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Art Deco · 06-13-2024, 02:51 PM

We kicked the offseason with a big trade:

It was no secret we were looking to deal Brandon Lowe and deal him we did, obtaining a promising young outfielder in return. I'm not sure what plans the defending World Series champs have for Lowe but it's not my problem. Kjerstad will slide into LF and have a shot at playing every day since his platoon ratings aren't that bad. So with the guys we're non-tendering the payroll should clock in at about $71-72M.

Notable retirements around MLB: Joey Votto, Elvis Andrus, Yuli Gurriel, Adam Wainwright (Cards retired #50), Johnny Cueto, Carlos Carrasco, Dallas Keuchel. Also managers Bruce Bochy (Texas) and Ron Washington (Angels) called it a career.

In other big Rays news, I allow my AGM to handle team personnel and Erik Neander fired pitching coach Kyle Snyder and batting coach Chad Mottola after 2024's disappointing season, the first time we've missed the playoffs since 2018.

November 6: The Red Sox traded Jarren Duran and a minor leaguer to Texas for C Sam Huff and pitching prospect Kumar Rocker.

Another deal:

We were going to non-tender Poche anyway so why not get something for him? Lara is a 19-year-old prospect who has 60 contact potential, 60 eye, and 70 avoid Ks (but only 40 power) with above-average OF ability and speed. In other words in an ideal world he'd make a great leadoff hitter. He now slots in as our #8 prospect and #247 overall. Also our batters will look forward to homering off Poche in division games.

November 7: Cincinnati shipped Christian Encarnacion-Strand to Pittsburgh for a couple of prospects.

Awards Season:

Gold Gloves: We have a winner! Zack Littell won the AL pitcher award.

Reliever of the Year: Minnesota's Jhoan Duran was a unanimous winner in the AL, off a 34-save, 1.55 ERA, 3.1-WAR season. Pittsburgh's Carmen Mlodzinski won in the NL for a 32-save, 2.06 ERA year, garnering 27 first-place votes. Finishing second was former Ray Andrew Kittredge, who split the year between the Cards and Cubs.

Silver Slugger: No Rays won. Paredes had the best chance at 3B, but he was beaten out by Rafael Devers.

Rookie of the Year: Baltimore's Jackson Holliday was the unanimous AL choice, thanks to a .305-30-88, 7.5-WAR performance that has him in the MVP race as well. The NL nod went to San Diego's Jackson Merrill in an extremely tight race over Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes. Skenes actually got more first place votes (14-10) but lost on points 104-92. Merrill hit 274-10-63 and earned 1.8 WAR while Skenes was 7-7, 2.87 with 146 Ks in 141 IP and earned 4.4 WAR which actually led the NL among pitchers so he seemed clearly more deserving.

Cy Young: The surprise winner was Baltimore's Bruce Zimmerman, who was 11-5, 3.20 and only pitched 132 innings. He nosed out Cleveland rookie Daniel Espino, who was 9-4, 3.42 in 134 IP, by a 158-152 margin and 15-13 on first-place votes. The NL winner was Chicago's Justin Steele, who took 27 first-place tallies after a 12-4, 2.91 year. He too was not an ERA qualifier at 142 IP as across the board very few pitchers seemed to throw 162+ innings.

MVP: Gunnar Henderson was the runaway AL winner, getting 28 first-place votes after a .278-42-141, 7.4 WAR season. Rookie teammate Jackson Holliday was a distant second. Marcell Ozuna took the NL MVP after his historic 66-homer, 173-RBI season with 27 first-place votes.

November 15: The Pirates dealt Reliever of the Year Carmen Mlodzinski to the Dodgers for a couple of prospects.

November 16: The Dodgers continued to add relievers as they acquired Mason Miller from the A's for catching prospect Thayron Liranzo.

November 17: The wheeling and dealing continues as Cincinnati sent C Tyler Stephenson to Miami for OF Alex Canario, P Dax Fulton and a minor leaguer.

November 22: Milwaukee traded IF Joey Ortiz, the key guy they got from Baltimore the winter before for Corbin Burnes, to Oakland for P Francisco Perez and OF Lawrence Butler.

November 23: Drew Rasmussen was the only one who took us to arbitration and we won as the arbitrator sided with our $4.2M offer over his $4.8M demand.

November 25: Big trade between NL West rivals as the Giants shipped Mike Yasztremski to the Dodgers for Max Muncy.

December 1: The Dodgers traded catching prospect Diego Cartaya to the Marlins for Luis Arraez, and the Blue Jays dealt SS Bo Bichette to the Giants for SS prospect Maui Ahuna.

