Manager: Scott Slezak

Notable: 2003 World Series Champion

2002 Preview

HOBOKEN, NJ -- As the Goats break from their Lubbock, Texas Spring Training home and head back to the friendly confines of Hoboken, the birthplace of baseball and Frank Sinatra, it is clear that this is a season of transition.

The reputed Soprano crime family has taken over the squad and is looking to make some big changes. The new management can't say the team will be better than their 79-83 record in 2001, but it feels it has paved the way for a bright future in the Garden State. The Craig Biggio era in New Jersey is over, as he was sent off to Danville for two young pitchers and a draft pick.

The departure of the first-ever Galactic Goat marks a new era in the Garden State -- one where pitching will be king and offense will be mediocre, but with a nucleus of Furcal, Edmonds, Anderson, Casey and Barrett, this team has potential. As for 2002, it may not be pretty, but we'll try hard.

Here's a position-by-position breakdown:

CATCHER: The trade of good-glove, no-hit Mike Matheny (to GHR) paved the way for Michael Barrett to become the Goats' regular catcher. His offense is expected to improve (2 HR's in MLB 2002 already) and hopefully his arm will too. Jason LaRue was drafted to be the backup for now. His -3 arm will serve well in the run-happy National League. Tony Eusebio offers some quality at bats as well.

FIRST BASE: This season, Sean Casey will see action in almost every game. In the past, the Goats have sat him against lefties, but he has developed enough where he no longer needs to be a platoon player. Dave McCarty is available as a back-up if necessary, along with a lot of other utility guys who can step in in a pinch.

SECOND BASE: The departure of Craig Biggio left a question mark at second base. The position will be filled with a hodge-podge of utility-type guys: Abraham Nunez, Mark DeRosa, Brian Roberts, FP Santangelo, et al. The imminent arrival of Wilson Betemit to the Braves means that Rafael Furcal may be the Goats' future at 2B.

THIRD BASE: Long the Achilles heel of the Goat organization. Jose Macias stands to see the most time at the hot corner this season with Chris Truby filling in against some tough lefties. The bevy of utility-men the Goats acquired in the off-season will also see time at third. Jason LaRue and his 4e56 fielding may even play there a bit.

SHORTSTOP: Furcal is the man for now, but his injury last season will limit his playing time in the 2002 GABL. The Goats have enough middle infielders to fill the void this season, but if Furcal moves to 2B as expected in the future, this may be a glaring hole that Garden State needs to fill. Brian Roberts did not break camp with the Orioles this season, but we expect he will see some AB's before the year is out.

OUTFIELD: Solid and predictable. Garret Anderson, Jim Edmonds and Gabe Kapler will be the everyday starters in the outfield with Dave McCarty and Eric Owens stepping in when necessary. This is a make-or-break year for Kapler. The Goats actively shopped him in the offseason, but stuck with him in hopes he'd be traded to Colorado. No such luck, but he's off to a good start for the Rangers and has already seen time at all three OF positions.

STARTING PITCHING: The Goats' grand scheme (it seems) is to load up on as many starting pitchers as possible and hope 4 or 5 have decent seasons. That plan seems to have worked in 2002. The Goat pitching staff has no less than 12 guys with starter ratings. The rotation will be anchored, as usual, by Tom Glavine and Jeff Weaver, each with over 200 innings of usage. After the two stalwarts, Ismael Valdes and Jason Bere provide decent #3 and #4 men in the rotation. The #5 spot will be filled by first-round pick Joel Piniero, former closer Derek Lowe (both with nice cards, but limited innings) and a cast of thousands (John Halama, Tomo Ohka, Chuck Smith, Rob Bell, Andy Benes and Rick Bauer).

RELIEF PITCHING: Ignored in the last few drafts, the Goat bullpen is a little weaker than usual. Jason Isringhausen will be handed the closer duties this year as Lowe heads to the rotation. Vicente Padilla, Antonio Alfonseca and Jay Witasick provide plenty of right-handed innings out of the pen. The lefty relievers are an interesting sort as they all have "reverse cards": Troy Brohawn, Vic Darensbourg, Mike Holtz and Scott Sauerbeck. Most of the stable of Goat starters can also relieve so expect plenty of mixing-and-matching this season . . . . and plenty of guys taking on "mop-up" roles.

OUTLOOK: This is a team in transition, trying to build a young pitching staff and a nucleus on offense. Unfortunately, the crop of hitters in the 2002 draft was weak to say the least. The Goats didn't pick up any starting offensive players in the draft, but filled needs in back-up and utility roles. I wouldn't expect this team to challenge this season. To finish .500 would be a huge achievement at this point. 70 wins is probably more realistic.

2000 Season Recap

HOBOKEN: The 50-112 record was miserable. The .265 team batting average was terrible. The 5.45 team ERA was unacceptable. In a season that was lost before it begun, I said that it would take the managing job of my life not to lose 100 games. In actuality, I did all I could to finish above .300. Despite the poor season, the Goats can take a little solice in the fact that many of its top players will return to prominent roles in GABL 2001 including Glavine and Edmonds, whom this team was built around.

Also on the horizon are some top draft picks, five in the first two rounds, including the number one pick overall. I don't know what I am going to do with that pick, but will have a better idea once I see the rookie/retread list.

Now, on to the numbers. The team set five individual season records in 2000, four by Craig Biggio: games (160), steals (47), caught stealing (27) and errors (20).

Sean Casey set the team record for batting average at .345, good for 9th in the league. His 205 hits were 5th in the league. Bill Spiers tied his club triples record (4).

Garret Anderson (620) and Craig Biggio (616) finished 5th and 6th in the league in at bats.

On the mound, Tom Glavine and Andy Benes each lost a team-record 19 games. They tied for the most in the league. John Halama's 17 losses tied him for third in that category. Halama also allowed a team-record 29 home runs.

Derek Lowe led the league with 68 appearances, a team record. He finished 10th with 19 saves. Glavine broke team records in runs allowed (156), hits allowed (281) and walks (97).

AWARD WINNERS:
MVP: Sean Casey -- .345-18-83 with 16 intentional walks (you guys know what you're doing, my #5 and 6 hitters can't hit)
(1999 Winner: Craig Biggio)

CY YOUNG: Derek Lowe -- 4-2, 3.00 ERA, 19 saves.
(1999 Winner: Bill Simas)

CLOSE STAT AWARD: Michael Barrett
                           AVE HR  RBI 2B  3B  BB   K   SB  CS  OBP  SLG
MLB 1999        .293     8  52    32   3   32   39     0   2      .345  .436
GABL 2000     .284    10  60    31  2   25   29     0   0      .329  .434
(1999 Winner: Bill Spiers)


2001 Minor League affiliates

The Goats have announced the locations and team names of their 2001 minor
league affiliates:

AAA -- Raritan Valley Rat Pack (New Brunswick, NJ).
AA -- St. Lucia Sand Crabs (Castries, St. Lucia).
A -- Dallas Green Elephants (Dallas, Texas).
A (short season) -- Las Vegas Cheetahs (Las Vegas, Nevada)
rookie league -- Palm Beach Dimpled Chads (West Palm Beach, Florida)