ASB, apparently.. since I have the #1 pick.

tanker

I should have picked a better draft class to tank for.

It's really smeric's fault.. he sold me a bill of goods with that Chuck Finley character.

Due to Chuck Finley's horrorific first half (and Cleveland's inability to hit the wins floor), Montreal ends up with the #1 pick in the 1992 draft. I believe it's the second time in team history that we've had the #1 pick, having taken Ron Guidry back in the '70s.

Although the franchise is seemingly set at catcher for several years with a y-righty platoon of Ron Karkovice and Eddie Taubensee, the top talent available in this year's draft appears to be a young catcher named Mike Piazza, and Piazza is the choice.

Almost immediately, we trade Piazza to Boston for Joe Hesketh and the #9 pick in the draft. We use that spot to take infielder Bret Boone.

With our second round pick (and final pick in the 1992 draft), we select reliever Bob Wickman.

1991 in Review:

Batting:

A disappointing season at the plate; Montreal scored 733 runs, 20th in the league, despite great seasons from Ken Griffey Jr., Tony Phillips, and Ken Caminiti.

Catcher: A hodgepodge.. relying on a lot of rookies through the season, things should improve in the future with a Ron Karkovice/Eddie Taubensee platoon. In 1991, however, the two were limited. Karkovice (.234/.280/.450) continued to show impressive power in 118 at bats. Taubensee had only 15 at bats. Veteran Ron Hassey (.256/.336/.406) was solid in 133 at bats. The rest was handled by AAA prospects, most of them not very productive. Sean Pittman (.288/.343/.356) was decent and also filled in at a few other positions through the season.

First base - Pete O'Brien (.226/.264/.348) was a disaster. He did hit 12 homers with 77 RBI, but much more was needed in his 575 at bats. The worst OPS of any major league talent on the squad.

Second base - FINALLY!!! This was the Tony Phillips we've been waiting for! (.330/.421/.508) Phillips drew 92 walks, scored 111 runs, hit 36 doubles, 5 triples, and 19 homers, and drove in 66 runs from the leadoff spot. Looks like a productive leadoff man for years to come.

Shortstop - Greg Gagne (.257/.316/.375) no longer shows the power he had in his younger days, but he did drive home 50 runs with seven homers. No threat to make the All Star team, he is still a dependable member of the lineup.

Third Base - Ken Caminiti (.268/.327/.397) showed some power this year, with 17 homers, and he drove home 108 runs to rank second on the team. He led the team with 639 at bats and added 28 doubles.

Outfield - Ken Griffey Jr. (.352/.429/.567) continues to amaze.. he had 222 hits including 40 doubles, three triples, and 30 homers, scored 133 and drove home 124. He drew 80 walks and was hit eight times. Nothing less than astounding.

Jay Buhner (.237/.336/.451) struggled a bit in his first year as a starter, but still showed good plate discipline and some power (24 homers, 85 RBI). He needs to cut down on the strikeouts (134) but he did put together a 12-game hitting streak at one point. There's definitely potential there.

Brady Anderson (.232/.325/.296) is still a disappointment. He led the team with 11 steals (in 15 attempts) but hit only one home run in 71 games. He needs to show more power to stick in this lineup.

Mark Carreon (.287/.340/.359) hit reasonably well but lost the power he'd shown the past two seasons. He had fewer extra base hits (nine) than Anderson in seven fewer games.

Bench:

Randy Velarde (.246/.340/.303) got off to a fast start but tailed off and was yet another Spectre with a power outage.

The rest of the bench consisted of AAA prospects. The best of the bunch was Carlos Wolf (.241/.268/.304) who also tailed off badly as the season went on.

Pitching:

An interesting season. Montreal had five pitchers reach double digits in wins, though only four were members of the rotation. Jim Gott (11-4 from the pen) actually led the team in victories through the first 120 games or so. The team's 4.78 ERA ranked 15th in the league.

Chuck Finley (12-15, 1.60 WHIP, 5.39 ERA) had a HORRIBLE start but rebounded to win 12 games. He actually looked like an ace at the end of the season. Durable, too.. he led the team with 222 innings.

Scott Erickson (13-9, 1.40, 4.02) followed up a brilliant rookie campaign with a very nice sophomore effort, leading the team in victories.

Alex Fernandez (10-15, 1.33, 3.86) pitched better than Erickson but had less success. Still, these top three look like a nice group to move forward with.

Dennis Rasmussen (11-8, 1.33, 4.13) was solid if not as durable as the top three (172 innings.. the top three each went over 210)

Bill Krueger (4-15, 1.74, 6.92) was a disaster, allowing 232 hits in 169 innings. Opponents hit .331 and slugged .459 off him.

In the pen, Rick Aguilera (2-2, 40/42 in save opps, 0.88 WHIP, 1.66 ERA) was nothing short of brilliant. Without him, the team's 76-86 record could have been much worse.

Unfortunately, the rest of the pen was not as effective; the team was 45/59 in saves overall (meaning 5/17 for the remainder). Tim Crews pitched reasonably well (1.36 WHIP, 4.81 ERA) but was 0/5. Bill Sampen, on the other hand, pitched poorly (1.75, 5.88) but was 3/4. Gott (1.30, 4.48) was 1/3.

Steve Olin (1.46, 4.20) was decent; Tony Fossas (1.82, 6.15) was horrible. Tom Edens (1.59, 4.41) was somewhere inbetween.

Fielding:

The Spectres' .979 fielding percentage tied for 13th in the league. The team had 124 errors, 32 of them buy 3B Ken Caminiti.