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2016 Off-Season
The Managerial merry-go-round in Cleveland started again after the disaster that was the 2015 season. General Manager Jerry Collins surprised many people when he plucked virtual unknown, Dennis Thompson, to be the Corsairs new manager. Thompson was managing Montgomery Kings, a minor league affiliate of the newly formed Memphis Kings, when he was chosen by Collins and up until now, had never managed above the AA level. Fans and pundits alike watched with interest, anxious to see how this would turn out. Another team in the market for a new manager was San Jose, after they fired William Bacon on the back of their 106-loss season. They settled on Allen McGuire the former Cleveland boss, it was hoped his Drill Sargent style would be good for the franchise and help the development of the team’s younger players.
In a relatively quiet offseason for player movement, Tampa Bay were the biggest spenders luring former Detroit Shortstop Bernardo Reyes on board with a 7 year $110M deal and also persuading pitcher Fabio Tuzzi to swap Cleveland for Tampa in a 2-year deal worth $32.4M. Another pitcher on the move was Mike Marrero who left Minneapolis to join Phoenix for 3 years and $42M. Minneapolis also lost their closer Jonathan Fliehman who left town to join Memphis on a one year $11M deal.
Heading into the draft five players were garnering most of the attention, four college players and one High School prospect. Max Castle (Washington St) and Will Christopher (Texas) were the top pitching prospects while Wes Lauderdale (SMU), Marshall Ayresome (Oklahoma) and Canadian High Schooler Richie Rambeaux led the way for the position players.
Come draft night it was none of these prospects, but outfielder Chris Wilson who was drafted first overall. Taken by San Jose many believed this pick to be somewhat of a reach, but enamoured by his potential and despite misgivings about his work ethic, Spartans GM Ted Garneau, pulled the trigger anyway. Richie Rambeaux was taken second by Cleveland, Ayresome third by Memphis and Max Castle fifth by LA. Phoenix picked up shortstop Wes Lauderdale with the seventh pick and many experts believed that they had got a steal with his selection. Will Christopher, amid rumours of too much late-night partying, slid all the way down to 18th, where Detroit ended his fall.
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