Is there hope?: The T-Baggers

The T-Bags' owner hard at work on fixing his sorry ass team.

With the media's focus on the CWFLB playoff race, one often forgets about the teams at the bottom of the standings. For every MattroStar, DLB or Jackrabbit, there's a T-Bagger, E-Ball or Blunted Stopher swimming in the shitter. Scott "Daddy" English had the idea of maybe helping these sad sacks along. So without further adieu, Daddy breaks down our first victim: Nip Weller's T-Baggers.

Back in 2005, Co-Owner’s Eric ‘Nip’ Weller and Erik Estrada took over a team that was debatably worse off than either expansion team that came into the league last year. Former owner Pat Mascaro had left the then Trooper Trashmen in shambles through a series of bad trades and poor roster management. The team was littered with the likes of Mark Bellhorn, Mike Lieberthal, Kaz Ishii and Matt Lawton. Also, in two separate 2004 trades, Mascaro had dealt away Jake Peavy, CC Sabathia, Pedro Martinez & Troy Glaus for Barry Zito, Matt Morris, Mike Lowell, Alfonso Soriano & Mike Piazza. In this pitching heavy league, I’m sure both Eric’s are ready to puke after reading that one and knowing what their team could have been.

Fast forward to 2006. The Trashmen are now the T-Baggers and after a series of moves to reshape their roster the past two seasons they miss the playoffs by 2 games and look ready to make that next step in 2007. But oh how quickly things can change. Despite their promise coming into the year the T-Baggers have the lowest point total as well as the lowest power ranking in the league. It’s been mentioned on more than one occasion that perhaps they are now the worst team in the league which makes one wonder how did a season with such promise turn out so bad? Let’s take a closer look as we determine if there’s any hope for the T-Baggers.

Catcher (Jonny Estrada & Kurt Suzuki) – Starting right off, this situation epitomizes the T-Baggers offensive problems. The only explanation for Estrada being on this roster is perhaps Erik thinks he’s some long lost relative. Jonny is a borderline starter who’s only going to get worse, not better. Keeping him around won’t help the T-Baggers down the road. Why not take a flyer on a second young catcher to go along with Suzuki and hope one of the two pans out. Players like John Buck, Carlos Ruiz, Chris Ianetta, Jeff Clement & Ronny Paulino all fit this bill.

First Base (Todd Helton, Paul Konerko, James Loney) – An overall good group here. Helton is not what he once was but he’s still useful as one of the top 60 batters in the league. Konerko has been hurt by a struggling White Sox team and Loney shows promise of being a useful fantasy starter. The T-Baggers are in excellent shape to deal from a strength here and trade Helton and/or Konerko to a contender for young talent or to help fill a hole elsewhere.

Second Base (Ty Wigginton) – If there was any questions about Marcus Giles being on steroids there really shouldn’t be. After the steroid news broke Giles went from a top 5 second baseman to waiver wire fodder during what should be the prime years of his career. This has set the T-Baggers back as they’re now relying on Ty Wigginton to man second base. Wigginton might show some value being in Houston but he’s not the long term solution here. Backing him up with a young 2B or top 2B prospect would be worthwhile. You have to think Richie Weeks & Josh Barfield could be had cheaply right now and prospects like Tony Abreu, Eric Patterson and Adrian Cardenas are out there in free agency.

Shortstop (Rafael Furcal) – The T-Baggers are pretty solid shape with Furcal here. True he’s having a bit of a down year, but he’s consistently been a top 5 SS in the past and at 30 is right in the prime of his career. Chances are this season is more of an aberration than an actual decline. Obviously any player could be dealt in the right deal but with a lack of quality shortstops in the minors right now a player like Furcal is good to have.

Third Base (Mike Lowell, Evan Longoria) – Here is another major trouble area on the major league roster. At face value, Lowell is solid. He’s in the top 10 in scoring and is having a nice bounce back year. However, third base is a deep position and few believe Lowell will be able to keep up this pace up in future years making his trade value low. Longoria is a great prospect but he’s still at least one year away from the majors, possibly two. Still, Lowell is a player that should not be on this roster in two weeks. Getting any type of return for him would be a plus at this point and a young 3B with upside can be signed to fill in until Longoria is ready. Edwin Encarnacion, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Wilson Betemit would all fit this bill. Edwin and Kouz have struggled but at times have shown promise and if A-Rod opts out in the offseason, all of a sudden Betemit is a hot commodity.

Outfield (Andrew Jones, Jermaine Dye, Raul Ibanez, Delmon Young, Jacoby Ellsbury, Colby Rasmus) – If one position killed the T-Baggers hopes of competing, this is it. Coming into the year, the Baggers had 3 of the top 11 OF’s in 2006 in Jones, Dye & Ibanez, a rookie of the year candidate in Young and a solid OF coming off an injury in Hideki Matsui, who was traded in the preseason for much-needed pitching depth. Eric & Erik had to think even that if one or two of the four they had left struggled they’d still be okay. Unfortunately for them, all four have struggled mightily. Jones is having his worst season since 1997. Dye and Ibanez both look like they had career years and are barely in the top 60 in OF scoring. And Young has shown promise, but like most rookies he’s had his struggles as well.

