '34. His disappointing performance casts doubt over whether Suzuki will be back in 2035, but with Diaz set to become a FA, the Knights have few internal solutions to fill the position unless they return the job to previous incompetent Cipriano Berrera who spent all of 2034 in Chandler.

SS Bryant Hawkins- Renowned for his defensive prowess, even his glove couldn't redeem the disastrous offensive display from Hawkins this year. Despite starting the year as a backup, Hawkins was pressed into full-time duty following injuries to Rule V selection Lorenzo Aguilera. Upon taking over the full-time job, Hawkins posted an abysmal .165/.201/.312 batting line to go along with a -0.6 WAR. Hawkins astonishingly struck out in more than one-third of his PA's, racking up 119 K's to go along with only 9 BB's. With the highest arbitration estimate on the team at $1.76 million, Hawkins has positioned himself as a prime non-tender candidate.

[Apollos]

Recapping the Train Wreck: Pitching Highlights

Continuing the series of recaps from the 2034 season, today we turn our attention to the pitching staff which produced far more impressive performances than did the offense:

SP Cooper Harris - Any highlight from the 2034 season for Tempe begins and ends with the super sophomore and his first full year on the job in red and black. Harris was far and away the team's most valuable pitcher in 2034, posting an ERA of 2.81 over 172+ innings to go along with a WHIP of 1.09. Even more impressive was that he did this against the backdrop of a lousy supporting cast, posting a FIP of almost half a run lower at 2.41. Harris led the SL with a HR/9 allowed rate of 0.3 as he continued to use his tried and true plan of throwing a seemingly never-ending supply of sinkers that opposing hitters could do nothing with but drive into the dirt. At the precocious age of 24, Harris has already assumed the mantle of staff ace and clubhouse leader and figures - barring an unforeseen trade - to maintain this status for years to come.

SP Poto Loschilosurdo - The Italian greyhound went out and out up another quietly steady, productive year at the back of the Tempe rotation, cementing his place as a mainstay amongst the staff. Loschilosurdo posted a 3.26 ERA over a team high 204 innings to accompany a 1.15 WHIP. While it seems that none of Loschilosurdo's numbers will ever wow, the capable, dependable veteran figures to continue providing quality innings for Tempe as they surround him and Harris with additional talent from their developmental system.

RP Jason King - While King couldn't quite match his lofty numbers from the '33 campaign, he posted another sterling year out the Tempe bullpen throwing high leverage innings throughout the season. King continued to rack up dominant strikeout numbers at 10.6/9 innings, though he did struggle with his command at time which led to a slightly inflated WHIP of 1.24. King was recently re-signed to a 2 year, $2.8 million contract which bought out his first two seasons of arbitration eligibility and he figures to be a fixture in the Tempe 'pen for the foreseeable future.

RP Naozane Sakai - The oft-forgotten Sakai, acquired during the '32 offseason as Tempe made their return to the PEBA, had his best year to date serving primarily as the southpaw specialist out of the Knights 'pen. Sakai posted a microscopic ERA of 0.46 which is noteworthy despite his light workload.

RP Jon Browning - The offseason acquisition and long-time Crystal Lake veteran provided a steady hand to the Tempe bullpen in 2034 posting a 2.47 ERA across 44 appearances and 65+ innings. The fireballer was reportedly unhappy in Tempe this season and wanted a spot in the team's rotation, thus it is likely he heads to the free agent market following his one year performance in the desert, but Knights brass has made clear they value both his arm and clubhouse presence so expect the front office to make a run at bringing Browning back for the 2035 season.

[Apollos]

Recapping the Train Wreck: Pitching Lowlights

Finishing up our review of the 2034 season, we end on a low note with the worst pitching performances from the Knights recently concluded campaign:

