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Art Deco · 11-13-2025, 08:00 PM

As always we start with the "in memoriam" section, i.e., players who retired:

Notables: Mike Trout (LA retires #27), Corey Seager, Trea Turner, Alex Bregman, Spencer Torkelson, Gleyber Torres, Dansby Swanson.

The decision was made to non-tender the following Rays, who didn't have any value on the trade market and whom we either don't want back or don't want back at their arbitration projection: Isaac Cedillos, Jaden Stevenson, Carson Williams and Joe Boyle. This group combined was expected to get around $20M, which is how much room we'll have under payroll now since we were right at the $170M limit.

We also kicked off the winter by making a big trade from our catching glut to bring in some pitching:

About a year ago I considered trading either Jalen Lowe or Kim and Atlanta was willing to give me Jimenez, who then went out last season and went 12-6, 3.43 with 205 Ks in 183 IP and earned 4.7 WAR on a minimum contract so I had my doubts they'd still be offering him but sure enough they were and I wasn't about to let the opportunity slip away again. And we also able to get Gonzalez, who while he hasn't pitched above AA, is rated 60/70/55 with 65 stuff potential and therefore seems ready to step right into a late-inning role with the bullpen, a serious need. Kim will give Atlanta a #1 catcher with his 60 power, 60 eye and 60 defense. Mariscal was a "make it work" guy who I doubt ever sniffs the majors.

Jimenez is now in our rotation, most likely at the expense of Danny Fragoso, who will serve as starter insurance and as a multi-inning reliever. We still need a few more arms for the pen but at least we have one at no cost for now (in fact Gonzalez doesn't even need to go on the 40-man).

We also grabbed another arm for the bullpen, claiming Danny Zavala on waivers from Cleveland. The righty is rated 65/50/40 with 75 stuff potential and made his MLB debut late last year. He's only 22 and has the ability to start but that comes with only 35 stamina.

Awards season:

Gold Gloves: Alistair Hardy won his second glove in RF (the first came in 2031) despite losing a lot of playing time late in the year. He was our only winner on a club that played subpar team defense.

Reliever of the Year: Seattle's Carlos Campos wins in the AL (40 SV, 1.89 ERA, and a ludicrous 3.8 WAR as a reliever thanks to a 13/113 BB/K ratio). Our Chase Lee finished third thanks to his remarkable 1.12 ERA in 48 IP and 0 HR allowed, good for 1.9 WAR. He even got a first-place vote (not mine). The NL recipient was Chad Bogen of Washington (36 SV, 1.58 ERA).

Silver Sluggers: No Rays winners, thought Rutschman might have a shot.

Rookie of the Year: Boston 1B Nelson Gonzalez took 27 first-place votes for the win after a .305-14-59 season while the NL winner was San Antonio's Mario Sanchez. The RF hit a whopping .347 to go with 13 HR and 61 RBI in 461 AB.

Cy Young: There could be no doubt as the Yankees' Ignacio Gonzales was a unanimous selection coming off a Triple Crown season which saw him go 20-6, 2.09 with 261 whiffs and 9.6(!) WAR. Our Jaheim Lennon was a distant second. Jose Coro of Miami took the NL nod thanks to a 17-9, 1.95 year with 197 whiffs in 208 IP. He was a bit lucky with a .231 BABIP.

MVP: Well the AL voting was about as fragmented as it gets:

(I showed 4th place since that's where Pino finished). A 3-way race went the way of Jimenez, who hit .322-31-110 with 7 WAR. Bichette was .314-40-121 with 7.1 WAR and Krieg .319-38-107 with 7.5 WAR. In essence you could go with either of the three (I voted for Krieg). Surprisingly, Ignacio Gonzales finished a distant sixth despite his 9.6 WAR, over 2 better than any batter. (I would have voted for him but I overlooked him).

In the NL things were much clearer with Milwaukee OF Dave Rivera taking 23 first-place votes for the award after a .302-57-126, 8.4 WAR season. His WAR total led all MLB hitters.

November 19: My Hall-of-Fame ballot:

It was quite the first-year class with Cole, deGrom and Yelich all making their initial appearances. Hopefully I can help push Altuve (71% last year), Goldschmidt (73%), Votto (65%) and Wainwright (68%) over the top this time around.

November 25: Salary arbitration time - we're going to the limit with Benjamin Buckman (offered $6.2M), Angel Vargas ($9.3M) and Simon Juan ($4.8M).

November 26: The arbitration decisions are in and the team went 0-3 as Buckman will get $6.9M, Vargas $10.4M and Juan $5.3M so there's about $2.5M more than we thought we might have to pay.

November 27: The international free agents were announced and it was a brutal crop of 1 or 2-star players so no hope there of getting a quality FA at a reasonable price. We have $16.7M to play with, but at least all we're looking for are a couple of bullpen arms.

