PVBL: Washington Sea Dogs
Sea Dogs Make Two Deals, Announce Plans
December 15, 1998

(AP) WASHINGTON, D. C.--

The Washington Sea Dogs, not content to sit on their laurels during the offseason, have made two trades within the last few days.

Following up the unexpected loss of Bobby Ayala in the free-agent plan, the Sea Dogs found themselves with a great deal of middle relief candidates, but none with Ayala's skill. So the Sea Dogs traded catcher Mike Stanley and minor-league starter/reliever Hank Gill to Deadwood for ace closer John Wetteland.

Washington General Manager Aaron Weiner spoke on the deal.

"Despite the fact that we are unhappy to see Bobby Ayala, another original Sea Dog, we're not certain that our bullpen isn't actually better with Wetteland," Weiner said. "John is one of the premier relievers in the PVBL."

The acquisition of Wetteland opens up, strangely, another closer controversy in Washington. But the players this year aren't Ayala and Nigel Fernandez but Wetteland and incumbent Ben Hamlin, both of whom are premier closers.

"Well, something has to give somewhere," Weiner said. "We could make them co-closers, but then the loss of Ayala looks twice as big. The fact that we have that kind of depth in our bullpen is a real boon."

The other deal was a minor one, sending minor-league reliever Charlie Rothrock to the Motor City Madmen for backup first baseman Pete O'Neill. O'Neill is expected to start the year on the major-league roster.

"O'Neill hit eleven homers last year, so we think we've got ourselves a pretty decent ballplayer," Weiner said. "He'll be great depth behind Mickey Kelly for certain."

* * *


With the two moves, Washington also announced that unless they could acquire another catcher, they were likely done for the season.

"We're much improved over last year," GM Aaron Weiner said. "Our offense was excellent last year, and our pitching improved too. I don't see anything we're in serious need of."

Washington's major acquisitions over the start of last season were Harold Baines and Lance Johnson, both top-notch hitters. Johnson was an EL MVP candidate before coming over and wreaking havoc in the DL.

"A year ago, I wouldn't have thought anyone could replace Chuck Knoblauch at the leadoff spot. Well, we've got our man," Weiner said.


OFFENSE

Washington's offense finished 6th in the DL, up from 13th a year ago.

Washington's projected lineup:
CF Lance Johnson,  .328, 15 HR, 126 runs, 80 SB.    3rd in PVBL in hits.
1B Mickey Kelly,   .293, 7 HR, 40 RBI, 32 SB.       top five prospect
2B Chuck Knoblauch .309, 10 HR, 58 RBI, 40 SB.      Best 2B in PVBL.
SS Barry Larkin    .308, 36 HR, 41 SB, 117 RBI.     1998 DL MVP runner-up.
DH Harold Baines   .269, 22 HR, 88 RBI, 74 BB.      A veteran hitter.
3B Bill Mueller    .268, 11 HR, 70 RBI.             Expected to hit for more power.
LF Johnny Damon    .252, 2 HR, 30 RBI, 14 SB.       Still a good prospect.
RF Ernie Young     .230, 14 HR, 48 RBI.             Expected to hit for more power.
C  Ben Petrick     .252, 7 HR, 26 RBI.              Led all catchers in SB (9).

Johnson heads an attack that may be the speediest in the PVBL, and certainly in the Defiant with the demise of the Vero Beach Bums's middle infield.

"When we got Lance Johnson, we, in essence, gave up powerhitting for team speed," Weiner said. "It's not easy going without big flies, but we make up for it by getting on base a lot."

Washington also is one of the few league run leaders that doesn't play in a bandbox. Most notably, Spokane, Duluth and Larimer all play in better hitter's parks.

"We'd feel uncomfortable having a poor team ERA," Weiner said. "We're a lot more relaxed with one of the league's best pitching staffs."

If that's the case, Washington should be feeling pretty comfy this season. Despite dealing away 1996 mainstays Todd Stottlemyre and Chuck Finley, and suffering an injury to #4 starter Chad Ogea, Washington's pitching staff actually got better last year.

The big reason, according to Weiner, was the development of Washington's youth.

"While the acquisition of Ben McDonald was a huge move, we still had Chuck Finley and Todd Stottlemyre without McDonald," Weiner said. "But if not for the solid pitching of Mackenzee Leefenhaufenhauz and Shawn Estes, we wouldn't have gone anywhere this season."


PITCHING

Washington's pitching staff ranked #2 in the DL last year, up from #6.

Projected Rotation:
#1  Ben McDonald      15-11, 2.99 ERA, 220 IP.  Veteran leader.
#2  Leefenhaufenhauz  17-10, 2.20 ERA, 241 IP.  DL ROY, 5th in ERA.
#3  Shawn Estes       16-7,  3.10 ERA, 177 IP.  Massive arm.
#4  Chad Ogea         8-10,  3.67 ERA, 137 IP.  15 QS in 23 tries
#5  John Burkett      14-16, 4.24 ERA, 199 IP.  ERA under 4 on 'Dogs.
Indeed, it wasn't just the improvement of Estes, who went from a 6.24 ERA in 1997 to a 3.10 last season. Leefenhaufenhauz had the lowest rookie ERA in PVBL history, and Chad Ogea lowered his ERA by more than half a point.

"It was a whole team effort with the pitching staff," Weiner said. "We had a lot of improvement across the board; it was vital to our team's success."

One place where the team didn't improve hardly at all is the bullpen. However, the cast of characters changed dramatically, and it can be said that the pen may be better than ever in 1999.

"Getting a guy like John Wetteland, the way we see it, does little more than offset the loss of Ayala," Weiner said. "But guys like Delino Wilson and Ben Hamlin, guys who weren't there last year - that makes a big difference."


BULLPEN

Fred Smith is the only original Sea Dog left in the pen. Ben Hamlin is expected to start the year at closer.

Projected pen:
long:   Fred Smith, Paul Kilgus
middle: Nigel Fernandez, Delino Wilson
setup:  John Wetteland, Nealy Becker
closer: Ben Hamlin
The Sea Dogs aren't sure that they're done augmenting the bullpen, either.

"Well, Wetteland might just be the tip of the iceberg for us," Weiner said. "We've got six guys in AAA who could pitch for somebody, if they're not going to pitch for us, and that seems like an awful waste of talent."

Besides the individual members of the pen, the schematic is also in question.

"We've had real pipedreams about carrying just 10 pitchers this year," Weiner said. "We're just not sure how our hitting bench is going to hold up if we carry less pitchers."


BENCH

Washington's bench took a cut with the trade of Mike Stanley.
C Eddie Perez        .280 in limited action; expected to play against LHP.
1B Pete O'Neill      .185, 11 HR in half a season, will spot start
SS Curtis Wilkerson  Hit .280 in AAA, defensive replacement
RF Chris James       .271 in expanded action, Damon's platoon partner.
Washington added that they might pursue some bench players during the year.

"Well, we have the league's best utility guy in Ernie Young," Weiner said, "and a majority of our players have competency with at least three positions with the speed to play them all. But the flexi-bench, as we call it, doesn't get a lot of people days off."

Washington does have right fielder Warren Newson, first baseman JT Snow and Russ Davis in AAA, but only Newson has even mild competency on defense. Since the Sea Dogs are built around defense, it's a stretch to think that either Snow or Davis will be seeing much major-league action.

Overall, the Sea Dogs are primed and ready for another season in the blocks. They don't have a pick in the free-agent draft, so the team is pretty much set unless more trades occur.

"We think we're going to make at least one or two more moves before the beginning of the season," Weiner said. "We're looking for a power hitter and another legitimate bullpen arm."

--written by Aaron Weiner