The 2023 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Record: 70-35 (15-11 for the month)
1st place AL East, 11 1/2 up on New York

An eventful month with the All-Star break and Amateur Draft (as chronicled in the previous post) as well as a trio of trades made ahead of the deadline. On the field it was an up and down month that saw the Rays go through their first poor stretch of the season (losing 5 of 7 sandwiched around the break) but close the month strong, winning 7 of their final 8.

As for the trades, two were significant and the third was to make room for someone acquired in the second. The first:



A major acquisition for the pen as we acquire Clase, on top of his game for over a decade closing out games with 467 saves on his resume. He had a 1.77 ERA for the White Sox and is rated an impressive 55/80/80 and after the deal he added 3 saves in 3 scoreless innings for us. The cost was minimal for the free agent-to-be as Demmy is a mid-level 2-star catching prospect. Victor Vodnik moves back into a setup role and lets us use Juan Nunez, our best reliever this year, in a true fireman role from the 6th inning on.

With Geronimo Satiro putting up decent surface numbers but not hitting a lot outside of his homers and putting up a negative WAR, it was time to find a left-handed bat that we could platoon with him and we got one, another grizzled vet:



This one was essentially offered to us by the AI, as we bring on Nootbar and his 268 career homers. The long-time Cardinal and Astro (who had a 48-HR, 112-RBI year in Houston in his first season there) was scuffling a bit (212/311/381) but is still rated 50 contact, 60 power and 70 eye. We do have him for another season after this at $6.2M as Houston picked up 55% of his contract. As mentioned he'll platoon with Satiro at DH and play some LF as well when needed. The cost was a bit higher with two more catching prospects out the door. Hollon is the better of the two but he's more bat than catcher while Espinal is a backup at best and more likely organizational filler.

To make room for Nootbar (and the $6.2M we have to pay him next season) we somehow managed to get rid of a guy who we liked having around but vastly underplayed his contract over the last couple of years:



Auer had seasons of 5.2, 3.6 and 3.5 WAR when we signed him to a long-term contract at $10.6M/year but he rapidly went downhill at the plate after that and only accumulated 1.7 WAR total over the last 2 1/2 seasons as a backup useful for his speed and defense. We still had another year to go after this one on that contract but the Phillies were willing to take him off our hands for Caminero, who was once a top prospect of ours but only had one good season for us (2028, 3.1 WAR) before we shipped him to San Diego. We're going to waive him and eat the remainder of his $4.6M annual salary this year since we have no interest in him although if he clears waivers we'll see if he wants to play at Durham.

Meanwhile in injury news, our revolving door in LF continued as it became a Spinal Tap drummer type situation where everyone went down. Cory Ridell, who came up and hit after Chris Crisp got hurt, suffered a strained oblique himself and is out until around September 1. Fortunately Crisp came back after the All-Star break and resumed his role (for now, knock wood). Also we lost a starter as lefty Brock Jones developed elbow inflammation and he too will be out until early September. He was having a brilliant year (2.39 ERA in 94 IP) and hopefully he'll be back to form for the postseason. Also Garrett Whitlock missed most of July with back spasms but came back to start just before the month ended.

Here's the game-by-game breakdown for July:



Where things stand around the league:



Team stats:



Great stuff all around, and the team defense has been excellent of late.



A big month for Tatis, who pushed himself back into the conversation for a third straight MVP, and it was great to see Schmidt finally shake himself out of his year-and-a-half slump even if the power is still somewhat missing. As for Tatis, his month was so big that the league took notice:



On the mound:



The starters did well (including fill-in Garces) for the most part with Ray a clear exception as regression seemingly came for him after a lights-out first half that saw him put up a 2.44 ERA. It's 3.30 now after the rough July although he did pitch decently in his final start of the month (which tells you how bad the other ones were). Losing Jones for a spell is unfortunate but we've got such a big lead we'll survive it. Also you might notice another new name above as we brought back Jovani Moran after he spent 2024-29 with us. Philly put him on waivers and we were glad to oblige as he still boasts 70 stuff with 70 movement (and yes 40 control). He gives us another solid lefty in the pen with Ramos and Scott.

