Notable 2180 Promotions

[Todibus]

Baltimore's Andre James, the 6th pick in '73, makes his debut in the Majors as an OS(26) RP. Developmentally, he's probably max V (or very close) and he might have gotten one or 2 more C improves if he'd have been in the majors last year. Still, he should be pretty effective for the 60-90 innings he'll pitch each season. And he should add a few more C improves the next few years.

Acquired in trade from Oakland, '76's 13th pick, Rob Klaerner, a hard-throwing LHP, gets the call-up to take the ball every 5 days in SD's rotation. Philphan will be hoping for as many C improves as possible the next few years. I think he gets to mid-B there - a solid #4 starter.

Milwaukee's got a pretty good CP crunch scene happening, so '77's 11th pick, OS(22) Ed Whitney gets called up. At B overall, I'm not sure that his high contact, low power profile works with C+ speed. If he can get that to red letter somehow and/or continue to get lucky with PvR improves he could be useful.

So about that CP crunch sitch? It's real and Milwaukee, wisely I think, brings up their #10 pick from '76, SP Rocky Martinez. His very wide split has narrowed some and i think he has a pretty good chance to get to A+/B+ by OS(28). That A+ should be maxed out and how high in that B+ he can get will be critical.

The 2nd pick in '77, Tampa Bay's Roscoe MCarthy, gets the call. At OS(25) I'm not sure he has the developmental time to get his grades to where he'll be more than a back-end pitcher, but he's performing well so far in this young season, so what do I know, lol.

Tampa Bay also brings up OS(26) Buck Coombs, the 8th pick in '72. Buck should mash. It doesn't look like keeping him in the minors the last couple of years hurt him. He could have seasons where his OPS is close to .900. He'll strike out a lot but his speed should help his overall numbers.

The Cannibals also have a CP crunch, so they bring up this year's #12 pick, OS(21) SP Al Clarke. I think his most likely outcome is A+/B-. At least he doesn't take up any minor league IC's.

[irishman35]

I agree completely on your assessment of Whitney. He does have A health though and bringing him up was the best way to maximize cp chances. Plus it should be noted that Whitney is spending the season learning how to play SS on the job. I have this guy named Bugsy Moran sitting in the minors waiting to be the 1B man of the future. He also has speed issues but has more power than Whitney already and I can leave him down there a couple of years.

[docstop]

The only problem with Whitney is that, to my understanding, playing him at SS will stunt his improvement chances until he develops into a real SS.

[Todibus]

From what I see in the game guide, the only penalty a player incurs when playing out of position is a reduction in Arm and Range skills. I don't think a player loses IC's or is less likely to covert them when playing out of position.