[ayaghmour2]

So yeah, bad news. We just saw 598 wins, 1,810 appearances, 9,729 innings, and 5,694 strikeouts just dissapear.

Poof.

Gonezo.

Pug White and Jim Norris did the unthinkable and both retired.

How could they do this to me!?!?!?!?!?

Of course, the team retired Pug's number (and there will be a writeup at some point) and Norris' number in Detroit was as well, and I mean they are 45 and greying, but they were still good and we don't have obvious replacements.

My story is that Hal Adams blackmailed them both, ensuring he'd have a rotation spot for his aged 40 season, which I guess is more important to him then fielding a competent team.

We really need to add a SP, even if no one is selling right now, because the options after are slim and few between. Most exciting might be former 7th Rounder Walt Wilson, who is one of our 22 ranked prospects. Just added to the 40, he was excellent in the Plainsmen rotation, going 16-8 with a 4.06 ERA (114 ERA+), 4.17 FIP (89 FIP-), and 131 strikeouts in his 30 starts. With zero experience and probably the ceiling of a back-end starter, it's not ideal, but yeah. Slim pickings.

Otherwise it's guys we got off waivers. Pug likes Leroy Williams and wants him to be the 5th starter/stopper, but he missed a lot of time with injury, and wasn't great out of our pen (0-5, 4.09, 13). He walked a lot of guys and lost a lot of games, but he is 28, throws a lot of pitches, and is a projected starter. Veteran Bob McKinney is about a decade older, but pitched really well with Baltimore (4-5, 2, 2.80, 60) and 11 of his 23 appearances were starts. The cons may outweigh, as he was worse with us (1-0, 5.01, 16), didn't have a FABL start before this season, and made his FABL debut two years ago. But he's a hard thrower and hard worker and we are really desperate for arms. Or maybe even Steve Madden, who looked good in year one (1-1, 2.76, 27), but hasn't made a FABL start in a year that begins with a '7. Maybe he's the next Cougar with a late career breakout?

I guess there is Augie Hicks too, who Harry Carr thinks is SP5, but he's started just 10 games since 1969 and seems to have adapted well to the pen. With both our young guys hurt, I don't want to have uncertainty at the back of our pen too, and Hicks can at least start with the job. A 3.46 ERA (113 ERA+) and 15 saves is solid enough, but if a good stopper option comes up Hicks could enter the rotation mix too.

I also want a bat, but between the likely lack of sellers we may have to settle for a Tom Lorang bounce back or a waiver/free agent target. There is a guy I kind of like, but it's more a band aid then a real solution. I have a few ideas, but none that overly excite me. It will be interesting to see what is available, as if we want to have a chance of usurping the Kings, we need to bring more talent into the organization.