Gonna skip the farm system overview this time as the post has gotten long enough but I will note that lefty starter and 2033 first-round draftee T.J. Hutzenbiler has been rated the #52 prospect in baseball.

[Art Deco]

Record: 90-43 (20-8 for the month)
1st place AL East, 19 1/2 up on Toronto, magic number to clinch is 10

On the surface you might think a 20-8 month and putting away the division was a walk in the park for the Rays in August, but they were hit with a wave of injuries that made it a trying period. The position of LF in particular continued to be a jinx as Joe Edwards was the latest to succumb to injury with a strained oblique that will keep him out until mid-September, and we lost our RF Ben Schmidt with a strained rib cage musicle that is regular-season ending but he should be back for the playoffs. And then there was the starting rotation, which in addition to losing Brock Jones last month lost the Garretts as Whitlock (strained back) and Lambert (strained elbow) went down. Whitlock did come back to start the final game of the month but was out three weeks while Lambert should be back soon. We got so thin that we brought Fernando Costume back as 3-4 inning starter just to fill the rotation. Also veteran Kolby Allard, whom we brought up for long relief and had to make a start, tore his UCL in that start and is done for the year. It really did get ridiculous. Anyway we still got it done on the field with the next man up, and hopefully we're done with the injuries. The game-by-game recap:







Still getting it done, especially on the mound.



Edwards was just heating up when he went down with his injury while Schmidt had gone ice cold before suffering his. One name of interest here is Jorge Zeledon, whom we called up with all the injuries from AA Montgomery. Zeledon is a kind of freak with 75 (80 potential) contact and 80 avoid Ks but 25 power and a 30 eye. Amazingly he did hit a homer and his 278/278/352 line was about what might be expected. He had been DHing against righties. Nootbar's numbers meanwhile don't look that exciting but he really did come on in the second half of the month after struggling in the aftermath of the deal that brought him here.



As you can see the pitching was lights-out again, led by the bullpen which was magnificent (aside from Scott). Garces and Kim (who had struggled as a starter in the past) were outstanding after being pressed into the rotation. And one guy who didn't struggle at all after coming over in trade was Clase:



He's been a model of consistency in the role you want to see it in most.

Going to pass on the farm system and recap it in post after the regular season ends.

[Art Deco]

Final Regular Season Record: 105-57 (15-14 for the month)
1st place, AL East, #1 seed in the AL

With the division effectively wrapped up going into September it was foot-off-the-gas-pedal time and the Rays slogged through while still winning 105 games. This month it was the bullpen's turn to be hit with injuries with setup man Juan Nunez missing most of the month (although he came back right before the end) and other setup guy Victor Vodnik suffering elbow inflammation (he'll probably miss the ALDS). We did get regular RF Ben Schmidt back but he just came off the IL at season's end. Lefty Brock Jones also came off the IL but saw his stamina decreased to 35 so he was used in the bullpen where he was hit hard (a .538 BABIP had something to do with it).

Otherwise it was all about tuning up for the playoffs and thankfully nobody else was hurt. Here's how the final month+ went:



And in the two October games, they beat Toronto 10-2 on the 1st and lost to them 3-0 on the 2nd.

The final standings/leaders:



We had a pair of Triple Crown winners in the NL - Colorado's Jack Ruckert led in AVG, HR and RBI, and San Diego's Nelson Chavarria led in Ws, ERA and Ks. Both should repeat as MVP and Cy Young respectively.

In the AL the Yankees did back in to the final wild card, beating out the Angels on the season-series tiebreaker.



Befitting a 105-win club there isn't much to complain about here (sure we strike out a lot but so what?).



