2024 Portland Sea Dogs (AA)

JM3

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In 2023, Portland finished 73-63, but missed the Eastern League playoffs. In 2024, Chad Epperson, 51, returns for his 3rd season as Sea Dogs manager.

Portland plays their home games at Hadlock Field which opened in 1994 & boasts a capacity of 7,368. Last season, the Sea Dogs reported an attendance of 403,957 (about 5,941 per game).

Here's the AA portion of my history rant:

The Red Sox 1st fielded a AA affiliate in 1934 in Syracuse, NY. I believe Spud Chandler had both the best name & the best MLB career of anyone on that team, albeit primarily for the Yankees. They added a 2nd AA affiliate in San Diego, CA in 1936. That team included Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr & Vince Dimaggio (Joe & Dom's older brother). In '37, the Syracuse affiliate was moved to Minneapolis where they became the Millers. Of the 20 hitters to take PAs that season, 18 had MLB careers either before or after. In '38, San Diego went away & Minneapolis had the only Red Sox AA team. It featured a 19 y/o Ted Williams who had a 1.182 OPS. In '39 they moved to Louisville, KY where they stayed until '46 when Louisville became the AAA affiliate & New Orleans became the AA affiliate. The New Orleans Pelicans featured a player named Johnny Peacock. In '48 they moved to Birmingham, AL (Walt Dropo), where they stayed through '52. However they did not have a AA affiliate from '53 until '56 when the Oklahoma City Indians finished the season 48-106. In '58 they moved to Memphis, TN & became less generically offensive. The Chickasaws (known as the "Chicks" were 69-84 in their only season as a Red Sox affiliate.

The Red Sox were again without a AA affiliate until '63 when they found a home in Reading, PA (Rico Petrocelli), where they last had an affiliate in '33-'34. The new Reading affiliate also only lasted 2 years, giving way to the Pittsfield Red Sox in '65. The team won the Eastern League championship & featured George Scott & Reggie Smith. Carlton Fisk played on the final Pittsfield team in '69 before they moved to Pawtucket, RI in '70. Fisk was also part of the 1st Pawtucket season. In '73, Pawtucket became the Red Sox AAA affiliate & Bristol, CT took over as the AA affiliate. The first team featured Jim Rice & Fred Lynn, but this was the only Bristol team to have a losing season as they had a winning record the next 9 years & won league titles in '75, '78 & '81. The final Bristol team included Oil Can Boyd, Al Nipper, Steve Lyons & Marc Sullivan. In '83, they moved to New Britain, CT. The team included a 20 y/o Roger Clemens (1.38 ERA in 52 innings), Kevin Romine, Pat Dodson, Tom Bolton, & some of the other players from the previous season. The team stayed in New Britain until '95 when they moved to Trenton, NJ. The team included Nomar, Trot, Sele, Suppan, Merloni, & the immortal Vaughn Eshelman. In 2003, they moved to Portland, ME, where they have resided ever since. That 1st Portland team included YOUK & 3 PAs from future Red Sox org hire Gabe Kapler.
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The AA roster at this time of year is going to be even more speculative than the AAA one, but here's what SoxProspects has (https://www.soxprospects.com/2024.htm):

Rotation
RHP Wikelman Gonzalez
RHP Hunter Dobbins
RHP Angel Bastardo
RHP Isaac Coffey
LHP Zach Penrod
RHP Noah Song

This seems reasonable. Would hope to see Perales pretty early in the season, as well as YORDANNY & maybe Dalton Rogers. Guys they list as AA bullpen who could factor into the rotation include CJ Liu, who started last year for Portland, but could probably use a transition to the pen, Helcris Olivarez & Wyatt Olds if they get him stretched out.

Bullpen
LHP Jorge Benitez
LHP Helcris Olivarez
RHP Ryan Zeferjahn
RHP C.J. Liu
RHP Alex Hoppe
RHP Christopher Troye
RHP Jacob Webb
RHP Theo Denlinger
LHP Brendan Cellucci

Basically every one of these guys is someone you hope can make it to AAA this season if things go well, which is a pretty good place to be. Most excited about Hoppe, but there are some really interesting arms there. On the other hand, there aren't a lot of relievers who SP projects for Greenville who look like they'd have a great chance of being contributors to Portland anytime soon outside of Felix Cepeda. However, this inactive list should provide pretty good depth...

