Your 2008 Opening Day Starters
And now, a look at the #10 SISA Rated offense in the GUBA *snicker*
1. LF Francisco Mendez
2007: .283/.343/.417, 63SB, 31.3 VORP
Mendez spent most of his time as a DH last season, saying more about our poor offense than his prowess with the bat. In 2008, the speedster will be able to flash his leather in the field as well, as many think that Mendez is a gold glove candidate. Four errors in 25 games in the field might disagree with that, but we'll cross our fingers. He'll need to try and bump up his stolen base percentage, getting caught 20 times is a bit of a downer as well. Still, at 3.8M Mendez is a nice little corner outfielder. The world needs more Francisco Mendez'
2. 3B Pedro Cruz
2007: .284/.337/.377, 30 2B, 24.6 VORP
The switch-hitting Cruz is a decent #2 hitter: he doesn't strike out very much (70 in 624 at-bats in 2007) and had a little bit of pop. He's not the type to drive the ball out of the park, but scouts really like his talent set and think that he is ready for a breakout type season. We'd be happy if he ends up with a SLG over .400 and keeps his OBP in the .350 range.
3. 1B Jakob Forest
2007: .300/.415/.523, 28 HR, 58.0 VORP
I love me some Forest. He's a complete hitter, he's popular, he's only 26, and he's signed long term. A fractured foot ended his season in early September last year, ending his shot at a 30/100 season, but we're expecting more of the same from him this year and he will anchor the lineup for the forseeable future.
4. C Carlos Becerra
2007: .295/.353/.451, 38 XBH, 38.2 VORP
Becerra, the big Chilean lefty, is rated by SISA as the 9th best catcher in the GUBA. but he was an All Star last season. Whatever, as long as he keeps putting up an .800 OPS we like the dude. He's 29 and signed through 2010, so we feel like we're pretty well set here for awhile.
5. RF Tony Reyes
2007: .239/.285/.351, -5.3 VORP
Reyes was signed to create some competition for an outfield spot with
Nick Cox and Rule 5 pick
Shuji Suzuki. However, an injury to star outfielder
Jose Avila finds both Cox and Reyes as Opening Day starters. Reyes wasn't very good in 50+ games for Tokyo, but in AAA Yokohama his .294/.503/.493 line was enough for us to take a chance on him. It's likely that he'll be moved back to a 4th OF spot once Avila is healthy
6. DH Enrique De Jesus
No Picture Available
No 2007 Stats
De Jesus, a 25 year old righty, was signed to a 1M per year contract through 2009 in the offseason. While scouts don't think he's totally mature as a hitter yet, he's good enough to hold his own in the bigs right now and continue his development with the Crusaders. The signing is also what allowed Francisco Mendez to go back into the outfield.
7. SS Tony Leslie
2007: .209/.268/.345, 15 SB, -1.7 VORP
Leslie appeared in 73 games for San Juan in 2007, and with the departure of Joe Ross via trade last season and the decision to not overpay for his services again in 2008, the Crusaders looked to the speedy defensive whiz from Massachusetts to step in. He won't be relied on for his bat, but he is a definite upgrade defensively over anything else we had available in our system. With mostly ground ball pitchers, having solid defensive infielders is a big plus.
8. CF Nick Cox
2007: .306/.435/.443, 81BB/73K, 34.4 VORP in AAA
Cox, a Triple-A standout and a plus-plus defender at all three outfield positions, was very unimpressive in a 13 game cup of coffee with the Crusaders last season. Originally pegged as a reserve outfielder and defensive substitue, Cox finds himself as the starter on Opening Day while Jose Avila gets healthy, at which point he'll likely settle into a platoon or reserve role. Management is hoping for a statline that looks more like what he produced in the minors last year.
9. 2B Luis Molina
2007: .211/.260/.284, -11.6 VORP
Lets face it: This guy sucks. We just don't have many other options here at this point, and he's got the best defense. We made several attempts to aquire various other middle infielders during the offseason, but budget constraints and snags in negotiations ended any hopes of shoring up the middle infield.