Time to head into another offseason. This one will probably be dragged out longer than the usual day or two as I'm waiting for OOTP23 to come out Tuesday with its enhanced "shop a player" features. But first a look at the newest trophy:
Some significant news:
* Owner Jorge Rios has given me a payroll of $190M. I never spend to the limits but we're going to need most of it with several key players due for substantial raises in arbitration.
* Brad Jackson has opted out of the final two years of his contract and will be a free agent. Along with Johnny Soland leaving, this will give us two rotation slots to fill. One will go to Joel Gird but unless we re-sign Jackson we'll need another starter. Of course we can always move Jose Mendoza or Jon Harbour to the rotation.
* MLB has increased the size of the secondary (40-man) roster to 42, which will help with flexibility although it seems the last couple of years we haven't maxed it out nor lost anyone significant in Rule 5, so it may not be a big deal.
* We're doing this:
Those numbers above reflect his time with the Rays; he retired with 447 HR in total. He's our all-time leader in HR, RBI and SLG and 4th in total WAR.
Other notable retirements include a long-time OF mainstay and teammate of Ayala's with the Rays, Dayle Jenkins; Josh Hanna, who went 36-10 in 2035-36 in our rotation; former Rangers ace and 2030 Cy Young winner Victor Presas; and former Rays relievers Steve Abeles and Pat Dorminy.
* We have a new scouting director. The only one we've ever known all these years, Rob Metzler, has retired. We hired Paul Taboni who's rated as "good" but of course is no Metzler.
Roster thoughts for the offseason by position:
C: Tony Cordova was excellent last year and will remain the #1 catcher. Jeff Baer was good as well but Nelson Bocardo really deserves to be on the big club so I will be shopping Baer.
1B: Seth Williams was productive even if he isn't the classic slugger-type at the position. It seems as though he's settled in to being a good 3-4 WAR player rather than the superstar he looked he was going to be after his first couple of years.
2B: Josh Beckett is getting expensive, and while .340 career hitters don't grow on trees he's been more of a .310 guy the last couple of years so he's a possible trade candidate, especially with Tomas Laboy capable of playing the position.
SS: Dave Frick is great and going nowhere.
3B: Luis Barela. Looking at a 3rd straight MVP. He settled with us before arbitration on a $25M contract for next season but obviously more than worth it.
LF: Mike Willis. Willis will be traded, he's angry about his role on the team even though he's got 4 rings and plays on the long side of the platoon. We have Mario Saro more than ready to step in to an OF role and trading him will free up LF for Jose Mendez every day who put up 5.2 WAR in 3/4 of a full season's at-bats and is a better defender.
CF: Dan Gregory is set there, another fine season behind him and will probably reclaim his Gold Glove this year. He's a still a bit fragile but that's why we have Chris Parham.
RF: Doug Johns is set, his lack of homers was a bit disappointing but I'm chalking it up as aberration especially after he clubbed 3 in the Series.
DH: Josh Alexander. He could be the surprise guy I deal, again he's gotten expensive ($22M) and is under team control for only one more year after this. Not sure what his trade market is though.
Bench: If we trade Beckett we'll get another MI to go with Laboy, Mario Saro should claim an OF spot, and Chris Parham will understudy Gregory.
SP: As mentioned above in the Brad Jackson news, right now we've got Ager-Brophy-Bookhart-Gird, and then the 5th starter could be someone we already have (Harbour, Mendoza) or we could acquire one in trade.
RP: Chris Martin is a free agent, he's 36, and our newest scouting report showed he's lost a tick or two of velocity so I doubt we bring him back. We either trade for a big-time reliever or we close with Sato and Forbes. Despite some playoff hiccups, Ed Pretty has re-established himself as a quality setup option, and my new scout likes Doug Combs, who struggled with control during the first half but pitched better in the 2nd. Dan Anderson is dependable in middle relief, and I still hope Ismael Vargas can harness his stuff. At most I see bringing in one guy from outside.