Mildenhall is facing uncertain times.  2025 was a fiasco for the club with several all-star caliber players suffering through the worst season of their careers.  Several reliable players have been jettisoned in the off-season and the club is clearly in a transitory period from the old to the new.  There are plenty of recognizable old stars in the clubhouse, but 2025 provided many unusual, new-found doubts for several of those players.  However all is not lost.  The club is loaded with plenty of young talent and a new-found commitment to get that young talent out onto the field this season.  In fact, going into Spring training the team is not entirely certain who will be in the starting lineup come April.  It’s open competition for several positions.  Here’s a basic rundown of where things stand going into the preseason.

Catcher: Syl Hamby is one of those reliable stars with the club who had his worst season ever.  Veteran free agent Dan Royster was brought in and could provide some very serious competition to Hamby.  Nothing is assured and backstop is clearly up for grabs this Spring.

First Base: The club’s fortunes this season reside squarely on the broad shoulders of young talent Artie Dickinson.  The team’s fortunes were probably dashed for 2025 when Dickinson went down in 2024 with a serious knee injury.  He gamely tried to come back last season but was clearly not the same player.  The franchise hopes with a full offseason to prepare that High-Roller will be back to his possible Hall of Fame self.  If he does the club could be in the wild card mix.  If not, the team will be lucky to hold at .500.

Second Base: Everyone in East Anglia was wondering just what in the hell was wrong with Mike Saffold last year.  He easily suffered his worst year as a big leaguer and at just 32 it didn’t seem like old age should have been the culprit.  Like Dickinson, the club’s fortunes weight heavily on Ringo’s shoulders.  If he fails to perform again this season do not be surprised if either promising talent Ivan Lopez or young slugger Pedro Lujan are given a shot to prove their mettle.

Shortstop: Journeyman Neville Lynch was a surprise all-star last season and probably the only player on the club who could claim to have had his best year.  He probably won’t be performing at the same level this year.  If he falters young Lopez could fill in or the slick fielding, ‘23 World Series star Ben Cisneros could regain his starting role.

Third Base: With everything seemingly falling all around him, young star Tony Williams did everything humanly possible to keep his team above .500.  Fans are coming to expect 100 RBIs and a .500 slugging percentage from the 24-year old.

Outfield:  Now’s where things really get interesting for the club.  Stalwart Sam Violette is gone and superstar Michael Wootton is coming off a career threatening injury.  The once unthinkable benching of Wootton, the face of the franchise, is becoming more thinkable by the day.  This is professional baseball, and club GM Kurt Bevacqua certainly understands that sentimentality can be a huge liability.  Youngster John Burks seemed more Wootton-like in AAA last season than Wootton seemed in the bigs.  The club anticipates giving Burks every chance to prove himself in center this spring.  Meanwhile the competition to fill the corner outfield positions is completely wide open in camp.  Warren Beatty, Scott St. John, Scott Fletcher, John Burks, and Mario Orosco are all expected to get good looks in camp.  Beatty and St. John spent considerable time in the majors last year and probably have the early edge.  However Orosco is a highly coveted prospect and expected to be a prime slugger for the club not so far down the line.

Starting Pitching: Club officials are somewhat surprised Freddie Urbano is still around after being dangled on the trading block.  The excellent veteran pitched his heart out last year and showed there is still much in the venerable lefty’s tank.  Up again, down again lefty Angel Agosto was down again last season, which if history holds form means he will likely be up again this season.  The club received significant trade interest in Agosto, but at just 31 with two years left on a reasonable contract the club has no intention of parting with him.  Flamethrower Alfredo Aviles has at times looked great, but club officials are very concerned with the effects of a severe injury he suffered last season.  Celso Hermosillo and Terry Boston are back as two unheralded pitchers who seem to do nothing but eat tons of innings and win games.  And like Urbano, they are two players that team officials can’t understand why no one will offer a trade for them.  Meanwhile prospect Doug Gray is challenging to be the first homebred prospect since Agosto drafted by the club to make it as a regular starter.  He’s in the spring rotation and could well be a Mildenall regular this season.

Bullpen:  In years past the Mildenhall bullpen has been a strength.  This season the club has lowered expectations quite a bit.  In fact the club is having difficulty finding six legitimate big league arms to man the pen.  Veterans Ray Holliday, Luis Lamoreaux, and George Atchison are all solid, inning eaters, but hardly the most inspiring lot of part time throwers.  The real gem of the group is young fastballer Dale Hicks.  Hicks was handed closer responsibilities midway through his rookie campaign and responded with an excellent 8-3 record and 13 saves.  The club would like two more relievers to fill out the stable and are not really sure at this point where they will come from.  There are some good prospects in the minors, but all are at least a season away.