Last year I had fun with a satirical preview of my own team with my own quotes. It was rather good if I dare say so myself.
But like Choo, I prefer change.
This year, I employed Jim Vaughn — free labor — to send me some questions that I would answer.
Why Jim Vaughn?
Well, just look at him. This guy is a trustworthy sports reporter.
I also figured if anyone was going to ask the tough questions, it would be great to have it be my division rival who kept me from going to the playoffs a year ago.
He did just that, so let’s get started.
VAUGHN: You had your pick of the player pool with 2 of the first 5 draft picks. What was the thought process behind grabbing Carlos Santana and Jonathan Villar? (That Villar pick I especially loved, by the way.)
SLAMMERS: Why thank you, JV. I’m glad you liked that pick of Villar. I was on him pretty early and was actually eying him from the start. I knew he would be a first-round pick for me.
The other pick, which ended up being Carlos Santana, was originally a pitcher. My second round pick, Tyler Chatwood, is a starter I’m really high on, and for weeks, picks 3 and 5 overall were set aside for Chatwood and Villar.
However, after the keeper deadline, Carlos Santana appeared in the pool and caught my eye. I really liked adding a player like him to my offense — high walks, power, RBIs, runs, it’s all there. Add in the fact that he’s at batter friendly Citizens Bank Park, and I think we could see a decent boost in his projected numbers.
I knew he would have to be a first-round pick for me. It was safe to say he’d be there at 3. I knew Jose Quintana was going 1 or 2, and the other pick in that equation wasn’t going to be Santana, so I locked him in at 3.
That left me wondering, Chatwood or Villar at 5?
After looking closely at the draft order and draft needs, I really thought there was a good chance that Chatwood — or a starter like him — would be at pick 17 overall. I was confident Villar would not last that long, and there really isn’t a player in the draft like him.
This is a guy who stole 62 bases, batted .285 with 92 runs, 19 HRs and 63 RBIs in 2016.
Last season, he was bothered by a hip injury and struggled to capture that magic.
Healthy again, I’m expecting big things. Does that mean 62 steals? No. I’m reasonable. The projection is 36 and I would be just happy with that.
That would be just nice after trading Altuve. … Which I’m sure JV will ask about next.
VAUGHN: The Altuve deal was one of the boldest moves of the offseason. How hard was it to deal the No. 2 overall player, and what ultimately made you decide to pull the trigger?
SLAMMERS: See, told you he’d ask about it.
Yes, this was truly a hard decision. Years of getting nowhere in the National League made me wonder if my rebuild was going in the right direction, so when offers started coming in for Altuve in the fall, I thought about it.
I had a pair of good offers on the table, and both were drastically different. The one I nearly took and eventually turned down would have changed my whole offseason approach as it was pitching heavy.
Choo’s offer was a no-brainer fantasy-wise. I had to take it.
It certainly helps to see Ronald Acuna playing the way he has played, so he may just make the deal worth it all by himself.
But realistically, we have to look at this deal as a whole.
Acuna was the meat of this deal for me, but Shohei Ohtani offers some kind of promise, Kenley Jansen gives me a top-notch closer, and the No. 3 and 5 picks of Carlos Santana and Jonathan Villar never happen without this deal. If Altuve is still on the roster, I’m going pitching there at No. 5.
It will be odd to think in September that the reason I made the playoffs was Jose Altuve not being on my team.
VAUGHN: We've seen the rise of the bullpens in both the MLB and the JLB. Perhaps no team boasts more bullpen firepower than you. Was this an intentional, philosophical approach by you, or simply taking the best players available and it happened to end up that way?
SLAMMERS: This is kind of wild how this worked out for me.
Heading into the offseason, Assistant Commish Choo and I were already talking about fixing the pitching lineup for daily matchups.
The biggest competitive imbalance in the JLB in the last three years has been the two or three teams that luck out with that starting pitcher who moves to the bullpen and somehow gets into the closer role or a holds role.
Yes, there’s some strategy, some luck involved here, and it’s always kudos to those teams that were able to get that player. The problem was, other teams couldn’t compete against a move like that.
Now, the 3x3x3 format makes it easier for teams to compete, while at the same time make teams have to really manage their pitching. I like the concept and look forward to seeing it in action.
Now, to how I wound up with the bullpen I did.
First, it was a bit of luck. I was one of those lucky teams last year with Archie Bradley, who had SP eligibility, and was in a bullpen role all year racking up strikeouts and holds. He still had franchise eligibility at 3.099 so I really had to keep him there.
Alex Colome was going to be my other RP keeper and that was it, but as mentioned, the Altuve deal was too good to turn down and with Jansen, it just made sense to keep the trio of RPs. That was 103 projected saves heading into the draft.
I made sure to grab some high K-rate guys in Chad Green, Alex Minter and Jacob Barnes.
Together, I think that will be a good bullpen to start. I’d like to add one more arm to go with those six and Bryan Shaw, but when it came down to adding Matt Wieters in the second-to-last round over an RP, I went Wieters.
VAUGHN: You have one of the youngest teams in the JLB. Other than the obvious one (Acuna), which of your young kids are you most excited about?
SLAMMERS: The other easy answer to this would be Kyle Tucker because there is seriously a really good chance that between Acuna and Tucker, I have some absolute star-power right there. They could be the cornerstones of a potent offense for years.
But I’m going to dive deeper.
The guy that really excites me is Brendan McKay. Will he be the “Ohtani” type in that he pitches and hits? Who knows?
But the bat is definitely there, as he’s considered by some to be one of the best college bats to come out in decades.
An article the other day talked about how he could even be a safer bet to pull off what Ohtani is trying to do.
I'm also really excited about Luis Urias. He may be my next Altuve. If you haven't read about him, check it out. It's an interesting story how the Padres got him, and I cannot wait for him to crack into that Padres lineup this summer.
VAUGHN: The playoff drought has reached 4 or 5 years (not exactly sure). Are the natives getting restless in Slammerville? Are you feeling the pressure to snap the streak?
SLAMMERS: Yes, five years. And thanks for pointing that out.
It has been a frustrating five years for sure. A few winning records, a year where I had the NL’s worst mark and then last year’s final week meltdown that saw me miss a chance at the No. 3 seed.
This drought has been filled with baffling pitching stat lines and unfortunate misses with young prospect pitchers.
But I feel like I have a really good mix of pitching this year. I brought Archer back at the deadline last year with Yasiel Puig, who I just flipped for Jake Odorizzi, a pitcher I targeted in the draft and missed. Add in Dallas Keuchel, who didn’t have to throw 270 innings in a World Series season, a now healthy Aaron Sanchez, and young arms who I truly believe in like Lucas Giolito and Blake Snell, and I think I have a chance to end this drought.
I thought I could do it last year, and I wasn’t crazy to think that considering how close I was.
That’s why I believe I compete for that No. 3 spot for sure, and depending on when Acuna and Tucker arrive, there’s a chance I’m making a run at the 2-seed.
And, let’s throw one more “if” out there. If I hit on two of my young pitchers this year, I’m battling JV till the end.
Hey, a boy can dream, can’t he?
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