[ayaghmour2]

As I was writing my End of Season Review (which will come out sometime today), I got news that my trade has officially materialized! Last offseason, the Gothams GM reached out to me to let me know that he'd be interested in bringing Jim Lonardo back home to finish off his career. At the time, I wasn't too interested, but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. Lonardo is getting old, but is still effective at 39, so if I wanted anything for him I'd have to move quickly. Since then, we've added Art White and we'll get Harry Parker back next season, so we don't really need Lonardo. The Gothams were shopping a player I've been a fan of for a while, so while the season isn't officially over, we began working on a swap to send the former Allen Winner back to the team that drafted him way back in 1925. Lonardo, Bunny Hufford, and prospects Cy Howard and Jimmy Maness were shipped off to the Big Apple for the angry and hard throwing Rusty Petrick, as well as the first pick in the 4th Round.

This ended a 4 and a half year stint in Chicago for Lonardo, who made 141 starts in a Cougar uniform. The righty went 71-53 with a 3.46 ERA (108 ERA+), 1.24 WHIP, 215 walks, and 265 strikeouts in 1,145.2 innings pitched. Lonardo threw 200 or more innings in each of his full seasons as a Cougar, extending his personal streak to 16 consecutive seasons. The first 10 came with the Gothams, including three Allen Award winning seasons. He led the league in wins three times, strikeouts twice, WHIP twice, BB/9 five times, BABIP once, and WAR twice. All told, Lonardo went 162-124 with a 3.73 ERA (121 ERA+), 1.27 WHIP, 510 walks, and 969 strikeouts. Lonardo has been one of the more reliable and durable arms, one of the few to reach 4,000 career innings, and Lonardo has done it with an excellent 3.57 ERA (119 ERA+) and 1.26 WHIP. He'll give the Gothams a great leader to help support all-world starter Ed Bowman, and eat innings for a team that might not be winning many games.

The 4th Round pick was a nice add too, as I'd love a repeat of Duke Bybee, but the deal really hinges on the well traveled Petrick. A former 1st Round selection back in 1933, the Gothams traded him before he even pitched a game in their organization, packaging him with three picks and three former Cougars (Jim Mason, Oscar King, and Bill Marshall) for future Hall of Famer Rabbit Day. Petrick then threw a no-hitter in his first pro start and was named the #20 prospect in all of baseball. He toiled around in the minors for a few seasons, striking out a ton while walking just as much, before debuting at 21 during the 1937 season. It was for a bad Cannons team, so Rusty was just 10-20 with a 4.46 ERA (91 ERA+), 1.60 WHIP, 174 walks, and 147 strikeouts. The walks were easily most in the CA, but even with the inconsistency, the talent was always apparent. Petrick had varying success in the next four seasons, before being part of another deal, returning to the Gothams for a 1st Round Pick. He had a rough return to New York and led the league with 19 losses, but Petrick looked like the 1st Round talent many thought he could last season. Petrick led the Fed with 36 starts and 295.2 innings pitched, going 20-12 with a 2.98 ERA (120 ERA+) and 1.41 WHIP. His 168 walks and 178 strikeouts were also the highest in the league, and Petrick was worth nearly 5 wins above average. With the loss of his capable middle infield in Mule Monier and Roosevelt Brewer, Petrick's production nosedived, and he was even sent to the pen for a bit. Petrick went just 8-15 with a 4.41 ERA (78 ERA+), 1.60 WHIP, 125 walks, and 116 strikeouts. That was the fourth time Petrick led the league in walks, and he's walked 100 or more hitters in each of his seasons with 150 or more innings pitched.

So why are we after Petrick? This is a guy who for his career is 70-102 with a 4.22 ERA (92 ERA+) and 1.57 WHIP with a very high 5.4 BB/9 and 5.1 K/9. Well, as evidenced by a large part of our rotation, I'm more then okay with taking on guys who walk a lot. Everyone's favorite fireballer Peter the Heater has a matching BB/9, so does "The Patron Saint of Groundballs" Johnnie Jones. And just like those two, Petrick induces a ton of groundballs and can really rack up the strikeouts. Petrick has elite stuff, featuring a mid 90s cutter that really gets in on right handed hitters. His curve, slider, and change are all above average pitches, and they have insane movement and he can get a ton of whiffs on them. Petrick will almost never give up a homer, just a 0.5 HR/9 which is very similar to the crafty southpaw Dick Lyons. Harry Mead is an excellent catcher, and has done a good job commanding our wild hurlers. Add in two elite defenders up the middle in Clark Car and Skipper Schneider, and we should be able to get the most out of Petrick. Plus he'll be 28 in November, and there could be a little more potential we can wring out of him. Petrick expands our depth in the rotation, which I'm hoping to make a six man if we can stay healthy and out of the military. I'd love to sport a rotation of White, Parker, Brown, Lyons, Jones, and Petrick, with all six available out of the pen if needed. With a ton of options to start games, we can deal with Rusty's inconsistencies a bit, and I'm very confident he'll improve with our infield defense. I'm chasing upside here, as Petrick is a real boom or bust arm, and he arguably has the biggest gap between floor and ceiling in the FABL.

Will there be more moves? I'm not too sure... There's a few players I'd love to add to our roster, but our farm is low on top ranked prospects, and the two we have (Otto Christian and Duke Bybee) aren't going to be moved. It may be a slow offseason, but we definitely have the talent to compete again. With a little more luck, we should be in it come the last week of the season, but other then our hole in center (which may not need to be filled), there's not too much we need to change.