2009 Year in Review

While the Chows run production was solid enough in a global sense (a middle-of-the-road, 748-run Volkswagen Jetta of an offense), if you looked up and down Illinois' street you'd see two Ferraris in the garages on one side of them (LCC and SPR with 962 and 943 runs, 1^st and 2^nd in the league) and a Porsche Carrera in the other (HHA with 875 runs, 3^rd in the league). To make up for a shortcoming of 200 horsepower under the hood (or in this case, 200 runs) would've taken a superhuman effort from the Illinois pitching staff. Alas, that superhuman effort began with Halladay, ended with Nathan, and included precious few of the other 11 merely mortal members of the Chow Chow moundsmen.

In retrospect, the critical decisions were:
1. The travels (and travails) of David DeJesus. DeJesus arrived in Illinois from HHA in exchange for ILL's 2009 #2 and Mark Teahen in a 2008 Block 2 trade. He played little role (and in fact played little at all) in '08, posting a .237/1/4 in just 26 games. In 2009 his playing time with ILL increased, as did his offensive production (.253/7/44 in 84 games). Still, DeJesus' output was still south of the border for acceptable pop for an NASBL left fielder, particularly one in the Tastes Great East. So it was no great surprise when he was included in a 2009 Block 2 trade, this time in concert with a couple of flamethrowing relievers and a #5 pick in exchange for DFW #1 in 2010.

Now, as in the Charles Dickens Christmas play, by far the most interesting parts of this story are the Ghost of Baseball Draft Past, and the Ghost of Baseball Draft Future. Turning back the clock a year, what might have happened had Illinois still owned their #2 pick? It turns out HHA selected pitcher Jair Jurrjens (10-4, 4.66 in 19 starts in the Hawaiian juice box) with that selection. Could Jurrjens have been the draft-day blessing that braced the Illinois rotation for TGE play?

2. Taking advantage of the seller's market caused by the extremely tight 2009 pennant races. Illinois GM Brad Sherlag made a huge splash just prior to the 2009 regular-season trade deadline, making no less than 4 trades. As riders of the NASBL trade winds know, the most difficult time to buy draft picks is in the months leading up to the draft. So a team that can capitalize by selling players just before the playoff stretch drive when their value is highest could well find themselves playing the role of Billy Bean in the next Michael Lewis thriller, ”NASBL Moneyball.” As with the original book, baseball fans will be pulling it down off the shelf for years and years, referring to the tome as a textbook on ”how to acquire 20% of the draft picks in the first round all for yourself.”
   
   3. Landing Edinson Volquez (13-12, 5.43) with the 8^th overall pick in the 2009 draft. While the hard-throwing righty's command could do with some refinement (117 walks, 2^nd only to the 134 of Troy's Oliver Perez), he displayed the ability to dominate NASBL hitters (5 games with 10 or more K's, and 219 strikeouts on the season, good for 8^th in the league.) Volquez played no small part in Illinois posting it's best Runs Allowed figure to date (816, 62 runs better than in 2008).
   

   Joe Nathan became only the 4th NASBL reliever to crack 200 career saves.  With 211, he joins Mariano Rivera (HHA - 335), Billy Wagner (VFS - 252), and Trevor Hoffman (PCM - 220) in the exclusive 200-club.

   
   Looking ahead to 2010
   
   Three key questions
   1. At its core, baseball is comprised of two skills: run creation, and run prevention. In 2008, the Chows showed they could score at an elite rate (940 runs, 3^rd in the league). In 2009, Illinois showed for the first time an ability to prevent runs at roughly a league-average rate. It's an old baseball scouting axiom that “once you display a skill, you own it.” If this is indeed true, the question for ILL now is: can they bring it all together in 2010?
   
   2. How will the tale of David DeJesus end? With only 1 ghost remaining to visit, and the identity of that ghost (DFW #1, the 8^th player who will be taken in the 2010 Draft of Baseball Stars Future) still shrouded, the possibilities remain – will it be tales of woe, or tidings of comfort and joy?
   
   3. And speaking of literary works, how will ILL's “NASBL Moneyball” draft play out in 2010 (and more importantly – in the years down the road)? GM Brad Sherlag owns picks number 7, 8, and 9. Will we remember this as a ”Joe Blanton, Nick Swisher, Jeremy Bonderman” type draft as popular Beane-spin has it? Or will future Illinois baseball historians sigh with regret at what could just as easily have been labeled the ”Jeremy Brown, Ben Fritz debacle?” As with the original, if a majority of GM Sherlag's picks turn out right, the GM will be a hero and the book will top the Barnes and Noble wish lists of Strat GM's seeking a successful model to base their future transactions on.
   
   Projected lineup
   C – Kurt Suzuki
   1B – Carlos Pena
   2B – Craig Counsell
   3B – Chone Figgins
   SS – Hanley Ramirez
   RF – Kosuke Fukudome
   CF – Carlos Beltran
   LF – Josh Willingham
   DH – Todd Helton
   
   
   Rotation
   Roy Halladay

James Shields

John Maine

?

?

Closer
Joe Nathan