[ayaghmour2]

We did it! The rotation has been upgraded!

Out of nowhere, the trade market caught fire, and we hit up our crosstown rival Chiefs for a 4-Time All-Star. Despite the last name, he's never won a title, but Dick Champ has consistently been one of the most reliable starting pitchers in the Fed. Known for his excellent control, Champ broke out with a 21-win season in 1957, starting a Fed high 35 games for the Pittsburgh Miners. Their former 2nd Round selection, he worked to a 3.37 ERA and 1.34 WHIP, striking out 196 batters in 270 innings pitched. His 7.6 BB% was well above average, and it was his first of four consecutive All-Star selections.

The other three came in Chicago, as the Miners acquired Frank Selander and Fred Murray for Champ and minor league catcher Ray McNabb. It's worked well for both teams, as Selander has developed into a quality regular for Pittsburgh, and Champ provided similar excellence in his first year with the Chiefs. He finished 19-9 with a 3.54 ERA (121 ERA+), 1.30 WHIP and 128 strikeouts in 224 innings pitched. The Chiefs rotation is a stronger one, so he wasn't leaned on as heavily on his new team, but he won 17 games in 1959 and has continued to finish well over .500. He hasn't lost more then 10 games since his 21-win season, and his first game he wins with us will his 100th as a FABL pitcher. 5-4 this year, his 4.20 ERA (107 ERA+) would be second in our rotation, and despite flyball tendencies he has allowed just 10 homers in 109.1 innings. The Chiefs park isn't as small as ours, but the average Fed park is much easier to hit homers in, which gives me faith he can survive in our park.

A guy who generates a ton of weak contact, he'll also be benefited moving from a bottom defense to a top one, as the Chiefs' are one of the worst in the Fed while in the Conti we rank first in zone rating and second in efficiency. As un-Cougar like as it sounds, our staff has been carried by the pen, and Champ might actually be our new best pitcher. The scouts are a little too high on him, as OSA calls him "an overlooked ace" while Dixie's outdated report says something about ace-level production with a solid defense. I think they're both full of it, but Champ is definitely a quality starting pitcher. The consistency is evident, with an above average ERA+ is six of his last seven seasons. His 8.7 BB% and 13.2 K% are in line with his career marks of 7.9 and 13.7, and he should continue to be the pitcher he has been for many years with us. Recently 31, he's got plenty of time to pitch, and he has yet to miss an appearance as a professional.

With no pieces locked down in our rotation, this is a major acquisition, specifically taking time away from Hank Walker and Bob Allen. Neither has had much success this season, and they'll now get to compete with each other for the rest of the season. They both get to make a start this week, the last chance to prove who belongs. Ideally, they can both pitch well, and we'll use the two pitchers situationally as the season continues. Walker has the edge, as his 4.33 FIP (97 FIP-) is way better then his 5.13 ERA (87 ERA+), and like Champ he keeps the ball in the park. Even better, he dropped his BB% three points, with a chance to have his first season with a sub-10 BB%. Allen, however, has had less success, but my former 1st Rounder is an innings eater who keeps the ball on the ground. He's giving up too many runs, but he's getting strikeouts and winning starts. It's a classic case of luck vs. skill, but when that's dealing with your fifth spot it's much more manageable.

With any quality pitching acquisition, the cost is high, and we parted with the highly rated prospect duo of Bob Starr and Ricardo Castillo. Star ranked 5th in our organization and 59th overall, but outfield is a huge strength of ours in the farm and on the big league club. Starr may be an elite defender, but I don't have any plans on moving Jerry McMillan (.326, 13, 45, 15) out of center, and along with Henry Watson (.300, 15, 71), we also have the now third ranked prospect in baseball Dode Caudill. OSA thinks 1963 will be his debut year, and left field looks perfect for his potential resting spot. That made Starr more expendable, as while I will miss his elite eye, he's going to have to start being protected from the Rule-5 draft. It does suck giving up a Chicagoan, but hey! If he makes it with the Chiefs, he'll still get to be a hometown success story! He should join Rod Shearer (.302, 11, 56, 5) in the outfield soon, as there is room for someone to patrol center there.

Ricardo Castillo gets to return home to the Chiefs, who took him 25th in the 1960 draft. Traded for my former 2nd Rounder Frank Reece, I at one point had extremely high hopes for Castillo, but that's when I thought he was a better defender. Now that we can see ratings, his infield defense isn't as good as I thought, and while he can handle second, third, and short, he looks better suited for the outfield. Ranked 10th in our system and 110th overall, he was hitting a strong .299/.402/.443 (123 OPS+) with 20 doubles, 6 homers, 31 RBIs, and 10 steals in Class A. I would have preferred to hang on to him an potentially improve his infield defense, but when he was brought up in negotiations, it was a fitting way to finish the deal, as we still have way too many outfielders. I hate the shape our farm is in currently, but this deal allows us to acquire a legitimate starting pitcher by trading from a strength.

I'm hoping more moves are left to come, but for now we'll have to work on our five game deficit. We have a few more weeks to make upgrades to the team, and it's all be without our best player. This team is really set up to do well in 1963, but why not steal one from the dominant team early? It's happened so much to us?

Let's go and win a title!