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Art Deco · 01-31-2025, 01:43 PM

It was quite a ride last year, with a team hovering just over .500 at the midway point of the season before going on a complete tear in the second half to end up with 100 wins and the best record in baseball. Unfortunately as it always does in this save, it came to a crashing halt in the playoffs as the Rays were bounced from the postseason by the Mariners in the ALCS after completely forgetting how to hit. 2033 will be a bit of a challenge to repeat as 100-game winners as a massive chunk of the pitching staff are free agents and we have another couple of holes to fill. But that's why I get paid the big bucks as GM.

We made a trade right when the window opened:

Schrier of course has been our starting SS the last two seasons but he dropped off dramatically last season, especially in the field, dropping from 4.1 WAR to 1.4. He also lost 100 points of OPS at the plate and was expected to command $13M in arbitration. We also have potential replacements for him which I'll get to below. In return we get the interesting Contreras, a "catcher". The quotation marks are because he's only rated 40 at the position but he swings a mean bat: rated 55 contact/power/eye (with 60 power potential) and he went 21-for-41 in a September cup of coffee with Milwaukee and slugged .902 with 4 homers. He was 304/389/529 in AAA as well so he can hit.

The position-by-position outlook going into the offseason:

C: Samuel Basallo was an outright disappointment and we're still on the hook for two more seasons of him at $15M, so he'll be back and we just have to hope he bounces back to the numbers he put in Baltimore. Zion Rose backs him up and was a little better last year than his abysmal 2031 which led to Basallo's acquisition and then there's the aforementioned Contreras who just came over in trade and could be the backup or DH.

1B: Mike Brown will return. He too was down a bit last year but is still young.

2B: Owen Paino had a breakout season, hitting 287/358/458 and earning 3.5 WAR. He's an All-Star in the making. He may cede some ABs against LHP to Bryce Clavon but he did hit .327 against lefties in limited action so the thought is to let him play against everyone.

SS: Schrier is now gone so the front-runner is Edgar Quezada, claimed on waivers in early September. Quezada was brilliant with the glove, a +3.5 ZR in only 48 games and good for 1.7 WAR. His bat is decent but he does struggle some against RHP while mashing lefties. Clavon can play some here too.

3B: Fernando Tatis Jr had a second straight MVP-caliber season even if he did go AWOL in the playoffs. The big story was that he handled the move back to the dirt quite deftly, playing average defense at the hot corner.

IF: Clavon as mentioned will be the primary infield backup but we do have power-hitting rookie Pepin Schwartz (46 HR between Durham and Montgomery) waiting in the wings but he's blocked by Paino.

LF: Joe Edwards played most of the season and he was OK, not great at 251/308/417 and good for 2.2 WAR. I have hopes he'll get better too and is going to be 27. Dean Moss, who had big MiLB power season and showed some pop with the big club, is pushing him though.

CF: Subaru Nakashima showed that his first year in American baseball wasn't a fluke when he came back and posted another big season, this time with 6 WAR. Let's see what he does for season #3.

RF: Ben Schmidt. Probably our biggest disappointment as he looked like a future superstar when we acquired him from Toronto in mid-2031 and put up 6.4 WAR total that season. This year he precipitously dropped to only 1.2 WAR and put up a 225/295/402 season with 22 HR. His defense remained excellent, though and like Brown and Basallo, I'm hoping for positive regression in 2033.

OF: We're stuck with Mason Auer's $10.6M contract for two more years so he'll continue to give us speed and defense off the bench without a lot of hitting. Moss also could find a role as might Brailer Guerrero, who found himself back at Durham in favor of Moss about 2/3 of the way into the season.

DH: Geronimo Satiro had a decent rookie season with 27 HR and 80 RBI but he needs to improve on his .244 BA.

Rotation: The unsung story of last season's second-half renaissance was the pitching, and unfortunately most of what made it great is gone to free agency. Top starter Carlos Duran, #2 guy Aaron Ashby and Brock Porter, successfully transitioned from the bullpen to be the #5 guy, are all free agents.This leaves us with Emaliano Teodo and Garrett Lambert as the only returning rotation members so we're going to need to do a lot of work to rebuild it. Porter might be the most likely to be re-signed as he'll command less than Duran or Ashby. Internal options include Chang-hyeok Kim, who always seems to lose the job when given a chance to start, and Nate Chapman, who came off surgery last year and only has 40 stuff but good control and movement. Both are 5th starters at best. Campbell Ellis, in our rotation last year before tearing his rotator cuff, is a free agent as well.

Bullpen: The back end of the pen also takes a hit as closer Danis Correa and lefty setup guy Garrett Crochet are free agents. The good news is we still have some quality arms like one-time (and future?) closer Victor Vodnik, Juan Nunez, Fernando Costume, Yeuris Jimenez and Fernando Perez. We also claimed lefty Shawn Scott on waivers at the end of the season and he should make a good replacement for Crochet. Another arm or two would be good though.

Here's how the salary situation sits, with owner Stu Sternberg allowing me $190M of payroll:

First of all Garces will be non-tendered so lop his $18.5M projection off the total. This would put the returning payroll at $153M, giving us roughly $37M to play with.

So the tl;dr offseason goals:

1) Find at least 2, more likely 3, starting pitchers.
2) Find some arms for the bullpen.

The offense returns in toto except Schrier so any bats we add will be opportunistic pickups. Otherwise it's Operation Rotation this winter.

