The St. Joseph Jokers landed a pair of strong Keepers that added substantial projection to the club's roster for 2021. GM Rick Steen announced the addition of third baseman Kyle Seager (2FA/$5) and closer Alex Colome (2/$7) from the Lake Merced Goutfish in exchange for a 2021 3rd Round Pick (38th Overall).
Despite posting a career-low .240 BABIP last season, Seager recorded the third-highest wRC+ (118) of his decade-long MLB career, the product of a .241/.355/.433 slash line. Seager has run very low BABIPs for quite some time now due to his flyball-heavy batted-ball profile, though Statcast still suggests he deserved at least slightly better than he got, giving him a .473 xSLG. While his barrel rate finished at a personal Statcast-era high of 10.2%, his most encouraging improvements came in his plate discipline. His 13.3% strikeout rate and 12.9% walk rate both represented the best marks of his career. Just how much of those gains stick over a full 162-game season remains to be seen, but he should be a useful option in the final year of his seven-year deal and well worthy of his $5 contract in the RDBL.
Seager will step right into the third base job for the Jokers while carrying a strong 400.0 point projection by CBS.
Colome recently agreed to a one-year contract worth $6.25 million guaranteed with the Twins where he will get the lion's share of closing opportunities. The 32-year-old will remain in the American League Central after recording 42 saves over the past two seasons for the White Sox. Colome has a 2.62 ERA while converting 138 of 156 save chances in the last five years. He will have some competition for the 9th inning as Taylor Rogers has a 2.93 ERA and 39 saves in the past two seasons, so manager Rocco Baldelli could opt for a committee approach and keep both pitchers in the mix for the ninth inning, especially given the manager's tendency to avoid traditional closing strategy.
The Twins are a strong contender which should give the right-hander plenty of opportunity as he looks to build on his dominant 2020 season where he posted a 0.81 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in 22 1/3 innings.
The Goutfish continue to trim down their Keeper Roster as both Seager and Colome were just on the outside looking in for the coveted 12 spots for GM Ryan Atkinson. The club now holds six selections in the first 38 picks as they will look to build depth at the big league level and replace activation-ready players like Fernando Tatis, Jr. and Dom Smith with Sixto Sanchez and Yordan Alvarez potential graduates as well.
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