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Art Deco · 08-04-2023, 11:20 PM

Another huge batch of retirements were announced after the World Series.

Notables: Aaron Nola, Ian Happ, Gary Sanchez, JT Realmuto, Jacob deGrom (Mets retired his #38), Marcus Semien, Javier Baez, Max Fried, Zach Eflin, Kris Bryant, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Brandon Woodruff, Austin Hays, Eric Hosmer, Andrew Benintendi, Raisel Iglesias.

Only one former Ray of note retired and it was a big one: Blake Snell, who won the 2018 Cy Young with Tampa Bay.

November 7: Signed 3B Marco Luciano to a 3/16.5 extension.

As expected. We now have a 3B for next season.

Awards season:

Gold Gloves: No Tampa Bay winners.

Reliever of the Year: Well this is a shock:

OOTP's Reliever of the Year awards always seem to be the goofiest and this one was no exception. Riley had a nice year as a setup guy (1.9 WAR) but Reliever of the Year? C'mon. I voted for Hernandez, who earned 2.9 WAR and had 50 saves. In the NL the winner was Atlanta's Will Vest with 21 first-place votes to Josh Hader's 9 and while Vest was excellent with 46 saves, a microscopic 0.49 ERA and 3.6 WAR, Hader earned the first 5.0 WAR season from a reliever I've noticed in my saves, sporting an 0.51 ERA, 32 saves, 125 whiffs and 0(!) HR allowed in 70 IP and got my vote.

Silver Sluggers: Wander's excellent season got him the AL award at SS.

Rookie of the Year: Texas C Mike Montoya, who spent most of the year at DH, was a unanimous AL winner after an impressive .296-36-102 season. Our Nelson Haro finished 4th. In the NL Miami 1B Nate McCollum took the honors thanks to a .273-33-85 maiden year.

Cy Young: There was never any doubt here as Texas hurler Robert Ahlstrom, considered the best pitcher in baseball and winner of the pitching Triple Crown in the AL, was a unanimous winner. He was 19-6, 2.23 with 291 whiffs in 230 IP. The Dodgers' Trevor Rogers won in the NL with 21 first-place votes after a 16-7, 3.17 year with 234 Ks in 210 IP. Rogers' teammate and former Ray Luis Patino (18-4, 3.19) finished second and picked up 3 first-place votes.

MVP: It was a photo finish between two Toronto teammates for the AL MVP with Bo Bichette (16 first-place votes, 349 points) edging out Vlad Guerrero Jr (14,339). Bo had a huge .340-45-120 year culminating in a World Series title and led MLB in WAR with 9.8. Wander Franco finished 4th. In the NL the winner was San Diego's Fernando Tatis Jr., his 2nd MVP having won in 2023. Tatis garnered 29 of the 30 first-place votes with a .299-42-131, 8.5-WAR season.

November 25: We lost our only arbitration case with Taj Bradley getting $4.6M instead of the $4.2M we proposed but it will hardly make a dent in the $ we have to spend this winter. Also Zach DeLoach and John Swanda both turned down qualifying offers so we'll net a couple of high draft picks next year.

November 30: We have a trade!

We have our closer as Rodriguez boasts 80 stuff and 60 movement. (And 35 control, but we won't talk about that). He fanned an astounding 123 men in 61 IP last season, giving him Edwin Diaz-like strikeout numbers without as good control. But as long as we don't bring him into a bases-loaded situation we should be OK and he's only making $1.6M. Lumas was our #1 pick in 2027 but has seen his ratings slashed to the point where he looks like a marginal big leaguer.

December 4: First big free-agent signing as Joey Gallo joins (re-joins) the Dodgers on a 2/42 deal. In this universe Gallo has been a consistent 35-40 HR guy and has managed to keep his BA on the right side of the Mendoza line.

December 5: 33-year-old C Tyler Stephenson got a 5/108 deal from the White Sox. While Stephenson is good this seems pricey and lengthy for a catcher well past 30.

December 11: Veteran OF Bryan Reynolds joins Atlanta for 4/81 while 3B Bobby Witt Jr. signs a massive 7/182 deal with the Phillies, leaving the only team he knew in Kansas City. Witt won't be available until mid-season as he's recovering from a torn PCL.

December 12: Old friend Pete Fairbanks inked a 1/3.5 contract with the Cubs.

December 13: Jake Cousins, who spent most of 2029 in our pen, joined the Phillies for 1/3. Meanwhile Baltimore won the draft lottery, moving up from the 5th spot.

December 15: Corbin Carroll, who had to settle for a 1-year-deal with the Dodgers last year and had a bounceback season, inked a 3/47 pact with Atlanta.

December 20: A free agent signing for us!

