Grundy County Grizzlies


2006 Year in Review

The Numbers


Record: 55-107 (16th in the league)
Expected Record: 62-100 (16th in the league)

Runs Scored: 676 (16th in the league)
Runs Allowed: 884 (11th in the league)
Run Differential: -208 (16th in the league)
What went right?
The most famous kleptomaniac this side of Winona Ryder was at it again, as Juan Pierre (.264/0/43) pilfered 68 bags, good for 2nd in the league. The Grizzly staff, led by Ben Sheets (9-8, 3.74, 11cg) and John Garland (12-13, 4.78, 11 cg) were 4th in the NASBL with 41 complete games. Sheets, in fact, finished what he started more than 50% of the time (11 cg in 19 starts).

What went wrong?
Stop us if you've heard this before, but... The Grizzly offense once again refused to come out of hibernation this past spring (and summer, and fall). The Grizz won the somewhat less than coveted sabermetric Triple Crown of Offensive Futility, with a .246/.314/.398 line that had Grundy County GM Jack Howard wondering if some of his players had inadvertently gotten a fistful of Mark Belanger pills mixed in with their Cialis. In addition, the injury bug bit the Grizzlies hard, as rookie Dallas McPherson (.269/6/15 in 104 ab), Ben “Hospital” Sheets, and Nick “Oh Lord, I think I broke my” Johnson (.276/5/39) were frequently unable to answer the bell.

In retrospect, the critical decisions were:
1. Sticking with Zack Greinke through thick and, well, even more thick. The Grizz have a reputation for plucking talented young power arms from the draft, and putting them right to work chiseling their names in the NASBL leader boards. So when GM Howard anointed Greinke The Next Big Thing in the 2006 draft, there was little reason to expect anything other than another Oswalt, Prior, or Sheets. Unfortunately for GCG, Greinke possessed not only Bret Saberhagen's arm, but also Lindsay Lohan's mental capacity. The nervous rookie marched out to the mound for his 1st start on April 23rd and almost immediately proceeded to flake apart like a nice fresh biscuit (0.2 ip, 4h, 3er, and the loss). Six months later the disintegration was complete, as Greinke closed out perhaps the worst season ever by an NASBL pitcher. His September 6th loss to VFS gave Zack a 2-23 (.080 winning%) record, to go with a Lima-esque 7.77 era and 262 hits allowed in 170 patently horrifying IP (.353 baa). Rumors that Greinke will spend the entire 2007 season locked in a small room with Doctor Phil remain unconfirmed as of this writing.

2. Sitting tight and collecting 2007 draft picks. Seeing the writing on the wall early, GM Howard cannily began selling off non-regenerating Grizzly parts, primarily to NASBL post-season power-brokers DFW and GRK. Ultimately, Jack picked up four useful low to mid-round 2007 draft picks at virtually no long-term cost to his team.

3. Bringing a whole pack of young Grizzly cubs along in the infield. A rather crotchety Mike Lowell notwithstanding, the Grizzly infield is entirely composed of 20-something up and comers. 2006 Draftees Yuniesky Betancourt and Jhonny Peralta gave the Grizz a potent (and supremely polysyllabic) offense/defense platoon at short, while 2005-06 acquisitions Kevin Youkilis (.298/.421/.468 in 47 ab) and Justin Morneau (.233/23/65) look to provide their own distinct brands of offensive production.

Can budding slugger Justin Morneau power the Grizzlies offensive resurgence?

Looking ahead to 2007

Three key questions:


1. Did Jack REALLY trade Roy Oswalt?!? The talented little righty did have his worst season as a Grizz last year (8-16, 5.43), but up until now Jack's philosophy had always been “you can have my Young Gun – when you pry him from my cold, dead hands.” The arrival of budding superstar Miguel Cabrera (a wind-aided .320/34/95 in Pietruska Park last year) could mean Big Things for the Grizzlies (and we're not just talking about the hemorhoids 3b Mike Lowell is going to get sitting on the GCG bench!)

2. How healthy are Mark Prior (6-13, 4.99) and Ben Sheets? With the Oswalt departure having reduced the Grizzlies 3 Amigos to Wonder Twins, healthy and productive seasons from GCG's other young power pitchers, plus a solid season from Mark Buehrle (12-16, 5.79 with HHA) could go a long way toward reducing the pain of losing a family member.

3. Remember Rocco Baldelli? It seems like ages ago when VFS made him the 6th overall pick in the 2004 draft. Well, much like the McRib Sandwich, he's baaack! Still only 24 years old, and sporting an impressive .301/.344/.465 career line, Baldelli's recovery from 2006 knee surgery was such a success that GM Jack Howard even paroled “The Thief” Juan Pierre, and handed the starting cf job to Rocco. With an impressive array of returning young hitters, plus 2007 draftees Stephen Drew (#1 overall) and Russell Martin, it's beginning to look like the Grizzlies offensive transformation could be the biggest sports turnaround story since Happy learned how to putt!

Projected lineup
C – Russell Martin
1B – Justin Morneau
2B – Jorge Cantu
3B – Miguel Cabrera
SS – Stephen Drew
RF – Chris Burke
CF – Rocco Baldelli
LF – Kevin Youkilis
DH – Nick “The Stick” Johnson


Rotation
Ben Sheets
Mark Prior
Jon Garland
Mark Buehrle



Closer
Chris Ray