Friday, October 9, 2009

The Fargo Dinosaurs’ season came to a close recently, and it was another year on the outside looking in for Fargo fans who have yet to taste the playoff fever since the inception of the PEBA.  But fans saw a step forward this season as the Dinosaurs, who finished 73-89 with a .451 winning pct, improved a full 9 games from their 2008 record (64-98) and an even more impressive 19 games from their 2007 inaugural season record (54-108).  The 2009 record was good enough for the Dinosaurs to finish third in their division and saw a 4.5% increase in attendance from last season’s numbers.  It’s expected that this extra income will allow Fargo’s budget to grow just at the right time as the team looks towards contending for the playoffs in the next year or two.

The Dinosaurs were led by the pitching staff, which was sixth in the league in ERA (4.12) and third in strikeouts (1,239).  The team’s Achilles heal was its offense, finishing near the bottom of most offensive categories – including a .690 OPS that was tenth in the league.  There’s reason to be looking forward to an interesting 2010 season.  Fargo GM Cristian Shofar has stated that he would like to reach .500 and be in position to make a run at the playoffs through one of the wild card spots.  The goal remains to fully compete by 2011, but Shofar in a recent press conference stated that he was optimistic about the team’s chances to continue its improvement and bring in a free agent or two to help.

Shofar has stated that the team will look to improve its offensive production from its infield.  As vague as that statement is in regards to which positions are being looked at to be upgraded, it’s clear to see that third base, second base and shortstop all struggled offensively.  Here is an overview of the players who held down the second and third base positions this past season, and what (if anything) is available within the organization’s farm system to offer competition come spring (or if the free agency route should be taken).

Second Base

Miguel Velasco and Mike Smith split the majority of the time at the position and were both offensively horrible.  Velasco seemed to win the job back at the end of the season.  He had lost it earlier in the year when he suffered a torn rotator cuff muscle in April and missed 2 months.  This gave converted third baseman Smith a chance to take claim of the job.  Unfortunately he struggled in April and May, posting .559 and .591 OPSs.  He was able to post good numbers in June and July – .764 and .792 OPSs, respectively – but only doing so in a part time role, accumulating 91 at-bats total in that time.  He tanked the rest of the season and looks as though he may not make the team next year if another second baseman is brought in.

Velasco has failed to live up to the lofty expectations he had as a rookie and by the team’s scouting department.  He does carry some value in his defense, and this alone may keep him in line to either man second base (if no other player is brought in to compete for the job) or remain as utility infielder (considering his skills at both middle infield spots and ability to play third base as well).

There aren’t any real solutions internally at the AAA level, as Maresuke Kichikawa (also a converted third baseman) struggled with a .650 OPS this past season and looks to be no more than organizational filler.  He is not particularly strong defensively and does not have much more than average speed on the base paths.  The organization is high on Héctor Valenzuela, but the young second baseman was only at the AA level last season and will start the season in AAA.  He had an .845 OPS after coming over to Fargo in a midseason trade with Kalamazoo and had an .814 OPS and 37.9 VORP overall for the season at the age of 19.  He is considered to be about a year away from breaking into the majors, but a good first half in AAA may change that.

Third Base

Ángel Fabián was recently released by Fargo when the team had to reduce its roster down to 25 men at the conclusion of the season, so the decision looks has been made that the team will not be bringing back the 32-year-old third baseman.  And it looks to be the right decision, as his .660 OPS and overall offensive performance resulted in a negative VORP (-2.5) and his defense deteriorated as the season wore on (he finished with 22 errors and a lowly 2.28 range factor).  A few scouts around the league have stated that it looked as though he was running in quicksand out there and that he is no longer capable of fielding third base at the ML level.

Shou-xin Zang started the season with the Dinosaurs but failed to impress and was sent down to AAA for the rest of the year.  He suffered a strained ACL and is out for two months.  He doesn’t look like much of an option, and isn’t strong defensively.  The team has a glut of third base prospects at its AA level next season, but no one set for a start in AAA as of yet.  This appears to be the more likely of the two positions that will see a free agent brought in to play.

Steve Youngblood

Fargo Gazette