Tatis should win a third straight AL MVP but who had Quezada finishing 2nd on the team in WAR on their bingo card when the season began? The SS provided a solid glove and showed off his power and speed in a great season, not bad for a late-year waiver claim last season. Anderson was everything we hoped for as a one-season rental bopper at 1B and Basallo had a great bounce-back year from his disappointing maiden Rays season. Finally Crisp should get some Rookie of the Year votes despite only playing a half-season's worth of games.



The pitching was very good in an overall sense with nobody really bad, but my only worry come playoff time is that there isn't anyone in the rotation who's a true ace or #1 starter. Maybe if you squint you can see a #2 but they're mostly 3s and 4s. But as long as they hold their own and the bats and bullpen come through we can make a real run.



Not the greatest farm system by any stretch but that's what you get for drafting late every year. Cerda could be our next star - he's close to being MLB-ready despite not playing above A-ball yet.

[Art Deco]

And the Rays now know their ALDS opponent as they'll face former teammates Elly De La Cruz and Paul Skenes.



The White Sox will face Seattle in the other ALDS.



San Diego advances to take on Colorado.



And St. Louis will face the Mets in the other NLDS.

[Art Deco]

Off on the right foot...



The Rays of this save have still yet to taste a World Series championship despite consistently making the playoffs and here we go again for 2033. This year's crew is off to a great start thanks to almost-out-of-nowhere incredibly dominant pitching of Dylan Ray. Not quite out of nowhere since Ray struck out 195 in 180 IP this year and boasts 65 starter stuff but this was something else today as he recorded his first 11 outs on 12 strikeouts (one reached on a passed ball) and fanned 14 in only 5 1/3 IP, which is a team record (fitting I guess for a guy named Ray) and has to be some kind of MLB record for most Ks in the fewest innings in the playoffs. The offense did its part with 6 runs, spread somewhat evenly around the lineup with the hit of note a solo homer from Ben Schmidt, playing for the first time since being injured in August. Emiliano Teodo will go tomorrow against the organization that signed him as the Rays look to take a big 2-0 lead in this best-of-5 series.

In yesterday's NLDS openers:



And in today's DS action:

[Art Deco]

That did not go well...



For four innings things were going the Rays' way and it looked like they'd head to Texas up 2-0 in the ALDS. Texas starter Joe Forte had to leave in the 2nd and Chris Crisp greeted his replacement with a homer and Emiliano Teodo was no-hitting the Rangers. But a couple of former Rays were Tampa Bay's undoing as Patrick Bailey (who caught for us from 2025-2030) homered with a man on for the Rangers' first hit to tie it in the 5th and then after Jovani Moran loaded the bases with nobody out in the 8th, former Rays superstar Elly De La Cruz hit a slam off Emmanuel Clase who had been lights-out since being acquired and was hoping to put out the fire. So now it's anyone's series with Garrett Whitlock going in Game 3 at Globe Life.

In the other ALDS:

[Art Deco]

Edgar to the rescue...



Edgar Quezada has been one of the unsung heroes of the 2033 Rays, playing good defense at short and hitting 21 homers to go with 28 steals, good for 4.2 WAR this year, and he showed that kind of play translates to the postseason as his 3-run homer in the 7th broke a 1-1 tie and propelled the Rays to a 4-1 win and 2-1 series lead. Quezada earlier had singled twice and stolen second both times as part of big day which also saw Garrett Whitlock turn in a quality start and the bullpen hold unlike in Game 2. So it'll be Jose Garces going tomorrow with a chance to clinch.

In the other ALDS:



And yesterday both NLDSes wrapped up with sweeps as the Mets and Padres will face off in the NLCS:

[Art Deco]

Moving along...



