Baseball Tri-Weekly Cover - August 2017 - Tijuana Hispanics

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EHSPN Fact or Fiction - Week 9

J.C. Stapleton hosts this week's podcast, featuring Dominican Today Editor Freddie May and a fan we wrangled from a local drinking establishment. They discuss the surprising start for the Hispanics, Freddie calls Kyle Schwarber an el pollo, and we come to grips with the fate of the SFV Jets.

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Sponsored by www.Joessportsbarandmovietheater.com

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Micromanaging in Mexico

The Tijuana Hispanics currently roster 18 offensive players on their 25 man roster. That's 2 full line-ups. How is field manager Zachary Waddicor and team captain Brian Roberts dealing with the situation? And how is the strategy working out for these Mexican misfits?




Micromanaging In Mexico
By Max Powers; EhSPN


The Tijuana Hispanics dedicated their entire 2008 second half to testing out their new bullpen heavy strategy. They crushed some weekly records and started some debate in the process. After the 2009 EHCC MaDraft, the Hispanics again showed they were staying with their closer-heavy strategy by not selecting a starting pitcher until the middle of the 6th round (Doug Davis). In all, the Hispanics drafted 3 pitchers (all starters); none of which currently stand on their roster. The other 12 picks made by GM Peter Kantor were offensive additions, ranging from rookie Dexter Fowler to veteran JD Drew.

Entering Week 6, the Hispanics have 18 offensive players (at least 2 at each position except catcher) and 7 active pitchers, only one of which is a starter (Glen Perkins). Tijuana also has three starting pitchers currently on the DL (Kelvim Escobar, Shaun Marcum, and Noah Lowry) - all of which are expected to be dealt when healthy.

This type of roster has its advantages - the team can easily scrimmage for practice (though this has not been showing up on game days). The negative, besides the obvious strain this puts on their starting pitching staff, is that it has become very stressful for field manager Zachary Waddicor.

"It's a lose-lose situation really. No matter who I put in each game there's going to be someone on the bench that would have done it better. It takes a lot of micro-managing and there's a lot of criticism coming from all angles, no matter what I do," Waddicor told reporters.

A lot of critics say that GM Kantor decided to put Waddicor in the situation in order allow himself to start looking for a new field manager. Since the Hispanics haven't made the playoffs since moving from Texas to Mexico, Waddicor has yet to make himself "untouchable", and many think that putting Waddicor in this situation is the easiest way to for Kantor to bring in a new manager without a lot of Mexican media backlash.

"It's really too bad. We all really like coach in the clubhouse. He always brings in bottled water and filtered beer, two necessities when you play down here [Mexico]," said team captain Brian Roberts, one of the few offensive Hispanics that plays every day.

"He gets really stressed before every game," says veteran Mike Lowell, "he's got guys coming in his office before every game begging him for some playing time. There's only so much he can do."

"In some aspects it's a nice luxury," Waddicor told EhSPN, "I'll always know we'll have a full line up on days our opponents won't and I get to rest guys whenever they get tired, knowing I have a bench guy to take their spot. It's not going to completely do away with the possible injury bug, but it helps."

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How exactly has Waddicor fared since the start of the 2009 season? Let's go over the numbers - through week 5 of the 2009 season Tijuana starting line ups have logged just 277 more at bats than their bench players and have only scored 25 more times and batted in only 23 more runs, while actually stealing 13 LESS bases and hitting almost ten points lower.

Need more numbers? Probably not, but since I wasted my afternoon doing the research I'm going to tell you anyway - Tijuana starters score a run every 7.3 at bats to the bench players every 6.5; bat in a run every 7.7 at bats to the bench's 6.9; steal a base every 45.4 at bats to the bench's 21.9, and get a hit every 3.9 at bats to the bench's 3.8. The only area in which the starters have the bench beat is home runs, where they hit one every 32 at bats to the bench's 35.3.

If we theoretically gave the Tijuana bench players an extra 277 at bats they would have produced the following fantasy line for the Hispanics: 167/31/158/50/.263 - compared to the line the starters have put up in the same 1089 at bats: 149/34/142/24/.254

In Week 4 the Tijuana bench actually would have BEATEN the starters in total production and would have tied them in Week 1, regardless of the fact that they tallied an average of 55 less at bats each week.

Micromanaging might not be Waddicor's strong suit, but with a roster of 18 bats there's not too many that would be free of the critics and cynics.

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Baseball Tri-Weekly: July Cover 2008

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San Diego Chronicle: No Day Like Today

It was a day like no other: Quebec City sent their hometown hero for a couple of scrubs and draft picks. In Mexico, they're worrying about their future (at least, during the month of March). Could this mean the end of credibility to the EHCC draft as we know it?







No Day Like Today
by Skip Clifton, San Diego Chronicle




Scott Kazmir has been the poster boy of Quebec City baseball since being drafted in the league’s inaugural minor league draft in 2004. From day one, everybody knew that the young pitcher would be the ace of the Piglets’ staff for many years. He anchored a Piglets’ rotation that carried them to 2 division championships since becoming a starter, averaging 192 strikeouts over the past 3 seasons.

All good things, however, must ultimately come to an end.

Today was a sad day for Canadian baseball, as Kazmir was shipped to Mexico for a plethora of draft picks. GM Pat Renaud was dumbfounded and completely taken by surprise at the move.

“I had no idea this deal was even in the works,” said Renaud over the phone this afternoon. “It really is a shame when ownership goes over your head and sends away 3 of your best players.”

Going along with Kazmir is C Russ Martin and OF Justin Upton. In return, the Hispanics will send C Kenji Johjima, SP Joe Blanton, and their 1st round draft pick for the next 5 years.

“What can I say, their team is bad. Maybe they think it’ll be a top-3 pick every year,” said Upton.

Regardless of where the draft picks fall, Tijuana fans are more than excited at the deal. As soon as Kazmir is healthy, he will immediately become their #1 starter. Upton will fall in line with an already young and talented outfield, but still will be one of their better options. As for Russ Martin, Hispanics GM Peter Kantor referred to him as “one scrappy son of a bitch.”

The deal was made on April 1st, however, which means all players involved will probably just remain with their original teams.

“April fools,” said Renaud.

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