OTT

Encore?


After just missing the playoff field for the previous 3 years, the Volcanoes finally broke through last year. Not only did they make the playoffs, they upset The Tradio in the opening round of the playoffs. Now what?

The small town Salem franchise usually grows their talent in the farm system. This off season they entered the FA market by signing second-tier starting pitcher Clarence Allen (14-10 4.03 with Iowa) to replace Hong-Chih Ishida (9-7 5.52). The V’s could no longer be patient with the 24yr old from Tokyo with the core of their team getting into their prime years. The 32 yr old Allen has shown he can toss a lot of innings (225 last year), which is something that attracted Salem’s management interest. Salem has had hot and cold experiences with FA pitchers in the past, so what comes out of this is anyone’s guess.

Salem went into the trade market looking to find LF Eric Alexander (.272 39-114) a new home and they found a match they liked with division mate KC. JT Smalley brings an exceptional glove and 20 HR power to SS and allows captain Jimmy Posada (.285 9-72) to take his declining range to the less demanding LF position. It is anticipated that a further move to 3B could be in Posada’s future, since thirdbaseman Tony Alvarez is in the last year of his contract. While the V’s are sacrificing some of Alexander’s power, the offset in defensive improvement in LF (where Alexander performed in a Manny-esque manner) and the addition of a potential gold glover at SS is expected to out weigh any negative offensive impacts. Salem has finished second to Cincinnati in runs scored the past two years. Sacrificing a few runs to improve the whole left side of the defense will certainly make the Salem pitching staff a much happier lot. The V’s hope is that the change might squeeze out a few more victories, which they will need to compete in the NL West.

Salem returns a gold glove catcher who shot down 36% of those running against him last year, Harry Moreno (.265 5-45). The light hitting Dominican is loved by the pitching staff, almost as much as his agent apparently loves him. His contract demands after the GG award was won were out of this world (Salem’s GM remarked after reading the proposal, “Are these pesos or dollars we are talking about?”), and with Wendell Welch getting ready in the minors this could be Moreno’s farewell season in Salem. Welch was hurried to the show last year and it showed(.184 2-11 in 184 AB), but he returned to form after he was sent back for more seasoning. He probably will stay at AAA this year while fellow Dominican Al Rivera backs up Moreno. Rivera’s bat did well in the September playoff push last year (.286 2-9 in 91 AB), though he leaves a lot to be desired behind the plate.

Ron York’s numbers were down a bit from his MVP season the previous year, but he still led the league in RBI’s for the second straight year (.290 47-157). The 27 year old York enters his prime with 236 career HR’s already. He is more than adequate with the glove at the first base sack.

Secondbaseman Paulie Coffie has won just about every award he can win. He’s been an all-star, a silver slugger, and a gold glove at second base. He won his first batting title last year (.345 17-67 62 SB’s) after just missing the title a couple season’s ago. The speedster is now in the top 5 all-time base stealers in Ott’s history with 424 stolen bases. He has some pop too…he averages about 17 dingers a year from his leadoff spot. It’s a shame the MVP voters value power above all else....Coffie puts the caffine in the whole lineup but cannot even get on the MVP ballot. Talk about life on the “D” list!

32 yr old Tony Alvarez (.261 20-77) enters probably his last season as the V’s slick fielding third sacker. He has been a model of consistency since arriving, averaging 20 HR and 86 RBI from the number 7 spot. Salem is salivating at the thought of 21 yr old Julio Mercado’s power potential to emerge, but for now Mercado will stay at AAA. If another power hitter, former first round pick Jose Lucano tears up AAA this year, he could force Posada to 3B as he takes over the left fielder position next year.

Gerald Hujimoto was given the CF job last year as a rookie and he didn’t disappoint (.277 32-91), with excellent defense thrown in for good measure. Look for more RBI’s as he moves to Alexanders #5 slot in the batting order. Huji certainly has the ability to improve even more as his bat matures.

Junior Gill (.298 50-128) patrols RF like a junk-yard dog and used his lighting bat last year to notch his second 50 HR season in his time with Salem. He makes impossible plays look routine. Runners have just stopped trying to take the extra base on him. His talents are noticed…he’s been in the running for the past two MVP awards, though he has not (as yet) won.

Salem has not been able to improve their pitching to the point where they can be a top-notch contender. Steve Hoffman (14-8 3.74) and Jim Stone (14-6 4.22) show promise for a couple of 24 yr olds that were rushed to the bigs. After the before-mentioned Allen, the V’s have a triplett of 25 yr olds: Magglio Nunez (12-5 3.72) ,who came up as a 20 year old, has been 25-9 the past two seasons. Lefty Walter Mailman (5-5 4.33) has been up and down the past three seasons and just needs to show some consistency. Henry Hutton (6-4 3.68) was called up towards the last part of the season and was surprisingly instrumental in Salem’s playoff run.

Salem has always had a top-notch bullpen led by David Gonzales (31 saves, 3.36 ERA). Veterans Ozzie Cheng and Frank Kim did not have good years last year and they are looking to rebound. Rookie Ozzie Riley notched a 1.64 ERA in 38 games after his call-up. Ivan Martin and long reliever Chris Ramirez round out the staff. More relievers are on the way at AAA.

Finally, the bench players are not in focus as of this writing. Ralph Karl was called up as a 10 day fill in and stayed for the remainder of the season hitting .300 with 20 HR in just 260 AB. Can he repeat this performance? Veterans Pedro Rincon and John Padden really offer very little in the way of offense. Other than Welch, Lucano, and Mercado very little offense is on the way to the big club.

Encore? KC is much improved and then there’s that pesky team in Helena to deal with. It is hard to see KC making up all the ground in one year and passing Salem. This could be one of the hardest divisions, and the Volcanoes should be right in the thick of it.