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Offseason - budget
We currently have about $5.7 million available in our budget to add players for 1994 and about $12-$14 million for the next few years.
The players the immediately jump out to us are
1B Fred McGriff – the left-handed first baseman just helped beat us in the World Series, so, if you can't beat then, acquire them? Hollins was bad last season, we want to get better from the left side. Ownership wants us to improve first base and acquire a power hitter. It's a perfect fit, no?
C Mickey Tettleton – similar to McGriff. We thought about signing him two years ago when he signed with the Mets. He's a switch hitter who has massive power and draws a ton of walks. But, he's coming off a poor season of his own.
1B Paul Molitor – not left-handed, but a fantastic hitter.
C Mike Stanley – also right-handed, he's played first, but doesn't look very good there.
There are some fantastic pitchers available: Mark Langston, Roger Clemens, Tom Glavine...
But, part of the reason we didn't re-sign Langston is that we've got Belcher and Hershiser coming up on free agency after the season and we don't want to lock ourselves into too many long term deals with starting pitchers. We might be more interested in making a trade for a starter or signing someone to a shorter term contract than we figure those guys will be asking for.
That said, Glavine is just 27, so a longer term deal with him might be enough to get us to alter our plans
Beyond that, with left-handed hitting Scott Cooper taking over for Gaetti at third base, we're not sure if we want the left-handed Donnels as the backup corner infielder or if we'd rather find a right-handed hitter. Also, we still love Mike Benjamin's defense but we're not sure he'll hit enough and with Offerman's struggles last year, we might want to shore up the backup SS/2B as well.
We have had some very preliminary trade discussions regarding some starters.
Last season the Reds offered us Jack Armstrong. He finished with 199 innings in 31 starts, a 114 ERA+ and 104 FIP-. He's got about $1 million left on his contract that expires after this season.
Also former Dodger Dave Stewart. 220 innings in 37 starts. 112 ERA-, 96 FIP-. Stewart has 1 year and $1.7 million left.
Another former Dodger Mike Morgan. 116 innings in 20 starts. 99 ERA+, 88 FIP- with Toronto. Morgan has 2 years and $4.4 million remaining.
Zane Smith – 162 innings, 26 starts, 82 ERA+, 107 FIP-. Zane has $2.7 million and a player option for $2.7 million for next season.
The Expos are thought to be listening on Cecil Fielder who hit 43 home runs with a 132 wRC+ last season. He's got 2 years and about $2.5 million on his deal.
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