[Part I can be found here.]
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the Frontier League:
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72%
- Percentage of games won by the Charlotte Knights from June until the end of the season, as they went 80-31 during that span. That’s a 117-45 record over a full season. The team looks set up to win for a long time to come.
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178
- Home runs hit by the Nashville Outlaws, leading the FL. While the team finished just 73-89, they have some power bats to help build around to get this team back into contention with some improvements elsewhere.
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24
- Number of losses for top-flight starter Carlos Rodon over the last two seasons despite ERA’s of 3.35 and 2.87. Rodon remains one of the league’s best starters, but he must be getting frustrated with his bad luck. Traverse City will likely be looking to improve their rotation behind the ace this off-season, but Rodon undoubtedly would like a little more firepower as well.
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823
- Runs allowed by the FL’s worst pitching staff, which resided in Connecticut this season. With a fairly weak free agent class and not a lot of opportunities to improve the staff, it could be a long season again next year. That said, almost any signing should be an improvement.
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-54.8
- Frontier League worst Zone Rating for the Erie Seawolves, which led to their pitching staff greatly underachieving as it allowed 815 runs. Improving the team’s defense isn’t always an easy task, but it can be done and it would likely go a long way toward Erie turning things around next season.
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4.8
- Wins Above Replacement provided by third baseman Nick Castellanos. His bounce back season was a big reason for San Diego‘s divisional title, as he hit .291/.366/.495 in 130 games.
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$9,800,000
- Total money owed to MVP candidate JP Crawford over the next THREE seasons. Crawford will make $3.6 million in each of the next two seasons, and then just $2.6 million in 2025. If he continues to produce like he did this past season (5.6 WAR) he’s likely the league’s biggest bargain for Calgary.
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.311
- Batting average of breakout star Griffin Keller, who had a rookie season to remember. The 24-year-old slugger hit .311/.360/.506 with 30 home runs for Dancouver, and will likely be atop many offensive categories in the near future.
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$312,000,000
- The almost impossible to believe amount of cash owed by the Tucson Express over the next four seasons to just three players: Sakutara Masuda ($120M), Kris Bryant ($116M) and Alfredo Franco ($76M). While Masuda had a productive season, Bryant and Franco were both extremely underwhelming and will need major bounce back seasons next year to avoid being among the league’s worst contracts.
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+71.9
- Minneapolis‘ defensive zone rating, a league-wide best, proving that if you have a great defense and nothing else, your team will still suck.