Inactive
RHP Dylan Spacke
RHP Jordan DiValerio
RHP Cody Scroggins
RHP Robert Kwiatkowski
RHP Maceo Campbell
RHP Nate Tellier

Spacke is the only somewhat interesting guy on that list at this time, & I would be kind of surprised if Tellier got another year in the org on the opposite end.

Lineup
C Kyle Teel
1B Blaze Jordan
2B Eddinson Paulino
3B Matthew Lugo
SS Marcelo Mayer
LF Tyler McDonough
CF Roman Anthony
RF Phillip Sikes
DH Nathan Hickey

Bench
C/IF Mickey Gasper
C Alex Erro
IF Alex Binelas
IF Tyler Miller
IF Christian Koss
OF Eduardo Lopez

Inactive
C Elih Marrero
OF Nick Decker
UT Karson Simas

C - Obviously want to see Teel out there as much as practicable with him DHing other days. Hickey will hopefully be eased into other positions. I mentioned in the Worcester thread I could see Marrero starting the year there. Erro & Gasper are depth options as well. That's a lot of catchers, though.

1B - Between Blaze & Binelas they should have this under control. Miller is also a 1st-3rd guy & Lopez has experience at 1st. Miller is 24, but his 99 wRC+ in Greenville last year doesn't really show that his play is demanding a promotion, & they seem thinner there, so wouldn't be surprised if he starts the year in A+.

2B - I agree with promoting Paulino. This would be Bonaci's spot if he hadn't done...whatever it is he did. Lugo, McDonough, Koss & Simas provide depth in this scenario. & I guess Gasper. But meh. I wouldn't be surprised if Meidroth was here instead of like McDonough or Koss, though.

SS - Mayer's position until he's ready to move up. Paulino, McDonough, Koss & Simas provide depth. I wouldn't be shocked if Mikey Romero forces his way to Portland this season either, if healthy.

3B - They list Lugo as the starter & I guess. But expect some Blaze, a bit of Binelas, some Miller (if promoted), Simas, Koss, & Paulino (who I think would be the starting 3B if Bonaci came back).

OF - They seem really thin here on this projection with only 2 guys who really seem like AA OF in Roman & Sikes. McDonough is a utility guy & Lopez & Decker aren't really AA players. So could be seeing Allan Castro and/or Kristian Campbell in AA sooner rather than later. Bryan Gonzalez is in that same boat with Lopez & Decker of guys who were just kind of ok for Greenville last year who could be promoted but meh.

Anyway, should be another fun season where most of the best Red Sox prospects spend some time there, including the big 3.
 
nighthob

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I might actually subscribe to NESN 360 if Portland’s games were all there. Frankly they’re more exciting than Boston this year (as will Worcester be once the ATM Machine arrives).
 
sittingstill

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nighthob said:
I might actually subscribe to NESN 360 if Portland’s games were all there. Frankly they’re more exciting than Boston this year (as will Worcester be once the ATM Machine arrives).
Click to expand...
Not sure they've announced the 2024 cost for milb.tv yet, but it's glorious.
 
BringBackMo

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I expect them to be aggressive with Teel. College player who was terrific in Portland to close last year. If he’s playing well, I could see him in Worcester in six weeks to eight weeks. Of course, Portland in April and early May tends to suppress hitting so I guess we’ll have to see.
 
BravesField

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I watched a bunch of Worcester and Portland games last year. For me, the pace of the game and watching the prospects were enough to bring me back night after night. The only issue is the production value of the game. Announcers were great, but the camera operators and the director are......well not too great. Many times they fail to follow the ball in play. But that aside, it's very enjoyable.
 
JM3

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BringBackMo said:
I expect them to be aggressive with Teel. College player who was terrific in Portland to close last year. If he’s playing well, I could see him in Worcester in six weeks to eight weeks. Of course, Portland in April and early May tends to suppress hitting so I guess we’ll have to see.
Click to expand...
View: https://twitter.com/RedSoxPlayerDev/status/1748856071953809497


DJ BaseMonkey had really low exit velos last year. I think 2nd lowest of any top 100 prospect. So there is definitely some improvement to be had there, even if the hitting results were excellent. His BABIP in Greenville was .465 & .474 in Portland.

