Well, nothing like a trade on the first day of Spring Training to [fudge over] this series of posts.
Anyway, to pick up where we left off yesterday (and staying in format)… the 2014 Senators just got a whole lot more interesting, but before we take a look at this year’s guess, let’s see how well I picked last year’s staff…
| STARTERS | SWINGMEN | RELIEVERS |
| Nathan Karns | Adam Olbrychowski | Paul Demny |
| Trevor Holder | Blake Treinen | Marcos Frias |
| Brian Broderick | Neil Holland | |
| Rob Gilliam | Rob Wort | |
| Tyler Herron | Cameron Selik | |
| Matt Grace |
Much like Syracuse, I was only completely wrong on one, but missed the roles on several… and was just barely right on a few more (Wort, demoted; Herron and Grace began in Potomac, but spent the lion’s share of 2013 here). I’m not arrogant enough to think that maybe I’m getting good at this, just lucky.
As aforementioned, yesterday’s trade changes things. At least I think it will. In the most optimistic scenario, Taylor Hill benefits by rounding out the Chiefs rotation instead of the Senators. In the most pessimistic, Matt Purke is held back for another few weeks in Potomac. And if you’re cynical, he’ll be put on the DL again for the month of April again (quite frankly, if that were to happen, it would raise some unsettling questions).
Thus, I’ll name six starters to reflect the trade and its uncertainty. Here’s who I think will make up the Nats’ AA pitching staff in 2014 (40-man guys in bold):
| STARTERS | SWINGMEN | RELIEVERS |
| A.J. Cole | Paul Demny | Richie Mirowski |
| Sammy Solis | Brian Rauh | Tyler Herron |
| Blake Schwartz | Robert Benincasa | |
| Felipe Rivero | Matt Grace | |
| Taylor Hill | Colin Bates | |
| Matt Purke |
I feel fairly confident in getting the starters mostly right, but aside from Mirowski and Benincasa, I don’t feel as good about how I picked the rest of the staff. Mostly because I fear that one or two of these guys will not go to either Potomac or Syracuse.
The P-Nats’ playoff meltdown not withstanding, if this collection of arms does live up to its billing and the hitters don’t start slowly, it should be another contender at City Island this summer.