December 2: The first big free agent domino fell as former Ray Taj Bradley signed a 5/90 deal with Philly.

December 4: We're slowly putting together a bullpen:

Like my AGM I was surprised all Arizona wanted for Segura was a C-level OF prospect in Mireles, but who am I to question them? Segura is rated 65/65/65 and was a 1-WAR reliever with a 2.98 ERA in 66 IP last year for the Snakes. He's making $2.2M but that's fine.

December 8: There goes Randy Rodriguez, our long-time closer who was one of the game's best before tailing off badly last year, and he joins division rival New York on a 2/11 deal.

December 10: A curious pair of signings by the Mets, who inked star C MJ Melendez to a 3/66 pact to presumably replace free agent Francisco Alvarez, only to turn around and re-sign Alvarez for 5/110. Melendez moves back to the OF?

December 15: And there goes the other part of our 1-2 bullpen punch the last several years as Gerald Ogando signs for 2/21 with San Diego in a case of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" as the Padres just bested us in the World Series. Also veteran lefty starter Trevor Rogers joined Toronto for 3/54.

December 19: Joe Boyle, whom we non-tendered as he was due $6.7M in arbitration despite tearing his UCL last year, signed with Atlanta for 1 year at $2.8M. I had offered him $2.5M to come back but he declined, and I didn't want to go higher than Atlanta.

December 23: Added 1B Victor Solis and SS Bob Alvarez to the 40-man roster.

Rule 5 Draft coming up. We have 5 openings so if an intriguing bullpen arm pops up, we're on it. Solis has 70 power and makes a good reserve at Durham while Alvarez is a potential utilityman for us.

December 26: Selected P Jerry Montgomery from Detroit in the Rule 5 Draft.

Montgomery was the pitcher who intrigued us the most, rated 2.5 stars with 3 star potential. The righty has started in the minors but would be a reliever for us, rated 55/60/45 with potential for 5 better in stuff and control. If he sticks he'll likely be the last man out of the pen.

We did not lose anyone in the draft.

December 29: Biggest free agent signing of the winter so far as superstar CF Julio Rodriguez has moved down the Pacific coast from Seattle to San Diego on a 5/168 deal. The 34-year-old J-Rod is HoF-bound with 79.9 WAR to his name already along with 2080 hits which include 413 homers.