His defense is exciting, & he has good hit tools, but I think he's further away from MLB than his 167 wRC+ would indicate, & I'd be kind of surprised if he didn't spend at least half the season in Portland - unless he gets those EVs up.

Teel turns 22 next month, which is still quite young for a catching prospect. For example, Connor Wong spent his entire age 22 season in high-A & most of his age 23 season there, too.

Adley Rutschman spent his age 23 season in AA & AAA, debuting in MLB partway through his age 24 season.

I have a feeling people will be worried about Teel early next year, but shouldn't be.
 
GreenMonsterVsGodzilla

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BravesField said:
I watched a bunch of Worcester and Portland games last year. For me, the pace of the game and watching the prospects were enough to bring me back night after night. The only issue is the production value of the game. Announcers were great, but the camera operators and the director are......well not too great. Many times they fail to follow the ball in play. But that aside, it's very enjoyable.
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Just to head off any camera operator shade (not that you were throwing any) - likely these guys are semi-pro at best. I have a buddy who did this for a while (Single A San Jose Giants) and got paid some tiny amount per game. Free tickets was the main attraction. Also, the cameras they use in the big leagues to get those ball-tracking shots are fantastically expensive (look up “pedestal tripod”). So that won’t likely change without a big change in spending… which would drive up tickets and IMO nobody wants that.
 
Chainsaw318

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You probably saw the interview with Blaze this week, but if he’s for real about his offseason work being to push to be able to stick at 3b more of the time, I wonder he gets a decent chunk of the playing time until he shows he can’t handle it.

Contributing on the defensive spectrum would up his potential in my eyes quite a bit. He’s a different guy if he’s passable or more at both corners and a right-handed power threat.

Blaze and Bleis and Romero have an opportunity this year to move from the “interesting guy tier”to “upper middle class or more” tier with a healthy year of good performance.

If 1 or 2 from that group is good, the system is suddenly much deeper on the position player side, beyond the usual suspects.
 
BringBackMo

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JM3 said:
View: https://twitter.com/RedSoxPlayerDev/status/1748856071953809497


DJ BaseMonkey had really low exit velos last year. I think 2nd lowest of any top 100 prospect. So there is definitely some improvement to be had there, even if the hitting results were excellent. His BABIP in Greenville was .465 & .474 in Portland.

His defense is exciting, & he has good hit tools, but I think he's further away from MLB than his 167 wRC+ would indicate, & I'd be kind of surprised if he didn't spend at least half the season in Portland - unless he gets those EVs up.

Teel turns 22 next month, which is still quite young for a catching prospect. For example, Connor Wong spent his entire age 22 season in high-A & most of his age 23 season there, too.

Adley Rutschman spent his age 23 season in AA & AAA, debuting in MLB partway through his age 24 season.

I have a feeling people will be worried about Teel early next year, but shouldn't be.
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OK prepared to be wrong on this one. I didn’t realize that about his exit velocities.
 
JM3

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Chainsaw318 said:
@JM3
You probably saw the interview with Blaze this week, but if he’s for real about his offseason work being to push to be able to stick at 3b more of the time, I wonder he gets a decent chunk of the playing time until he shows he can’t handle it.

Contributing on the defensive spectrum would up his potential in my eyes quite a bit. He’s a different guy if he’s passable or more at both corners and a right-handed power threat.

Blaze and Bleis and Romero have an opportunity this year to move from the “interesting guy tier”to “upper middle class or more” tier with a healthy year of good performance.

If 1 or 2 from that group is good, the system is suddenly much deeper on the position player side, beyond the usual suspects.
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Blaze games by position by year:

'21
1B - 5
3B - 18

'22
1B - 47
3B - 59

'23
1B - 65
3B - 51
DH - 6

With Greenville last year he played exactly half his games at each 1B & 3B. I think the primary reason he played more at 1B in Portland (30 to 16) is that Portland had Mayer (then Bonaci), Meidroth & Yorke so there wasn't as much room there compared to only really competing with Alex Binelas for reps at 1st.

