[jksander]

February 26, 1916: With Connie Mack gone from the organization, my first job (aside from assessing our meager roster) would be to find a manager to lead this clubhouse. My main target is 60-year-old Chris Nolan, who in early talks seems to match my goals ... and who only expects to have final veto power over player training strategy. I don’t intend to micromanage, but I want a manager in place who is willing to work with me in this transitional period and not wind up undermining our progress. He seems to be a good fit for what’s available ... we’re already catching a lot of flack in the local press because of Shibe’s ousting of Mack, who remained a beloved managerial presence. But Shibe insisted on a clean break, and after the brutal back-and-forth between those two men it was no question that, when I became GM, I would have to look in different directions.

I have offered Nolan a contract for two years work at $3,600 per season, and if he and I are still on the same page after his first season, it’s possible we can talk about an extension that keeps him with us through our full rebuild.

We have a full roster and 23 players on our reserve squad, and though we’re not completely bereft of talent, I’d say half of our major league roster is at or below replacement level, including our entire bullpen and half our starters. So I’m going in on making an offer to right handed starter Pedro Dibut, a 23-year-old Cuban pitcher who has found himself alone atop the “free agent” pool of players. He’s a control-minded pitcher with a strong arsenal of pitches he gets into the right place -- not flashy, but definitely competant. I expect others to be bidding for his talent, so we’ve offered him $2,750 to play for us this year. If he signs, that would make him our sixth-highest paid player, and would put our player payroll at close to $60,000 for the year.

Whitey Witt, our shortstop, and Charlie Pick, our third baseman, are definitely among our biggest liabilities, but at the outset there may not be a great deal we can accomplish in trying to immediately improve at those positions. The league has decided to institute an amateur draft after this season, and that may well prove to be our best opportunity to find young talent and improve, though I’ll certainly be active on the trading market when the situation merits it.

February 28, 1916: Pedro Dibut signed a minor league deal with the Montreal Royals, but Shibe authorized me to reach out to them and we’ve purchased his contract for $1,960 ... a bargain considering our original offer, and they were barely going to be paying him at all, so they were happy to take our money. Dibut will step into our starting rotation in the number two spot behind Bullet Joe Bush.

March 3, 1916: Chris Nolan has agreed to our two year manager contract, and will take over clubhouse duties immediately. He will have full control of player strategies, but I will be making both the offensive lineups and our pitching lineups. I plan to defer to his judgment for the most part, but I like the ability to make changes if I feel they will benefit our team’s performance on the field.

March 4, 1916: Our scouts have led us to a real find, and we’ve purchased the contract of 18-year-old outfielder Bill Lamar from the Baltimore Orioles over in the International League, for the sum of $1,960. Lamar has a lot of upside as a hitter, and the potential to become a decent fielder, but for now he’ll be part of our reserve roster as he develops. We have also purchased the contract of 20-year-old catcher Johnny Bassler from the PCL’s Los Angeles Angels, intending to develop him in much the same manner. Wally Schang is still in full control of our starting catcher position, but Bassler has long term potential to become a very competant defensive backup. Bassler last played for the Cleveland Naps in 1913-14, but has since been playing on the Pacific Coast as he needs the time to develop.
 
March 8, 1916: In a move to make up for some of the damage Mack’s selloff did to us two years ago, we’ve brought back Byron Houck, who went 14-6 with a 4.14 ERA during our 1913 World Championship campaign. His attempt to make it in the Federal League failed, and he’s been toiling away in the PCL for Portland, Oregon’s team, where in his first two starts this season he’s gone 2-0 with 16 strikeouts and a 2.65 ERA during 17 innings played. Benjamin Shibe authorized us to repurchase his contract from the Beavers, and he’ll be returning to Philadelphia where he belongs, as our #3 starter behind Bullet Joe Bush and Pedro Dilbut.

We’ve been scouring the minor leagues for talent at shortstop and for the hot corner, but our scouts have found nobody who would be a marked improvement, so for now I believe we’re close to having our rosters set for the coming season. We’re still more than a month away from opening day against Boston at Fenway Park ... that four game series is going to be a big deal, as the Red Sox are the defending World Champs after winning 101 games last year and destroying the Phillies from across town in five games. We’ll play our first seven games on the road but will have our home opening series against Boston on the 20th through 24th of April.

March 16, 1916: We’ve made a trade with the Chicago Cubs, sending them 21-year-old reliever Rube Bressler in exchange for Alex McCarthy, age 26, who immediately gives us a huge infield defense boost ... McCarthy isn’t a great hitter, but he’ll give us a huge improvement at both second and short, with passable skills playing from third as well. McCarthy will take over at short as our starter, with Whitey Witt now becoming primarily a pinch hitter / runner -- though he’s still going to be on our main 25-man roster.

With Nap Lajoie being a capable second baseman (and a solid double-play contributor defensively), our primary hole in the lineup remains finding someone who can take over at third base for Charlie Pick, though Pick hasn’t had a lot of major league experience and has done passbly well playing at the AAA level -- and he’s an aggressive baserunner who hits well, so keeping him as a starter may not be a poor decision. I’ll keep searching for upgrades, but I think we’ve made some significant improvements to the roster I was handed when I took this job.

April 3, 1916: The Brooklyn Robins need a catcher, and they reached out to us about Billy Meyer, a 17-year-old we have on our reserve roster who is currently ranked 70th overall among prospects. They have a third baseman we’ve been eyeing, and I decided that, since Meyer is nowhere near at the level right now to compete for a spot on our major league team, why not see if we can make something happen for the third baseman? So we asked about 32-year-old Mike Mowrey, who our scouts say is elite defensively at the position, particularly at defending against the bunt which is a huge deal in this “dead ball era.” He recently resigned with the Robins after playing in the Federal League for Pittsburgh last year, so he hasn’t played in the “Majors” since 1914, but he’s the guy we wanted ... and Brooklyn has said let’s do it. So the trade’s official, and he’s on his way down from New York to join our roster as soon as possible!

With this move, and a newly minted infield of 1B Stuffy McInnis, 2B Nap Lajoie, 3B Mike Lowrey and SS Alex McCarthy, I at least expect our team to be significantly more sound as a fundamental defensive unit ... which should hopefully help our pitching. Whether they all can gel as a team in the early goings of a long season will be the challenge.Charlie Pick will still be on the main roster as a backup at third, and will be a solid pinch hitting / running option as well.