We get the lefty reliever we were looking for - Gonzalez is rated 55/65/60 and has earned 3.3 WAR combined over the previous two seasons with Miami.

December 21: Our closer of the past two seasons Edwin Diaz is now a Brewer on a 2/22 deal.

December 22: And there goes our CF of the last several years as Zach DeLoach joins the San Antonio Seagulls (formerly the Pirates) on a 6/106 deal. He's 31 now and slipped last year so I'm not optimistic about that contract. We net a supplemental 1st-round pick out of it.

December 23: The Phillies have been spending on their bullpen and they signed one of the best today, longtime Cardinal closer Keith Ginkel, to a 2/28 contract. Ginkel saved 249 games in his last 6 full season with St. Louis. Speaking of star closers, Milwaukee sent 35-year-old Josh Hader to the Angels for a prospect as Hader enters the final year of his contract.

December 26: It says something about the sad state of our farm system that there really wasn't anyone exciting worth adding to the 40-man to protect from the Rule 5 draft. We did add 3B Cam Collier and Jose Marsh, mainly because we had a ton of spots (and still only have 34 on the roster which tells you a lot). Collier, once a touted prospect, was a minor league signing last year and Marsh was a draft pick a while back and both are viewed as depth only. Of course if there's someone worth taking in Rule 5 we have more than enough room.

December 27: 22 players went in the Rule 5 draft, none of which were ours. There was one reliever I would have taken but Seattle snapped him up at #6. A few once-big names changed teams: Gavin Lux, Dylan Cease and Steven Kwan are were taken but are obviously not who they once were.

The international free agent class always provides some bargains and we inked two of these guys to minor league deals today:

The veteran Kurokawa has a broad-based skill set and is a RH bat, so he has some short-side platoon potential with us.

The Cuban Mesa has a similar skill set to Max Viera, a guy who's been up and down for us in recent seasons (and who's still at Durham), but with a much better eye albeit the same somewhat suspect D at 2B. Ozzie of course is set there for now and 1B/DH are spoken for as well so Mesa will be a depth guy for now.

December 28: Former Rays starter Luis Castillo has joined the Mets on a 2/20 deal. He's lost some stuff since getting hurt with Cleveland after he left us and had a 4.61 ERA last year.

December 29: And there goes Josh Swanda as our former ace signed a big 6/140 deal with Detroit. We net another compensatory first-rounder, giving us 3 high picks next year as we need to rebuild our lousy farm system.