If Yorke & Meidroth do both start in AAA, should definitely see a lot of 3B this year. & yeah, Blaze would be a perfect guy to plug into the Red Sox roster right now if he was about 2 years ahead of where he is now on the developmental curve.

& yeah, it would be great to see what Bleis & Romero can do with a full year of health.
 
JM3

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BringBackMo said:
OK prepared to be wrong on this one. I didn’t realize that about his exit velocities.
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It was from BA's publication on average exit velocities of their top 100, 68 being hitters:

Roman Anthony - 89.7 (27th)
Ceddanne Rafaela - 89.1 (32nd)
Marcelo Mayer - 88.9 (33rd)
Kyle Teel - 82.9 (67th)

It's not a large sample size & it came after what I'm sure was a long season for him, & of course the top 100 prospects is going to be a pretty good group. More pointing it out to show that regression shouldn't be surprising than as a knock on Teel.
 
G

grepal

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nighthob said:
I might actually subscribe to NESN 360 if Portland’s games were all there. Frankly they’re more exciting than Boston this year (as will Worcester be once the ATM Machine arrives).
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I love the ATM. Excellent! Not sure if you were first with it but the first I saw. I will see them when they come to Hartfotd. Once they get to Worcester I will see them there too.
 
JM3

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Hunter Dobbins is definitely someone who will be interesting to keep an eye on. He's kind of a normal pitching prospect progressing at a normal rate who is kind of in the path to be a 6th or 7th best starter for a team, & I'm curious if the new regime can push that trajectory higher.

View: https://twitter.com/tylermilliken_/status/1749129224244371627

Hunter Dobbins is one of the arms I’m most interested in seeing if the pitching pipeline can level up.

Entering his age-24 season. Dominated A+ before holding his own at AA last year (4.27 ERA/3.76 FIP, 71.2 IP 13 G/12 GS). Ranked #23 on
@SoxProspects
.

Has seen his velo consistently tick up. Slider is a potential above-average pitch. Curveball could be average with a new splitter also in the mix. Confident in his secondaries.

@BaseballAmerica
has him as their sleeper prospect in the Red Sox system for 2024.
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I had Dobbins 18th in my last full rankings & as the Red Sox 4th best SP prospect behindPerales, Wikelman & Yordanny. He's also behind Fitts now.
 
JM3

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Looks like we might be getting some lineups this year which include:

C Teel
1B Hickey
3B Blaze

Piece on Hickey:

Hickey, a native of Jacksonville, grew up as an infielder. Before assuming full-time catching responsibilities at Florida, he also played a little first and third base in his time with the Gators. The Red Sox, according to Abraham, still plan on having Hickey catch “quite a bit” this upcoming season, but first base — and possibly other positions — are on the table as well.

“Being athletic behind the plate will allow him to be athletic at another position, whether that’s first base or elsewhere,” Abraham told Jennings. “And really, the bat is his driver. The bat is what’s going to allow him to have success in the big leagues. So, for us, it’s imperative to find the place for him with the ability he has to impact the baseball.”
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https://bloggingtheredsox.com/2024/01/22/red-sox-catching-prospect-nathan-hickey-aiming-to-stick-behind-plate-long-term/

Not sure how much 1B Hickey would help the Red Sox beyond increasing his trade value if he shows he can handle the position well, though.
 
Merkle's Boner

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My hot take on Opening Day Eve is that Merkle’s Boner will visit Hadlock Field more often than Fenway Park this season. Very excited for that lineup.
 
JM3

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Here's the Sea Dogs opening day roster...

View: https://twitter.com/PortlandSeaDogs/status/1775181436674302224


Pitchers: Angel Bastardo, Brendan Cellucci, Isaac Coffey, Felix Cepeda, Theo Denlinger, Hunter Dobbins, Wikelman Gonzalez, Robert Kwiatkowski, Wyatt Olds, Helcris Olivarez, Zach Penrod, Cody Scroggins, Christopher Troye, Jacob Webb, Ryan Zeferjahn

Catchers: Matthew Donlan, Mickey Gasper, Kyle Teel

Infielders: Alex Binelas, Max Ferguson, Blaze Jordan, Matthew Lugo, Marcelo Mayer, Eddinson Paulino, Nick Yorke

Outfielders: Roman Anthony, Nick Decker, Tyler McDonough, Phillip Sikes
Click to expand...
 
