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Art Deco · 08-13-2022, 05:55 PM

The current state of the team:

If you had told me we'd win the World Series without a single homer from Kelly Crumpton I would said you're crazy. But that's what we did - a mark of the depth and quality we had.

We will be saying goodbye to a few of our 2029 contributors, most notably our closer Yasunari Uehara and primary setup guy Tommy Doyle, whom Stu Sternberg wants me to re-sign. Doyle wants a 4/50 extension which...sorry, ain't gonna happen. Here's our salary structure for 2030 (as always those set to make the minimum aren't listed):

We can keep the band together for about $118-120M, and Stu's given me a $150M payroll so no major cost-cutting is on the horizon. When I acquired JT Realmuto last season my thought was let's let him help us in 28 and then we don't have to play him so much in 29 that his contract vests for 30. But he was so good for us that I've never been so glad to have a contract vest. He'll be 39 next season but he's shown no signs of slowing down and was great with the staff. Also we were done a favor by Victor Robles who had such a good year with Cleveland that he opted out of the contract we were still partially on the hook for, saving us about $5M.

On the list above the only value I don't like that much is Ed Howard at $8.4M. He's been a solid contributor for us the last several seasons but he dropped off last year (including a six-week injury) from the 3-4 WAR guy he was to one who earned 1.8 and was only 224/308/373 in the playoffs. What he has going for him is that I don't have a ready replacement as top prospect Nate Strickland is still a couple of years away and others like Brad Manross and Brennon McNair aren't really improvements. Manross was OK as a Rule 5 guy but he may be ticketed for Durham this year to work on his hitting. Getting back to Howard I'll be shopping him to see what we can get.

Otherwise, Realmuto is set behind the plate with Collins or Cartaya as his backup, Crumpton, Franco and Seise look set at 1B-SS-3B, and Kim/Gutierrez/Baez looks like the OF with Greckel as the primary DH. The rotation should be Hays/Baumeister/Prosecky/Ortiz with the fifth starter coming from Panzini, Kendall Williams, Wennington Romero, Dave Cedeno or prospects like Parker Detmers or Brad Garrard. I've given up on Slade Cecconi as anything but an emergency starter but Landon Knack intrigues me as a starter if he doesn't end up our closer. Speaking of closers, I'll miss our Uehara security blanket but rookies Kevin DiCostanzo and Mike Moore will join Knack, Megill and Fulton at the back end of the pen and if they don't work out I can move for an established closer during the season. Elvis Garcia could also be in the mix somewhere. Bottom line is that internal options abound.

Not making a qualifying offer to Uehara because he might accept it.

08-13-2022, 05:55 PM	#799
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,724	2029-30 Offseason: State of the Team The current state of the team: If you had told me we'd win the World Series without a single homer from Kelly Crumpton I would said you're crazy. But that's what we did - a mark of the depth and quality we had. We will be saying goodbye to a few of our 2029 contributors, most notably our closer Yasunari Uehara and primary setup guy Tommy Doyle, whom Stu Sternberg wants me to re-sign. Doyle wants a 4/50 extension which...sorry, ain't gonna happen. Here's our salary structure for 2030 (as always those set to make the minimum aren't listed): We can keep the band together for about $118-120M, and Stu's given me a $150M payroll so no major cost-cutting is on the horizon. When I acquired JT Realmuto last season my thought was let's let him help us in 28 and then we don't have to play him so much in 29 that his contract vests for 30. But he was so good for us that I've never been so glad to have a contract vest. He'll be 39 next season but he's shown no signs of slowing down and was great with the staff. Also we were done a favor by Victor Robles who had such a good year with Cleveland that he opted out of the contract we were still partially on the hook for, saving us about $5M. On the list above the only value I don't like that much is Ed Howard at $8.4M. He's been a solid contributor for us the last several seasons but he dropped off last year (including a six-week injury) from the 3-4 WAR guy he was to one who earned 1.8 and was only 224/308/373 in the playoffs. What he has going for him is that I don't have a ready replacement as top prospect Nate Strickland is still a couple of years away and others like Brad Manross and Brennon McNair aren't really improvements. Manross was OK as a Rule 5 guy but he may be ticketed for Durham this year to work on his hitting. Getting back to Howard I'll be shopping him to see what we can get. Otherwise, Realmuto is set behind the plate with Collins or Cartaya as his backup, Crumpton, Franco and Seise look set at 1B-SS-3B, and Kim/Gutierrez/Baez looks like the OF with Greckel as the primary DH. The rotation should be Hays/Baumeister/Prosecky/Ortiz with the fifth starter coming from Panzini, Kendall Williams, Wennington Romero, Dave Cedeno or prospects like Parker Detmers or Brad Garrard. I've given up on Slade Cecconi as anything but an emergency starter but Landon Knack intrigues me as a starter if he doesn't end up our closer. Speaking of closers, I'll miss our Uehara security blanket but rookies Kevin DiCostanzo and Mike Moore will join Knack, Megill and Fulton at the back end of the pen and if they don't work out I can move for an established closer during the season. Elvis Garcia could also be in the mix somewhere. Bottom line is that internal options abound. Not making a qualifying offer to Uehara because he might accept it.