Quote:
Originally Posted by Orcin
Did the scouting rating change on the AI side? If so, why doesn't it look different for you?
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I guess they changed their mind about Ruíz. So did I. In May we both thought he'd come around. He didn't. I wouldn't do the trade the other way round, either.
First I was too much of a chicken, then they blew through their budget in the draft and couldn't take on Ruíz' salary and I couldn't work out a deal to still get him by taking on an old slacker off their roster.
Now it's a part of history.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Orcin
Ok, back to your game now.  |
Okay.
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We made one last all-out offer to Bill Smith on December 15: five years at $800k each, plus incentives. He accepted that one for further review.
One thing was clear, though: if we sign Smith, we lose our first round pick to Vancouver, and have to trade Ruíz, no matter what, since otherwise we will be over-budget the moment the season starts. With the offer to Smith, the projected budget room decreased to $379k, which would then reduce itself to (less than) zero once the 40-man roster guys would be subtracted. Ruíz makes $500k this year. So, in a way, we’d pay $300k for a significant upgrade.
We waited on a response, which came the day after Christmas. He was getting a better offer from the Condors, which was bad news, since those $4M were already hard on the edge of can’t-give-no-more. (We still would have to cut lose Ruíz before the season would start, too). We upped to $4.3M on the same day, which almost ripped me apart. All that money!
December 17 – New year, new team: Lowell “Wacky” Booth will close for the Titans this year and will get $600k for his services. Booth has 247 career saves and last year had a 0.78 ERA for the Condors. The Titans also add SP Jorge Valdes (94-68, 3.11 ERA all with Denver) at a $2.72M for four years rate.
December 18 – Superstar INF Hector Atilano (.322, 132 HR, 816 RBI in 1,496 G) is signed by the Canadiens. Atilano, 35, will make $1.91M over two years.
December 21 – The Knights keep stacking them, as they add 3B Luis Barrera for 6-yr, $4.23M. Barrera, 30, has hit .283 with 103 homers in his career with the Warriors.
December 21 – CL Domingo Rivera joins the Buffaloes for 2-yr, $1.24M. Rivera has 161 career saves and a 2.07 ERA.
December 24 – Former Coon C Enrique Sanchez (.259, 71 HR, 468 RBI) is signed by the Warriors for 4-yr, $2.44M. Sanchez, 32, was one of the main offense generators for the Crusaders last year, homering 17 times. Warriors fans get even more to rave about for Christmas, as the team also signs 1B Raul Flores for 6-yr, $4.35M. Flores has a career .309 average, but hits for below-average power given his position.
December 25 – Ex-Thunder INF Scott Spivey, a career .274 hitter with zero power, signs with the Buffaloes for 6-yr, $4.53M. Spivey had his best season last year, batting .307 for Oklahoma.
January 2 – Ex-Coon 1B Matt Workman keeps bouncing, being traded by the Cyclones to the Wolves, along with a minor leaguer, for 1B Mario Andres. Workman is a career .275 batter, who has not found a place to play regularly since being traded by the Coons in mid-1985.
January 6 – The Raccoons send minors infielder Jose Munoz, 19, to Washington for 17-yr old outfield prospect Vern Kinnear.
Christopher Powell has announced his retirement by now, so no draft pick for us, but in a way I am glad he did. Apart from that half season with the Gold Sox, he’s been a Raccoon since mid-1977. He’ll always be one of us, in our hearts.
Bill Smith called on January 10. The Bayhawks had apparently out-bid us. (sobs) He gave us time for a counter-offer. I looked at the cash cache in the office, found it almost empty, but it was enough to re-up our offer once more. *Once* more. We need a quick decision here. There are a few more starters on the free agent market, none of which thrills me as much as Smith does, but Ruíz hasn’t thrilled me either last year.
January 23 – Lost out: SP Bill Smith joins the Dallas Stars. Smith (117-100, 3.24 ERA) will make $4.45M over five years (which is exactly the amount of our last offer).
Well. That’s a blow.
There are four experienced and meaningful free agent SP’s remaining. Carlos Castro and Johnny Brown are type A free agents, demand a ton of money, but are at least one level below Smith ability-wise. William Williams is 37 and asking for a 5-year deal. Fernando Vigil has never been an ace. He would be an option, but the question is whether we’d not be better off staying with Ruíz instead of piling money on Vigil.
Wow, this blows…