It was a tight, tense one but the Rays are advancing to the ALDS after dispatching the Rangers 4-1 today and 3-1 in the series. Fernando Tatis Jr. was a poor 1 for 13 in this series before coming through with a big RBI single which plated the first run of the game in the top of the 8th but Emmanuel Clase once again faltered against the first man he faced, giving up an RBI single to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to let Texas tie in the bottom of the inning. Then came the 9th and the sudden wildness of Texas closer Eric Kinney. He hit Ben Schmidt and walked Owen Paino but got the second out, only to walk Edgar Quezada to load the bases and hit Chris Crisp to force in the go-ahead run. He then walked Pete Anderson and Tatis to force in two more runs and that was that. The AI left him on in the red to throw 57 pitches as the Texas pan must have been completely burned out because they finally brought on scheduled Game 5 starter Paul Skenes to come in and get the final out. Clase held on in the bottom of the frame and the Rays now will face either Seattle or Chicago.

And we don't know which one we'll face yet as the White Sox forced a Game 5 in Seattle:

[Art Deco]

And it'll be Seattle who comes to the Trop to kick off the ALCS:

[Art Deco]

Early advantage...



The Rays are off to a roaring start in the ALCS after beating Seattle 6-2 at the Trop in Game 1. Owen Paino was the man with a 2-run homer to tie the game at 2 and then a 2-run double to pad a 3-2 lead. Dylan Ray was nowhere near as sharp as he was in his ALDS start when he struck out 14 and barely got through the 4th. But the bullpen did the job, shutting down Seattle the rest of the way without us even having to use the top guys (Nunez, Clase). It'll be Emiliano Teodo tomorrow in Game 2.

In the NLCS:





Runs are certainly at a premium in this series, which will now go at least 5 games.

[Art Deco]

Not a good night...



The Rays stunk up the joint tonight, getting neither good pitching nor good hitting. Especially the hitting as they only managed four hits on the night. It's something that they've gotten this far with next-to-no production from their two best players, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Subaru Nakashima. Tatis was a playoff no-show last year and this year he's 3 for 21 with 2 RBI which came on the same hit, and Nakashima is 4-23 with 1 RBI and 10 strikeouts. These guys will need to starting turning it around in support of Garrett Whitlock, who gets the ball for Game 3 in Seattle.

[Art Deco]

Can't win if you don't hit...



A tough loss for the Rays as they're now in danger of going out to Seattle in the ALCS for the second straight year. The big problem remains the lack of hitting - today they were no-hit until the 7th when Tatis (who tripled) and Nakamura (who followed with a 2-run homer) finally did something to give the Rays a 2-0 lead. But Victor Vodnik crapped the bed big-time in the 8th, putting the first two on, wild-pitching them to second and third, then wild-pitching one in and the other to third, and Emmanuel Clase came in and then wild-pitched that man home to let Seattle tie. Clase got out of it without further damage and then got through the 9th on only 5 pitches, so he came out for the 10th and gave up the game-losing 2-run homer and now Tampa Bay is behind 2-1 in the series. Jose Garces goes tomorrow but the way things are going it may not matter how well he pitches.

Meanwhile in the NLCS:





And now they're going at least 6 in this series, something the Rays hope happens in the ALCS.

[Art Deco]

Deja vu all over again...



The Rays are on the brink of elimination after coming up short for the third straight game against Seattle, who really seems to have their number in the postseason. Today it looked good for a moment when they briefly broke out of their offensive funk with 3 in the first including a 2-run Tatis homer. But Garces gave it right back in the bottom of the inning by giving up a 3-run homer and he faded in the decisive 6th with two runs scoring, one of which came on a Basallo passed ball - the same Basallo who is now 1-for-30 at the plate this postseason and is going to be on the bench tomorrow for Game 5. Tatis homered again in the 9th to pull the Rays within one but it was a classic case of too little, too late and now they'll have to hope Dylan Ray can get the job done with some offensive help or it's going to be another long offseason.

In the NLCS:



The best pitcher in baseball, Nelson Chavarria, fanned 15 Mets in 6 1/3 innings to help the Padres to a key Game 5 win.

Note for those following along: This is the last post for tonight, I'll finish up the series probably late tomorrow morning.

