Syracuse Sandmen
Last season: 89-73 (3rd in NL North, missed playoffs)
Offense: 9th in NL
Pitching: 2nd in NL
Key additions: P Enrique Gutierrez (FA-Louisville)
Key losses: SS Doc Bowen (FA-New Orleans), P Ivan Castilla (FA-Cheyenne), CF Trever Pierre (FA-Boston)
Analysis: The offense has young talent and some question marks. The trio of 2B Barry Sanders, 3B Travis Stein, and 1B Antoine Hoover are good up-and-coming players. But the losses of Bowen and Pierre could impact the offense, they need more from IF Pete Butler, and the Dennis Tamura experiment did not work out for Syracuse last season- he heard some booing from the crowd at the end. It'll be interesting to see if he can bounce back- if not, his $50 million remaining over the last 3 years of his contract is likely to be a sore spot with the team and the fans.
Their top three in the rotation are good veterans in Alberto Vidal, Albert Herzog, and Christy Castillo. The other two positions are fairly wide open. They've got Chick Price and Coco Hines to anchor a solid bullpen.
Outlook: I don't see a repeat of season 13's World Series title, but they should be in the playoff mix.
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