Guessing The Rosters, Part Three
In the final installment of “Guess The Rosters,” we have the Harrisburg Senators. This is just the second time I’ve taken a swag at AA, and it’s highly doubtful I’ll expand this to Syracuse anytime soon.
A Twitter follower asked if the lack of fluidity at the major-league level makes this easier or harder. I replied it was the latter because the organization seems to be more active with minor-league free agents nowadays, and lot less likely to re-up with players it originally drafted — though I have a feeling that might change, given the treatment afforded to Garrett Mock and Matt Chico early on and more recently, signees such as Matt Torra, Ray Kruml, and Micah Owings.
Let’s review my guess for the Sens in ’12:
CA – Sandy Leon
1B – Steve Souza
2B – Jeff Kobernus
SS – Chris McConnell
3B – Carlos Rivero
DH – Justin Bloxom
OF – Eury Perez
OF – Destin Hood
OF – Chris Rahl
BIF – Francisco Soriano or Tim Pahuta
BIF – Stephen King
BCA – Devin Ivany or Beau Seabury
BOF – J.R. Higley
Because it was my first crack at it, I hedged my bets on the bench, and clearly, with good reason. Souza threw me for a loop and I’ll have to admit that I very nearly put him on the 2013 roster… until I considered that Bloxom (another miss) didn’t get the bump, either (and both were/are 23-about-to-turn-24).
Rivero is easy to explain: He had played all of seven (7) games at AAA prior to 2012, and with more experienced infielders on that roster (McConnell, Jarrett Hoffpauir, Mark Teahen) it seemed unlikely for him to go to Syracuse. As for McConnell getting the nod over Josh Johnson (though the two would swap places two weeks later)? I got nuthin’
Whether or not you count my hedges as half-right (7-for-13) or half-wrong (8-for-15), my success rate is still (only) slightly better than 50/50. I guess that makes me more like Jim Cramer than Warren Buffett?!
On to this year’s SWAG:
CA – Jeff Howell
1B – Matt Skole
2B – Ricky Hague
SS – Jason Martinson
3B – Anthony Rendon
OF – Destin Hood
OF – Brian Goodwin
OF – Chris Rahl
DH/BIF – Justin Bloxom
BCA – Kris Watts
BIF – Sean Nicol
BIF – Francisco Soriano
BOF – Jimmy Van Ostrand
As I mentioned yesterday, I’m probably being too optimistic that Skole, Hague, and Martinson will all get promoted. Perhaps Francisco Soriano won’t follow in the footsteps of Jose Lozada. Maybe Stephen King will return for a third season. Last year, a lot of guys were stashed on the disabled list (e.g. Potomac, which had eight (8) on the 2012 Opening Day Roster) and/or extended spring training and I suspect (know) that will happen again.
Hope folks enjoyed this little exercise… certainly helped fill up the week. Spring Training is next week, the accelerated minors camp starts the week after, but if last year is any guide, I suspect my spring-training coverage will be another week shorter as the odds of a minor-leaguer making the “Big Nats” seem a little longer.
That could be a pretty nice offense in PA this year if that lineup happens.
I can’t wait to get up there this year to see their outfield in particular.
Sure hope Rendon & Skole will be there too, although Rendon figures to be either on the DL or Syracuse pretty soon.
my hope is that Souza fills out the outfield with Goodwin and Hood and that you’ve got the infield right. I’ve got the dates at Bowie on my calendar. that would be a fun group to watch hit
I agree with your logic of placing Skole at AA. Skole and Keyes are in the same boat – learning a new position (1B) while trying to cut down on strikeouts. So putting the one with the better upside – Skole – at AA makes sense. If he can get comfortable at first, then he can concentrate on making better contact at the plate. I see Keyes as a reincarnation of Michael Burgess – hit it as hard as you can, or whiff. The difference was that Burgess would occasionally adjust with two strikes and became a relatively effective RBI guy. I haven’t see that in Keyes, so maybe the position change will help. But Skole has much more potential right now.