As is custom we start the second half of our offseason report with the results of the Hall of Fame voting:
Congrats to Acuna, Jimenez and Rutschman. The latter two were rentals for us with Jimenez a rare moderately successful one, hitting 275/315/544 with 14 HR and 36 RBI in 51 games in 2031 as part of a career-high 57-homer season (the first 2/3 of which were spent at Coors Field), although we were bounced in the ALDS that year with Eloy going 0-16. That was one of only four years in which his teams made the postseason.
Rutschman meanwhile was one of the all-time rental busts for us the year before (2030). He hit 213/302/355 with only 4 HR and 23 RBI in 44 games after batting 313/382/589 for the first four months in Baltimore. He didn't fare any better in the postseason at 208/271/245 (yes he only slugged .245) in 53 AB with no homers but despite his lack of contribution he still picked up a ring, the only one of his otherwise-stellar career.
Elsewhere Rafael Devers' run at 75% bounced back some; after getting 68% in 2042 he fell back to 47% but jumped again 15 points. Shohei Ohtani also made an impressive first-year showing at 62%. Not shown here is Manny Machado dropping off the ballot at 14%, along with first-timers falling short of 5% such as Matt Chapman and former Rays Daniel Espino, Brandon Marsh, Gabriel Moreno and Connor Kirkley.
Best injury yet:
Also one of our former stars has decided to throw away his money by opening a restaurant:
Good luck Jon, you'll need it!
January 12: Another former Ray is on the move as Vinny Willard leaves Cincinnati for Milwaukee on a 1-year deal paying him just over $1M. Seems like a bargain since he was worth 2.3 WAR last year going 7-5, 3.41 although he is coming off a partially torn labrum.
January 14: The Dodgers continue to bolster their rotation. After signing former Cub and NL Cy Young winner Raul Robles last month they traded with Texas to get Chris Blain, who was 18-4 in 2042 with Chicago and 8-5, 3.40 with 2.3 WAR last year between the White Sox and the Rangers.
January 22: Former Rays starter Nate Schultz, who had a great bounceback year with the Yankees last season after losing 20 with Arizona in 2042, decided to go back where he struggled as he signed a 2/41.6 deal with the D-backs.
January 26: Edgar Suarez, who did a nice job for us out of the pen after being acquired from the Padres at mid-season last year, became the rare free agent to go back to the team he was traded from as he rejoined the Padres on a 1/2.5 deal.
February 2: We actually received a decent trade offer from the AI for a change as Colorado offered us Andy Randall for 18-year-old prospect Jon Morales. Randall was a 4-WAR player who led the NL in OPS last year at .931 playing in Coors (his home OPS was 1.011 while his road was .861, although Publix Park is a pretty good home park to hit in as well). He's only 25 and making the minimum this year but is due for arbitration next year, projected for $5M. Of course the problem is that we don't have a lineup opening for him - he plays a 40 RF and we have 5 good outfielders already, and our DH is spoken for by a perennial MVP candidate named Josh Alexander. However Alexander gets very expensive next year, projected for $22M in arbitration the next two seasons. Very intriguing, though. Morales is the #34 prospect in baseball but will he develop into someone who leads the league in OPS? Stay tuned on this one as I'll leave the 14-day window to make the deal open.
February 8: Former Ray Ron Adams, once one of the brightest young pitching prospects before injuries derailed his career, can still get teams to pay him $ despite being "wrecked" as Seattle went 2/12.6 for a guy who only pitched 83 innings last year.
February 15: Decided to pass on that Rockies offer for now; if I need a cheaper alternative for Alexander next year I have plenty of time to find one.
February 22: The Rockies sent former Rays star 3B Bo Angeac to Arizona (which is where we traded him to for Josh Beckett, Jon Callahan and Doug Combs many years ago) for a couple of minor leaguers. Angeac is now 38 but led the NL in slugging at .556 playing in Coors last year with 36 HR and 112 RBI so there's still something left in the tank.
A free agent signing!
This year's veteran reliever on a 1-year deal is Chris Martin, not to be confused with the Coldplay lead singer (who would now be 67) or the former MLB reliever who pitched for Atlanta in the teens and 20s (who would now be 57). Our Martin as you can see from the career numbers above is a long-time lefty veteran closer who still has 80 stuff and saved 32 games for Houston last year. The only negative is that he's rated "fragile" and he is 36, so we'll see how much we get from him. But he was the best reliever on the free agent market and fills our needs.
February 27: Claimed P Jimmy Leonard on waivers from the New York Yankees; waived and designated P Alex Stephens for assignment.
Jimmy Leonard is back! Well not
that Jimmy Leonard. This one was a first-round pick of the Yanks in 2039 but they put him on waivers. He's more a control/command guy with 60 movement and control, and 55 (potential 60) stuff as a reliever. He can also start but his stuff is rated 45/55 for that. He has options so he was intriguing as a free flyer. Well not completely free, as the Chris Martin signing filled up our 40-man roster so we waived Stephens once again to make room for him. We'll probably get him back and see if he's willing to go to Durham again.
March 22: Despite a 33-HR, 101-RBI season last year with Minnesota (one that albeit came with a .223 BA), former Rays slugger Pat Moyer had to settle for a minor league deal with the Angels.