Bayou Brief: Check out the New Orleans position players

[Reg]

By Scott Plack


3/8/08 New Orleans, LA – With the start of Spring Training upon us, let’s take a look at the rest of the Trendsetter ball team.

Catcher – Starter – Jeff Cline
Backup – Nick Mitchell

Cline is an all-star who swings a mean bat and plays decent defense, though he may come in slightly behind Rodriguez in that category, it’s not by much. Of course, Cline will be expected to bat around .300 once again, with his main goal of getting on base in front of Conard. “Who knows the limits Cline can reach this year. He is moving out of the unfriendly confines of Constitution Field and will be followed by All-star Conrad. All that to say he is going to see a lot more strikes thrown to him and should be able to take advantage of the situation,” stated Trendsetter hitting coach Fletcher. Mitchell is a black hole offensively, but he more than makes up for that with his black hole on defense, stopping every pitch and throwing out runners just as effectively.

Infield – 1B – Augusto Valdez
2B – Leonard Martin
SS – John Deschamps
3B – Desi James
Utility – Ken Chase

Valdez, who is eligible for free agency at the end of the season, should play like a man possessed in order to earn a new contract. Even still questions of budget and available cash, hang over all possible new contracts. Rumor has it that Conard has been taking fielding practice as first base, and will even be playing a good number of games there during spring training. Conard was quoted as saying, “Hey, if Jack Cobb can do, how hard could it be?.” For the team that passed on bringing back Cal Edwards, a year short of extraordinary may be Valdez’s downfall. Rookie Leonard Martin will take over duties at 2B after the team non-tendered an arbitration eligible Jason Lloyd who suffered through a disappointing season last year. Tanner expects Martin to provide solid defense and will be given a lot of lee way in adjusting from minor league to PEBA level pitching. Scouts are still very high on what this youngster could become. Deschamps and James return to make up an extremely young, yet experienced left side of the infield. Both players were integral to the Trendsetters offensive success last year contributing fairly good numbers (they combined for 145 RBIs) from the lower half of the lineup. Ken Chase, who is proficient at all infield positions, will be called on to rest the infielders but is not expected to contribute offensively. The Trendsetters may be looking hard at bringing up another infielder to share the load, but something will have to be done with the crowded outfield in order to make that happen.

Outfield – LF – Daron Little/Bryan McMillian
CF- Todd Hansen/Manny Sanchez
RF- Copper Scott

This year the outfield will be a source of excitement, mostly because you won’t be too sure who will be out there from game to game. Little, who is coming over via a trade which rid the Trendsetters of underachiever/despised infield Kato, will be called on the start in left field the majority of games versus right handed pitchers. McMillian who the Trendsetters hope will hit around 10 to 15 homeruns this season will start in Left field some of the time against right handed pitchers and all the time against lefties. Little is in the last year of his contract, 37 years old and gone after this season. Hansen will be the constant playing in every game, though against right handed pitchers he will be in center field and against left handed pitchers he will roam in right. Sanchez will play center field when Hansen is not there. Scott who is a strong left handed bat, that is weak versus left handed pitching, will start against righties and play a great right field, and sit against lefties. Confused yet? Well be sure and pick up a program so you know exactly who is who and maybe even who is on first.

DH – Ernest Conard

Conard is average at best in the outfield, and superb at the plate, and some say as a salesman. The Trendsetters hope to keep Conard fresh by allowing him to stay out of the field. Intriguingly, one plan that may play out in the next post season is to see Conard slotted at first base, especially if a contract extension cannot be worked out with Valdez. Playing on a team chocked full of good to solid hitters Conard should also see an increase of his stats, maybe even surpassing Edwards.

The Trendsetters spent most of the off season retooling the offense to better compliment the efforts of their pitchers. The Dixie league this year should be ultra competitive and provide PEBA and Trendsetter fans with plenty of excitement all year long.