11-13-2025, 08:00 PM	#1047
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,641	2034-35 Offseason, Part 1 As always we start with the "in memoriam" section, i.e., players who retired: Notables: Mike Trout (LA retires #27), Corey Seager, Trea Turner, Alex Bregman, Spencer Torkelson, Gleyber Torres, Dansby Swanson. The decision was made to non-tender the following Rays, who didn't have any value on the trade market and whom we either don't want back or don't want back at their arbitration projection: Isaac Cedillos, Jaden Stevenson, Carson Williams and Joe Boyle. This group combined was expected to get around $20M, which is how much room we'll have under payroll now since we were right at the $170M limit. We also kicked off the winter by making a big trade from our catching glut to bring in some pitching: About a year ago I considered trading either Jalen Lowe or Kim and Atlanta was willing to give me Jimenez, who then went out last season and went 12-6, 3.43 with 205 Ks in 183 IP and earned 4.7 WAR on a minimum contract so I had my doubts they'd still be offering him but sure enough they were and I wasn't about to let the opportunity slip away again. And we also able to get Gonzalez, who while he hasn't pitched above AA, is rated 60/70/55 with 65 stuff potential and therefore seems ready to step right into a late-inning role with the bullpen, a serious need. Kim will give Atlanta a #1 catcher with his 60 power, 60 eye and 60 defense. Mariscal was a "make it work" guy who I doubt ever sniffs the majors. Jimenez is now in our rotation, most likely at the expense of Danny Fragoso, who will serve as starter insurance and as a multi-inning reliever. We still need a few more arms for the pen but at least we have one at no cost for now (in fact Gonzalez doesn't even need to go on the 40-man). We also grabbed another arm for the bullpen, claiming Danny Zavala on waivers from Cleveland. The righty is rated 65/50/40 with 75 stuff potential and made his MLB debut late last year. He's only 22 and has the ability to start but that comes with only 35 stamina. Awards season: Gold Gloves: Alistair Hardy won his second glove in RF (the first came in 2031) despite losing a lot of playing time late in the year. He was our only winner on a club that played subpar team defense. Reliever of the Year: Seattle's Carlos Campos wins in the AL (40 SV, 1.89 ERA, and a ludicrous 3.8 WAR as a reliever thanks to a 13/113 BB/K ratio). Our Chase Lee finished third thanks to his remarkable 1.12 ERA in 48 IP and 0 HR allowed, good for 1.9 WAR. He even got a first-place vote (not mine). The NL recipient was Chad Bogen of Washington (36 SV, 1.58 ERA). Silver Sluggers: No Rays winners, thought Rutschman might have a shot. Rookie of the Year: Boston 1B Nelson Gonzalez took 27 first-place votes for the win after a .305-14-59 season while the NL winner was San Antonio's Mario Sanchez. The RF hit a whopping .347 to go with 13 HR and 61 RBI in 461 AB. Cy Young: There could be no doubt as the Yankees' Ignacio Gonzales was a unanimous selection coming off a Triple Crown season which saw him go 20-6, 2.09 with 261 whiffs and 9.6(!) WAR. Our Jaheim Lennon was a distant second. Jose Coro of Miami took the NL nod thanks to a 17-9, 1.95 year with 197 whiffs in 208 IP. He was a bit lucky with a .231 BABIP. MVP: Well the AL voting was about as fragmented as it gets: (I showed 4th place since that's where Pino finished). A 3-way race went the way of Jimenez, who hit .322-31-110 with 7 WAR. Bichette was .314-40-121 with 7.1 WAR and Krieg .319-38-107 with 7.5 WAR. In essence you could go with either of the three (I voted for Krieg). Surprisingly, Ignacio Gonzales finished a distant sixth despite his 9.6 WAR, over 2 better than any batter. (I would have voted for him but I overlooked him). In the NL things were much clearer with Milwaukee OF Dave Rivera taking 23 first-place votes for the award after a .302-57-126, 8.4 WAR season. His WAR total led all MLB hitters. November 19: My Hall-of-Fame ballot: It was quite the first-year class with Cole, deGrom and Yelich all making their initial appearances. Hopefully I can help push Altuve (71% last year), Goldschmidt (73%), Votto (65%) and Wainwright (68%) over the top this time around. November 25: Salary arbitration time - we're going to the limit with Benjamin Buckman (offered $6.2M), Angel Vargas ($9.3M) and Simon Juan ($4.8M). November 26: The arbitration decisions are in and the team went 0-3 as Buckman will get $6.9M, Vargas $10.4M and Juan $5.3M so there's about $2.5M more than we thought we might have to pay. November 27: The international free agents were announced and it was a brutal crop of 1 or 2-star players so no hope there of getting a quality FA at a reasonable price. We have $16.7M to play with, but at least all we're looking for are a couple of bullpen arms. December 2: The first big free agent domino fell as former Ray Taj Bradley signed a 5/90 deal with Philly. December 4: We're slowly putting together a bullpen: Like my AGM I was surprised all Arizona wanted for Segura was a C-level OF prospect in Mireles, but who am I to question them? Segura is rated 65/65/65 and was a 1-WAR reliever with a 2.98 ERA in 66 IP last year for the Snakes. He's making $2.2M but that's fine. December 8: There goes Randy Rodriguez, our long-time closer who was one of the game's best before tailing off badly last year, and he joins division rival New York on a 2/11 deal. December 10: A curious pair of signings by the Mets, who inked star C MJ Melendez to a 3/66 pact to presumably replace free agent Francisco Alvarez, only to turn around and re-sign Alvarez for 5/110. Melendez moves back to the OF? December 15: And there goes the other part of our 1-2 bullpen punch the last several years as Gerald Ogando signs for 2/21 with San Diego in a case of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" as the Padres just bested us in the World Series. Also veteran lefty starter Trevor Rogers joined Toronto for 3/54. December 19: Joe Boyle, whom we non-tendered as he was due $6.7M in arbitration despite tearing his UCL last year, signed with Atlanta for 1 year at $2.8M. I had offered him $2.5M to come back but he declined, and I didn't want to go higher than Atlanta. December 23: Added 1B Victor Solis and SS Bob Alvarez to the 40-man roster. Rule 5 Draft coming up. We have 5 openings so if an intriguing bullpen arm pops up, we're on it. Solis has 70 power and makes a good reserve at Durham while Alvarez is a potential utilityman for us. December 26: Selected P Jerry Montgomery from Detroit in the Rule 5 Draft. Montgomery was the pitcher who intrigued us the most, rated 2.5 stars with 3 star potential. The righty has started in the minors but would be a reliever for us, rated 55/60/45 with potential for 5 better in stuff and control. If he sticks he'll likely be the last man out of the pen. We did not lose anyone in the draft. December 29: Biggest free agent signing of the winter so far as superstar CF Julio Rodriguez has moved down the Pacific coast from Seattle to San Diego on a 5/168 deal. The 34-year-old J-Rod is HoF-bound with 79.9 WAR to his name already along with 2080 hits which include 413 homers. Last edited by Art Deco; 11-13-2025 at 08:02 PM.