The Bright Side (Part II)

[John]

by Nate Manuel, American Baseball Perspective
Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Just two weeks into the season, it’s already becoming apparent that there really is a bright side for fans of every PEBA team. For instance, in this round-up of 6 PEBA teams we’ll profile two that were doormats last year and are currently sitting at .500 in the standings. While it may not seem like much, what it really demonstrates is that patience and commitment pays off. It also shows you don’t need a fat bankroll to play ball with the big boys; a healthy dose of baseball acumen will carry a small market team past the big spenders. So let’s see what this next batch of PEBA teams have to look forward to:


Crystal Lake: The Sandgnats bright side is already shining in full force, and it promises to do so for a long time to come. Crystal Lake is PEBA’s ultimate example that you don’t need to be a big market team to have big-time success. At a market size rated slightly above average, Crystal Lake is smack dab in the middle of the road compared to their PEBA brethren. Their budget was severely limited last season due to their market realties. Yet despite this fact, the Gnats put together a team that made it all the way to the Alliance Sovereign League Tournament and now looks poised to become a dominant force in the Great Lakes division for years to come. Their success has already had a major impact on their spending power: the Gnats have risen from a budget of $79,900,000 last year (#17 in PEBA) all the way to a $97,340,317 budget in 2008 (#9 in PEBA), a whopping increase of 22%.

How is the mid-market team climbing the success ladder so rapidly? You can thank the dynamic management duo of Dean Giesey and Bill Hewitson. Mr. Giesey handles the day-to-day financial management for Crystal Lake, and his proactive path to success has involved signing core Gnats to team-friendly extensions early and often. Mr. Giesey drew particular raves for extending the entire 2007 Gnats starting rotation, a feat many considered impossible given their success and high demands. In the office next door, Mr. Hewitson works the phones as he oversees player development and acquisition. His negotiation skills have resulted in an influx of fresh talent. Mr. Hewitson can be directly credited with bringing in 1B Manny López and SP León “Long Haul” Rivera from Manchester, as well as SS Si-on Yi from Canton. Together, this management team has the chops to keep the Gnats shining on.


Duluth Warriors: The Warriors have been one of the quieter organizations since PEBA’s inception, but that changed in a big way this off-season when Duluth involved itself in six trades (including PEBA’s first ever four-team deal). Four of those trades came in an especially busy Winter Meetings flurry. Amongst the many players brought into the organization was 3B Stan Gill, whom Charleston selected #12 overall in the 2007 Amateur Draft. There’s optimism that these moves signal a new focus on proactive player acquisition.

Such a development could pay quick dividends, as Duluth doesn’t appear to be that far away from being a competitive force to be reckoned with. The team finished a respectable 78-84 last season and boasts a lineup that includes three All-Stars: SS Miguel Cortéz, CF Yoshino Miyata and LF Manuel Rivera. Few teams can match that level of offensive success. Perhaps an even more positive sign: After losing money in 2007, Duluth is currently on pace to return to the black in 2008. Fan loyalty has been very good; even with $18 tickets the Warriors are selling out all their games, suggesting a hike to ticket prices (and a subsequent boost to the bottom line) is a viable possibility. Certainly the resources are there for the Warriors to make noise in the near-term.


Fargo Dinosaurs: Last year the Dinos finished with PEBA’s second-worst record, amassing 108 losses in the process. Financial considerations forced them to deal their All-Star RF Ernest “Sourface” Conard. All is doom and gloom, right? Hardly. Check the current standings and you’ll see Fargo sits at .500, good for 3rd in the Great Lakes. The team is led by superstar 1B Ramón Flores, one of PEBA’s top players. All he’s doing is batting .388 with a 1.182 OPS on the young season. LF Juan Solarzano is also off to a great start, as is SS Miguel “Warrior” Velasco. Velasco’s impressive beginning is especially encouraging to the Dinos, who believe the 26-year-old has a bright future ahead. And don’t neglect Fargo’s “Bullpen o’ the Gods”, featuring such up-and-comers as Tony Ortíz, Brian “Cougar” Williams and star-in-the-making closer Raúl “Abnormal” Pinto.

Maybe it’s early to count on Fargo as a 2008 success story. Even if the Dinosaurs slip in the standings, though, there remains good cause for optimism. Baseball America recently ranked Fargo as having the 6th strongest farm system in PEBA and Dinosaurs fans can thank head scout Scotty Ross and the rest of the top-notch scouting staff for that. Perhaps no team in the league has bolstered their farm in the last 12 months more than Fargo. It’s been a three-pronged attack for the Dinos. It began – as all good rebuilding projects should – with an outstanding Amateur Draft that scored 1B Mike Arnopp and LF Nick Miller (both of whom will make their 2008 debuts when NAFTA starts their season tomorrow). Next, the Dinos made the most of their trades. When economic pressures forced their hand with Conard, they turned him over to New Orleans for a package of players that included C Javier Rodríguez (hitting .372 with a 1.048 OPS this season) and promising minor league CF Tommy Fowler (.292/.340/.458 at AAA Sioux Falls, an extremely impressive line for a 20-year-old player that’s way younger than most of the competition). Finally, Fargo’s commitment to international scouting has turned up two potential gems in 3B/DHs Ken Keddy (17, signed out of New Brunswick, Canada) and Salvador Ruíz (18, signed out of Bayamón, Puerto Rico). Ruíz will start his season tomorrow at Hi-A Bismarck while Keddy will begin play in June with SS-A Kenai.