Added this year were both Colby Rasmus and Jacoby Ellsbury. Rasmus is a 5-tool OF that should be taking over in CF for the Cardinals last year. He has tons of talent but like many 5-tool guys he tends to be very streaky (think Carlos Beltran). That said, he’s absolutely part of the solution in T-Baggerville and should prove to be at worst a solid fantasy starter. Ellsbury is a different story. He’s not a bad prospect but in this league players who hit for no power tend to have little value. With the depth of this OF it’s a wonder why Ellsbury and not a prospect at a position of need (C, 2B, P) is on the roster.

On the major league level, the problem here is similar to the problem at 3B. Dye and Ibanez have close to no trade value anymore but at the same time they’re not part of this team’s future so having them on the roster seems worthless. Likewise, Andrew Jones’s value is at an all-time low. Trading him now would not net the kind of return he should command. Realistically, like Lowell and to a lesser extent Helton, Dye & Ibanez should be traded before this year's deadline. Young should improve next year and if he develops power will quickly vault into being a top 15 OF. So, an OF centered around him and A. Jones is quite solid. The third OF spot could then be filled by Rasmus, a free agent or via a trade as the Jackrabbits, Gun Show and Herzogs are stocked with a lot of young OFs with good potential.

Starting Pitching (John Lackey, Bronson Arroyo, Jon Lester, Brandon McCarthy, Brad Penny, Dontrelle Willis, Ervin Santana, Buddy Carlyle, Jason Hirsh, Adam Miller) – This is by no means the best staff in the league but at the same time it's certainly not the worst. It’s my belief that a good rotation needs a minimum of three guys that can start week in and week out regardless of how many starts they have and who they play. This is the T-Baggers current problem. While Lackey has stepped up and proven to be one of the top 10 SPs in fantasy baseball (yes, you read that right), the promising arms of Dontrelle Willis and Ervin Santana have been unable to do the same. In fact, Santana has struggled so much that he was demoted to AAA. A change of scenery (in the actual majors) is what it seems both of these players need.

Digging further, Brad Penny is having a career year and should be dangled for some top young talent. Think the Colon deal when he went to the Expos. Penny could really help a lot of teams in the playoff hunt right now and would be worth some top prospects. Bronson Arroyo has been up and down all year. He’s roster worthy but not more than a 2-start only guy right now. Getting Jon Lester back could be huge. On a team like the Red Sox, a solid pitcher like Lester is a good asset to have. After a round start, Brandon McCarthy has actually pitched well lately. He has a sub-4.00 ERA since the beginning of May, too bad he’s on the lowly Rangers so no one has noticed. Hirsh is another young SP with promise but in reality its tough to think anyone pitching in Colorado will become a top of the rotation SP. And finally, Buddy Carlyle is surely nothing more than a fill-in at this point, not much to say about him.

On the farm the T-Baggers have Adam Miller who recently was shut down for the year do to arm troubles for the second time. He throws upper 90’s and has a ton of potential, but with a second arm injury in three years you have to wonder if he’ll ever be able to reach that potential. Thus, this is an area that needs a lot of help. Pitching is a major commodity in this league and finding it is difficult. Rarely are stud pitchers plucked off the major league waiver wire as most are held in the minor leagues. So, this is where the T-Baggers can potentially turn the corner. If they can stockpile a few good young arms that pan out this pitching staff could go from average to playoff caliber in no time. They need a minimum of 2 more young arms added, ASAP.

Relief Pitchers (Bob Wickman, Jeremy Accardo, David Weathers, Kevin Gregg, Eddie Guardado) – All that can be said about this group is, ick. There is virtually no potential from anyone here beyond this year. Accardo has an outside chance due to his success this year and the severity of BJ Ryan's injury. And Wickman, Weathers & Gregg could be closers next year but the chances against it seem to be greater than the chances for it. As a result of these situations the T-Baggers need to purge this position. Good closers are very hard to find but at the same time average closers can go from high value to no value at the blink of an eye. Again, the playoffs are near and a few teams could use an upgrade at closer. Wickman, Gregg & Accardo all get a decent amount of opportunities and could help a team down the stretch. I would look to sell them off in that order. Then pick up a top young RP arm that has a chance to close next year. At worst you drop them in the supplemental draft. Rafael Betancourt, Tony Pena, Carlos Marmol and Pat Neshek are dominating as set-up men and could become closer via trade or a job opening up.

Closing Comments: Yes, there is hope for the T-Baggers. Much work needs to be done but its by no means a total overhaul like we’ve seen the Gun Show do. In actuality, I’d rather have to rebuild this roster than quite a few others in the league. Step one is to get the dead weight off of this roster asap. There are too many players in the mid-30’s that offer no real help in making this team better. If Estrada, Lowell, Dye, Ibanez, Ellsbury, Weathers & Wickman are all still on this roster by the end of the year, let alone two weeks from now, there’s something wrong. Step two is to bring in good, young talent. Load up on prospects and/or draft picks if necessary. This year is lost so after the trade deadline they need to immediately begin looking towards next year. A top 3 pick in the draft should net them a top prospect as well.

It's tough being realistic with the quality of your team. The T-Baggers could continue to try to plug holes and continue to move along with up-and-down years. Or, they can rid themselves of the players who are borderline starters and take chances on young players who may be a little worse but have the chance to be better. In short, the T-Baggers need to take a step or two back in order to take a step forward. They’re certainly not lacking in talent, there are useful pieces there. Therefore, their goal should be to identify and rid themselves of the players on their roster who don’t have the potential to be good starters 2-3 years from now.