December 6: First big free-agent signing of the winter and it was the big Kahuna - Juan Soto goes to the Mets for 8/298 which seems kind of...low? That's around $37M/year.

December 10: The Blue Jays continue to move out salary, sending closer Jordan Romano to Minnesota for a prospect.

December 11: The Toronto fire sale burns on, with Justin Turner shipped to Milwaukee for a prospect.

December 12: The draft lottery was held and we didn't move up from the 12 spot. In fact the A's and Angels held on to the #1 and #2 picks with Washington's move from 6 to 3 the most significant.

December 13: The Dodgers keep adding relievers, this time signing the top free agent closer in Paul Sewald for 2/35.

December 14: News out of Chicago is that Cub CF Pete Crow-Armstrong will miss the entire 2025 season with a torn labrum in his shoulder.

December 16: Added SS Carson Williams and Ps Joe Rock and Trevor Brigden to the 40-man roster, designated C Ben Rortvedt for assignment. Roster shuffling ahead of the Rule 5 Draft. Williams was a no-brainer, while Rock and Brigden are useful pitching depth I didn't want to lose. There's a chance we lose Brendan McKay tomorrow.

Meanwhile longtime Baltimore OF Anthony Santander joined the Angels on a modest 2/12 deal.

December 17: And McKay was the first pick of the Rule 5 Draft, taken by Oakland. We also lost P Logan Workman to Philly, P Nathan Wiles to Miami, and P Ian Seymour to Kansas City as Durham was raided. We'll probably see 2-3 of the guys returned to us next year.

Former Rays on the move: Luke Raley went fifth to Washington from Seattle, and he was followed at 6th by C Francisco Mejia and Alex Verdugo, up with us briefly, was nabbed by San Diego from Miami. The full draft list:

December 20: And another Blue Jay is set free as George Springer heads to Cleveland for a couple of minor leaguers.

December 25: Christmas Day action as the Rockies ship starter German Marquez to Baltimore for a couple of prospects.

December 27: Minnesota signed perhaps the top free agent starter available, nabbing Jordan Montgomery for 5/105.

December 29: Washington signed the top professional international free agent, inking 30-year-old Cuban CF Jorge Fonseca for 7/106. He projects to be a .285, 15-HR, 45-double guy.

December 30: A couple of more big free agents signed with former Ray Willy Adames joining Seattle for 6/148 and Joc Pedersen agreeing to terms with Oakland on a 4/48 deal.

06-13-2024, 02:51 PM	#33
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,656	2024-25 Offseason: Part 1 We kicked the offseason with a big trade: It was no secret we were looking to deal Brandon Lowe and deal him we did, obtaining a promising young outfielder in return. I'm not sure what plans the defending World Series champs have for Lowe but it's not my problem. Kjerstad will slide into LF and have a shot at playing every day since his platoon ratings aren't that bad. So with the guys we're non-tendering the payroll should clock in at about $71-72M. Notable retirements around MLB: Joey Votto, Elvis Andrus, Yuli Gurriel, Adam Wainwright (Cards retired #50), Johnny Cueto, Carlos Carrasco, Dallas Keuchel. Also managers Bruce Bochy (Texas) and Ron Washington (Angels) called it a career. In other big Rays news, I allow my AGM to handle team personnel and Erik Neander fired pitching coach Kyle Snyder and batting coach Chad Mottola after 2024's disappointing season, the first time we've missed the playoffs since 2018. November 6: The Red Sox traded Jarren Duran and a minor leaguer to Texas for C Sam Huff and pitching prospect Kumar Rocker. Another deal: We were going to non-tender Poche anyway so why not get something for him? Lara is a 19-year-old prospect who has 60 contact potential, 60 eye, and 70 avoid Ks (but only 40 power) with above-average OF ability and speed. In other words in an ideal world he'd make a great leadoff hitter. He now slots in as our #8 prospect and #247 overall. Also our batters will look forward to homering off Poche in division games. November 7: Cincinnati shipped Christian Encarnacion-Strand to Pittsburgh for a couple of prospects. Awards Season: Gold Gloves: We have a winner! Zack Littell won the AL pitcher award. Reliever of the Year: Minnesota's Jhoan Duran was a unanimous winner in the AL, off a 34-save, 1.55 ERA, 3.1-WAR season. Pittsburgh's Carmen Mlodzinski won in the NL for a 32-save, 2.06 ERA year, garnering 27 first-place votes. Finishing second was former Ray Andrew Kittredge, who split the year between the Cards and Cubs. Silver Slugger: No Rays won. Paredes had the best chance at 3B, but he was beaten out by Rafael Devers. Rookie of the Year: Baltimore's Jackson Holliday was the unanimous AL choice, thanks to a .305-30-88, 7.5-WAR performance that has him in the MVP race as well. The NL nod went to San Diego's Jackson Merrill in an extremely tight race over Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes. Skenes actually got more first place votes (14-10) but lost on points 104-92. Merrill hit 274-10-63 and earned 1.8 WAR while Skenes was 7-7, 2.87 with 146 Ks in 141 IP and earned 4.4 WAR which actually led the NL among pitchers so he seemed clearly more deserving. Cy Young: The surprise winner was Baltimore's Bruce Zimmerman, who was 11-5, 3.20 and only pitched 132 innings. He nosed out Cleveland rookie Daniel Espino, who was 9-4, 3.42 in 134 IP, by a 158-152 margin and 15-13 on first-place votes. The NL winner was Chicago's Justin Steele, who took 27 first-place tallies after a 12-4, 2.91 year. He too was not an ERA qualifier at 142 IP as across the board very few pitchers seemed to throw 162+ innings. MVP: Gunnar Henderson was the runaway AL winner, getting 28 first-place votes after a .278-42-141, 7.4 WAR season. Rookie teammate Jackson Holliday was a distant second. Marcell Ozuna took the NL MVP after his historic 66-homer, 173-RBI season with 27 first-place votes. November 15: The Pirates dealt Reliever of the Year Carmen Mlodzinski to the Dodgers for a couple of prospects. November 16: The Dodgers continued to add relievers as they acquired Mason Miller from the A's for catching prospect Thayron Liranzo. November 17: The wheeling and dealing continues as Cincinnati sent C Tyler Stephenson to Miami for OF Alex Canario, P Dax Fulton and a minor leaguer. November 22: Milwaukee traded IF Joey Ortiz, the key guy they got from Baltimore the winter before for Corbin Burnes, to Oakland for P Francisco Perez and OF Lawrence Butler. November 23: Drew Rasmussen was the only one who took us to arbitration and we won as the arbitrator sided with our $4.2M offer over his $4.8M demand. November 25: Big trade between NL West rivals as the Giants shipped Mike Yasztremski to the Dodgers for Max Muncy. December 1: The Dodgers traded catching prospect Diego Cartaya to the Marlins for Luis Arraez, and the Blue Jays dealt SS Bo Bichette to the Giants for SS prospect Maui Ahuna. December 6: First big free-agent signing of the winter and it was the big Kahuna - Juan Soto goes to the Mets for 8/298 which seems kind of...low? That's around $37M/year. December 10: The Blue Jays continue to move out salary, sending closer Jordan Romano to Minnesota for a prospect. December 11: The Toronto fire sale burns on, with Justin Turner shipped to Milwaukee for a prospect. December 12: The draft lottery was held and we didn't move up from the 12 spot. In fact the A's and Angels held on to the #1 and #2 picks with Washington's move from 6 to 3 the most significant. December 13: The Dodgers keep adding relievers, this time signing the top free agent closer in Paul Sewald for 2/35. December 14: News out of Chicago is that Cub CF Pete Crow-Armstrong will miss the entire 2025 season with a torn labrum in his shoulder. December 16: Added SS Carson Williams and Ps Joe Rock and Trevor Brigden to the 40-man roster, designated C Ben Rortvedt for assignment. Roster shuffling ahead of the Rule 5 Draft. Williams was a no-brainer, while Rock and Brigden are useful pitching depth I didn't want to lose. There's a chance we lose Brendan McKay tomorrow. Meanwhile longtime Baltimore OF Anthony Santander joined the Angels on a modest 2/12 deal. December 17: And McKay was the first pick of the Rule 5 Draft, taken by Oakland. We also lost P Logan Workman to Philly, P Nathan Wiles to Miami, and P Ian Seymour to Kansas City as Durham was raided. We'll probably see 2-3 of the guys returned to us next year. Former Rays on the move: Luke Raley went fifth to Washington from Seattle, and he was followed at 6th by C Francisco Mejia and Alex Verdugo, up with us briefly, was nabbed by San Diego from Miami. The full draft list: December 20: And another Blue Jay is set free as George Springer heads to Cleveland for a couple of minor leaguers. December 25: Christmas Day action as the Rockies ship starter German Marquez to Baltimore for a couple of prospects. December 27: Minnesota signed perhaps the top free agent starter available, nabbing Jordan Montgomery for 5/105. December 29: Washington signed the top professional international free agent, inking 30-year-old Cuban CF Jorge Fonseca for 7/106. He projects to be a .285, 15-HR, 45-double guy. December 30: A couple of more big free agents signed with former Ray Willy Adames joining Seattle for 6/148 and Joc Pedersen agreeing to terms with Oakland on a 4/48 deal.