F.I.B.L. Spring Training Previews |
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F.I.B.L. Preseason Previews -- Part 2 of 12 Rebels Try to Rebound From Second-Half Slump ALVA, Fla. - February 12th -- When the 1999 trade deadline arrived, the Blue Ridge Rebels were tied for the lead in the wild card race with a record of 26-22. The Rebels then went out and made a number of trades in an attempt to improve their chances of making the playoffs, acquiring pitchers Omar Daal, Gil Heredia and Dennis Cook for Kirk Rueter, Wayne Gomes and some draft picks. Unfortunately, the team collapsed in the second half and finished with a record of 40-41. It was a disappointing end to the season for the Rebels. They proved unable to beat the other contenders, getting swept by the Gulf Coast Hurricanes, Alexandria Sharks and Orlando Warriors and dropping two of three games against both the Virginia Ponys and the Alaska Rowdies. The Rebels also faced usage issue problems, ended up overusing one player and were penalized their #1 pick in the 2000 Draft. This means that their draft position is only fair. They have two #2s, a supplemental pick at the end of the fourth round, and one pick per round after that. As the 2000 season arrives, the Rebels will be trying to make up the gap between themselves and the Rowdies. Last year, they were in the middle of the pack both in terms of hitting and pitching. On paper, they don't look to be much improved. They have a few good hitters, but no superstars on the level of Vladimir Guerrero, David Justice, Rafael Palmeiro or Roberto Alomar. Their starting pitching is close to the quality of the Rowdies' rotation, but the Rowdies have a better bullpen. Add in the fact that the Rowdies have several very good defensive players while the Rebels will likely use several sub-par defensive players in their regular lineups, and it adds up a difficult task for the Rebels to overtake the Rowdies in 2000. Here's a position-by-position breakdown on the Rebels: Catcher: The Rebels have a handful of backups but no true starter. Tony Eusebio has the most at bats, followed by Mike Difelice. They are also the two best hitters of the bunch. Marcus Jensen and Ramon Castro may also figure into the mix. The worst news for the Rebels over the offseason was the Marlins' signing of Charles Johnson, which means that Castro will be battling for a backup role on the Marlins rather than the starting job. None of the catchers in this group is better than average defensively, although both Difelice and Castro have slightly better than average arms. Firstbase: The Rebels have plenty of options here; actually, one more than they really wanted. The Mets fouled up the Rebels' plans last year by signing Todd Zeile as a free agent and using him exclusively at firstbase. While the Rebels can and will claim Zeile at thirdbase, he will be a 5e35 at the position. Ouch! The most likely candidate for firstbase is Derek Lee, who had a breakout season for the Marlins in 2000. He hit for decent average and power, and played solidly defensively. Another possibility is Dmitri Young, although he is likely to play most of the season in leftfield. Supersub Ramon E. Martinez also can play here in a pinch. Secondbase: A motley crew, both offensively and defensively. Jay Canizaro looks to start most of the time, with the disappointing Marlon Anderson backing him up. Both have below-average range, although they don't boot many balls that they do manage to get to. Melvin Mora can also play here; although he makes more errors than either Canizaro or Anderson, he would be somewhat of an improvement at the plate. Utilityman Martinez is the best of the group defensively. Thirdbase: As mentioned above, Zeile may end up playing here, a lot. If not, look for Mora to play here, even though he doesn't have the offensive pop that teams look for in a thirdbaseman. Mora would be miscast as an infielder, since he's much better in the outfield, but the Rebels will have to do what they can. Once again, Martinez is the best of the lot defensively. Unfortunately for the Rebels, he only has 99 at bats and can only play one position at a time. Shortstop: Edgar Renteria has this position nailed down. He has good range although he makes a ton of errors. He's a good offensive player, for a shortstop, and has both some speed and some power. Martinez and Mora will back him up. Leftfield: The Rebels have a couple of options here: Dmitri Young is the most likely starter. He's a below-average defensive player, but is probably the second-best hitter on the team overall, behind J.D. Drew. He's a switch-hitter who hits lefties better than righties. His backup will be Wil Cordero, another defensively limited player who hits lefties better than righties. Usually a team wants complementary backup players with different skills, but Cordero has the same weaknesses as Young and not as many strengths. Melvin Mora also may see some time in leftfield as a defensive replacement. Centerfield: The team's best player is J.D. Drew. He played all three outfield positions, but was primarily a rightfielder. He hits righties extremely well. He'll probably platoon in centerfield with Roger Cedeno, who missed a large part of the season due to injury. Cedeno is much better against lefties, so they make solid platoon partners for 2000. Neither of them was particularly good defensively. Mora can play here as well. Rightfield: Jeromy Burnitz had a very disappointing season by his standards. He's still the Rebels' best home run threat, but his batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage all dropped off significantly from 1999 to 2000. With Drew playing as much as possible in centerfield, Burnitz will be in rightfield most of the time. Drew, Cedeno and Mora are also capable of playing here as needed. Rotation: Livan Hernandez continues to confound the skeptics who expect him to begin showing damage from the heavy workload inflicted on him by Jim Leyland and Dusty Baker over the past four seasons. The high pitch counts don't seem to have fazed Hernandez, who pitched 240 solid innings in 2000. He's the obvious ace of the staff. Gil Heredia will be the #2 starter. He was solid if not spectacular in 2000. One red flag: His walk total doubled from 34 in 200 innings in 1999 to 66 in 199 innings in 2000. Esteban Loaiza will be another solid starter in the #3 slot. The last two spots will probably be filled by some combination of Octavio Dotel, C.J. Nitkowski, Brett Tomko and the combustible Omar Daal, who completely self-destructed in 2000, although he was much better in the second half with the Phillies, which has to raise the Rebels hopes somewhat for a Daal rebound in 2001. Bullpen: One of the biggest blows to the 2000 Rebels was the major injury to closer Ugueth Urbina, who only pitched 13 innings; also lefty Ricky Rincon was hurt and only pitched 20 innings. In their absence, the Rebels will have to rely on Juan Acevedo, Terry Adams, Steve Rain and other lesser lights. Tomko and Nitkowski could also end up in the bullpen if they aren't used in the rotation. Pre-Draft Cuts: Lariel Gonzalez, Trenidad Hubbard, Marcus Jensen, Javier Martinez, Bill Pulsipher 2000 Outlook: The Rebels don't appear to have the horses to run with the Rowdies. In fact, they may be hard-pressed to stay ahead of the Huskies and Redbirds in an improving division. They don't have any real talent surpluses except in leftfield, so the Rebels are unlikely to be able to make a blockbuster deal to improve the team. A wild card berth isn't out of the question if everything falls into place; if things go wrong, the Rebels could once again finish under .500. |