[Art Deco]

Simply humiliating...



The Rays went out of the 2033 postseason with the wimpiest of whimpers, managing only one(!) hit - and that came in the 9th - in a 7-0 beatdown by Seattle and lost the ALCS in 5 games to the Mariners for the second straight season, going another year without a title. We made a couple of lineup changes but it mattered not one whit.

[Art Deco]

Who will the Mariners play in the Series?





That would be the Mets, who got a great game from former Ray (the 2031 season) Ricky Tiedemann to come back from a 3-2 series deficit to win the NL pennant.

[Art Deco]

It seems this save is now stuck in a Groundhog Day-style time loop where the Rays keep losing to the Mariners in the ALCS, and Seattle goes on to win the World Series as they've now made it back-to-back titles:

[Art Deco]

Another big regular season, another playoff disappointment as we've settled into a Groundhog Day (Year?) situation in this save. This will be a winter to rebuild the pitching staff once again as almost all of the position players return. The good news is that Stu Sternberg has given me a $210M payroll to play with, perhaps the highest I've been given in one of these Rays saves. Here are the salaries beyond the minimum we're looking at:



This group comes in at $151M if we keep everyone so we'll have money to play with.

The position-by-position outlook:

C: Samuel Basallo returns, to be backed up by Alejandro Contreras again. Basallo had a good bounceback season.

1B: This is the one hole of sorts as Pete Anderson, who had a great year, was brought in as a rental coming into last season. We have Geronimo Satiro, who served as the primary DH, available, but he's coming off a disappointing season in which he hit some homers but not much else.

2B: Owen Paino returns.

SS: Edgar Quezada returns.

3B: Fernando Tatis Jr. returns.

IF: Bryce Clavon has been the primary IF backup for a couple of years but he's due $6M in arbitration, which is pricey for his role so he may be non-tendered or dealt.

LF: Chris Crisp was excellent as a rookie

CF: Subaru Nakashima returns and has proved a consistent star.

RF: Ben Schmidt was finally starting to hit consistently for the first time in three years when we went down with an injury but the talent is there and we'll bring him back.

OF: Joe Edwards started the year as our LF and was eclipsed by Crisp but has some skills as well while Cory Ridell and Dean Moss remain in the mix.

DH: If Satiro becomes our 1B we'll need a DH. A Moss/Ridell platoon with Edwards mixing in could be passable. Also rookie 2B Pepin Schwartz, who hit 44 homers between Montgomery, Durham and the big club, will merit consideration.

Rotation: This is where we have serious off-season work to do. Dylan Ray, our best starter last year, opted out of his contract, Garrett Whitlock didn't meet the vesting criteria for his, and Jose Garces is a free agent. That leaves Emiliano Teodo and Garrett Lambert, the latter having tailed off enough to be left out of the playoff rotation. Brock Jones started during the first half and was excellent, but got hurt and came back with only 35 stamina so he might be a reach. Chang-heyok Kim has been a dependable swingman for us but always seems a bit pressed when put in the rotation. Picking up at least two starters seems like a must.

Bullpen: Not much better-situated here either with Emmanuel Clase (a rental) and Victor Vodnik gone along with lefties Shawn Scott and Jovani Moran, not to mention middle/long man Fernando Costume. Juan Nunez and Yeuris Jimenez are our best returning relievers and Fernando Perez is back but he's going to command $7.1M in arbitration which is questionable. Jones is probably our top lefty and he's injury-prone so 3-4 arms are going to be needed here as well.

Prospects: Nobody down on the farm looks like immediate help except for Schwartz as our system's mediocre years of late are catching up to us.

The tl;dr version:

1. Find 2-3 starting pitchers
2. Find 3-4 relievers
3. Look for a RH-hitting MI and maybe a 1B

[Art Deco]

Retirements:

Notables: Rafael Devers, Nolan Arenado (Rockies retire #28), Xander Bogaerts, Yordan Alvarez, Gleyber Torres, Alex Bregman, Joey Gallo, Devin Williams, Jack Flaherty, Max Muncy.

