In the unfortunate category is the decimation of their SS position. After a relatively healthy first half of the season, Minnesota has been hit by injuries and left scrambling to find replacements for their SS position the entire month.
Sam Harper, who won the job out of spring training, was not an elite shortstop, but he had posted a .742 OPS and a +4.5 ZR this season and totaled a 1.3 WAR before going down for four months in early July.
This left the position to Luis "Too" Rodriguez. Rodriguez was in his sophomore season and had proven to be, overall, a very similar player to Harper, even if his hitting wasn't quite as good as last season. While he struggled against RHP, he did have a .908 OPS against lefties and had a 4.2 ZR at SS in about half the innings that Harper had. Rodriguez went down on July 20th for 6 weeks.
Veteran utility man, Artie Carlson, who had been called up after Harper's injury to come off the bench and was the next logical starter on the depth chart made it just one day in the starting lineup before going down for 3 weeks himself. His bat will not be missed, but his fielding versatility might.
This left the team with two options, promote more promising infield prospects who clearly weren't ready in Walt Carter and Lou Townsend. If this had been a more minor injury with the possibility of giving these guys a small taste, that might have been the best option.
As it was, the Berserkers need a longer term solution and didn't want to harm the development of any younger players. That left them with with a young glove only Joshua Johnston and another veteran minor leaguer who will make his ABL debut: Tetsu Nishimura, whose nickname "Turtle" is apropos considering the speed with which he reached the majors.
It's rumored that Minnesota may go to the trade market, especially as they have the pleasant surprise of finding themselves tied for first, despite the group of injuries to these players and others.
Which brings us to one of the pleasant surprises. The Berserkers went in for just a couple of international free agents, and while they ended up overspending and will be limited next season, they did so by spending just $7.1M. They won't be financially limited in other respects next season.
The first player they picked up was one of the better all-around infielders in the IFA pool, Fernando Botelheiro, who has the potential for an elite eye, but was overall rated as just a 2.5 star potential player. This was actually the only player the front office expected to get.
In addition, they picked up Yoshiki Yamamoto, a 17 year-old they hope develops into a high contact, power hitting CF. At just 17 and lots of space to grow, he may end up changing positions, but Minnesota's scout had him ranked him as a 4 star potential.
Finally, the snagged the player their scout thought was the best pitcher in the draft, Alphonso Martinez. Martinez already has a massive 5 pitch repertoire and was thought to be one of the hardest working players in the IFA pool. His potential for elite control and good movement, mixed with decent stuff --despite throwing under 90MPH -- mean this guy could be a front of the rotation pitcher. As his arm strengthens, who knows how he might improve. Minnesota felt like they got a deal in Martinez, spending just $5m for this promising young player.
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