Spring Provides Glimpses of Dilemma, Future for Borealis
Ray D. Enzé,
NLN baseball blogger
March 10, 2025:
Grand Junction, Colorado - While a brutally cold front has descended upon the Front Range, dumping 2 feet of snow on the Greater Denver area, on the 'Back Range' the Rockies provide their rain shadow that is keeping temperatures mild for the start of Baseball's annual Rite of Spring: spring training.
And for the first time in four years
Aurora will enter the spring lacking the expectation of repeating - or as was the case in 2024, four-peating. This spring the burden of defending the title falls on rival
Crystal Lake, who finally broke through with their first title.
Spring 2025 already promises to be an interesting one, with the arrival of former-
Codger Theron Boswell promising to create quite the shake-up in the infield. Boswell will be the only established veteran who will be taking the field for the first time in Aurora Blue this spring, but plenty of other youngsters will be looking to make a difference and push some of Aurora's aging - or ineffective, vets.
So let's take a look at those on the hot seat, those looking to make a splash, and what the prospects are for the Borealis as we head into 2025.
#1. Power Ball
As Will Topham stated at the Boswell meet-and-greet, the power bats wanted power money, and Aurora's Power Money is located with their Power Arms (mostly). The addition of Theron doesn't look like it'll make much of a difference. If there is any difference it might be the addition of
Harley Schneider late last season as a free agent signee at the end of August. He did hit 3 HR in 30 games down the stretch - not earth shattering, but
Pablo Medrano hit 6 all season (131 GS),
Nick Giles 6 (108 GS),
Teddy Loetzsch had 4 (130 GS) - so aside from
Mike Britt's 21 HR's before he went down for the season with a concussion on August 21, Schneider's pace of 14-15 last year feels Ruthian.
A healthy full season from 'Big Whiskey' will certainly help. but another step upward from RF
Paul Carlisle will also assist. Carlisle has had 24 HR the past two seasons and the power-thirsty Borealis need at minimum a repeat because the only other true threat is C
Jesus Negrete, who was off to a fine start in 2023 (12 in 62 GS) before injury ended his campaign, and last season was a follow-up disappointment as he managed just 14 in 101 GS. So if Aurora is to move from their near-dead last in the League in power numbers, that's gonna to have to happen with the hand they were dealt awhile ago.
#2. Speaking of Negrete
Expectations were through the roof for Jesus and most would say the only thing that has gone through the roof has been his salary. 2025 presents Aurora with an interesting dilemma. Negrete is in the last year of his contract and will be a free agent at season's end. One would hope, offensively, that becomes a great motivator that will help propel the Borealis. Then again, such a season would certainly spell the end for his days in Aurora, as he'd certainly be unaffordable. Rumor is Aurora would welcome - and has had some discussions regarding, a trade.
But for Aurora, they have options that are not just knocking on the door, but they are posing at the door in imitation of the ol' Two-Headed Catcher of yesteryear - when
Bob Keller and
Scott Vinson roamed the roster. Today it's former #1 pick
Manny Castro and contraction pick
Domingo Gutierrez who looked polished and drooling at the mouth. Last season at AAA
Thornton the two emulated the Keller-Vinson model, alternating between catcher and DH with Castro hitting .285 with 10 HR and 49 RBI, while Domingo hit .271 with 5/47. Both are about as outstanding as you can be behind the plate - Gutierrez spending time this winter working on his throwing ability and base running skills - both of which the coaching staff are quite pleased with.
This spring they will alternate days behind the plate or at DH with Negrete and
Pedro Ferringo. One would not have thought a couple of season's ago as Ferringo was finishing ABs shy of possible batting crowns that his spot on the team - and in the line-up, could be in jeopardy, but his defensive skills are so horrendous that he ties the defensive-minded Borealis hands, playing him as a full-time as a powerless DH. The emergence of the Two-Headed Catcher v2.0 could suddenly make the defensively limits Ferringo a commodity the team no longer could afford. Left out in all this is back-up
Rusty Butler, whose day's have seem numbered for awhile now.
#3. Who's on First or What's on Second?
