The Mega Deal
This is a deal that does not involve the Chicago Architects but involves both of the 3rd place teams in the GLBL. The South of the Border Toledo Neptunes (48-38 1 game behind Duluth in the USA)and the North of the Border Toronto Maples (46-40 3 behind 2nd place Owen Sound in Canada) got together and surprised an entire league. All told it is a 9 player deal with 4 players going to Toronto and 5 players headed to Toledo.
Toledo sent 4 starters off their team including 2055 All-Stars 1B Dusty Murphy, LF Dwayne Adams and 2B Carlos Figueroa along with SS Casey Cowley to Toronto. They also shed about $60,000,000 in 2055 salaries (they still owed around 40% of those salaries) and commitments for 2056 for those 4 players that would be closer to $70,000,000. So one might think this is just a salary dump, but here is some commentary from Toledo wise man the Ol' Gaffer.....
The news stunned Neptune fans. On a five game win streak and 1 game out of the playoffs, Neptune management dealt 4 all-star players. This must be an AI tease. It can't be real.
Rumors swirled that Canadian owner Sonny Lenormand (a Toronto native) must have been given the keys to Casa Loma. Others indicated that was a win-win for Sonny. 1) Helping his home town and 2) maximizing his profit in the Neptunes.
The Ol' Gaffer had a more realistic perspective however.
"I know the fans are upset at the moment, but soon they will realize this will improve out club long term and maybe even this year. Yes, it certainly helps financially as we can now keep our pitching staff. At least the starters are the best in the league. But if they are so good, how come we keep losing. Clearly hitting home runs, while exciting, has not proven to be a consistent winner. The per-trade club was 1st 3 years in a row, but only 2 league championships and 1 GLBL crown. Our fans clearly wanted more than that. Also, besides the offensive power that is sometimes displayed, the fans were not coming to the park (just to see us blow a lead.) as attendance was down almost 10%. Championships are built on Pitching, speed and defense and we only had 1 of those ingredients.
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Thanks to our Toledo GM for allowing me to use their comments for this story.
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They did acquire a starting 2B Xing-fu Sen (24) who was hitting 309/363/816 for Toronto and is controlable for 4 more seasons after this one. Sen is an outstanding defensive 2B and is pretty good at SS as well. He appears to be a very capable hitter as well.
Along with Sen Toledo acquired 4 prospects who could become big league players in the near future. They include 21-year-old prospect CF Vaughan Cowley who is #14 overall in the GLBL. Cowley is hitting 336/411/1013 at the AA level. They also grabbed #46 overall SP prospect Steve Powell who is 9-2 with a 3.68 ERA at the class A level. The other two players might be more of a projection but could be capable starters in time 3B Aaron Hill (#136) and CL Roy O'Brien (#148)
So how does this effect Chicago? I was asked by one of our local writers to comment on the deal and what effect it might have on our drive to win the US Division for the first time since 2050. "Some might say Toledo gave up on the season, and maybe they did but who are we to judge. They acquired some fine young talent that is more in line with their pitching and defense philosophy on building a winner. Their pitching could be touted as the best in the US Division especially with young Nick Keddy leading the charge. The feeling from what I gathered is that the attendance is down and their management team felt that this might not be there year. It is still a little early to write them off, but they did lose a chunk of their offense. But they will have a tremendous amount of payroll room to bolster their team via free agency in the off-season, and I have a feeling you will see them be agressive in the International Free Agency pool as well."
So now let's take a dive into the Toronto Maples. The Maples have the top starting led by All-Star (and best pitcher in the league) Motoyuki Inoue who Chicago will get to face later this week. Inoue is 13-3 with a sterling 2.42 ERA which is outstanding in this hitter era of the GLBL. The problem that Toronto has faced more often than not is their offense has not been able to keep up with either Thunder Bay or Owen Sound. For much of the season the Maples have been averaging closer to 4.5 rpg which was last in the Canadian division, but they have had a few offensive outbursts of late and increased it to 4.8 rpg. Still that is barely ahead of Hamilton and Kingston at 4.7 rpg. In contrast Thunder Bay is scoring 6.5 rpg and Owen Sounds is averaging 5.3 rpg. This deal addresses their lack of offensive output and gives their pitching some much need punch from their bats. While the payroll expense is huge for future seasons, the Maples had more than enough room to accomadate the roughly $24 million in remaining commitments for this season.
It is clear Toronto is going all in to nab 2nd place away from Owen Sound. If Toronto makes the playoffs, with the pitching they have they will become a very tough out in the playoffs and could arguably be called the best team in Canada even if they do not catch Thunder Bay who are rolling and leading the division by double digits.
There is no word at this time if Owen Sound is contemplating any moves to counter this offensive by the Maples, but there are still almost 3 full weeks before the trade deadline.
When Thunder Bay was asked for comments, they shurged the deal off and basically said "they were not thinking about the deal at all."
When Duluth was asked about the team, the team spokesman said that Duluth hadn't really thought this would be their year to make the playoffs and there is still no guarantee that they will. They will continue to stay their course, build with their pitching and youngsters and keep building. If they make the playoffs a year ahead of their internal plan, then that is just icing on the cake.
Will there be anymore deals in the GLBL? The most likely team is probably Owen Sound as the Waverunners are 3 games up on Toronto but have to feel that the Maples are much more of a threat now than they previously were.
On the other side of the equation with the trade deadline nearing, will Chicago make any further moves or are they set. GM Maritn simply stated, "We are always looking at ways to stregthen the club both now and for the future. So time will tell....."