Midseason Makeover

[Codgers]

Entering the 2039 season the Palm Springs Codgers had set a goal of returning to respectability. The 2038 the team had posted a record of 49 wins and 113 loses, the single worst season in Palm Springs history. The offseason saw a flurry of moves meant to reset the roster with players who were entering their prime years to go with a group of homegrown prospects who were ready to take their shot in the big leagues. The result was a 40-48 record at the All Star break, 8 games under .500. It was a decent step forward for the struggling franchise who at the mid way point was just 8 wins shy of their 2038 win record.

As the trade deadline approached General Manager Rob Sullivan and his staff were feverishly working the phones looking for any opportunity to improve the team - not hard on a team full of holes. The team had a winning record in both June (16-9) and July (15-12) and seemed to be on the rise. The goal was to add long term pieces to the rebuild but they were also open to short term improvements that could help make a push to .500, generate fan interest and revenue and in turn, earn a larger budget from owner Hopkins Reginald Bunner.

The result was a total makeover of the starting lineup and big additions to the pitching rotation.

Gone from the opening day roster are C Nolan McMahon (cut), 1B Vincente Gallardo (trade), OF Rodrigo Gutierrez (trade), INF Kazuma Nii (demoted), CF Freddy Hernandez (trade), SP Hisashi Ishii (trade), CL John Vazquez (trade), P Isaac Kennedy (trade), RP Jorge Lorenzo (trade).

The Codgers also had to move on from several prospects that could have been future long term pieces in SP Dave Reyes, LF Kanko Gato, SP Theo Ribeiro, MR Martin Rosa, 1B Antonio Bueno, SP Robinson Estrada, LF Sidney Poitier, and LF Shan-tang Chun. The team also traded away their 2040 1st, 5th and 6th round picks.

The return was headlined by SP James McCoy, LF Robby Rollins and SS Hyung-oo Chu to go along with MR Bertrand Baverstock, 1B Antonio Fuentes, C Antonio Mesegue, MR Jack Ring, LF Antonio Canseco, RF Chan-su Ch'on. Free Agent DH Stephen Hopper was also signed in an effort to find some offense.

In McCoy, the Codgers landed a true #1 starter to go with two other elite pitching prospects in Takashi Yamamota and Shigochiyo Yamaguchi in the hopes of creating an elite starting rotation. The three will be paired with Nathan Comyn who is second on the staff with 8 wins. The Codgers have a bevy of internal options for the last rotation slot currently manned by lefthander Brendon Cardenas including recently recalled righthander Sergio Melendres who will work out of the bullpen to start his PEBA career.

After acquiring McCoy, the Codgers felt their timeline to compete had moved forward despite having several holes in their lineup to fill, a lineup that ranks dead last in the conference. To address this they added OF Robby Rollins and defensive stalwart SS Hyung-oo "Double-OO Buck" Chu along with three veteran bats in Canseco, Hopper and Mesegue. The appeal of Rollins and Chu are obvious, both long term pieces that bring strong defense to the team. The Codgers are hoping the three veterans can turn back the clock to their more productive offensive days for a final run. Canseco is hitting .284 with 5HRs since joining the team in a ballpark that seems tailor made for his lefthanded bat. Hopper had a good first week and Mesegue has outperformed the man he replaced in McMahon but has a sub .300 OBP.

When asked about the state of the team after the flurry of moves Sullivan had this to say, "We like where we are heading, we are a team on the rise however, I am not sure how I feel about reaching so deep into our prospect and draft pool. We added some long term pieces, I like where our pitching staff is but our offense has a long way to go. We still need long term solutions at key positions, C, CF, RF, 2B, MR and 1B at minimum. We need to add a lot of offense to be a PEBA Championship caliber team. We took some risks to add the pieces we did, we took on salaries we aren't comfortable with and we are banking on the development of both Rollins and Chu - if either fall short it will be a major setback. We have a short term goal of reaching .500, we feel it is in reach but far from a given. We have to avoid losing streaks like the 5 game losing streak we just went through which included a brutal stretch of four consecutive extra inning loses where we played 13 extra innings."

The Codgers have come out of the All Star break with a 9-8 record with their revamped team. The month of August will be a major test for the new version of the team with 25 of 28 games against opponents with winning records, leading their division or serious wildcard contenders, 19 games are on the road. 25 games against divisional opponents, 3 games against the Great Lakes division leading Kalamazoo Badgers, 9 against the Aurora Borealis who are directly in front of the Codgers in the standings, 5 games their superior. 9 games against the second place Tempe Appollos and a 3 games series against the Bakersfield Bears who just beat the Codgers 3 of of 4 games a week ago. In other words, welcome to the month of Hell.

"Its a big month for the Palm Springs Codgers. We are going to find out who we are and what we are made of in the month of August. We are 7 games south of .500 and 8 games out of a Wildcard spot. We will be facing four of the top teams in Sovereign League and a Bakersfield Bears team that just beat us 3 of 4 games. To all our players I would just say if you want to be here long term, this month would be a great time to show it", said Sullivan.

Just two weeks after the All Star break the Codgers have matched their 2038 win total at 49 with 57 games to play. The Codgers need to go 32-25 to hit the .500 mark and an unlikely 45-12 to be in the Wildcard conversation. Settle in Codgers fan, there are a lot of stories to watch in the second half of the season.

[Borealis]

The Codgers are definitely trending in the right direction!