08-04-2023, 11:20 PM	#657
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,080	2029-30 Offseason, Part 1 Another huge batch of retirements were announced after the World Series. Notables: Aaron Nola, Ian Happ, Gary Sanchez, JT Realmuto, Jacob deGrom (Mets retired his #38), Marcus Semien, Javier Baez, Max Fried, Zach Eflin, Kris Bryant, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Brandon Woodruff, Austin Hays, Eric Hosmer, Andrew Benintendi, Raisel Iglesias. Only one former Ray of note retired and it was a big one: Blake Snell, who won the 2018 Cy Young with Tampa Bay. November 7: Signed 3B Marco Luciano to a 3/16.5 extension. As expected. We now have a 3B for next season. Awards season: Gold Gloves: No Tampa Bay winners. Reliever of the Year: Well this is a shock: OOTP's Reliever of the Year awards always seem to be the goofiest and this one was no exception. Riley had a nice year as a setup guy (1.9 WAR) but Reliever of the Year? C'mon. I voted for Hernandez, who earned 2.9 WAR and had 50 saves. In the NL the winner was Atlanta's Will Vest with 21 first-place votes to Josh Hader's 9 and while Vest was excellent with 46 saves, a microscopic 0.49 ERA and 3.6 WAR, Hader earned the first 5.0 WAR season from a reliever I've noticed in my saves, sporting an 0.51 ERA, 32 saves, 125 whiffs and 0(!) HR allowed in 70 IP and got my vote. Silver Sluggers: Wander's excellent season got him the AL award at SS. Rookie of the Year: Texas C Mike Montoya, who spent most of the year at DH, was a unanimous AL winner after an impressive .296-36-102 season. Our Nelson Haro finished 4th. In the NL Miami 1B Nate McCollum took the honors thanks to a .273-33-85 maiden year. Cy Young: There was never any doubt here as Texas hurler Robert Ahlstrom, considered the best pitcher in baseball and winner of the pitching Triple Crown in the AL, was a unanimous winner. He was 19-6, 2.23 with 291 whiffs in 230 IP. The Dodgers' Trevor Rogers won in the NL with 21 first-place votes after a 16-7, 3.17 year with 234 Ks in 210 IP. Rogers' teammate and former Ray Luis Patino (18-4, 3.19) finished second and picked up 3 first-place votes. MVP: It was a photo finish between two Toronto teammates for the AL MVP with Bo Bichette (16 first-place votes, 349 points) edging out Vlad Guerrero Jr (14,339). Bo had a huge .340-45-120 year culminating in a World Series title and led MLB in WAR with 9.8. Wander Franco finished 4th. In the NL the winner was San Diego's Fernando Tatis Jr., his 2nd MVP having won in 2023. Tatis garnered 29 of the 30 first-place votes with a .299-42-131, 8.5-WAR season. November 25: We lost our only arbitration case with Taj Bradley getting $4.6M instead of the $4.2M we proposed but it will hardly make a dent in the $ we have to spend this winter. Also Zach DeLoach and John Swanda both turned down qualifying offers so we'll net a couple of high draft picks next year. November 30: We have a trade! We have our closer as Rodriguez boasts 80 stuff and 60 movement. (And 35 control, but we won't talk about that). He fanned an astounding 123 men in 61 IP last season, giving him Edwin Diaz-like strikeout numbers without as good control. But as long as we don't bring him into a bases-loaded situation we should be OK and he's only making $1.6M. Lumas was our #1 pick in 2027 but has seen his ratings slashed to the point where he looks like a marginal big leaguer. December 4: First big free-agent signing as Joey Gallo joins (re-joins) the Dodgers on a 2/42 deal. In this universe Gallo has been a consistent 35-40 HR guy and has managed to keep his BA on the right side of the Mendoza line. December 5: 33-year-old C Tyler Stephenson got a 5/108 deal from the White Sox. While Stephenson is good this seems pricey and lengthy for a catcher well past 30. December 11: Veteran OF Bryan Reynolds joins Atlanta for 4/81 while 3B Bobby Witt Jr. signs a massive 7/182 deal with the Phillies, leaving the only team he knew in Kansas City. Witt won't be available until mid-season as he's recovering from a torn PCL. December 12: Old friend Pete Fairbanks inked a 1/3.5 contract with the Cubs. December 13: Jake Cousins, who spent most of 2029 in our pen, joined the Phillies for 1/3. Meanwhile Baltimore won the draft lottery, moving up from the 5th spot. December 15: Corbin Carroll, who had to settle for a 1-year-deal with the Dodgers last year and had a bounceback season, inked a 3/47 pact with Atlanta. December 20: A free agent signing for us! We get the lefty reliever we were looking for - Gonzalez is rated 55/65/60 and has earned 3.3 WAR combined over the previous two seasons with Miami. December 21: Our closer of the past two seasons Edwin Diaz is now a Brewer on a 2/22 deal. December 22: And there goes our CF of the last several years as Zach DeLoach joins the San Antonio Seagulls (formerly the Pirates) on a 6/106 deal. He's 31 now and slipped last year so I'm not optimistic about that contract. We net a supplemental 1st-round pick out of it. December 23: The Phillies have been spending on their bullpen and they signed one of the best today, longtime Cardinal closer Keith Ginkel, to a 2/28 contract. Ginkel saved 249 games in his last 6 full season with St. Louis. Speaking of star closers, Milwaukee sent 35-year-old Josh Hader to the Angels for a prospect as Hader enters the final year of his contract. December 26: It says something about the sad state of our farm system that there really wasn't anyone exciting worth adding to the 40-man to protect from the Rule 5 draft. We did add 3B Cam Collier and Jose Marsh, mainly because we had a ton of spots (and still only have 34 on the roster which tells you a lot). Collier, once a touted prospect, was a minor league signing last year and Marsh was a draft pick a while back and both are viewed as depth only. Of course if there's someone worth taking in Rule 5 we have more than enough room. December 27: 22 players went in the Rule 5 draft, none of which were ours. There was one reliever I would have taken but Seattle snapped him up at #6. A few once-big names changed teams: Gavin Lux, Dylan Cease and Steven Kwan are were taken but are obviously not who they once were. The international free agent class always provides some bargains and we inked two of these guys to minor league deals today: The veteran Kurokawa has a broad-based skill set and is a RH bat, so he has some short-side platoon potential with us. The Cuban Mesa has a similar skill set to Max Viera, a guy who's been up and down for us in recent seasons (and who's still at Durham), but with a much better eye albeit the same somewhat suspect D at 2B. Ozzie of course is set there for now and 1B/DH are spoken for as well so Mesa will be a depth guy for now. December 28: Former Rays starter Luis Castillo has joined the Mets on a 2/20 deal. He's lost some stuff since getting hurt with Cleveland after he left us and had a 4.61 ERA last year. December 29: And there goes Josh Swanda as our former ace signed a big 6/140 deal with Detroit. We net another compensatory first-rounder, giving us 3 high picks next year as we need to rebuild our lousy farm system.