Friday, November 2017

As the dust settles on the London Underground’s second ever play-off appearance, we’ve gathered here to discuss what’s next for the PEBA’s only European franchise. First, let me introduce everyone. I’m Reginald Tarquin-Smith, the presenter of London Calling and my guests today are the well-known beat writer, Ed Balls, the Underground’s Scouting Director, Gary Huddlestone, and the first Englishman to play for the Underground, James Tinker.

Before we start, James you’ve just retired haven’t you? What are your plans going forward?

JT: “Well I’ve had a word with GM Nigel Laverick and expressed my desire to remain with the franchise. It was clear that my playing chances would be limited. From those heady days of dressing for the Underground I found myself struggling with A-ball Dover White Cliffs, but I did enjoy trying to help the younger players coming through. So GM Laverick and I have agreed that I can have a year going around the various levels of the Underground’s farm system learning the basics of coaching and then I’ll be assessed with the possibility of a coaching job at some level.”

RT-S: “ I hope that works out for you James. Now, London have been steadily improving over the last three years, thanks in large part to their first round picks over the last decade all working out and becoming important members of the 25-man roster. The latest, of course, is their 2014 first rounder, Leonard Carver. So my question to you, Gary: now that the Underground will not be drafting as high as they did a few years ago, can you see the team looking more towards the free agent market in the future, as the quality of our picks might not be so good?”

GH: “Obviously we’ll have to be smarter when we draft, but we still believe that the future of this franchise will come from the draft. It’s very hard to find free agents who add lasting value to the franchise, whereas even at the lower reaches of the draft there are unpolished diamonds waiting to be honed. Don’t forget that our ace, Hiroyuki Nii, was a 14^th pick in round one; Miguel Rosa was a fifth rounder; and this year’s IL Wunderkind winner, Leonard Ramsey, wasn’t selected until the 9^th pick of the second round. So, even drafting in the bottom half of the draft I believe we can still find the players who will carry us forward in our second decade.”

EB: “Can I interject here as well Reginald? I believe that even though we have one of the lowest ranked farm systems, we can still progress. We have a lack of prospects currently because they’re all playing for the Underground. The average age of the players who finished the regular season on the active roster is 27 and that will come down as two of the oldest players, Ken Cates and Aaron Hobbs, won’t be back in 2018. The core of our team could be together for five years or more, so we have no immediate need to rush our players through the system. We can take our time and fully develop our youngsters.”

RT-S: “But will our current roster be good enough?”

GH: “I believe it will be! Nii is hitting peak form now; Chris Long was just won the IL batting crown at 26 years old; Ramsey has his Wunderkind Award at 27; and Carver will soon be much better than his rookie season. Given two or three more years together I believe the Underground will be a regular visitor to the playoffs.”

RT-S: Isn’t that a blinkered view though? The PEBA is an ultra competitive league. You have to tweak, develop, and grow constantly to succeed. Have we got a roster that will do that?”

GH: “To be honest, we must. London, despite our growing fanbase, is not one of the PEBA’s cash-rich franchises. We have to make the most of what we have. Our forays into the free agent market haven’t always met with success (remember Augusto Torres and Millard Wooten) and it’s not our belief anyway that signing expensive 30-somethings will push us forward. We have a young roster that will develop and we can do that by adding at the edges. Cates and Hobbs will go this year; as productive as they’ve been, we feel that their contracts just don’t offer value, while Don Killy and Chad Fountain offer the same production at a fraction of the cost and age.”

JT: “We might not have the top prospects in our farm system, but I have played at most levels in the organization and I can assure you that we have players there – especially at AAA and AA – who, given time to properly develop, will have a long PEBA career. Juan Hernández, I think, will be the successor to Long as the Underground shortstop, while Gary Stanley could develop into as feared a closer as is Luis Mora.”

EB: “Sure, the players are there but I fear the pitching could be our Achilles heel. The one thing we lack is quality pitching. The loss of George Haines and Jonah Martin in the 2016 Rule V draft hurt. I think by now they would have been pressing for an Underground  roster place and I fear there’s not too many you can say that about now. We have to concentrate on pitching in the next few drafts, or acquire some pitching via trades or free agency. Because unless we upgrade the farm system’s pitching I think the next decade will see London down amongst the also-rans again.”

RT-S: “Strong words by Ed there! I won’t ask you to reveal state secrets by replying to that, Gary. What I will do, though, is ask you all to finish by naming your player to watch in 2018.”

GH:” Raúl García is definitely the one for me. He was discovered in Cuba by our scouting team in 2016. He’s already been selected to the 2016 Surf and Snow Amalgamation All-Star Game and the 2017  North American Farm Team Affiliation All-Star Game. And now at just 18 he’s about to start his first full season of AA ball. The ideal situation would be a full season with the Montréal Métros; but we will send him back to Dover if he shows any signs of struggling.”

EB: “The Underground’s eighth round pick last year, Bernardo Martínez, caught my eye. At 22 he’s got a lot to learn and he needs to sort out his control issues if he’s going to progress; but I like his tools. A solid cutter and changeup are backed up by a fastball that tops out around 94-96 miles per hour. This gives him something to build on. He didn’t have the best of seasons in his first ever pro season but he’s young enough to improve.”

JT: “Larry Burns in Montréal’s bullpen could be about to break out. In his first season above SS-A he made 62 appearances, going 6-6 with 9 saves and a 4.60 ERA. He has a wicked cutter and fastball and now he’s working on adding a changeup to his arsenal. If he can develop his third pitch this year at Montréal we could be looking at a top class set-up man here.”

RT-S: “Thank you for that guys. 2018 could be a make or break season for the London Underground. Will they kick on from their brief 2017 play-off appearance or will they sink into the Pan-Atlantic mire again? Follow your team on the home of live sport, 5live. See you in the 2018 play-offs!”