On January 15th, The RailCats re-signed Infielder Miguel Sierra and signed Outfielder Carlos Machado. With these 2 signings, there are a total of 11 players on the 2024 roster.

Miguel Sierra

Was traded to the RailCats from Sioux City on August 26th in a trade that involved Daniel Lingua and John Sheaks. He played in 9 games. He had 32 At-Bats, scored 1 run, 9 hits, 1 double, 1 Homerun, 5 RBI’s, and walked 3 times. Batting Average of 281, OBP 343, SLG 406, OPS 749. He played all 9 games at SS. A FLD% 966 and had 1 Error.

His best offensive game was September 2nd in a 14-5 loss to the Milkmen. He went 3-4, scored 1 run, had 1 RBI and hit 1 home run.

This will be Sierra’s 3rd year in the American Association, he played in Sioux City in 2022 and half of 2023. He will more than likely fill the Short Stop role. I think we will see a more steady SS with Sierra being there. What I mean by that is the routine plays will be more routine, as last year Lingua could be shaky on the routine plays. Now we may lose the highlight defensive plays, as in 9 games last year Sierra didn’t have to make those jaw-dropping plays. Sierra should be close to a 275 to a 300 hitter with some power. He will be a good clutch hitter as he had 5 RBI’s on 9 hits.

Carlos Machado

From Venezuela, 25 years old. He’s 6-2, 170 LBS, he plays the outfield and throws/bats right-handed. He was a Free Agent signing in 2014 with the Houston Astros. Carlos was on the Greenville Astros around the time Manager Rodgers was managing, so there is prior history with Machado. Now, I’m going off the Baseball Reference page and it shows that Carlos has not played since 2022, and that was 1 game in the Frontier League with Tri-City. Carlos played 6 seasons in the Astros organization, reaching Triple-A in 2021.

Looking at his 7 seasons combining Affiliated ball, Foreign ball, and Frontier League. He played 271 games, had 951 at-bats, scored 122 times, got 276 hits, 30 doubles, 9 triples, 6 home runs, and 105 RBIs. He stole 44 bases and got caught 19 times. He walked 51 times and struck out 147. Looking at his averages, his batting average was .290, OBP .337, SLG .360, and OPS .697. His fielding percentage was .984.

Carlos may not have the power a normal outfielder typically has, but he seems to be a top 3 hitter in the order. He’s a player with a higher batting average and on-base percentage, which is something the RailCats lacked last year. So, I believe Lamarr is filling the lineup with players that can get on base and have clutch hitting, something the ‘Cats lacked last year. I have a feeling the power-hitting players are coming, but you have to soak up those players that are productive before they go somewhere else.