‘Crats Blog – September Edition
Hey there, 'Crats fans! This is General Manager Daniel DiVincenzo here to bring you a few Arlington Bureaucrats updates. August was a good month for us, and getting Travis Bunch back from the DL really gave the offense a needed jolt after losing right fielder Chris Wright to a broken forearm. It's a bad break that he went down with an injury when he did, as he looked like he was starting to get comfortable at the major league level. Since being called up, Wright had been one of the best hitters on the team with his .876 OPS over 171 at-bats. This might not be a huge sample size but we think Chris will be able to help our club next season if he comes back healthy and ready for Spring Training.
Back to August: The Bureaucrats went 18-11, by far the best monthly record so far this year. Our pitching and hitting both stabilized for most of the month, with the offense providing some power and the starting rotation settling down a bit. Michael Bender started to turn it around with a 2-0 record and a 2.45 ERA on the month after struggling with injuries for most of the season. Unfortunately, injuries have once again caught up with him and it looks like Bender will have to have surgery on his left knee to clear out some scar tissue and damaged cartilage. We hope the rest will do Michael some good and he will be able to come back a little healthier next season.
The team doctors have also decided to shut down Chris Wright for the rest of the season after taking more X-rays of his left forearm. Originally the diagnosis was a bruised forearm but ultimately the second round of X-rays revealed a crack in the ulna. While it is disappointing that we won't get to watch the young slugger during September, we don't want to take any risks with his young career.
Arlington also said goodbye to Ernie Cunningham this past month. Ernie had been with us since day one and had a nice season in 2007. However, he has struggled both this season and last, and it became difficult for us to find at-bats for him. With the team in dire need of some youth and redirection, we felt it better to let the young guys hit and ultimately decided to release Cunningham. The decision wasn't easy; Ernest has been playing baseball his whole life and it was terrible to have to tell him that we no longer required his services. The team comes first, however, and we needed to let some of the younger guys show what they can do at this level. We wish the Cunninghams well and hope Ernie can find a team next year if he feels that he has a little baseball left in him after this season.
September Call-ups
Speaking of the young guys, September is here and that means we'll be calling up some players from AAA Newport News to get a look at some future Bureaucrats. We've mostly called up pitchers this year to help spread out the innings late in the season and give some of the regulars a break. Pitchers Pedro Chávez, Vicente Gámez, Brent Cochran, Kevin Lewis and Raymond Carberry will join shortstop David Teague on the big league roster to form the most recent crop of young talent. David has been with us since he was called up in July to fill in for an injured Tom Franks and has played pretty well. We'd like him to be a little more patient at the plate but that will come with experience. We are hoping to get a brief look at these guys to see how they handle the play at this level. We'll be taking most of these guys to camp with us in the spring and just about all of them have a shot at making the club in 2010.
Teague rocketed through the minors during the last two seasons and found himself starting at the shortstop position for Arlington halfway through the 2009 season. Veteran Tom Franks was injured in July and the 'Crats turned to the 23-year-old from NYC to man the position, though he did more than that and hit .381 through the remainder of the month. After skipping AA and going straight to AAA Newport News this season, David started to show some power, hitting 13 home runs and slugging .445 in 393 minor league at-bats. We feel that Mr. Teague will be ready to contribute at the major league level next season and he will be in the mix at shortstop and possibly first base come Spring Training.
Scouts love Chávez and he chews through batters in AAA, but has had trouble translating his minor league success to the major league level. This will be his third try at the big show and we hope he will be able to make the necessary adjustments, something he has struggled to do in the past. Pedro doesn't miss too many bats; his success will depend on how well he can command his pitches. Look for Chávez to get a few starts in September as we try to keep our guys fresh. The starting rotation will most likely be getting an overhaul next season and Chávez definitely has a chance to win a spot with a good showing this fall and next spring.
Raymond spent most of the season saving games for Newport News (30) and has built on the strong season he had down there in 2008. He has good command of his pitchers and is able to strike guys out when he needs to. His fastball is clocked in the low 90s but he also boasts a gigantic repertoire of pitchers: he throws a changeup, slider, cutter, sinker and a circle-change. While relievers usually rely on a couple dominant pitches, Carberry keeps batters off balance by mixing up all of his pitches; batters don't know what is coming on any given night. We will need a couple new arms for the bullpen next year so we'll definitely be interested in how well Ray does at this level.
Lewis spent the 2007 and 2008 seasons struggling in AA before moving up to AAA this year at the age of 26. Admittedly expectations were low, but Lewis ended up catching fire and was eventually promoted to a setup role. He logged 67.2 innings in relief for Newport News and posted a 2.39 ERA, so we are excited to see if Kevin has turned a corner. He will be another guy who is fighting for a spot in the bullpen for the 2009 season. Control is sometimes a problem for Kevin so his command will make or break him in the majors.
Vicente was the ace of the Newport News staff this season and was rewarded with a September call-up. This is the 25-year-old Salvadoran’s first taste of the big leagues and he projects to be a possible four or five pitcher in the rotation at this level. Going into this offseason we effectively have four free spots in the pitching rotation and auditions will be held in the spring. No one besides ace Victor Matos has locked down a position for 2010; Workman and Bender will have to prove that they can bounce back. As such, Vicente will get a fair look at camp and will be in the running for one of these free spots.
Brent has gone up and down between Arlington and Newport News a couple times this season after being acquired from the Crystal Lake Sandgnats. He seemed to lose command of his pitches in July and we felt it best to send him down to AAA to regain some of his confidence and get back to attacking the strike zone. This strategy may have paid off as Cochran has looked sharp in his two appearances in the final week of August. This young man has solid minor league numbers and we anticipate that he will make a strong bid for a spot in the bullpen next spring.
More to Come!
With the season winding down, we are already planning for next season. There is much to be done in the offseason and we will always be looking to improve. With the PEBA's first enforcement of the new revenue sharing policy, Arlington may be taking a slight loss in 2010, though we don't see this as an issue. There is plenty of payroll coming off the books this winter so we will still have plenty of flexibility. Don't worry, though; we won't be spending money just to spend it! If an opportunity to genuinely improve the team becomes available, the front office will most definitely look to take advantage of it. We will also be looking to replenish our minor league system. The entire organization took a beating in the standings this year. We believe it is important to have depth and we will be looking to add some more talent to the system.
Enough talk about the off-season! More will come in next month's edition and I will review the season in its entirety as well as talk about what lies ahead for your Bureaucrats.