[JayW UK]

2033 Off Season

As soon as the book closed on the 2032 season a number of teams were in the market for new managers, some by choice and others not. Denver’s Frederic Lemaire joined Minneapolis manager Jesus Espinoza in announcing his retirement while Austin’s Allan Fullerton (much to owner Bill Hannigan’s disappointment) and Boston’s Bruce Weaver both left their posts to pursue other opportunities. Charlotte moved on from manager Eddie Shearin after just one season while Kansas City fired Ben Young after the club’s disappointing 66-win campaign. In a move that caught many by surprise Miami chose to dismiss two-time manager of the year Francisco Cerda after missing the playoffs in 2032, a much more predictable dismissal came in Los Angeles as the club let Ramon Ortega go. Two seasons on from leading the Lynx to the Pacific division crown, Ortega had overseen the team’s descent into chaos and their worst record in seven years resulting in the inevitable parting of ways. The first domino to fall in the managerial merry-go-round was Bruce Weaver landing in Los Angeles, Denver quickly followed suit picking up ousted Miami manager Francisco Cerda. Charlotte chose Allan Fullerton as the man to replace Eddie Shearin who didn’t have to wait long to find a home in Washington, while the Kings hired former KC manager Ben Young to take the reins in Austin. A number of teams chose to stay in house to keep some continuity with their players and coaching staff, Boston went with bench coach Pancho Gamez while Miami promoted Joe Hart to the top job. Midwest division rivals Kansas City and Minneapolis chose to stay out of the managerial rat race and promoted from within, KC elevated the well-respected bench coach Jim Scheid with Minneapolis choosing former manager Jesus Espinoza’s right-hand man, Richard Goodwin as their skipper for 2033.
The biggest story leading into free agency was the will-he won’t-he saga of whether aging superstar Dixon Bodean would re-sign in Denver or test the market, in the end, after nine ultimately frustrating years in Denver (only three playoff campaigns and one World Series loss in that time span) he chose to dip his toe in the choppy waters of free agency and not even the very public pleading of new manager Francisco Cerda could dissuade him. Clearly looking for a championship ring Bodean would only entertain offers from a select few clubs, eventually settling on Tampa Bay, signing for two years and $36M, buoyed by the addition of Bodean owner Hidalgo Simon announced that he would do everything in his power to give Bodean the one thing he coveted the most, a championship ring. True to his word Simon opened the chequebook as the Hurricanes added starting pitchers Angel Castro from Indianapolis for $62M over four years, former Cleveland man Nick Grant also for four years and San Jose’s Kyle Key on a 6-year $95M deal, then also lured 2B Andres Montoya from OKC on a 3-year $34M deal before announcing the that star shortstop Jose Mendoza had signed a 6-year extension with the club. Lost in all the good news was the club’s release of four-time pitcher of the year Larry de Meza, who after elbow surgery would now begin the long arduous task of rehabbing as a free agent, according to his doctors he would miss the entire 2033 season so it was unlikely he would receive any interest from teams for his services until next season. Defending champions Dallas said goodbye to three-fingered star pitcher Alwin Roozen who swapped Texas for the Bay area, signing a 5-year, $60M deal with Safrancisco, the Gold also lured star shortstop Dustin Polk to town for 2-years at $17M per year. Division rivals San Diego lost two of their stars, catcher Dan Matterby and shortstop Mario Cristo, who both signed on with Oklahoma City (Matterby for four years and $56M and Cristo of 5 years and $90M) to re-unite with former manager Roberto Rodriguez. New York strengthened their pitching staff by adding former Seattle starter Domingas Fidi on a 6-year $82M deal while division rivals Washington added pitcher Will Christopher from Indianapolis on a bargain 2-year $25M deal and veteran slugging first baseman Nelson Vasquez from KC for two years. Las Vegas set out to rebuild their bullpen after several high profile collapses in the past two postseason campaigns, Davis Robinson was removed as closer and packed off to OKC and while the return of Rolando Cerny after 18-months out with injury would certainly help, the additions of former San Diego man Alfredo Hernandez and hard throwing Japanese righty Michinori Morita were expected to pay immediate dividends and stabilise the back end of the bullpen. A trade with Cleveland landed the Gamblers 22-year-old reliever Philip Redmond who regularly touched 100mph on the radar gun, Redmond who was not expected to contribute immediately would instead spend the season at AAA Jackson Comanches and be groomed as the club’s future closer. Another team adding to their bullpen was Minneapolis, who lured former Washington and Philadelphia closer Pablo Arellano on board with a $15M 2-year deal.
The 2033 draft class included several quality prospects but only one true blue-chip player in third baseman Bryant Deshields, he had been drafted with the 2nd overall pick the previous year by OKC but failed to sign and instead attended Cal-State Fullerton. The other top position players available in the draft were high school outfielder John Salazar who projected as a high contact hitter with the chance to develop some power down the line, Arizona’s defense first catcher Stephen Hart, the most complete backstop in the draft, and Loyola’s Rob Penney, a power hitting outfielder who would be limited to playing leftfield in the majors due to his below average defense and poor arm. A trio of pitchers, high school star Jose Vasquez, Gil Wallace from Michigan and Pepperdine’s Ike Singleton all profiled as future mid-rotation starters.
Omaha, who owned two picks in the top ten, including the first overall pick, surprised a few people when they chose not to draft Deshields and instead took high school outfielder John Salazar at #1. Houston grabbed Bryant Deshields with the second pick before Kansas City nabbed high school pitcher Jose Vasquez third, Oklahoma City made catcher Stephen Hart the fourth pick before Boston called the name of LF Rob Penney fifth. Omaha used their second top ten pick on California pitcher Grant Copeland, a talented but injury prone prospect, Los Angeles kept Pepperdine product Ike Singleton in California while in an unexpected turn of events, Gil Wallace had to wait until the 23rd pick before he heard his name called, Miami nabbing the Michigan alum to end his fall.
Philadelphia were once again favorites for the Atlantic division although Washington would give them a run for their money and New York had a punchers chance at taking the division. In the central Indianapolis were no longer seen as automatic division winners after several high-profile players left in free agency, their biggest challengers according to BNN were Cleveland but many observers believed Chicago, with their roster full of young stars, posed a bigger threat. Tampa Bay, after their off-season additions were installed as the favourites to represent the EL in the World Series leaving Miami and the fast-improving Atlanta Flames to join the battle for the EL wildcard spot.
In the west Oklahoma city’s off-season wheeling and dealing made them heavy favourites to repeat as Midwest division champions with Minneapolis and Denver as the only teams expected to have any chance of pushing them, Kansas City and Omaha were both being tipped as two of the teams most likely to land the No1 pick in the 2034 draft. In the Southwest division, the usual suspects Dallas and Las Vegas were set to do battle once again with the balance of power edging towards the Gamblers after their offseason moves and while Phoenix and Austin would be hard pushed to stay in touch with the two powerhouses in the division, if any one of them faltered they would be ready to pounce. The Pacific division was wide open, defending champions San Diego, reeling from the loss of two key starters during free agency, were there for the taking and both Sanfrancisco, with World Series winner Alwin Roozen and all-time steals leader Dustin Polk on board, and San Jose with their young and hungry roster, were the teams poised to profit most.