Former Rays: Ryan Pepiot.

November 6: Pulled off a trade to get the offseason going:



Said I was going to trade Clavon as he was getting expensive for an infield backup, and managed to parlay him into a quality starter to fill one of our many rotation holes. Sesay's surface numbers weren't great this past year (6-9, 5.17, 1.4 WAR), but he's rated 60/70/45 as a starter (with 65 stuff potential) and is only a year removed from a 3.5-WAR season. He's been a victim of bad defense behind him in Milwaukee with consistent BABIPs against in the .330s and last year's lower WAR was largely due to a spike in HRA which belies his 70-rated movement. So I'm very optimistic he'll fare better (and well) for us next season.

November 7: Claimed P Nate Hydro on waivers from San Francisco.

And the staff rebuild continues apace with the addition of Hydro, an intriguing reliever. The 24-year-old is rated 50/70/55 with potential to bump the stuff and control up by 5. He came up as a rookie last year with the Giants and looked very good in the 29 innings he pitched, putting up a 1.29 ERA and a 10/25 BB/K ratio with no homers allowed.

By the way both Sesay and Hydro are rated "durable" which is a plus.

Awards Season:

Gold Glove: No Tampa Bay winners.

Reliever of the Year: AL winner was Chicago's Kymani Alamin, who saved 43 games with a 1.98 ERA and earned 1.9 WAR. Our Emmanuel Clase placed third. In the NL the nod went to St. Louis' Steve Bell, who was stellar with 39 saves, an 0.60 ERA and 2.6 WAR.

Silver Slugger: We had one winner - Fernando Tatis Jr. at 3B and something tells me this won't be his last award this week.

Rookie of the Year: Cleveland SS Daniel Trejo was a unanimous winner as the first-year star hit 40 homers and played above-average D to earn 4.4 WAR. Our Chris Crisp finished a distant but clear second. The NL winner was a no-brainer as well as Miami's Cidro Palomino took the league by storm by hitting .282-31-81 while playing Gold Glove-caliber defense in CF.

Cy Young: The AL voting was about as fragmented as it gets:



Lovette probably did deserve it over the other two but I'll present their numbers:

Lovette: 12-10, 3.20, 266 K* in 219 IP, 6.5 WAR*
Skenes: 16-5, 3.12, 245K in 208 IP, 3.4 WAR (he did lead in WHIP at 1.000)
Thompson: 13-7, 2.75*, 174K in 209 IP, 5.3 WAR
*led league

The NL winner was much more clear-cut as San Diego's Nelson Chaverria won for the second straight year, getting 28 first-place votes to teammate James Lofton Jr's 2. Chaverria is kind of a modern-day Nolan Ryan, leading MLB in whiffs (355) and walks (102) while going 17-7, 2.07.

MVP: To nobody's surprise:



It's now a three-peat for Tatis, whose 7.6 WAR was a full 1.5 better than the field.

The NL MVP is a unanimous three-peater as well as Colorado's Jack Ruckert hit .332-47-146 and accumulated 8.8 WAR.

November 14: Re-signed SP Jose Garces to a 3-year, $6M contract.

Garces was excellent last year filling in the rotation and was 8-4, 3.05 for the year including 17 starts and earned 1.6 WAR, so if he keeps that up he's a stone bargain at $2M/year.

November 27: We lost our only arbitration case as Owen Paino got $5.5M instead of the $5.0M we offered. Fernando Perez and Ethan Holliday were non-tendered.

November 28: Another trade, this time to boost the pen:



Magno is another buy-low guy coming off a trying season in Houston. He's a lefty rated 80/70/40 so that's pretty good right there but he still saved 13 games for Houston with a 3.48 ERA but had a spike in both homers allowed and his BABIP (sound familliar?). I'll go with the scouting and we're not looking for him to be the closer but the power lefty when we need a LHB whiffed. The cost was minimal as Sherwood isn't much more than organization filler, an 11th-round pick.

