A very active off-season saw over a half-dozen deals to shed salary and then a sudden budget increase where I actually have about $500,000 to play with now.
I had picked up a few veterans who had bad seasons and could get them in cost savings moves like pitchers Wilbur Wood, Tom Walker and John Hiller in those moves that shed about $200,000 but also most of our depth. When I could suddenly add some salary, I dealt a AAA outfielder who has hit over .300 every year but isn't a top 4 outfield prospect for me for a 25 year old pitcher who has struck out 293 in 272 big league innings over a few years of being a swingman, William Sheets.
I am very excited for this coming year with the above additions and earlier acquiring Joe Torre. My fan interest has gone from 53 to 69 and when combined with a 10% ticket price drop, our season tickets are up 40% and we still have a few months before opening day. If projections are correct our revenue would be up 80% this year. That would be great timing with free agency coming up in a few years and top minor league top prospects are starting to reach AAA now. I can see all 3 of my OF that just got to AAA being good major leaguers in 2-3 years. Then at AA I have my top 3 prospects, Eddie Murray (#5 in baseball), Ed Kurpiel (#13) and Roy Howell (#19).
In the amateur draft, the top 10 were:
1)Dale Murphy-Rangers
2)Lance Parrish-Twins (Twins went from 4 straight WS to the 2nd pick in 2 years)
3)Roy Smalley-Dodgers
4)Lonnie Smith-Cubs
5)Terry Puhl-Expos
6)Willie Wilson-White Sox
7)Steve Henderson-Pirates
8)Mark Luckich-Padres
9)Tony Bernezard-Brewers
10)Gerry Templeton-Reds
We took RF Rupert Jones at #21.We need pitching prospects badly, but there have been few top ones available. My plan is to just stockpile bats in the system and trade them for arms once they develop.
My 2nd round pick was a LF named Alfredo Edmead. I had thought he was a fictional player but I had googled him and he had a single season in A going .314/.329/.429, stole 61 bases and was considered a top prospect for the Pirates. In his 2nd spring training however, he tragically became the youngest pro player to be killed in an on-field accident. See this link....tragic.
https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/06/18/al...th-daily-cover
“There wasn’t anything that young man at 18 couldn’t do on a baseball field,” says former catcher Sal Butera, a Blue Jays scout who played for the Lynchburg (Va.) Twins that year. “He was probably the best player on the team, and he was very young. If he grew into his full potential, he would have been a major league All-Star for many, many years.”