Big Ol’ Country Breakfast sat down at the table last year with a fairly empty plate. He could have picked at some of the food on it, but instead, all he could think about was tomorrow’s breakfast.
Sam’s first year in the JLB wasn’t about the first year, it was about Year 2 — and after a few trades in-season last year and numerous offseason deals, he’s confident and ready to go.
The one thing he saw right away was the need for pitching.
Not bad.
“Business was booming this offseason rounding out a rotation with Sale, Fulmer, Glasnow and McCullers,” Sam said. “The hardest trade was the one I didn't make. A potential deadline deal would have seen Glasnow on the move for another top arm. Could be revisited post-draft, but that kept my mind racing all day.”
Trying to flip Glasnow already? Sam must have attended the Choo School for Fantasy Baseball Management.
That school would certainly teach him to trade half of these pitchers to Jim Vaughn in the next 18 months.
I hope he doesn’t do that, as a division rival of the Cheese Steaks, and I don’t think he will based on the potential for this rotation.
“Ultimately a healthy McCullers will make the biggest impact for me,” he said. “Sale will do what he does, but McCullers and his K-rate may have been the biggest splash.”
This all came at a cost, though. He paid for it dearly in the draft and he’ll have to hope for some smart picks by him and some dumb picks by others in order to round out the team to make it a competitor in 2017.
“Yes, yes, the draft pick whispers,” he said. “Whether acquiring a top-5 pitching in the game or a potential young ace, it seems the Breakfast's cant do anything right. While moving down in rounds 2, 3 and 5, I also moved up in rounds 4, 6 and 8. But ultimately the McCullers deal boiled down to his talent and consulting previous draft results.”
Offensively, the Breakfast should be fine with great power on the roster. It will all come down to the pitching staff holding together. Gerrit Cole, Danny Salazar and Lance McCullers all have had some injury problems recently so there has to be that fear deep down of a repeat of 2016.
“Last season injuries headlined my pitching staff,” Sam said. “Tyson Ross and Garrett Richards both were finished by the third week. But that couldn't scare me away from talent. I caught up with the Tribe's third base coach, Mike Sarbaugh, this offseason at the Phillies Banquet and he felt Salazar’s best is still ahead of him. He's the key.”
Ah, it’s a shame that hours after Sam said that, Salazar gave up 7 runs in five innings.
Fortunately, Sale had that 10-strikeout game the day before to keep the smile on Sam’s face.
Yes, he’s smiling because finally, he’s sitting down to eat that breakfast he’s been dreaming about for a year.
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