December 7: The first of our free agents to find a new home is 1B Pete Anderson, who parlayed his 4.1-WAR season with us into a 7/220 deal with Pittsburgh. I liked him, but not for that much and that long.

December 8: The Angels gave the top SP on the market Bubba Chandler an 6/234 deal. He's been one of the best SP since he came up in 2025 with Pittsburgh (with two Cys) but he's now "wrecked" so I can't see LA getting close to their money's worth out of this one.

December 10: Superstar Juan Soto was up for the second big free agent deal of his career and gets 3/89 from San Diego, where he earlier spent 2 1/2 seasons.

December 14: We've gone out and picked up another starter:



Morejon is 35 and he's going into the last year of his contract and we're going to have to pay $16M of his salary but he's been one of the more consistent starters in the game, earning 3.7, 4.0 and 4.5 WAR over the last three seasons, typically winning 14-15 games with a mid-3s ERA. Can't turn that down, especially since the cost was Lepper who's an okay prospect but probably his ceiling is 5th starter.

We have a rotation now.

December 16: Signed RP Joe Boyle to a 1-year, $2.2M contract.

Now that we've beefed up the rotation, time to work on the bullpen and we get a good deal in Boyle, who's rated 75/70/40 and has 642 whiffs in 464 career innings. Those do come with 301 walks as well so that could be an issue but he's a solid 1-WAR reliever when all is said and done and he'll pitch in middle relief.

Meanwhile, Dylan Ray got a 5/55 contract with Atlanta. He was great with us last year and the price is fair but I have my doubts about the length.

December 18: Another free agent of ours is gone as lefty reliever Shawn Scott signed with the Giants on a 1-year, $3M deal.

December 21: Former Rays star and current Dodger Wander Franco won't be playing baseball in 2034 as his ruptured MCL is going to need extra time for rehab.

December 22: Added OFs Alejandro Cerda and Edgar Olivo, C Chris Rector and P Mike Wallace to the 40-man roster.

Cerda is our top prospect, Olivo is one of our best prospects and a potential do-it-all OF, Rector has tremendous power and Wallace is probably a 5th starter at best but we had a surplus of open 40-man spots and still have 3 open in case we see something in the Rule 5 Draft which intrigues us.

December 23: The Rule 5 Draft was a total nothingburger, there was only one guy that interested me and he was taken with the #1 overall pick, and we didn't lose anyone either.

December 28: Jasson Dominguez, who revitalized his career in the thin air of Colorado last year, signed with the Angels for 7/225.

December 29: Signed South Korean IF Kang-Min Kim to a minor league contract.

Kim might have been the best player in a very weak international free agent class. He's a decent-fielding MI whose greatest attribute is an 80 eye which goes with 50 power but he whiffs a lot and only is good for 45 contact. He's a righty batter so he's got a shot to make the team as a Bryce Clavon replacement.

December 30: Some interesting signings, especially from our current real-life 2025 perspective. 42-year-old Mike Trout is still going and just signed a 1-year, $10.5M deal with Minnesota after hitting .241-25-71 with Arizona last year. He passed Babe Ruth last year and is now 3rd all-time with 729 homers, 33 shy of MLB record-holder Barry Bonds. He might need to play through 2035 to break that record. Meanwhile 2B Jackson Holliday is also headed to the Twin Cities on a 4/116 deal after many years in Baltimore.

[Art Deco]

January 4: The Hall of Fame voting is in:



Congrats to Altuve, the only one to get in this year and the only one who was close. Back to the drawing board for the rest, and the top first-year candidate after Altuve was Jose Ramirez, way down at 7.9%.

January 6: Victor Vodnik, in our bullpen since 2029, is now a Seattle Mariner on a 2/11 deal. The fans weren't happy.

