Las Vegas: In Depth

Las Vegas Centurions: In Depth Preview

Bats:
Las Vegas relied heavily on the offensive production of Rocky Mitchell and Pingu Flipperson. Those 2 along with shortstop Ajax Mohran are long gone. Who is left over? Who was brought in to fill the holes?

The outfield of last season all remain, but is that a good thing? Rrmier, Lechef, and Snowball combined for 6.9 WAR. Things definitely could be worse. Rrmier brings a high average bat, and average defense. If he is able to put up numbers similar to his .375 OBP, 33 steal campaign, then Pingu will have left the leadoff spot in good hands. Plus, Rrmier still has room for growth. In CF, Lechef is a passable batter who flashed above average power for his position. However, his defense was atrocious (and not just because I like to use that word). Also, it appears that Lechef has plateaued in his development. There are certainly worse options. In right field, Captain Snowball looks to be a potential star for Las Vegas. He's a Gold Glove type defender with a top tier power bat. He's a guy who will need to have a strong season for LVs offense to click. All in all, Las Vegas has a solid if unspectacular group of outfielders.

The infield took a big hit in the draft. The leftovers included Jason Bourne , (Yeah, the guy who spent way to much time looking like a top 5 batter), and Wally Coleman. Bourne just polished off a 4.2 WAR season where he finished 2nd in RBIs and 5th in homeruns. Regression is to expected; I would attribute a decent portion of his success to the fear of Rocky Mitchell. At worst, Bourne is a serviceable power bat. Coleman apparently never learned how to bat, but he makes up for it with excellent catcher defense.

To fill out the rest of the infield, Las Vegas drafted Dabal, Igloo, and Laforest. Igloo will be called upon to anchor the defense at shortstop. The 10th overall pick is expected to grow into an elite talent, but it remains to be seen how that will translate in the SBLM. Ibat Dabal, as his name would suggest, should become one of the better bats at 1B. He has some big shoes to fill. Laforest was a surprising pick. The defensive wizard at 2B may be a career minor leaguer, but should not be underestimated. Zachary Taylor was also drafted; the 3B will compete with Bourne for the starting position. Overall, the offense will probably be about average. Bourne isn't as good as he looked last season, Dabal is a question mark, and Coleman and Leforest are zeros at the plate.

Pitching:

Las Vegas's pitching helped carry the team to a 77 win season. Those guys are all gone now. Fortunately, there wasn't a better draft than this one in which to draft pitchers. With the 2nd overall selection, Vegas drafted Pedro Velasquez. Now, last season he struggled mightily. His 5.52 ERA may frighten some Las Vegas. However, he comes into this season among the league's best pitchers. At 6th overall, Vegas grabbed another piece to their rotation in Archie Swift. The knuckleballer is another guy who could be competing for the top pitcher award this season. 18th, Dallas Griffith was selected. The pitching prospect is so unknown, he might not even have a scouting page yet. But he is projected to slot into the teams starting rotation. To finish off the rotation, the team snagged pitcher Reanna Beach. The finesse pitcher is not to be ignored despite the low pick. She should be one last strong piece in the starter rotation. Finally, with picks 38 and 42, the team chose Maximo Anielotti and Beroka. These two will strengthen the teams bullpen.

Want a projection for the teams success? My guess: wherever the teams pitching staff is ranked will be where they finish in the standings.