SP John Turner - The Knights splashiest move of the 2034 offseason saw them sign the former Amsterdam Lions ace to a 3 year, $72 million contract, only to watch him go out and perform like a journeyman, waiver wire pickup. Likely signed as much to sell jerseys as he was for his pitching prowess, Turner nonetheless disappointed from start to finish despite assuming the role of staff ace to start the year, as he finished with an ERA of 4.42, his highest since his age 24 season in New Orleans a decade prior. Turner's numbers regressed badly across the board in 2034 as his HR allowed went up by more than 1/2 per game to 1.4/9 inn, his walks/9 from 1.2 to 2.0 and, perhaps most tellingly, his K/9 fell by a whopping 2 to 5.7/9 inning. The poor performance, buffeted by constant rumors of his distaste for new Knights manager Jason Campbell and the desert heat plagued Turner throughout the campaign and culminated in a widely publicized tirade in which he demanded a mid-season trade. Unlikely to be dealt given his contract, Turner is probably stuck pitching to Desert Hills competition for another season though his contract mercifully (for both parties) has a vesting option for 2036 which would require him to reach 180 IP this season, a number which appears unattainable unless his performance improves dramatically.

SP Lance Harris - Another offseason acquisition by the dimwitted Knights GM, Harris finally stabilized his performance following a midseason trip to the Injured List, but by that point much of the damage had already been done. Harris finished the season with a 3.58 ERA (again, his highest in more than 5 years) and saw his K/9 fall to a microscopic 3.7. While Harris has always been a pitch to contact guy, this strategy seemed to do more harm than good in 2034, particularly given the failings of the Knights defense, and it's unlikely we'll see marked improvements during the 2035 season. Harris's contract calls for one more season at a salary of $7 million before he can again test the free agent market.

RP Gunner Carney - The previously reliable Tempe swingman saw a marked decline in his performance during the 2034 season as his ERA ballooned to 5.28 ahead of his first trip to arbitration. While some of the poor performance was based on bad luck - Gunner was the victim of an unlikely to repeat BABIP of .321 - his HR/9 and K/9 both trended in the wrong direction as well. Carney is likely to keep his spot in the Tempe bullpen for the early part of the 2035 season, but it is believed that the leash will be considerably shorter than in previous seasons given the goodwill he burnt through during 2034.

[Apollos]

Knights Do the Unthinkable

Tempe sent shockwaves through the Sovereign League and their fanbase during today's 2034 Winter Meetings in Asheville, NC as they traded away the team's former top prospect, face of the franchise, and presumed number 1 starter, Cooper Harris. Long believed to be the core piece of the ongoing rebuild in Tempe, Harris was dealt to the Duluth Warriors in exchange for a trio of talented youngsters including RF Jacob Gill who made his ML debut last season after being the 2nd overall pick in the 2032 draft, along with SP Will Taylor (currently the #46 overall prospect), and Robert 'Royal' Rivera, the Warriors Minor League Player of the Year. Despite the significant return, many fans expressed initial outrage at the move and this is one trade that's sure to be judged for years to come as the Knights attempt to re-assemble a competitive squad.

"We've developed a deep pool of talented young pitching in our minor league pipeline," GM Hazelwood told the press during a brief appearance following the Meetings, "but there continued to be a need to add impact bats up and down our organization. Gill is a young player we've had our eye on since the '32 draft, fills a position of need for us, and we anticipate him anchoring our lineup for the next decade."

Still, the cost to add Gill - whom experts unanimously agree is an instant upgrade to Tempe's offense which has been historically dreadful the last 3 seasons - was high, and trading fan favorite and team captain Harris will not come without cost. "Harris was a favorite of mine," Hazelwood continued, "my first draft pick with the Knights back in '31 and a guy we'd set our sights on building a staff around. But we just haven't had the opportunity to add significant bats to our organization through the draft these last few seasons and at some point, we need to convert some of our depth in the pitching ranks into pieces which will build a full, viable major league roster. You never want to part with a player like Coop, but we think we have adequate depth coming up the organization behind him that we can address pitching in the years to come, whereas we couldn't say the same about our offense."

Knights fans will recall that Taylor, not surprisingly, was the subject of a previous fracas in the Knights front office which ultimately led to the firing of Scouting Director Dax Poe and the promotion of current Knights executive Mark Wood. It appears that Wood has circled back on this perceived mistake via completion of this deal, adding another young, power arm to the Knights growing stable of pitching.

In their other trade during the Meetings, the Knights dealt reliever Naozane Sakai to the Reno Zephyrs in exchange for a 4th round pick. This acquisition now gives the Knights three fourth round picks in the upcoming draft which the team may attempt to utilize to acquire further prospect depth, or additional picks as we lead up to the 2035 selection meeting.