Season Preview: St. Louis Browns

Last Season: 59-95, 8th in ALManager: Zack Taylor (2nd season in St. Louis, 2nd total)Offseason: The Browns held a fire sale in the offseason after their first last place finish of the decade. Gone are most of their big names such as Vern Stephens, Jack Kramer, Wally Judnich, Bob Muncrief, Jeff Heath, and Jake Early. St. Louis added so many players it might be easier to list the players who are returning. Only two position players that took at least one at bat with the team last year will be starting on Opening Day.Catcher: With Early gone, the Browns will use a combination of Roy Partee and Les Moss. Partee was one of many players received from Boston in the Stephens trade and will get the start given Moss's terrible time at bat last year. Partee has played in 285 games for the Red Sox and earned the spot after Moss's .157 average last year. Moss is better backstop, though, so the Browns will have to alternate between players with major holes in their game.Infield: Speedy Bob Dillinger is the only returning starting infielder on the team. Dillinger had a breakout year last season, leading the majors with 34 steals. He is a great leadoff hitter who is one of the few starters on this team that could start on any other team in the league. Chuck Stevens returns as starting first baseman following the departure of Judnich. He was the starter in 1946 but spent all of last year in the minors. The middle infielders are both new to the team. Jerry Priddy had some solid seasons in Washington but is coming off a bad year last season. Eddie Pellagrini is a decent fielder but nowhere near the hitter Stephens was. That loss will be nearly impossible to make up. Sam Dente, also received from Boston, will be a backup in the infield.Outfield: Al Zarilla can play anywhere in the outfield and will start on Opening Day in right field. He was an important player for the Browns in 1944 when they won the pennant. However, he is coming off his worst season in the majors. Zarilla hopes to find his form again as one of the few Browns retained from last year. Whitey Platt was called up to start in left field after a strong season at Toledo in AAA ball. Rookie Pete Layden will also get a chance to start in center field. At 28, he will make his debut in the majors on Opening Day. Ray Coleman returns to the team after his rookie season last year but will have to earn a starting spot after an unimpressive campaign. Paul Lehner returns, as well, but will miss at least a month with a fractured shoulder blade. His seven home runs last year lead all returning Browns now that any players with power have been traded.Rotation: Kramer was the only Brown with double digit wins last year but also one of six with double digit losses. Now that he, Muncrief, and Ellis Kinder have been traded to Boston, the Browns have four pitchers with at least ten losses on the roster following the addition of Bryan Stephens. Stephens had a disappointing rookie season in Cleveland and will get plenty of relief work but starts the year as the number five starter. Fred Sanford was much better than his 7-16 record suggests as he had no hope for a winning record on a last place team. Sam Zoldak has been a good pitcher in four years for the Browns, as has Cliff Fannin for three. Rounding out the rotation is veteran Nelson Potter. Potter has lost a step since winning 19 games for the pennant winners of '44.Bullpen: Outside of using the starters listed in the previous section, the Browns have only one player that appeared in a game last year: Al Widmar, who recorded four outs over two games for Boston last year but also gave up two runs. Frank Biscan has about fifty innings of work in a Browns uniform but did not pitch last year. Rookie Ray Shore will get some work too with the shortage of arms. St. Louis starters will need to go the distance if they want to be sure a rare lead holds with this bullpen.Outlook: The Browns blew up a last place team after their third straight season with a worse record than the year before. The fall from the top in '44 came quick but making the same climb does not look like an easy fix. The Browns could very well lose over 100 games, but a few of the new guys working out could lead to a better finish since it will be hard to do worse. St. Louis will also likely be involved in the trade market during the season to help out teams fighting for the pennant to help bolster their rebuilding effort.