Deeper Underground - Minor League Report Vol. 1 - August 2035

[Underground]

Welcome to the first in what will hopefully/maybe/ideally become a series - Deeper Underground, where I will provide a report on the state of my farm system at some cadence.

I actually have a real conundrum this year as far as what to do with roster expansion in September. My AAA team has been having a very strong year and is currently sitting comfortably in the playoffs but much of that is powered by talented young players who would probably get called up under normal circumstances. I've been struggling with slightly thin bullpens in most of my minor league teams all season so I cannot afford to lose arms in particular - which is not ideal given that Troy Rush and Rich Jones are again having stellar seasons and deserve the PEBA time. Both of them will need a PEBA spot next year, but this year I think only Rush might get the call as he has been the slightly better of the two. Calling up just one of them would necessitate dropping my bullpen down to 6 arms, which is the absolute minimum viable size in my mind. Offensively I have already called up the most likely offensive candidate so I may just opt to make no additional call-ups there. Ultimately I've just not had to worry about playoff implications (in either PEBA or AAA) really since I started, so having to suddenly juggle both heading towards September is uncomfortable!

In AA the Beatles are doing their best impression of the Underground, after being a sub-.500 team all season they went 18-11 in July and have started August 3-1, allowing them to suddenly be a .500 team. For them it is too little, too late however as they sit 12 games back of the Wildcard and 13 games back of the division. This team doesn't have a ton of exciting future talent on it to be honest, the most exiting is RP Jorge Ruiz who my scout believes to be a 3.5 star potential reliever. He skipped over A ball and went straight from SS-A to AA this year and has done quite well, currently at a 2.05 ERA in 88 innings. His WHIP is a little high but his ERA+ is a pretty fantastic 188. He could feasibly jump to AAA with September expansion but would leave my AA bullpen quite thin and my personal philosophy has generally been not to rush prospects along.

In A ball the Bears have been having a wild season. July was their worst month of the season with a .620 winning percentage. The team is 1st in 5 offensive categories and 1 pitching/fielding category in the league. They are top three in 10 and and 4 categories respectively. There is some exciting young talent on this team, particularly the bats. Of particular note is Mr. Corey Navarro who is batting a pedestrian .342/.418. Not content just to hit for contact he also has 25 home runs and 83 RBI. All of this is good for a 4.4 WAR with plenty of baseball left to play. Originally a 2nd round pick he has developed quite nicely and looks to have a future as a 1B or DH at the PEBA level - especially if his Avoid K's continues to develop towards its potential.

As we go further down the minors it is difficult to stay as invested. My SS-A team has had a decent season and currently sits in a wildcard spot. The most interesting player on this team is the 2034 8th overall selection Zak Osmond. Now 19 he is enjoying his first full season of professional ball to the tune of a .326/.416/.581 batting line along with 11 home runs and 11 stolen bases, all good for a 3.6 WAR. I have a tough task this year for selecting my minor league batter of the year between Osmond and Navarro.

Last and least in rookie ball the ol' Croc Hunters are having an abysmal season. A couple interesting players here including my 11th overall pick this year SP Juan Meeks who is having an alright inaugural campaign sporting a 112 ERA+ and a winning record. I have a couple international FA signings from 2034 on this team, both of whom have been 17 for the duration of the season (one turned 18 this sim) so I will close my eyes and pretend their very young age explains their pretty awful performances. The happiest surprise so far is my 2nd round pick SP Petro Bouchard. I almost did not sign him because I was being cheap and he wanted more money than I wanted to offer, but ultimately I decided it was foolish to throw away lefty starters with decent potential. He's rewarded my "faith" with a sparkling 236 ERA+ and a 1.8 WAR in his first 8 starts.

Overall having three minor league teams in the playoff hunt in August is quite good for the franchise, especially with the AAA and A teams both comfortably in the driver's seat. At this point only one of my minor league teams even has a losing record, which is not what I expected as I scrambled to fill gaps in the offseason on several of these teams.