Meet the Resolutes!

After playing through four seasons of nineteenth-century baseball in a mini-league consisting of only three teams (Blue Legs, Canaries, and Haymakers), I'm super excited to be able to bring on a fourth team -- the Resolutes! Unlike my analogous hockey league, however, I haven't been adding a handful of new players each season; rather, I'll be adding a whole bunch of new guys all at once. In narrative terms, it's as if a competing league has disbanded (a not uncommon scenario in the early decades of professional baseball!) and some of its players have found a new home in the surviving league. With nine new players (eight position players and one pitcher), I'll have just lads enough to fill out the roster for an expansion team (although all three legacy teams will see their rosters contracted by one position player and one pitcher). 

I'll spare you the tedious details, but in summary, first I divvied up all the new players among the four teams via a player draft. With an expanded talent pool, each of the three original teams decided on which players they would protect (three pitchers and eight position players). The remaining players would be eligible for the Resolutes to draft. Knowing that most of their depth players would be taken from them, however, the original teams conducted some trades to shore up their rosters as much as possible. (Among those players who changed sides was Playoff MVP Pud Galvin, who was traded from the Canaries to the Blue Legs in return for infielder George Wright, one of the new players.) After the original teams finished their trades, the Resolutes selected players from the final lists provided by each franchise.

So, who will take the field when the Resolutes begin play in Season 5? Read on!

• Jake Beckley: All bat and no glove, Beckley was behind Cap Anson on the Haymakers' depth chart at first base. Now a starter, he'll get a chance to show off his lefty power swing for the Resolutes.
• Fred Clarke: He wrested the left field position from Pete Hill, but the Canaries elected to protect the more versatile Hill during the expansion draft. Clarke has great pop and will be a potent middle-of-the-order bat for his new squad.
• John Clarkson: This guy needed a fresh start. He won the Pitcher MVP award in Season 2, but has not won a single ballgame since that magical run. The Blue Legs just traded for Pud Galvin as a more reliable starter behind Old Hoss Radbourn, but Clarkson could end up being a steal for the Resolutes if his luck evens out. He's the nominal staff ace.
• Candy Cummings: Like Clarkson, Cummings is a curveball specialist. In fact, many baseball historians believe that he invented the curveball! Cummings has been maddeningly inconsistent over the years, but is likely the Resolutes' best option as a #2 starter. 
• Elmer Flick: After struggling to get playing time with the Haymakers, Flick will be the Resolutes' leadoff man and starting center fielder. I suspect he'll be among the team's best hitters. 
• Frank Grant: Grant is one of the new players added for Season 5. In real life, he's regarded by many as the best African American player of the nineteenth century. He can play all around the infield, but will start at second base for the Resolutes. 
• Clark Griffith: According to Baseball Reference, Griffith, another of our new players, has strong similarity scores to the Canaries' successful closer, Joe McGinnity. For that reason, I'll pencil in Griffith as a reliever for now. He might get some starts if Cummings flames out.
• Ned Hanlon: I don't know quite what to make of Hanlon, a new player who has blazing speed and provides elite defense in center field, but isn't much of a hitter for an outfielder. He'll see playing time as a pinch runner and late-game defensive replacement, but he may end up getting traded, as the Resolutes already have four other players who are primarily outfielders.
• Connie Mack: Mack, too, is among the nine new players added to the league for Season 5. He'll be a first-rate defensive catcher, but currently would rank as the worst everyday player in the league in terms of offensive value. 
• Tommy McCarthy: This jack-of-all-trades has been a valuable bench player and pinch hitter for the Blue Legs. He would be a great defensive outfielder, too, but the Resolutes don't have a spot for him there. Instead, he'll land at third base, where his defense will be absolutely atrocious. Grant would be a far better option at third, but his glove is more valuable at the keystone; as such, the Resolutes will have to limp along with McCarthy at third until a better option arises. 
• Jim O'Rourke: Here's another Blue Legs bench player who now gets a shot at the starting lineup. O'Rourke can play just about any position on the field, but plays none of them well. The team will hide his iron glove in right field. His bat, however, will make him a leading offensive force for the Resolutes.
• Rube Waddell: Hands down, he's the hardest-throwing pitcher in the league. The Resolutes opted to select Waddell from the Haymakers instead of Amos Rusie, the league's all-time saves leader, because Waddell may have more upside. Like Clarkson, he's been snakebitten and might put up some solid numbers with a little positive regression to the mean. 
• John Montgomery "Monte" Ward: Sometimes the baseball gods can be cruel indeed. Ward was the de facto captain of the Canaries team that won the Season 4 championship, but their trade for George Wright made Ward expendable. On the Resolutes, he'll shift from second base to his natural position of shortstop and provide excellent defense but middling offense.

Will the Resolutes be any good? Well, the worst single season in league history was authored by the Season 4 Blue Legs, who turned in a 6-14 record and a dismal -33 run differential. It wouldn't surprise me if the Resolutes more or less matched those numbers in their first campaign. They'll be featured on Opening Day of Season 5, hosting the champion Canaries.