Looters with Busy Offseason

The Looters have made a number of changes this offseason as the preseason is upon us.  The Looters set their sights toward continued improvement this offseason to attempt to approach a .500 record in 2014.  The Looters made a marked improvement from 2012 to 2013 improving from 52 to 67 wins.  A similar improvement would give the Looters their first season over .500 in franchise history; however, 2013 was already a franchise record with 67 wins, so any improvement is already a big step in franchise history. The key question though is how will the Looters attempt to gain an additional 14 wins over 2013?  The big holes going into the offseason were obviously a weak rotation and bullpen.  As well, there were holes at catcher, shortstop, and left field (until the return of Jose Estrada midfield to allow Alex Herrejon to return to a corner outfield spot).  The Looters feel they have addressed their key concerns in the lineup, but still have a bit to do on the pitching side. In 2013, the Looters already had the 7th ranked offense in the NL in runs scored with 799 runs led mostly by a power attack bashing 167 homers to finish 6th in the NL.  Meanwhile, the pitching was the worst in the NL in almost every stat category allowing 968 runs. The key moves were to address the holes in the lineup.  To fill the holes, the Looters made a trade with the Bruins to acquire Hyung-Jin Park.  Park is still a young catcher at 25 years old who had injury problems last year, but plays good defense and in 2012 in his last full season at 23 years old he hit .294 with a .863 OPS.  To address shortstop, the Looters signed free agent Michael Young.  Young is a very versatile player who can play every infield position and the corner outfield positions.  Last year he hit .281 with a .719 OPS and will be an improvement over last year's starter Raul Sosa.  Young is a 14 VORP improvement last year.  To fill the left field opening, the Looters claimed Porter Stanford in the Rule 5 draft from El Paso.  Last year in AAA, he hit .301 with a .819 OPS and 13 homers.  At 25, he's ready to get a taste of big league ball and plays stellar LF defense. In order to help address the pitching situation, the Looters have made two acquisitions.  Carlos Gonzalez had a good year, but is aging and was acquired from the Beavers.  Last year he had a 3.95 ERA in 22 starts and 5 relief appearances with a 10-6 record.  At 35, he's likely heading toward the end of the career, but as a bottom of the rotation starter or bullpen arm, he might provide a bit of a spark.  Also, in free agency was added Doug "Moby Dick" Meeligan.  In St. Louis last year he had a 5.74 ERA and had a battle with wildness with 52 walks in 78 innings.  If he can lower that and continue improving a bit at his younger age, he could be a decent middle reliever. Summary of all moves since end of World Series Players Added SS Michael Young - free agency St. Louis (1 yr, $1.35M) MR Doug Meeligan - free agency St. Louis (1 yr, $600k) LF Porter Stanford - rule 5 El Paso 3B John Brown - rule 5 Toronto C Hyung-jin Park - trade Los Angeles SP Carlos Gonzalez - trade Baffin Island LF Xing-fu Loong - trade Denver/St. Charles CF Randolph Evans - trade Denver/St. Charles LF Diego Rivera - waivers Niagara Falls Frenzy CF Shao-Zu Cheng - free agency international (MLC) CF Armando Ramirez - free agency international (MLC) Players Lost SP Rafael Santillanenz - rule 5 Vista C Reginaldo Jaconelli - trade Baffin Island SP Teruo Sato - trade Baffin Island C Phil Boone - trade Los Angeles 1B Domingo Perez - trade Los Angeles MR Vanni Frangilli - trade Denver/St. Charles 2B Elijiro Yamasaki - trade Denver/St. Charles SS Alejandro Cortez - trade Denver/St. Charles Extensions Signed SP Kevin Lane - 2 yr, $1.65M total