Currently, rumored locations are Las Vegas, Nevada or Portland, Oregon. More information to come on that.
So let's take a look at our 2027 season when I hoped to be in contention. The tale of two teams.
Well, clusterfuck of emotions is a good way to put it. We came in and made roughly 100 trades it seemed this winter. Our goal was to turn this team into a contender immediately. By May, it was clear that the effort was a failing one. Even though things looked good on paper - the roster didn't gel at all. This plan was a two part plan, if it failed I was ready and willing to pull the eject button and begin the task of rebuilding this franchise from the ground up.
In the process of trading for "now" talent, we lost a few key prospects. There is nothing we can do about that now though.
So the real story of this season was the trades we made. Let's review how things went.
Trade #1:
Los Cabos Sends
St. Louis Sends
Review: Ruiz was brought in to be a middle reliever for what was expected to be a wild card contending team. Ramirez looks to be an okay prospect, I don't think this trade will hurt to look at in a few years. It didn't really amount to anything short term, and hopefully won't long term.
Trade #2:
Review: Hernandez couldn't hit the ball in the air out of the infield. He hit for a decent average, but his inability to get on base outside of hitting singles made him a liability due to his age and pending free agency. He was released during the purge for refusing to accept a demotion. Osorio spent time in Nassau's minors and then struggled after he got called up. He has the potential to hit for power and is a solid fielding RF. Not sure on him yet, but I'd say the momentum is in Nassau's favor with this one.
Trade #3:
Cabos send:
P Mark Anderson
P Mark Anderson
Birmingham sends:
Review: Gonzales was supposed to fill in near the bottom of the rotation. He was doing "ok" but then tore his elbow flexor in August. He's a free agent after next season. Anderson is probably for Birmingham long term what I hoped Bean Pole would be for me short term. He should be good enough to keep a big league job he just will battle between long relief and 4/5 spot.
Trade #4:
Los Cabos Sends:
Boston Sends:
Might as well put Crus back to Boston in this deal, seeing as how he would later be traded back.
Really this trade came down to Bonilla for McDonald. I was able to trade Bonilla later on which we will get to. But in terms of McDonald for Bonilla, Boston got what could be a top hitting 1B in the future for a reliever. McDonald's flaw is that his power just has not developed. Everything else makes him a big league bat in my view... but at age 23 he has shown almost no power which makes it hard to be a 1B or DH. If he develops that power, he'll be very good.
Trade #5:
Los Cabos Sends:
Nick Harris CF
Jose Gonzalez RF
Rod Day P
Steve Snyder P
Jose Rivas OF
Victor Solano OF
Sam Wallace 2B
Rex Welch P
Chicago Sends:
2B Alberto Ramos
Review: So listen up new Chicago owner. You're gonna want to send me a thank you basket when you look over this trade. Edward Young was supposed to be a key bat in a lineup that badly needed bats. He did OK. Not great. Ramos would later join Boston.
The key here is Nick Harris. This will be a deal that haunts me. Harris should be in the big leagues for Chicago next season, and patrol CF for the next 6+ years. It was a trade with a life lesson for me that I should slow down.
Not only did Chicago get Harris but they also got Jose Gonzalez who looks OK, and Rod Day who could be a decent middle reliever probably.
Overall, I promise you - I wish I had Harris instead. This was my first of two big mistakes.
Trade #6:
LCC Sends:
OF Marc Brown
2B Dave Henley
MAD Sends:
CF Guo-xiu Choi
Review: This was classic over-thinking on my part. I thought hey I need a defensive outfielder to backup or be a platoon. What I got was a very good AAA bat which lead to a AAA title. I'm not sure either player Madison got will hurt me looking back. Henley is okay. They are OK probably at best, but still - a steep price for a shitty player.
Trade #7:
LCC Sends:
P John Foster
OF Frank Jackson
OF Miguel Riviera
SS Jorge Jorge Maldonado
SS Aaron Washington
P Jose Crus
1B Pedro Rodriguez
3B Angel Garza
3B Alberto Ramos
BOS Sends:
Review: Here is major mistake #2. I thought I was | | close to having a playoff caliber roster. So I went for it. I got three bats I thought would take my lineup to the next level, especially with Mullins. He's better than his performance but he still didn't do what I expected.
Otterburn would play good enough to get traded during the purge.
But...
I foolishly gave up on John Foster. I will say, I am not in love with his pitch repertoire so I don't know if he will be the ace that some thing - but he will definitely be a big league arm for several years. I didn't stop there. Oh no.
I also gave up on Frank Jackson. Jackson I will argue is a future DH at best unless teams don't care about defense. I do, but I get that some don't. At 22, I think Jackson could be in the bigs next year but waiting another year will likely be worth the patience.
Future outlook of this deal is likely to lead to a concussion from slamming my head into a wall.
Free Agent Signings:
Fernando Martinez - Nope.
Pedro Rodriguez - Traded to Boston, wasn't worth the $.
Toshi Kiyomizu - Meh. Was signed to be a filler in the rotation before signing Dillon Nelson. He did OK.
Dillon Nelson - Signing Nelson on Feb 7th was unexpected going into the winter. We let him walk, but he was getting no offers. So the comp pick was in jeopardy. He signed for $9mil, followed by $10 mil with an opt out after 2028. Then $11m, $12m and a player option for $13m. This moment was when I started to think maybe this team is a contender. This signing lead to the Edward Young deal.... I think having an ace like Nelson was still worth it. He ended up being traded but, his contract overall is not a bad one for somebody with his talent.
Summary
I went for it this winter. I saw a potential with a quality bullpen and a potentially elite rotation with Nelson, Duran, Burgess at the top. So when building a lineup, I acquired talent that for the most part - I probably overpaid for. Guys like Young & Mullins aren't bad players by any stretch. But at this point, I'd much rather have the prospects I sent out of town.
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