Do the math for a second. 5 starting pitchers, 6 relievers and a closer equals 12 pitchers. Of the 13 position players, 2 are catchers - that leaves 11, and of that 5 are OF - and this includes Ferringo, leaving a total of 6 spots on the diamond. Aurora has 9 infielders on the 40-man roster this spring, and this doesn't include non-roster invitee
Bill Jones, whom the scouts adore and the coaches rave about. If you've done your math properly, that leaves 4 bodies looking for a home that doesn't include a 80014 ZIP code.
2024 began with Medrano,
Gabe McIntyre, Giles and Britt around the horn and by season's end it as Loetzsch, Giles, Schneider and Medrano as Britt's injury led to the signing of Schneider and McIntyre's ineffectiveness led to Loetzsch getting something closer to a full-time gig. How is 2025 shaping up and how has the Aurora infield begun to conjure up Abbott and Costello? Flexibility meets The Hot Hand.
Let's begin with Theron Boswell and Nick Giles. With the signing of Boswell to the largest free-agent deal to a non-Auroran, it was immediately assumed that Nick Giles was headed to the bench. Not so fast, Grasshopper. Although Giles is an excellent SS - and Boswell slightly better, coaches believe Boswell's best position is 2B - Harley Schneider's best position. Schneider and Giles both could play an adequate 3B.
Shouting 'Hey' is Teddy Loetzsch, who is possibly the best defender at any position not called 1B.
And What, you may ask, of incumbent 3B Mike Britt? Well, the Big Tennesseean begins his
10th season at Aurora - shockingly, and for those who have been following the team know, he's played SS and 1B in the past - back in the '
Ice Cold', '
El Bebe',
Al Edwards and
Steve McDonald days of the mid-20-teens.
'Wait', you high-end mathematicians cry - Theron, Nick, Harley, Teddy and 'Whiskey'? That's 5 guys right there? What of Medrano? McIntyre? and long-standing back-up infielder
Juan Toro and perennial on-the-cusp-sitter
Cristobal Crespo. Like we've said - Peeps will be looking for a new ZIP.
Working backwards... Crespo will, baring the unthinkable, no doubt see the DFA once again and charge up his FasTrax card. Jones will head back to Thornton, with Crespo, with little difficulty as he has his full complement of options. Out of options is Juan Toro, the nephew of one-time Aurora manager of the same name and at nearly 32, the one of two remaining members of the original Topham draft class (
'Stork' Holbrook the other), may finally have seen the addition pass him by. The career .260 hitter has been there when needed and never really hurt himself. Best known for displacing
'Gypsy' John Foster (also from that 2011 draft class, the top Aurora selection) in the stretch drive of 2021 as he hit .326 - by far his career best, Toro has never really had the chance to play every day and prove himself. Today he finds himself at best #8 on the list where the top 6 will call Northern Lights Park home.
Perhaps a late career boom here in Grand Junction will translate in a job saving move for Toro, but it's fully expected that Pablo Medrano and Gabe McIntyre will battle it out for the last roster spot - and both with options still... or perhaps a trade is in their future.
#4. Running of the Bulls (pen)
Just for clarities sake, pencil them in:
Provost, '
Tugboat', '
Massacre',
Romano and
Perkins will be your starting rotation and '
Javelin' will be your closer. So just as 6 was the Magic Number for the infield, so, too, will it be for the pitching staff - 6 middle relief spots. Some seem easy. Holbrook, in.
John Gray, in.
Bryant Burris, in... for now, looking for those elusive last few saves. And when he returns from injury - he'll begin 2025 at Thornton on a rehab assignment,
Felix Pena will be in. Also in, seemingly, is
Ron Latour. Of the serious options for the last spot, two find themselves out of options:
Manuel Galloca and
Lando Lagerveld, and a third possessing options, but shooting for the number 5 rotation spot -
'Terror' Diaz; a spot he won't even get a reasonable shot at to begin with.
Galloca, drafted out of
West Virginia in 2017, has bounced through the Aurora system, defying the critics and skeptics along the way who criticize his stuff - a flattish fastball and a wonky knuckle-curve, and yet in brief stints the past two seasons he's posted a 1.87 ERA in 14 appearances. He does have a career 204 saves in the minors - 174 at AAA, so you've gotta figure he deserves a chance.
