Sunday, April 5, 2009

Spring Training 2009: The "Released" Team (UPDATED)

(UPDATE 7): Added Chad Gaudin and dropped Ron Villone. That move should be good for another 2 or 3 wins right? Put me down for 61 wins.

(UPDATE 6): Added Frank Catalanotto and dropped Danny Graves...I honestly cannot believe that a player of Catalanotto's caliber got released. He's instantly my #2 hitter and a definite cause for optimism. I now believe that this squad can get 58 wins. Who's with me?

(Update 5): Added Mike Lamb to the roster...dropped David Newhan and his infectious eyes.

(Update 4): Added Wily Mo Pena to the roster for some much needed pop and strikeouts....gotta love a guy named Wily Mo....dropped Jay Gibbons. The McPherson-Sheffield-Jenkins-Pena middle of the order should be both powerful and frustrating at the same time. Can any of them stay healthy?

(Update 3): Added Dallas McPherson to the roster...dropped Morgan Ensberg. Roster is starting to look quite good! 55 Wins!

(Update 2): Added Geoff Jenkins to the roster...dropped Guillermo Quiroz. Too many catchers.

(Update 1): Gary Sheffield added to roster...dropped Yhency Brazoban. We found our cleanup hitter!

Spring training can be a cruel time. As players get overtaken on the depth chart, teams gradually begin the process of reassigning players to either a minor league camp, a minor league team, or granting the player his contractual release. For whatever reason, the player just did not stick.

So this season, I decided to field a 25 man roster simply based on players who were released over the course of spring training. I did not include players, who were released prior to the start of spring training (i.e Adam Kennedy), but I did include players who were signed after they were released. Bottom line: If you were outright released during spring training, odds are you made the roster.

The 2009 Spring Training "Released" Roster

C- Josh Bard (signed with Nationals)
1b- Daryle Ward
2b-Marcus Giles
3b- Dallas McPherson
ss-Esteban German (signed with Cubs)
OF- Frank Catalanotto
OF- Dave Roberts
OF- Geoff Jenkins
DH- Gary Sheffield
Bench- Wily Mo Pena
Bench- Rob Bowen
Bench- Mike Lamb
Bench- Trot Nixon
SP- Shawn Hill (signed with Padres)
SP- Odalis Perez
SP- Mike Maroth
SP-Adam Eaton (signed with Orioles)
SP- Chad Gaudin
RP- Aaron Fultz
RP- Jimmy Gobble (signed with Rangers)
RP- Duaner Sanchez (signed with Padres)
RP- Brendan Donnelly
RP- Tyler Walker
RP- Keiichi Yabu (resigned with Giants)
CL- Eric Gagne

What's the over/under on how many games I could win with this bunch over the course of a full season? I'd say 45. The offense would be terrible (no surprise), but I would have a wide array of pitchers to use at my disposal. I like the idea of using the absurd amount of relief pitchers on this team to lefty/righty the opposing team to death. Not to mention that the Shawn Hill/Odalis Perez top of the rotation should be very imposing...

At the same time, my shortstop has played only 6 games at the position in his career and my fifth starter (Villone) has not been a starting pitcher for years. Maybe I should lower the over/under down to 35...

'62 Mets anyone?

Food for thought: why were there so few position players released in 2009?

(Note: This roster is not set in stone. Since spring training has not yet ended, there are sure to be more released players to come)

5 comments:

tHeMARksMiTh said...

Can you really include Odalis?

Jorge Says No! said...

Absolutely. Even though he never made it to spring training, his contract was terminated during spring training.

tHeMARksMiTh said...

He kind of forced it, though.

The Common Man said...

58 Wins? Yes we can! Yes we can!

Jorge Says No! said...

IF we can somehow get another starting pitcher on this roster, I'd bump the win total up to 60.