Dream League

Trenton Thunder Preview:
by jmagliaro

Starting Lineup

B.C. Gordon – LF – A speedy lead off slap hitter who can hit for average and steal bases. Projection 325/415/405, 55 stolen bases
Carl Hansen – RF – Some more speed at the top of the lineup here. Not the best defensive outfielder, but definitely worth his $1.1M. Projection 290/375/360, 40 stolen bases
Frank Kobayashi – SS – A 5 tool stud All Star SS. “Koby is one of those rare gems who has all the tools. This guy can flat out play! He’s got heart, talent and is the leader of this team. We expect huge numbers from him this year”, Coach jmagliaro says. Projection 330/395/635, 42 HR’s, 137 RBI’s, 41 SB’s
Trenidad Perez – 3B/DH – “We expect good things out of Treny this year. In the off-season we avoided arbitration and locked him up for 3 years at $3.6M per year. We think we got a really good deal with him. He wanted to stay in Trenton so we were able to lock him up at a discount.” Coach jmagliaro says. Projection 295/365/590, 44 HR’s, 120 RBI’s
Phil Hayes – CF – The young CF gets the start this year. A great hitter who should put up big numbers offensively. A future #3 hitter. “We’re really excited to have Phil up this year for his first full year in the bigs! Phil has worked hard and it will pay off this year. I think he could blossom into one of the top CF’s in the game in the next 2 years. He rounds out a scary 3-4-5 combination that will hurt many opposing pitchers. “Coach jmagliaro says. Projection 340/415/555, 28 HR’s, 126 RBI’s
Horace Holmes – DH/3B/1B – Horace will be in a platoon situation and we expect for him to carry his weight this year. Projection 285/325/405 14 HR’s, 88 RBI’s
Juan James – 1B/DH – Will platoon at 1B with Holmes and JJ has great power and a great eye. A scary #7 hitter with this kind of power. Projection 255/380/575, 39 HR’s, 82 RBI’s
Darren Strickland – C - A good defensive catcher who knows his pitchers strengths and weaknesses. “We expect a good year from Strickland this year. He handles our pitching staff exceptionally well.” Coach jmagliaro says. Projection 250/315/325
Marvin Post – 2B – A good contact hitter with a little bit of pop in his bat. A very good base runner with some good speed. We expect him to cause some problems when he gets on base with the top of the order coming up. Projection 295/325/350

Bench

Brain Relaford – OF – Got the promotion coming off a good ST. Will be used mostly as a defensive replacement and pinch runner. With his 92 speed rating and 77 base running, he could cause some havoc on the base paths in close games.

Jeff Wright – C – Great defensive catcher. Any offensive production from Wright is gravy.

James Kondou – Utility – James can play SS, 2B, 3B, and CF. Hell, he could probably catch if we asked him to! A reliable bat with no power.

Jim Yashian – LF/1B – Jim will provide some power off the bench. In a limited role this year we could see Jim hitting around 10 HR’s.

Starting Pitching

Sean Kapler – SP - Trenton signed Kapler in the offseason to a 3 year deal at $4.6M per. “We expect good things out of Sean. He’s been a solid pitcher in the past and we expect him to bring it each outing this year.” Coach jmagliaro says. Projections 17-9, 1.45WHIP, 3.33 ERA

Frank Martin- SP – “Frank is coming off a stellar season where he was our team MVP. He really stepped it up last year going 21-6. We expect him to put up similar #’s this year.” Coach jmagliaro says. Projections 16-7, 1.05 WHIP, 3.27 ERA

Aaron Waters – SP – A respectable #3 starter who put up good #’s in ST. Projection 14-10, 1.66 WHIP, 4.33 ERA

Cesar Cruz – SP – His first full year in the majors will be big for this young gun. A hard throwing lefty should have a good first year if he can continue to improve his control. Projection 14-8, 1.55 WHIP, 4.13 ERA

Charlie Smith – SP – “Charlie earned the #5 spot with a solid ST. He’s a finesse pitcher with a pretty nasty knuckler. We expect him to do very well in the fifth spot.” Coach jmagliaro says. Projection 12-9, 1.35 WHIP, 3.89 ERA

Bullpen

The strength of our bullpen lies in Set Up man Leonardo Jacquez(R) and closer Taylor Dawley(L). Neither is overpowering, but they have great stuff. Trenton entering the 8th inning will be tough to beat with these two entering the game. The bullpen also features Chris Bush(R), Danny Crabtree(L), Lance Griffin(R), Jorge Ramirez(R) and Todd Hayes(R).


Top Prospects

Positional Players(in no particular order)

Eli James 1B AAA
B.C. Bocachica 1B HiA
Joshua Dunham 2B AA
Yamil Sanchez 3B AAA
Bert Kirby OF AAA
Mike Bako OF AA
Dwight George OF AAA
Sonny Lloyd SS AA
Tony Tanaka 2B HiA

Pitchers(in no particular order)

Paulie Newfield(L) RP AA
Andres Tejada(L) RP AAA
Brandon Smith(R) RP AA
Ramon Matsuzaka(L) SP AA
Rob Fitzgerald(R) SP AA
Andres Valdes(L) SP AAA
Joe Adkinnson(R) SP AAA
Ron O’neil(R) SP AAA
Johnny McCorley(R) HiA