Budding Dryad Analyst Reports on Slayers

Alyssa Purpleflower wants to be a baseball analyst so she asked to review the Slayers - being a dryad-friendly organization. K.L. agreed and here is the result of her work.

MINAS MORGUL, Alyssa Purpleflower, Arbor Baseball Press -

Current Make-up
The Slayers are on another one of their usual romps through the regular season. They have seen talents come and go, suffered through the loss of the hottest dryad on the block in Moonblossom, and are still riding high in their division.

The reason for that continues to be their great balance between hitting and pitching - namely being top 3 in both. The offense is geared around power still, but also has some high batting average types like Boli Stoneteeth and getting a great season from Fireflower [Agnes Fernia]. Tanta Chubb continues to be the big threat in the lineup and Ruano is starting to heat up as well, bringing his HR total to 20.

Heading up this bashing lineup is Minto Foxburr. He is again putting up a great OBP, over .400 so far, and has helped with some power as well. Fireflower is having the season of a lifetime and the team even got two three good months out of Silkpetal before the league caught up to her and she was demoted to AAA.

The pitching side is cruising along despite two big blows. The first is the recent injury to Moonblossom. She is working hard in rehab, but will still need several months to recover. Scouts have already questioned her stuff post recovery, but her movement is still there.

The other has been the season long slump of Darkleaf. She is usually one of the cornerstones of the staff, but it just hasn't worked out at all for her. One thing she is still doing is preventing the long ball. She's allowed just 3 HR in 143 IP. If she can pull back on the walks or the hits, she'll return to her usual self. Two pitchers that have been nothing but wonderful are Deneadur and Mathilda. Mathilda is one that's been coveted by K.L. forever and finally was able acquire her. She's not disappointed. She's 12-4 with a 2.40 ERA this year to go with her 15-5 run last season for the Slayers. Deneadur has been just as great. He's 37-14 in his Minas Morgul career and he's 13-4, 2.44 ERA this year.

The bullpen has been inconsistent, but at least Smoothflower is still doing her job. 30 saves and a 2.57 ERA will work for this team every time. Nark Steelshaper is slightly down, but still excellent with a 2.97 ERA and Scott Buxton is looking far better than he did last season.

Near Future
The Slayers might be getting close to the time where their best players are starting to fall off and the team begins it's declining period. It may not happen for a couple years, but the ages are starting to get too close to 35, which is usually not good. It will be hard to see the team winning 65% of their games once that happens, but they could still be a division winner and certainly a playoff contender.

After that, it will be up to the young players to rise up. Fireflower already looks like she's going to be dependable and Boli Stoneteeth has shown many signs of being a pesky hitter in the lineup. Then there's Silkpetal, Foxburr should still be going strong, and perhaps Chubb could still be as good as she is now.

The pitching side gets more complicated as most of the young pitchers are relievers (like Noriand, Buxton, Orehead). The rotation will probably as they are for another 3 years, but after that it will get really questionable. Nilcarion, Gororon, and Moonblossom will be key players once the current stars start to fade. The Slayers may already see this as they have recently extended Nilcarion's contract.

One thing that might be in the Slayers' favor is the payroll. It is projected to be quite low in the coming years, and that could make for some free agency acquisitions or perhaps more trades.

The tough decision K.L. will have to make is to either break it up, like Bucklebury is doing, or if he will ride the team until they just have nothing left to give and can't maintain their contending status. The first option could speed up the rebuilding process, while the second option will give the Slayers more chances at adding to this run and staying one of the better teams in the league for an even longer time.

Should the decision to break it up comes, he [K.L.] should be proud of the run his team put together. It's one of the more dominate stretches a franchise has had in this league.

Minors System
The minors system for this team is interesting. Their scouting grades don't show many really good players coming up, but yet they are dominating the minor league levels. This makes for a difficult situation to analyze because the data contradicts itself.

Three of the team's four best prospects are already playing or have played at the major league level. Gororon is the only that has not (yet) made the jump to significant major league playing time. Other than them, there is little there to really inspire confidence that they can help transition the team while still being a competitive ballclub. They just don't have the abilities according to scouts.

The performances, however, tell a different tale. Lithlad and Gorgoroth in particular are dominating their respective levels. Nurn lacks the gaudy win totals and awe-inspiring winning percentages, but has won their level's championship two years in a row.

What it may mean is that what the Slayers have in minors could represent some of what the players will look like in 5 or 6 years. That would bode well for the Slayers should that be the case. Otherwise, the team might be stuck in a state that it was before this current run they are on now. Of course, if that happens, then it means the Slayers will get access to the top prospects once again.

Overall State
Overall, the Slayers are in very good shape now. I feel the team probably has two or three more years at it's current level and then probably a couple more years of contending for the division/wild card before age and retirements creep in and spoil the mix.

Beyond that - it is hard to tell. A lot will depend on how well the great records in the Slayers farm system actually reflects the ability of the players there. If it's relatively accurate, the team might not dip too far. If it's way off, then it will be a return to the pre-2008 days.

Posted at September 25, 2007 02:59 PM | more from Minas Morgul