If not for Lando Lagerveld - the victim of the vagrancies of the roster rules, losing options, gaining ML roster time and managing just 34 minor league starts due to injuries - for a guy Aurora drafted as a cornerstone for future rotations. Aurora's options here are very limited - keep him on the roster or try to pass him through waivers; something that won't happen. So for now, Aurora has slated the Big Dutchman in the 6th spring rotation slot to get him innings, with the likely final outcome being his earning the 6th reliever spot. Try not to look at his 2024 numbers with Aurora in September - they'll hurt your eyes. Best to treat them as a mirage.
Which leaves us with poor Edgardo Diaz. The #1 Contraction Draft selection for Aurora, he was expected to plop into the rotation for a number of years - and yet, summarizing the dysfunction that was Aurora's 2024 season, he split time between the rotation and the 'pen. He still managed a 12-5 record and 3.86 ERA leaving him scratching his head in wonderment. Aside from Lagerveld, his other chief competition comes from Eric Perkins, Aurora's 2016 2nd round draftee. Perkins got his chance when 'Tugboat' went down for a bit, grabbed the job and forced Diaz to the 'pen (Perkins was 7-4, with a 3.40 ERA in 20 GS).
So in reality, Perkins (out of options), Lagerveld (out of options), and Diaz (with options) are battling for a rotation and a 'pen spot. Quoth the Infield, 'do the math'.
#5. Land of Milk and Honey
Or so it seems the outfield be.
Then you look closer and
Hale is a free agent after the season and
Pope and Carlisle will be after 2026, suggesting whatever moves the team makes in the spring of 2025 might (must) have an eye on the inevitable reality that their starting outfield can be toast after the next two seasons. And don't lose perspective on the fact that Pedro Ferringo fits into the outfield equation, numerically.
It would seem a no-brainer that the 5th outfield spot is
Lawrence Justice's to lose - his ML/AAA splits the past two years are just too good to ignore; OK, his lack of power can be. Which is where
Wilson Mercado comes into play. He has the power - or he's shown hints of it, and the coaches believe it's there, but Aurora has been waiting 9 years since signing the abundantly talented 17-year old Cuban. His lack of options may give him the advantage over the seemingly more talented Justice.
Making his first appearance own Aurora Blue - and hoping to make an impression is 2021 3rd round draftee
Joe Harris, a distant cousin of sorts of Aurora's GM. He hit .284 at
Gatineau with 5 HR and 26 RBI last year and is fully expected to play at Thornton this year, where he'll compete with other spring training hopefuls
Federico Olivas,
Chandler Wright and
Augusto Hernandez - all with previous spring experience, each with a smattering of coffee to their resume - albeit with a mixed bag of success. All expected to begin the year at Thornton.
So one of the more complex springs begins today as Aurora sends 'Train Arollin'' to the mound to face the Codgers. With Aurora's hands tied in some cases we may see the end of some longstanding relationships here on the Front Range; or Back Range, as it may be. How may the year play out? Hard to predict, of course, other than it would seem that the Borealis will be in the thick of things in the Desert Hills as none of Aurora's immediate rivals seem to have improved themselves significantly.
The
Bears signing of CF
Jesus Lopez (
Kentucky) should improve an offense that struggled in 2024, but they've a rotation that may be beginning to show it's age. Palm Springs, off their surprising playoff run, lost some talent -
Miguel Cantu,
Pepe Espinosa and of course, Boswell, but they've added
Sato to replace Boswell, resigned
O'Neal and signed closer
Larry Taylor.
Reno dealt
Webb to
Shin Seiki - the busiest and most improved team in all of PEBA; some would say, early odds on favorite, but with
Carmona retiring being a little case of addition by subtraction, added
Iwane Sato and picked up former-Boreas farm hand
Orlando Alarcon to bolster their rotation. It shall be fun to see how Orlando does for the Zephyrs as Aurora was loathe to leave him exposed to the Rule 5 draft. The
Yumans lost three starting position players to free agency - including 'Gypsy' John, and have made no additions.
Well, it's time to Play Ball and let the cards fall into place - it shan't be a boring spring!