|
2025 Off-season
At the conclusion of the NABL winter meetings commissioner Buddy McHugh announced that the league would expand by two teams in time for the 2027 season. The new franchises would be placed in the Eastern league to bring it in line with the west with fourteen teams. One franchise would be awarded to Charles B Dolan and be placed in St. Louis (it seemed that all of his lobbying had finally paid off) with the second given to Charlotte ahead of bids from Baltimore and Nashville. McHugh also stated there would be an expansion draft at the conclusion of the 2026 season with the league’s existing teams able to ‘protect’ 20 players on their 40-man rosters. The new franchises would also receive the top two picks in each round of the amateur draft in an attempt to help them build competitive teams quickly.
Tampa Bay owner Hiraldo Simon found his new manager in the form of Kansas City skipper Eddie Gray, within days of firing Paul Ladd he set about obtaining Gray’s services and after several days of marathon meetings, finally agreed a compensation package with KC for them to release Gray from his contract. Former New York manager William McDonald found a new home in Seattle while Indianapolis promoted from within, elevating Bench Coach Dave Flanagan to fill their vacant managerial position. Minneapolis also found themselves looking for a new manager after Jason Middlemas stepped down after one year in charge to take the vacant New York job much to the chagrin of ownership, the Bears eventually stayed in house, promoting bench coach Jesus Espinoza to replace the departed Middlemas.
Free agency opened with a bang, Las Vegas who had one of the top pitching staffs but also one of the worst offenses in the NABL in 2024, set out to rectify that by…. Chasing the signatures of yet more star pitchers!! First to sign was former Minneapolis ace Dave Cahill on a monster 6 year $168M deal, Las Vegas then added Max Castle from LA on a 6 year $165M contract. Cahill and Castle would join Anthony Barrett to give Las Vegas a formidable top 3 in their rotation with the local press nicknaming them the “Three Amigos”. Los Angeles also said goodbye to superstar 1B Gabriel Mendez who joined his great friend and rival Juan Santos in Tampa Bay, signing for two years and $43M. Denver’s rotation took a hit when pitcher Roberto Gutierrez jumped ship and joined Mendez in Tampa Bay for $33.6M over two years. The Wildcats also lost a key part of their bullpen when closer Marcos Diaz signed a $35M deal to call Austin home for the next 3 years. Miami 1B Brian Watson left Florida for the Midwest division, signing a four year $83.5M deal with OKC whilst former New York leftfielder Francisco Martinez also headed out west, joining Minneapolis on a 2 year $31M deal. After an underwhelming run in Oklahoma City, veteran shortstop Kevin Jones was on the move again, this time signing on in Indianapolis for 2 years and $43M.
The 2025 amateur draft was not the one to find the next franchise cornerstone, the top college players available were catcher Aaron Harris from Houston Baptist and Texas Tech pitcher Randy Bane while the top high school prospects were hard throwing pitcher Mike Pickett and defensive stud, outfielder George Shipp. On draft night Seattle surprised almost everyone when they picked 22-year-old Northern Colorado CF Jerry Ambles first overall, Sanfrancisco made high school star Mike Pickett the first pitcher taken when they drafted him second. Kansas City tabbed George Shipp fourth overall and if Shipp progressed as hoped, he projected to be a high contact hitter with decent power but no-one could argue that his defensive skills were not already NABL ready. Washington made Houston Baptist catcher, Aaron Harris the fifth pick while Dallas took Texas Tech pitcher Randy Bane sixth.
On the eve of the season all eyes were on Tampa Bay, with a new manager on board and the bash brothers, Gabriel Mendez and Juan Santos also in town, big things were expected. Chicago had a relatively quiet off-season but still possessed a young hungry team and were tipped to challenge Indianapolis in the Central division while the Atlantic division was wide open with no team really standing out.
In the west Denver were once again the team to beat but would face stiff competition from OKC and Minneapolis, both of whom had strengthened. Los Angeles, having lost key players to free agency would have a hard time holding onto their Pacific division crown with San Diego and San Jose waiting in the wings. Las Vegas had the “three amigos” but would almost certainly be held back by their pedestrian offense, never the less, they would still be in the hunt for the Southwest division title.
|