This might well be our last hurrah for a wee while as a lot of the core guys who have been with us long-term age out or come to the end of their contracts over the next few years. We'll be assessing things over that period to see if we finally have to do the long-promised tear-down or can manage to navigate those stormy seas without capsizing or being submerged completely.
Gorman and - almost certainly - Derrell will walk at season-end, as will guys like Stennett and Taveras, and we expect Pops to call time. Our pitching is more a 4-6 year thing so we're fairly OK in that department but the position players we'll be left with for 1983 and thereabouts ain't pretty. The trade / FA limits mean we'll have to try pull some moves earlier than we otherwise might just to cushion the blow as much as possible.
At some point in the not-too-distant future I'll tick up either the FA tickets from 1 to 2, the trade tickets from 3 to 4 or the ringer allotment from 3 to 4; perhaps even a couple of those. But I want to see what happens when Barry Bonds comes in as I don't want to go back to being dominant. Not that the early version of him was overpoweringly good, but I'd prefer to err on the side of conservatism for now. We've had a good old run although no titles in six seasons. Rebuilds are fun, anyway. Or perhaps
challenging is the better word.
Here's all of the financial details as at OD: