This one has been in the works for some time but it is nice to have had it come off.
Not too dissimilarly to Dave Kingman a few years back, Andres Galarraga suffered a bit of a mid-career slump IRL before turning things around. His nadir over the next couple seasons is followed by a 5-year purple patch over which span he averages roughly 3.5 WAR per season.
I noticed he was an upcoming FA and, after sweating on him making it to declaration, pounced with a long-term lowball bid that he duly accepted. As a result of which he will be at the club thru 1999 with his AAV a ridiculously cheap $430k.
He's a ringer so will take up one of the CC slots over that period but I feel he's a great investment with very little downside.
This one, on the other hand, came completely out of the blue via a trade offer from the Padres:
Ka-BOOM!
We'd actually made overtures to acquire Robbie as soon as he became trade-eligible but were rebuffed with such vehemence that I didn't even shortlist him. Funny how things work out.
We loved what Carlos did for us last year and Robbie is entering his walk year and will take some fancy accounting for us to keep, but the temptation of what he could do for us even if for just one season was too strong to resist.
This trade swaps out one ineligible for another.
We're on a roll now, with another completely unexpected trade with the Phils:
We'd earmarked Moises - who played 2 games for us at the very start of his career in 1990, God love him - as a "must-have" guy from the start but were anticipating making the move for him once Van was gone. Full disclosure I only went sniffing to see if he was going to be able to play RF with Barry obviously our long-term guy in left. When the price was so reasonable I once again found it impossible to turn down.
Three huge adds and we'll be looking at using our Draft picks and remaining transaction coupon to try plug our numerous pitching holes, mainly in the BP but also in regard to depth.