2056 Offseason Team-by-Team: The Southeast

With the 2056 regular season drawing to a close, it’s a good time to look over the league and see what teams are heading in what directions and what steps they need to take in my opinion to get there. This is by no means the gospel truth when it comes to each team but its pretty close to the gospel truth. This is the final page in our story of team needs and with this last page, we’ll be looking at the last group of AAAA teams…

Eastern Conference: Southeast

Charlotte Sugar Dwarves

Positives: What’s not like about this Dwarf team? Between the pitching being held up by aces Jackson and Chambers (thanks langer) and both being 31 or under to the two top level bats just hitting their late 20s in Frye and Hicks, this team has a lot and I mean a LOT to like. They did just ring so that means their gm did something right. Team has good synergy and fits well along with having pieces that are still young and some that are just now coming to the majors like Lafont, Velasquez, Hall and De La Cruz. All are promising youngsters who can help keep this team relavent for years to come. No real payroll issues here though Swanson is kind of not living up to his contract. Player: Justin Chambers is super elite, 29 and has at least 5-6 more years of quality in him. From his great FIP performance over the last three years in Charlotte to his bb/9 during the same period, Chambers is the definition of a top level ace and he has the tools to keep that run going.

Negatives: Yeah, this team just won a ring and yeah they did it without a 1B pitching in their roto but every team can improve and has some negatives and Charlotte is no different. The entire season saw them desperate for offensive production to the point the Russian beast Arshavin was brought in at the deadline to bolster the offense. Arshavin was able to put up a clutch 921 ops during his time in Charlotte and in many ways lead the team offensively throughout the playoffs. But the worrisome negative comes from the fact that besides Arshavin, who arrived at the deadline I’ll remind you, only one hitter posted an ops above 800. It was Slaughter. And he put up exactly 800. For a team with loads of talented hitters, they just aren’t performing and that leads me to believe they are all big hitters but none of them are game changers. They aren’t impactful enough. Player: Phillip Frye is not the name you’d think you’d see here but for a player who just signed a five year deal worth basically 100m, you might be a bit concerned by his production these last two years. Back to back season, you’ve seen his production drop, his obp drop by 20 points each year and his batting average drop from 320 to 284 to 274. This is not the level of production you want to see from a dude you just tied down for 5 years. He plays a sick 2b and is a great hitter but at 20m for the next 6 years can he live up to the money?

Dire Need: Impact hitter.

Havana Bananas

Positives: A historically bad team, the rebuild under the new gm looks really good. Holden is only 28 and has plenty of service left in him. Payton is top quality and thats a great 1-2 combo at the top of any roto. Hitting is where it gets pretty for this young team. Long-Wang, Rodriguez and Cortez are top level major league players. Smallwood, Diaz, Howard, Bennett and Brown all have the qualities to be above average contributors and even great talent. In pitching spects, you’ve got Dudley, Brighton, and Gala who all look good. The future is bright and its very close to coming alive. Besides for a bad contract or two, the money side of this team is also very bright and you have to think this team will soon transition from rebuilding to competing and that day might not be far away. Player: Mi Long-Wang is elite, no matter which way you look at it. Great pop to his bat, 340 obp, strong contact. He’d be godtier if he could play a lick of defense but you take what you can get when it comes to his bat.  

Negatives: There are some money mistakes on this team and some underperformers. Johnston is the clear favorite. The Garza contract is also a head-scratcher, mainly because he’s only ever been a 3 war pitcher good for a FIP in the mid 3s. And that’s a good year. Player: Loren Johnston and the value you gave up for him was questionable first but to then doubledown with that contract is pure lunacy. A 604 ops at 31 and just signing a 5 year deal worth almost 100m? Yikes. The boy is an elite defender but yikes. Maybe he hates this team’s park but he is not cutting it and you may need to move Johnston for the good of the team before the rebuild turns the corner.

Dire Need: Quality roster depth.

Jackson River Monsters

Positives: Another rebuilding team in this division? How does Miami and Charlotte make it look so easy? Hmm. Another rebuild looking like its paying dividends and looking sharp. Herrero is legit a top 5 player in this league. Period. Monster bat. Elite level defense. 22 and lefty. This kid will turn into a terror very soon here. And then you add in Schluchter? This kid is also a monster who will destroy teams! I can name more. Pacheco, Castillo, Marte, Pratt, Howard, Fagerholm (omg), Kruger. This amount of quality, young hitters in this is farm is stunning. Pitching is a bit of a concern at this point and the team needs to either address it very soon or the rebuild might be turning the corner with makeshift pitchers in the roto and that can get scary. Player: Lorenza Herrero is a top top player who can hit for the fences, hit for 340 average and be the a top 3 defensive CF in the entire league. Watch this boy.  

Negatives: The severe lack of pitching depth is very concerning. Trump and Tovar are the only bright spots but even they are more like #2 or #3 quality. This team needs an ace and it needs a top level pitching staff to back up the quality hitters that are pouring out of that farm. Player: Nick Ramsey is a puzzling extension and his stats are even more concerning. He’s not delivering the ops or quality behind the plate and his defensive stats are starting to look average. Add in a new 3 year extension when this team should be saving and he’s just not worth his weight here.

Dire Need: Impact youth pitching.

Miami Manatees

Positives: Some nice discoveries here. Herrera is slowing down but is still elite.

Negatives: Man, a couple of these discoveries didn’t pan out.

Dire Need: Scouting Discoveries.

Nashville Gamblers

Positives: When you look at this team from a rebuilding perspective, there’s a lot to like about the start of their rebuild. There are quality pieces ready to hit the majors in Jensen, Rosales, Harris, Robinson, Da Mosquitos, Bjorn, and Davidson. All look to be good RLB hitters in the future, with varying degrees of quality. The rebuild has started well and further drafting and trading should stock the pantry nicely. Player: Saraflin Do Masquentes looks to be a top level bat with some decent defense to back it up. He’s nearly ready for the majors so a large portion of this rebuild sits on his shoulders.

Negatives: If you go back real quick and look at that list of exciting youngsters, notice I said hitters. They’re all hitters. The farm has some quality, unfortunately it’s all of the hitting variety and the pitching side is almost completely devoid of talent. That is worrisome on many levels because it doesn’t take one or two drafts to stock up on pitchers. Unlike hitters, they take longer to develop after drafting, even the college kids, and they’re much more volatile in terms of busting or not developing to their full potential. The rebuild better start focusing on pitchers and plan to overpay in the market when the rebuild is ready or else this team is going no where in a division like this. Player: Angel Rodriguez is one expensive players at nearly 30m per year and he doesn’t offer this team much but I totally understand eating the contract. Still, its 30m.

Dire Need: Young pitching talent.

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