January 7: Danis Correa, one of the top relievers in the game when healthy (he's "wrecked") and who was in our pen down the stretch in 2032, signed a 2/26 deal with Seattle who seems intent on beefing up their bullpen.

January 12: Two more members of our pitching staff last year have gone to greener pastures: SP Garrett Whitlock joins Houston for 2/32 and closer Emmanuel Clase goes to their rival Texas for 2/28.

January 13: And the exodus to Texas continues with Fernando Perez joining the Rangers on a 1-year, $9.1M deal. They're listing him as a starter so that should be interesting.

January 22: We signed one of the top prospects in the international amateur class, OF Luis Machuca from the Dominican Republic. The 16-year-old has 70 contact and 70 power potential but of course is a long way off from realizing it.

January 23: Reliever Fernando Costume, whom we raised from a pup, signed a 3/16 deal with division rival Toronto.

January 24: Owner Stu Sternberg has said we can have another $10M for payroll so as it stands now we can spend up to $50M. Too bad there isn't anyone exciting enough for now to spend it on.

January 29: Signed OF Jose Ramos to a 1-year, $9.6M contract.

OK, there was someone to spend some money on. Ramos gives us a reliable RH bat in the OF, where he played a plus RF last year for Philadelphia in addition to hitting 259/333/485 with 30 homers and 2.6 WAR. He'll probably play RF against lefties and DH against righties. We will have to wait until the second series of the season to see him though as he has to serve a 3-game suspension.

Meanwhile the Yankees inked Riley Greene to a 2/34 deal.

February 24: We opened exhibition play with a 11-0 loss to the Angels. Hopefully it's not some kind of omen for the season.

[Art Deco]

Some late free agent signings around MLB (all 1-year deals unless noted otherwise):

Austin Riley SEA>LAD $12.8M
Endy Rodriguez MIL>STL $3.2M
Evan Carter AZ>KC $4.7M
Lars Nootbar TB>KC $6.7M
Bobby Witt Jr SEA>HOU $4.5M
Corey Seager NYM>SD $4.7M
Emmanuel Rodriguez LAA>BOS $11.2M

Also Baltimore gave Coby Mayo a 4/107 extension.

We made a minor league signing adding veteran IF Masyn Winn, who last year hit 293/340/439 in 81 games with Washington. Winn projects as our backup IF but herniated a disc in his neck and will be out for the first week of the season.

C Cade Arrambide and IF Jeff Micheu were placed on waivers since they were out of options and weren't making the team, I expect both to clear and end up back at Durham.

So here's how the Opening Day roster shakes out:

C-Basallo, A.Contreras
1B-Satiro
2B-Paino
SS-Quezada
3B-Tatis
IF-Schwartz (out of options)
LF-Crisp
CF-Nakashima
RF-Schmidt
OF-Edwards
DH-Moss, A.Soto (out of options)
(Jose Ramos is on the restricted list for the first 3 games)

SP-Morejon, Sesay, Teodo, Garces, Lambert
LR-Kim
MR-B.Jones, G.Ramos, Boyle, Llamas, Hydro
SU-Magno, Y.Jimenez
CL-J.Nunez

We have a bit of a roster pickle with the outfielder/DH-types. Dean Moss and Alexis Soto (a good prospect who probably needs more seasoning) are both out of options. They'll platoon for the first series at DH then someone has to go when Ramos comes off his suspension. I'm afraid whoever I drop will get claimed on waivers so I've got a decision to make. Also Schwartz wasn't my idea of the backup IF but he's too good to risk to waivers as well, so Winn probably is stuck at Durham barring an injury.

The preseason predictions:



OOTP likes us, they really do!

Opening Day:



The Rays' bats were largely as frigid as the weather (35 degrees) on Opening Day at Fenway Park. The revamped bullpen was the difference in today's game as Andrew Magno had a Rays debut to forget, giving up a 2-out hit to the first man he faced in the 7th to allow the go-ahead run and then putting a man on in the 8th who later came around to give Boston insurance.