[jksander]

November 17, 1946: I haven’t put much emphasis on announcing awards, but I will mention that the AL MVP award went to Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox. “The Kid” batted .342 with 35 doubles, 29 homers and 119 RBIs, putting up 7.8 WAR as he dominated pitchers across the league. He only made $7,500 in 1946, but his salary is expected to skyrocket when he reaches arbitration after this coming season. But he’s been open about how frustrated he is that he won’t be able to push Boston to the limit on free agency extension talks until he’s well into his 30’s. Lord knows we’d love to have him in St. Louis, though that’s a laugher ... no way we could afford what he’d demand on an open market.

In the NL, Stan Musial won MVP for the Cardinals, and he’s in a similar boat, though only 25 ... he too will be able to go to arbitration after the 1947 season, but he’s likely to draw even more than Williams if push comes to shove -- this year he hit .333 with 41 doubles, 15 triples, 14 homers and 108 RBIs, and he put up nearly nine games of WAR, thanks to having what the Kid lacks ... strong defensive ability. Knowing what I know about ownership on the other side of this city, there’s no way it’ll come to that, “The Man” will get paid when the time comes to stay a Cardinal if they intend to compete for additional titles. I’d bet my career on it.

November 26, 1946: It’s the big day ... free agents have officially filed, and there are some big bats on the table, including 30-year-old Phil Cavarretta, Luke Appling, Arky Vaughn, and Jeff Heath. The biggest name among pitchers is 37-year-old Dutch Leonard, and he’s definitely on our radar right now for his control and ability to help our very raw, young pitching core. We’re definitely looking to make a few moves, if the price is right, but we’ll have to be careful not to get drawn into a bunch of bidding wars over players we have no hopes of getting.

December 11, 1946: The Washington Senators made the first big FA splash, signing 31-year-old outfielder Jeff Heath to a five year deal worth a total of $170,000 ... $34,000 per year with a fifth year team option that has just an $8,000 buyout. Heath hit .277 last year with 23 doubles 14 homers and 85 RBIs while playing for the White Sox. The deal is notable because Washington essentially loaned Heath to the White Sox last year in exchange for bullpen help and center fielder Jim Delsing last July, and when the Sox decided not to sign him, the Senators saw an opportunity to bring him back. But they’re now paying him a lot more than he was making before. We’ll see how that works out for them in the long term.
 
December 20, 1946: We took outfielder Dick Whitman from the Dodger’s minor league system in the Rule 5 draft, selecting the 26-year-old first overall after a season where he put up a .339 average, 24 doubles, 18 homers and 101 RBIs while playing for the Montreal Royals. That was our only pick in what was an otherwise weak pool of players. Only the Phillies picked three players, with the Athletics and Senators taking two each.

We currently have offers out on multiple players, but are reaching our limit and may not be able to continue our bidding if their asks continue to rise beyond current offers without express input from ownership.

January 3, 1947: In a huge deal, we’ve officially signed legendary pitcher Dutch Leonard to a five year deal worth potentially $291,000, though the fourth year has a player option and the fifth is a team option. He’ll earn $57,000 per year for the first three years, and can opt in to a fourth at $60,000 ... we can opt OUT of his fifth year at the same value by buying him out at $25,000. The deal includes $800 per All Star appearance and $3,400 if he should win a Cy Young, and he has a no-trade agreement, coming to St. Louis essentially to play out the twilight of his career. Last year with the Washington Senators he put up an 18-15 record and 3.37 ERA while pitching 296.2 innings. He contributed 6.5 wins above replacement, and his control was impeccable. With Diomedes Olivo as our ace and Leonard pitching second in the rotation, I’m really starting to like our odds ... especially if we can firm up some defense to back those two up.

January 13, 1947: The dominos of our offseason plans are falling properly into place, as Arky Vaughn has agreed to a four year, $200,000 deal that will pay him $50,000 per season through the 1950 season! Vaughn hit .250 last year in Boston and only batted in 42 runs off 22 doubles, five triples and three homers, but his strong fielding helped put him 3.4 wins above replacement, and with us now planning to move Vern Stephens over to third (his more comfortable position) we’re going to have a much-improved defensive infield (with our adaptable 30-year-old journeyman Ellis Clary helming second). The fans are loving having a guy of Arky’s renown coming to play for us, and suddenly fan interest is on the rise for a team that hasn’t been able to put bottoms in seats properlty for years.

January 14, 1947: Today we completed our offseason moves with a big deal and a HUGE deal. First, right fielder Wally Moses, formerly of the Chicago White Sox, signed a three year deal worth $50,000 in 1947 and 1948, with a player option for a third year at $45,000 along with $500 All Star bonuses. Moses batted .263 last year with 32 doubles and 79 RBIs, putting up 4.5 WAR on solid right field defense, and the 36-year-old said he felt slighted by the White Sox’s unwillingness to even consider extending him to let him retire in Chicago. He’s a born leader, and expressed excitement about helping build a clubhouse culture for a team that has had none in the past.

Then the big deal came in ... Chicago Cubs legend Phil Cavarretta came into the offseason saying that, at 31, he had little interest in doing this “free agency” thing again. He wanted a long term deal that would make it worth playing in a new city, and he wanted it in writing, so he could play out his career without worrying about money. He was the player we put the most time into “bidding for” ... we finally won him over with a contract that runs eight years, starting at $63,000 and finishing at $70,000 each during the final four years. The total value is $539,000 spread over the eight seasons, and it includes a team buyout option on the 1954 season, at $25,000 ... he does NOT get a no-trade clause, but will earn $1,000 for any All Star appearances and $5,000 if he wins an MVP. Winner of the 1945 MVP, Cavarretta followed it up in ’46 by batting .298 for the Cubs, including 27 doubles and 53 RBIs. He had a +7.1 zone rating in left field, committing just four errors all year in the position, which helped him to 4.5 wins above replacement.

All told we’ve added 18.2 WAR during this offseason, and we’ve committed slightly over $100,000 in salary that will go on this year’s books. But our owner has said if we’re going to dip our toe into this changing world of free agency, we might as well do it this year when other teams are potentially skittish about taking risks on veteran contracts. Based on our signings, preseason ticket sales are up nearly 30 percent, and we’re on track to average 13,000 fans per game, which would keep us on track to meet owner goals in that regard.

Whatever happens, our fans are going to see a vastly different hitting lineup than before, with Vaughn in the leadoff spot, Cavarretta batting third ahead of Stephens and first-baseman Wally Judnich, and with Wally Moses batting sixth. Our bullpen remains an open question mark, but we’ve added two key starters, and our other three, Jack Kramer, Bob Muncrief and and Fred Sanford, were all playing above replacement level last year despite pitching with no offensive help.

So I think we’re on track for a solid season ... come along for the ride, why don’t ya?