01-31-2025, 01:43 PM	#233
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,319	2032-33 Offseason: State of the Team It was quite a ride last year, with a team hovering just over .500 at the midway point of the season before going on a complete tear in the second half to end up with 100 wins and the best record in baseball. Unfortunately as it always does in this save, it came to a crashing halt in the playoffs as the Rays were bounced from the postseason by the Mariners in the ALCS after completely forgetting how to hit. 2033 will be a bit of a challenge to repeat as 100-game winners as a massive chunk of the pitching staff are free agents and we have another couple of holes to fill. But that's why I get paid the big bucks as GM. We made a trade right when the window opened: Schrier of course has been our starting SS the last two seasons but he dropped off dramatically last season, especially in the field, dropping from 4.1 WAR to 1.4. He also lost 100 points of OPS at the plate and was expected to command $13M in arbitration. We also have potential replacements for him which I'll get to below. In return we get the interesting Contreras, a "catcher". The quotation marks are because he's only rated 40 at the position but he swings a mean bat: rated 55 contact/power/eye (with 60 power potential) and he went 21-for-41 in a September cup of coffee with Milwaukee and slugged .902 with 4 homers. He was 304/389/529 in AAA as well so he can hit. The position-by-position outlook going into the offseason: C: Samuel Basallo was an outright disappointment and we're still on the hook for two more seasons of him at $15M, so he'll be back and we just have to hope he bounces back to the numbers he put in Baltimore. Zion Rose backs him up and was a little better last year than his abysmal 2031 which led to Basallo's acquisition and then there's the aforementioned Contreras who just came over in trade and could be the backup or DH. 1B: Mike Brown will return. He too was down a bit last year but is still young. 2B: Owen Paino had a breakout season, hitting 287/358/458 and earning 3.5 WAR. He's an All-Star in the making. He may cede some ABs against LHP to Bryce Clavon but he did hit .327 against lefties in limited action so the thought is to let him play against everyone. SS: Schrier is now gone so the front-runner is Edgar Quezada, claimed on waivers in early September. Quezada was brilliant with the glove, a +3.5 ZR in only 48 games and good for 1.7 WAR. His bat is decent but he does struggle some against RHP while mashing lefties. Clavon can play some here too. 3B: Fernando Tatis Jr had a second straight MVP-caliber season even if he did go AWOL in the playoffs. The big story was that he handled the move back to the dirt quite deftly, playing average defense at the hot corner. IF: Clavon as mentioned will be the primary infield backup but we do have power-hitting rookie Pepin Schwartz (46 HR between Durham and Montgomery) waiting in the wings but he's blocked by Paino. LF: Joe Edwards played most of the season and he was OK, not great at 251/308/417 and good for 2.2 WAR. I have hopes he'll get better too and is going to be 27. Dean Moss, who had big MiLB power season and showed some pop with the big club, is pushing him though. CF: Subaru Nakashima showed that his first year in American baseball wasn't a fluke when he came back and posted another big season, this time with 6 WAR. Let's see what he does for season #3. RF: Ben Schmidt. Probably our biggest disappointment as he looked like a future superstar when we acquired him from Toronto in mid-2031 and put up 6.4 WAR total that season. This year he precipitously dropped to only 1.2 WAR and put up a 225/295/402 season with 22 HR. His defense remained excellent, though and like Brown and Basallo, I'm hoping for positive regression in 2033. OF: We're stuck with Mason Auer's $10.6M contract for two more years so he'll continue to give us speed and defense off the bench without a lot of hitting. Moss also could find a role as might Brailer Guerrero, who found himself back at Durham in favor of Moss about 2/3 of the way into the season. DH: Geronimo Satiro had a decent rookie season with 27 HR and 80 RBI but he needs to improve on his .244 BA. Rotation: The unsung story of last season's second-half renaissance was the pitching, and unfortunately most of what made it great is gone to free agency. Top starter Carlos Duran, #2 guy Aaron Ashby and Brock Porter, successfully transitioned from the bullpen to be the #5 guy, are all free agents.This leaves us with Emaliano Teodo and Garrett Lambert as the only returning rotation members so we're going to need to do a lot of work to rebuild it. Porter might be the most likely to be re-signed as he'll command less than Duran or Ashby. Internal options include Chang-hyeok Kim, who always seems to lose the job when given a chance to start, and Nate Chapman, who came off surgery last year and only has 40 stuff but good control and movement. Both are 5th starters at best. Campbell Ellis, in our rotation last year before tearing his rotator cuff, is a free agent as well. Bullpen: The back end of the pen also takes a hit as closer Danis Correa and lefty setup guy Garrett Crochet are free agents. The good news is we still have some quality arms like one-time (and future?) closer Victor Vodnik, Juan Nunez, Fernando Costume, Yeuris Jimenez and Fernando Perez. We also claimed lefty Shawn Scott on waivers at the end of the season and he should make a good replacement for Crochet. Another arm or two would be good though. Here's how the salary situation sits, with owner Stu Sternberg allowing me $190M of payroll: First of all Garces will be non-tendered so lop his $18.5M projection off the total. This would put the returning payroll at $153M, giving us roughly $37M to play with. So the tl;dr offseason goals: 1) Find at least 2, more likely 3, starting pitchers. 2) Find some arms for the bullpen. The offense returns in toto except Schrier so any bats we add will be opportunistic pickups. Otherwise it's Operation Rotation this winter.