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2010 Light Bulbs Team Capsule |
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| 10th PLACE - 74.0 PTS
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 After a 2009 that saw Light Bulbs finish 14th, last among the three new expansion teams, owner Steven Martiny was looking to take a step forward in 2010. With a number of underpriced, young aces in the making in Tommy Hanson and Ubaldo Jimenez, the Light Bulbs added another in Jon Lester in an off-season deal, and were on their way towards a top-flight rotation. Draft day additions included another top-notch starter in Johan Santana and three closers – Brian Wilson, Francisco Rodriguez and Bobby Jenks – filling out what looked to be a stacked pitching staff. Offensively, the Bulbs found some great draft day values in Rickie Weeks ($17), Vernon Wells ($19) and Chris Young ($4), setting the team up for a run to a potential money spot. The first half of the year looked promising, as the Light Bulbs rose to as high as 5th place at just over 100 points right before the All-Star break. At that point, injuries and poor player performance started taking its toll. Morneau suffered a debilitating concussion and was lost for the season. Chris Coghlan and Magglio Ordoñez both suffered season-ending injuries. Other players either started losing playing time, were unproductive, or in many cases, both. Todd Helton became a part-time player and a poor one at that, as the career .324 hitter hit only 8 homers and drove in just 37 while batting a measly .256. Nate McLouth struggled through two DL stints, and even when he was healthy, the one-time All-Star was even less effective than Helton. And although many of the team’s players were underperforming, for the second year in a row, Martiny was inactive in free agency, adding only one player all year. That may have been dictated by the fact that the Bulbs used nine of their ten bench spots for free-eligible rookies and Martiny never budged from that. As a result, the Light Bulbs finished dead last in at bats, and their offensive counting stats showed the effects – they finished in 13th place or worse in four of the five categories. Although the Light Bulbs ended up finishing nearly 30 points higher than the year before, the end result was disappointing as the team dropped 27 points over the second half of the season. |
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| TEAM MVP - UBALDO JIMENEZ |
As the Martiny built his pitching staff in 2010, there were multiple candidates to be the staff ace. Jon Lester and Johan Santana had to be the odds on favorites, considering their respective track records and youngster Tommy Hanson had a shot as well. However, it was Jimenez who put together one of the best starts to a season in major league history, winning 10 of his first 11 starts of the year, posting a 0.78 ERA with a 0.896 WHIP through the month of May. Jimenez cooled off slightly over the final four months, but ended the year with 19 wins, a 2.88 ERA, and a 1.155 WHIP over 221 innings, starting in the All-Star game, finishing 3rd in the NL Cy Young race and being named the Light Bulbs team MVP. |
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| TEAM RO-SHAM-BO - JAVIER VAZQUEZ |
 When Martiny uttered a bid of $20 on Vazquez on draft day, there were those in the room who thought he was tempting fate. Although Vazquez was coming off a career year when he was with Atlanta in 2009, his trade to the Yankees for a second tour of duty rang warning bells for many. In 2004, the last time that Vazquez had pitched for the Yankees, he was so bad that he was Hotel California’s Ro Sham Bo. In addition, Martiny had his own history with Yankee fifth starters, as Chien-Ming Wang won the infamous award for the Light Bulbs in 2009. In a way, Vazquez didn’t disappoint. It must have felt like Groundhog Day to both Vazquez and Martiny as it was déjà vu all over again – he was easily the worst pitcher on the Bulbs staff, posting a horrendous 5.32 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP over 157 innings, eventually losing his spot in the rotation, helping to sink the Light Bulbs.
It must have felt like Grounhog Day over and over again for Vazquez and his owner Martiny in 2010. |
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| OUTLOOK FOR 2011 |
Martiny enters 2011 with what would have been the biggest keeper base in league history if not for Clueless. The Light Bulbs are looking for Matt Wieters to improve on his somewhat disappointing rookie season. Holdovers Wells, Weeks and Young also return for 2011 and are joined by off-season acquisition Jacoby Ellsbury, who looks to be 100% healthy again. On the pitching side, with both Hanson and Jimenez returning, the top end of the rotation looks set. Free-keeper Madison Bumgarner will be instrumental in the building of the rotation. However, the biggest question mark has to be starting pitcher Michael Pineda, who could potentially start the season in AAA. The team also returns xxxxx other free keepers from 2010, some of whom should actually contribute in 2011. With 12 of the 24 starters and $179 already spoken for, the team will have to be patient on draft day. Perhaps if Pineda starts in the Mariners rotation from day one AND if Martiny can stay away from Ivan Nova or whoever earns the 5th spot in the Yankees rotation, he has a shot to earn his first money finish.
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