JM3

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So that includes my...

#1
#2
#4 (will be 3 once C Note loses eligibility)
#9
#11
#15
#22
#24
#28
#31
#32 (Hoppe, not on opening day roster cuz injury)
#35
#39
#46
#50
#55
#58
#68
#78
#85
#86
#89
#100
#118
#126
#150
#163
#178
#211
#225
#227
 
simplicio

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Sea Dogs dropped their opener 0-1, neither team was hitting (Mayer with a double in the 1st before getting doubled off 2nd, Anthony with a couple singles for Portland, and only 2 hits for Hartford) and we had 15 Ks to their 10. The difference was Hartford stealing 5 bags with no CS from Teel; their run came on a ground out after Ritter stole 2nd and 3rd.
 
JM3

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simplicio said:
Sea Dogs dropped their opener 0-1, neither team was hitting (Mayer with a double in the 1st before getting doubled off 2nd, Anthony with a couple singles for Portland, and only 2 hits for Hartford) and we had 15 Ks to their 10. The difference was Hartford stealing 5 bags with no CS from Teel; their run came on a ground out after Ritter stole 2nd and 3rd.
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Pitching was pretty good, though...

Angel Bastardo threw 5 1-hit innings, with 2 bb's & 3 k's, but picked up the loss.

View: https://twitter.com/Hunter_Noll/status/1777060488871915878


Theo Denlinger pitched 2 scoreless with 3 strikeouts, despite allowing a hit, 2 walks & hitting a guy.

View: https://twitter.com/EdHand89/status/1775215035150692410


Christopher Troye pitched the last 2 scoreless innings, 0 hits, 1 walk & 4 strikeouts.

View: https://twitter.com/Hunter_Noll/status/1777085589688320150
 
simplicio

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The bats livened up but the pitching kinda stunk as they lost 8-9 to Reading. ATM and Paulino with two hits apiece and Yorke (playing LF) with 3. Wikelman only got through 2 innings (3 ER) and took 63 pitches to do so, with 5 walks and one K. Kwiatkowski, Webb and Olds also gave up runs.
Two more successful steals on Teel, plus a throwing error for him.

Edit: just realized this was mostly all covered in the game thread, whoops. I'd really like to see Teel start catching some runners though.
 
Last edited:
JM3

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simplicio said:
The bats livened up but the pitching kinda stunk as they lost 8-9 to Reading. ATM and Paulino with two hits apiece and Yorke (playing LF) with 3. Wikelman only got through 2 innings (3 ER) and took 63 pitches to do so, with 5 walks and one K. Kwiatkowski, Webb and Olds also gave up runs.
Two more successful steals on Teel, plus a throwing error for him.

Edit: just realized this was mostly all covered in the game thread, whoops. I'd really like to see Teel start catching some runners though.
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Nothing wrong with game summaries in the team threads. Imagine if on the Main Board you couldn't discuss something that had already been discussed lol

I'm not too concerned about Teel, yet. Yeah, he's 0 for 7, but he was 2 for 9 last year in AA & 12 of 41 overall (29%). All SSS.
 
Merkle's Boner

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I’m thinking two more solid starts from Pernod will mean a trip to Worcester. No use having a 26 year old spend too much time in AA, no?
 
JM3

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Merkle's Boner said:
I’m thinking two more solid starts from Pernod will mean a trip to Worcester. No use having a 26 year old spend too much time in AA, no?
Click to expand...
I think that's reasonable. Especially with the attrition in Worcester/Boston.

If Connelly Early keeps pitching the way he is, he could also make a quick trip to Portland to fill Penrod's slot.

& ERC or Paez could fill Early's slot (& the other could fill Perales' if he's out for an extended period). Also, Yordanny will hopefully be back soon.
 
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