The sun is out. The golf clubs are ready to go. The playgrounds are abuzz again.
It's baseball season!
Right, Erik?
"Well, Jargon," he said, begrudgingly. "It's March 29. Negative-11 degrees Celsius with high winds, so we're feeling like it's negative-23. Sounds about right for the start of the season to me."
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Give me a moment. Googling Canadian stuff.
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That's 12.2 degrees American. Man, I cannot stand cold weather. It's bad enough I put up with the Northeast climate. I cannot imagine it still being 12 degrees as we round the corner to April.
You are a stronger man than I am, Mr. Quad Eh.
It would be a tough decision to choose to stay in that climate year after year.
I imagine it was similar to the decision Quad Eh had with his roster this offseason. Thanks to a plethora of minor leaguers getting the early call in 2020, Erik found himself in a bit of a pickle, and that big old dill led him to dropping Charlie Morton and Nelson Cruz, players who could have been keepers on several other teams.
Both went No. 4 and 5 in the draft — Parker had back-to-back picks at 5 and 6, so I'm calling it 5 — and based on the names taken No. 1 and 2 in the draft, I really could make an argument that they should have been the first two players off the board.
One of them should have absolutely gone No. 2, not Archie Bradley — but that's for another preview.
"Morton and Cruz were the toughest calls this offseason," Erik said. "Solid performers over the past years, but the age factor coupled with some younger talent on my squad left me with no choice. I'd rather gamble on youth than continuing to defy age."
It's completely understandable.
That said, right about now, he's certainly wishing he had Charlie Morton.
Quad Eh does have the best pitcher in baseball in Jacob deGrom, but his first-round pick David Price is going to the bullpen, and three other pitchers have green flags attached to their names after they were surprisingly optioned.
"As you mentioned, with three arms going to the minors, it's a bit of a blow to my staff, but I already had Marquez slated to play in the minors and figures one of the Braves pitchers would go down as well," Erik said. "Both of them combined with Price possibly being a bullpen guy to start the year is going to be a bit rough, but I think deGrom and Hendricks can shoulder the load in the early going... And as always injuries and performance at the start of the season makes for some FA choices to fill gaps as well."
Pitching is what it is, especially this year, and in reality, the National League is going to come down to the offenses that click the most.
Juan Soto batted .351 last season with 13 homers and 37 RBIs, and he's a superstar in D.C. that will be a mainstay in this Quad Eh lineup for a while. His OBP is Harper-esque and it makes Soto the perfect player to have in the JLB.
"Soto is absolutely a contender for a batting title," Erik said. "Batting .350 over a full year may be a bit to ask, but certainly over .300 is likely. I may need to tack on a bit to the Dude's billboard and thank Choo for Soto."
Choo's wife is going to wonder why so many billboards are popping up around their property. It'll start to look like that random area on I-78 right before you get to Hamburg. I can only assume Cabela's target audience is the kind of clientele that is susceptible to roadside billboards.
But I'll change the subject because Erik has no clue what I-78 is. That joke will hit home with about 80 percent of the League, and perhaps 20 percent of Luke Voit fans.
Soto is the clear offensive force on this team, as I was saying, but Alec Bohm is a close second. What a bat he has become and I think there's even more there.
Bohm batted .338 last season with 23 RBIs. He had only 4 homers, but I certainly see that going up a bit. He hit 21 over 125 minor league games in 2019, so I think it's safe to say he'll hit 25 this year. Fantrax likes him for 18, but I'm upping that for you, Erik.
You're welcome — for the stat projection correction and the fact that I gave him to you in a trade (Matt Olson and Kris Bryant for Alec Bohm, Gavin Lux and Madison Bumgarner).
"Bohm is a revelation, if he sticks at third for a while I'll be pretty happy, but if he moves across the diamond, I have my future 1b behind Freeman easily, so it's a win either way for me and further softens the loss of Olson's power," he said. "Add Biggio looking like a 3b eligible player going forward and I'm pretty set for a young infield (provided Baez gets back in form after a horrid 2020). If Lux comes through on his promising talent, I'll have a lot for options going forward for trades as well with Biggio, Solak, and Lux all having eligibility at the Keystone if I need to shore up my pitching."
Sounds like you have it all figured out there, Erik.
We're happy to have you around for a fourth season!
"Definitely happy to be part of the league," he said. "Was an easy choice to make and has done nothing but further my love for the game."
And, it of course gives you something to do while stuck inside in 12-degree weather.
Wait? You went outside?!
"Yeah, I have to get out of my car and get this Costco run out of the way before I start work," Erik said.
Costco, eh? What'cha shopping for?
"Maybe they have bulk arms for me ... "
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