Florida Featherheads: Just like the Dinos, Florida suffered through a tough 2007 season. Just like the Dinos, Florida currently has shown great improvement and currently sits at .500 in the competitive Dixie division. Florida’s path to improvement can be spelled “P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E”. This is an organization with an abundance of very young, very raw talent. The previous ownership chose to throw these young players into the fire of major league play, and predictably they struggled. When new owner Jason Parker came on board in December of last year, he could have sent the young’ins packing to the minors. Instead he chose to stay the course, and now Florida fans are seeing these promise-filled players beginning to blossom.

Consider 2B Mark “Ice Cold” Richardson. Most observers felt Richardson was a steal when he fell to the 5th overall pick in the Inaugural Draft. Possessing mammoth power potential, blinding speed and the kind of range in the field that earned him the All-Leather award at SS last season, Richardson possess nearly unlimited potential. Yet his first PEBA season was a decidedly mixed bag; despite winning the All-Leather, belting 24 HR and knocking in 103, he hit just .240, struck our 139 times and was caught stealing on 13 of his 24 attempts. Yet Parker resisted the urge to trade him away, and Richardson has already rewarded his patience by winning the IL Player of the Week Award for the first week of the season. Or how about SS Kevin McNeil, a player the organization felt so strongly about that they moved Richardson’s award-winning glove over to the right side of the diamond to make room for him. McNeil has responded to the vote of confidence by starting the season hitting .392. Another example is SP Chris Saunders. Shelled by PEBA hitters last year, he’s jumped out of the gate with a 1.93 ERA and a 2/15 BB/K ratio. Sometimes the bright side is staring you right in the face and you just need the wisdom (and patience) to see it.


Gloucester Fishermen: Mid-market Gloucester is blessed with an inordinate amount of ultra-high-level young talent throughout its system. Just look at the major league roster and you’ll see potential future stars Vicente Bernal (.385/.441/.538 this season), Henry Bogart (32 saves last year), Juan Canó (3.83 ERA, 43 K in 51.2 IP last year), Glen Gainey (.275 AVG, 7 SB this season) and Octávio Pexego (14 HR last year). With the exception of Bernal, each of these players will be under Gloucester’s control for at least the next 2 seasons. This gives the Fishermen a couple paths to choose from: they can sign these players to extensions and groom them to lead the team to success, or they can offer them up in return for lucrative trade packages. While the second option will require more patience from Fish-fans, many a dynasty has been built around such forward-thinking trades.

Fish-fans should be even more hopeful by the arrival of new GM Joshua Houser. Whereas the previous ownership didn’t attend to the team’s needs as fully as could be, Houser has demonstrated early in his tenure that he’s committed to making the Fishermen the best they can be. He’s also shown he has the guts to make the tough calls, as evidenced by his willingness to deal the ultra-promising Bernal in an effort to get younger. Success doesn’t happen by accident; rather, it’s the byproduct of choosing a plan and sticking to it, no matter how tough that may be. Houser has shown the will to do this early on, and that greatly increases the chances for a bright Fish-future.


Kalamazoo Badgers: When you’ve got a rotation boasting three All-Stars, it’s not too difficult to find the bright side! The Badgers rode the arms of Pat Paige, José Chávez and Geoff James (author of PEBA’s first-ever no-hitter) to a playoff berth last year, and the dominant trio have Kalamazoo off to a good start again in 2008. Don’t think it’s just those three doing all the heavy lifting, though. Kenny Williams has also been a stellar starter, and how many teams have a 5th starter that won 17 games the previous season, as the Badgers have in Bobby Hartle? Kalamazoo has a staff that can go toe-to-toe with New Orleans and Crystal Lake for best-in-PEBA honors.

It was a quiet off-season in Kalamazoo, but then these playoff contenders didn’t need to shake things up to stay on a roll. With the paucity of moves made, it’s easy to forget that the Badgers made a big commitment a couple of their most promising players. In November they kept Williams in town with a 3-year deal. Then, just two days before he would have hit the open market, Kalamazoo stepped up to the plate big time by insuring that superstar 2B Brett Hurst would remain in Badgers green for the next four seasons. It’s difficult to express what a big move that was. Hurst, an All-Star himself, is a powerful top-of-the-order threat who walloped an amazing 85 XBH last season. Most impressive of all, GM Chip Darlington has been able to keep these key players without busting the budget. Kalamazoo’s financial situation is quite healthy, meaning this team has the wherewithal to build upon its 2007 success.

[Duane]

I will have a .... 4th .... breakfast .... cocktail .... in lieu of this writing ... anyone up for a vodka-punch? Maybe an Irish-coffee???

[klewis]

Excellent write-up, you hit the nail right on the head.