Skip to main content
Topic: State of the Landlubbers (Read 1053 times) previous topic - next topic

State of the Landlubbers

After a deep run in the playoffs the Landlubbers and fans were excited for the new year. As players showed up for spring training however, it was clear many players were in a funk and not prepared for the season. Management made a quick decision to realign the team for the future.

DeGrom, who was under team control through 2021, was the first to go and he brought in a haul. Vidal Brujan, Albert Abreu and a 1st and 2nd in the 2020 draft. This seemed a large price at the time but after seeing the price of starting pitching in FA this may have been about right.

Next, the fan favorite, Yelich was willing to take a 15% discount to stay with the team but that still wasn’t enough to keep him and he will head to a divisional rival. Fans were immediately upset and there was a lot of social media and local radio backlash. Time will tell how much he makes the Landlubbers pay. It will be a while before the criticism from this move is outlived.

As Free agency got going it was clear the plan. Money was used to buy draft picks and prospects and only one contract over $3M was signed. Large chunks of money are going to come off the books each of the next two years.

This year the fans will have to sit back, relax, watch some minor league ball and dream. Although the boys will still try hard day in and day out, and wont be terrible, there isn’t much reason to risk getting bud-light-virus at the games.

Things to look forward to:
  • A very exciting draft in a few months with 7 picks in the first 2 rounds.
  • A very busy spring training in 2021 were multiple players will be competing for limited roster spots.
  • A large chunk of available 2021 cap space to pay for a few important players.

Expected starting lineup
Catcher – Jansen
First – Olson
Second – Schoop
Short – Polanco
Third – Anderson
Left – Reddick
Center – Smith
Right – Canha

SP –
Paddock,
Mahle,
(Hill – Voth – Civale),
Gonzalez
Perez

Closer – Jansen
Late inning – Urquidy, Strahm
Craig
Ann Arbor Landlubbers