We continue our State of the Franchise Series with the St. Joseph Jokers are looking to shake off a rough run since making their Playoff debut in 2018, finishing in 14th and 12th before landing in last place each of the last two seasons. Pitching looks to be the biggest area of focus of GM Rick Steen entering 2024 with the club posting a group that ranked 12th or worst in each of the last four seasons, finishing with no better than a 4.28 ERA in any season over that span.
President of Baseball Operations: Rick Steen
Headquarters: Concord, CA
Seasons: 10
Cash Finishes: 1
Division Titles: 0
Lifetime Earnings: $150
Top Hitter: Josh Donaldson, 459.5 (2016)
Top Pitcher: Jacob deGrom, 609.0 (2018)
2023 Season
You can look no further than the starting rotation when examining what derailed the 2023 St. Joseph Jokers season. The club entered the season with Auction buy Yu Darvish, pre-season trade acquisitions Martin Perez, Noah Syndergaard and Tyler Mahle, Keeper Ross Stripling and activation Kyle Wright. All six failed to end the 2023 season in their own club's starting rotation, totaling 635.0 points on the full MLB Season.
Their big offensive addition in Auction was Cedric Mullins who regressed to a .233/.305/.416 line, failing to cash in on the $30 investment from the Jokers while $37 holdover Jose Abreu also sputtered.
It wasn't all doom and gloom though as the Jokers trio of activations all proved to be significant building blocks with Gunnar Henderson, Gabriel Moreno and MJ Melendez all excelling while Matt McLain established himself as a clear 2024 activation.
2024 Pending Free Agents
RP Kenley Jansen, IF/OF Chris Taylor, LHP Martin Perez
Current Projected Keeper Roster Ranked by Value
1. IF Gunnar Henderson (2R/$3)
2. C Gabriel Moreno (2R/$3)
3. Matt McLain (1R/$1)
4. C/OF MJ Melendez (2R/$3)
5. LHP MacKenzie Gore (1R/$1)
6. 1B LaMonte Wade (2FA/$5)
7. LHP JP Sears (2FA/$5)
8. LHP DL Hall (1R/$1)
The Jokers are largely staring at a blank slate entering 2024, but have a top four that can certainly be a viable as a contender. The challenge facing GM Rick Steen will be not leveraging those young assets like Gunnar Henderson, Roki Sasaki or their pair of first round picks to chase short-term success next season.
Steen does have a third catcher, Endy Rodriguez, ready for an activation which could create some flexibility in how they attack the position and potentially bring back some pitching help to finally patch the leak on the mound. The club also has three 3rd Round selections that are likely to be dangled this Winter.
Farm System
1. RHP Roki Sasaki (Japan)
2. SS Matt McLain (Reds)
3. LHP MacKenzie Gore (Nationals)
4. C Endy Rodriguez (Pirates)
5. 2B Nick Yorke (Red Sox)
6. C Kevin Parada (Mets)
7. LHP DL Hall (Orioles)
8. OF Trevor Larnach (Twins)
9. C Korey Lee (White Sox)
10. SS Tyler Freeman (Guardians)
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Next Best: OF JJ Bleday (OAK), RHP Adonis Medina (NYM)
On pure upside, Roki Sasaki ranks among the highest upside prospects in the RDBL making his 2023 1st Overall selection a strong one for Steen. The downside of the selection is the wait that comes with it as Sasaki isn't expected to come stateside until at least 2026.
Few prospects shined more at the big league level in their Rookie campaign more than Matt McLain who has a firm grasp on the starting shortstop spot in Cincinnati. As far as activation-ready prospects, he's joined by Endy Rodriguez who is blocked by Moreno and Melendez in the Jokers organization, making him (or Melendez) a potential trade candidate this off-season.
On the backend, a cleanout is likely this off-season as Trevor Larnach, Korey Lee, Tyler Freeman, JJ Bleday and Adonis Medina are all candidates to be released, giving Steen more flexibility to build depth at the big league level late in the Reserve Draft.
Off-Season Questions
1. How patient are the Jokers willing to be?
The Jokers top assets currently are Gunnar Henderson, Matt McLain and the league's highest cap space entering the 2024 Draft. Steen will need to figure out of there is a way to navigate maintaining those three assets while working around the fringes to build a more complete Keeper Roster to enter Draft Day as a formidable contender. If not, the Jokers stand out as a potential candidate to gather up all of the injured arms (deGrom, McClanahan, Alcantara, etc.) and turn their focus to 2025, though that's not historically in Steen's DNA.
2. How many picks are dealt this Winter?
The Jokers currently sit with six selections in the top 41, giving them plenty of firepower to add to their Keeper Roster this off-season. They parted with two Second Rounders, three Third Rounders and a 7th Round pick last off-season for Martin Perez, Noah Syndergaard, Chris Taylor, Kenley Jansen and Tyler Mahle. While they hope the return on potential deals is more productive in 2024, Steen could elect to part with a similar haul of picks.
3. Could Sasaki be dealt?
If they Jokers aren't looking to be patient, Roki Sasaki could be the piece that nets the Franchise multiple Keepers for 2024 in an attempt to shorten the rebuilding window. It's not clear that Steen would be open to that direction, but there would figure to be plenty of interest in the Japanese right-hander if the Jokers are willing to part with him.