Breaking News out of Canada: Juan Soto and Alec Bohm have been sent back to Double-A.
It's an unimaginable turn of events after both battled against each other in the NLCS last season with their respective major league teams.
How could they have fallen this far?
Wait? What's that? I'm getting word that I've been misinformed. It's not the players who are going to Double-A; it's the team.
That's right, the Quad Eh All-Stars have been designated for assignment and they will report to Double-A.
The All-Stars right now have more green flags than a St. Patrick's Day parade.
Five keepers find themselves back in the minors, some very surprisingly, after this Spring Training. Add in Sixto Sanchez, who the Double Eh All-Stars knew would be there and you have six total minor leaguers on active roster. Tack on some red flags in Aaron Ashby, Shane Baz, Joey Votto, Juan Soto and Gavin Lux, and there is some serious problems down on the farm.
"Between green flags and IL I have to replace my whole bench right now," Double said. "Was not expecting Peraza, Baty, and Yepez to start in the minors."
After having called him Quad for so long, it's going to take some time to adjust to Double. Just pretend you're ordering at the bar, I say to myself.
Despite all the colorful, easy-to-spot issues, there's still some light at the end of the tunnel here. Double Eh has the best OBP team in the League, thanks to Soto (135 projected walks) and his friends Brandon Nimmo, Mark Canha, Jonathan India and Gunnar Henderson who all have projections of 80 or more walks this season.
"OBP makes my heart happy as a baseball fan, but you’re right that I can’t be a one trick pony to compete in this league," Double said. "While higher OBP means more chances for steals and runs, it does come at the cost of a power approach for the most part. Going into the draft I had one guy projected to have 30-plus homers — Juan Soto at 30 exactly. So I tried to fix that hole as best I could with the names on the board and was thrilled to grab Santander with my first pick. Follow that with Drury, Votto, Canha, Jansen and a now more valuable Darrick Hall and I think I’ve got some guys that can hurt a baseball rather than take their base on balls. ... Although they’re not really slouches in the OBP department either."
See, he can never quit that OBP.
Maybe that's why he loves his new toy, Gunnar Henderson, so much. He'll have SS eligibility in 10 games which will be a huge help after the sudden demotion of Oswald Peraza, and he'll likely be in the running for ROY.
"I definitely think Gunnar will be in the mix, if not the favourite for the AL ROY," he said. "Not just because of the bat, but the defensive versatility he provides too. That doesn’t matter much in this league of course, so let’s look at the hitter. Through AA and AAA last year, Henderson held a .418 OBP with 19 HRs, 7 triples, and 24 doubles, and in his 34 games in the bigs, he had 4 HRs, a triple, seven doubles and a 348 OBP. There is no reason to doubt this guy could be a monster.
"Did I mention across the 22 season he also racked up 23 steals?"
No, you didn't, and that sounds great. Unfortunately for Double Eh, Henderson is among only three players on active roster projected to have double-digit steals.
And the pitching department is not going to do him any favors. There's not a real impact starting pitching on this team, when looking at projections, so it's going to take some time for this to develop.
The aforementioned Sanchez has all the upside in the world; he has that ace-like material, but he needs to get on the field and prove it first. He's 24 so still time. Trevor Rogers is only 25, and he did prove it two years ago with a fantastic rookie season, striking out 157 and posting a 2.64 ERA in 25 starts. That fell apart last year to the tune of a 5.47 ERA and a 1.505 WHIP. Baz, Ashby, Ryan Pepiot and Matt Brash all provide similar promise.
"I think that Rogers and Mahle will be the leaders of my staff, with the rest likely being around their career averages," he said. "Hopefully I get a strong showing from Pepiot and Ashby when he gets back, but definitely not something I’m counting on to vault me into contention. However, this year I expected to struggle in that department, but was hopeful to get enough regulars to at least not be an absolute pushover and I think I did OK. ... Well maybe not horribly is a better way to put it."
"Patience for the young players in my squad isn’t an issue at all," Double said. "I probably give more time to guys than I reasonably should — just look at Pearson and my redrafting of Sixto. I believe my minor league system is strong and there are some difference makers heading to the bigs sooner over later. Manzardo, Encarnacion-Strand, Westburg, Miller, Hancock, and the rookies I already discussed make the future bright north of the border.
"That said, my roster as constructed is going to face some serious managerial decisions to ensure we can actually compete when we expect to and not live solely on the hopes of the next class of prospects every year. 2023 is going to be an interesting one for sure."
Isn't that the truth.
I can't imagine some of these players having to deal with the in-between inning antics that go on at Double-A. A few weeks of that and maybe, just maybe, that will be the push needed to lift Double Eh back to Quad Eh.
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