PREAMBLE
Man I just did not see this coming. Full Ricky Bobby "I don't know what to do with my hands."
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Miguel Vargas: Tender
- Brenton Doyle: Tender
- Joey Bart: Tender
- Huascar Brazobán: Tender
- Jordan Leasure: Non-tender
- Chris Murphy: Non-tender
Vargas: 5yr/65mil extension. Buys out 2 years of FA and at minimum he'll be the 1B of the future depending on Mune. What an awesome story.
Doyle: Slight overpay given his overall #s the last two years but the D plays
Bart: A perfectly fine backup
Brazoban: The reverse of Dart & Boyle in that it's a low buy for a guy w/a 3.25 ERA over 130 innings.
Leasure: We are no longer rebuilding
Murphy: See directly above
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- Erick Fedde
- Randal Grichuk
Grichuk: 1yr / 4mil -- I highly doubt Benny gets salary dumped so Grichuk and his gorgeous man-knocking-something-of-the-highest shelf swing can remain half of the actual DH / 5th OF platoon
Fedde: 1yr / 3.5mil (team option for 2028 of 4.5mil or buyout of 500k) -- I'm willing to pay this amount for him to fulfill the same role while also having plans for Castillo to get out of dodge.
Hard to pass up more Newcomb. Brilliant signing by Getz. His stuff isn't predicated on velocity and he's due for a modest raise but I have others stepping into his role. Pham will be a trivia question answer on Sporcle that will take us all out. I hesitated on Richards as well but that was probably his best season and it was still slightly above average. Goodbye silverfox .
FREE AGENTS
Adrian Morejon 4yr/60mil --- He will step into the closer role from Day 1. I thought about Bednar because of track record for opted for Morejon's youth (5 years younger). Raisel Iglesias is an option to but he seems like a Brave until he's not.
Jakob Junis 2yr/6mil --- Solid proven back of the pen guy who's thrown no less than 54.1IP since 2022. He replaces Jordan Hicks in the he'll probably throw a scoreless frame but you're also not shocked when he doesn't
Freddy Peralta 4yr/100mil (team option for 5th year at 25mil or buyout of 4mil) --- I don't know if I've ever been more apprehensive to spend some one else's $ but...look he's durable as it gets. If Tampa simply reverted him back to his Milwaukee form then he is what he is at #2-3 on a World Series contender and judging by what Milwaukee just did to him in Game 3 I'd say that's a safe bet. Still there's risk that being a fastball dependent pitcher won't age well which is why he's being paid like a #2-3
TRADES
Trade #1
Reds Get: Colson Montgomery, Edgar Quero & Christian Oppor
White Sox Get: Andrew Abbott
Abbott is under contract for 3 more years & is coming off a down year (4.61 ERA / 1.4 WAR / 166 IP) but this is as much a need for need trade as you can get. Abbott is the more proven commodity but is slightly more expensive. I'll be honest I probably would make this trade even Roch & Carlson weren't coming on strong. Montgomery can make some tweaks I'm sure but he's going to AT BEST be the guy Mune is at the plate. A 3 true outcomes guy with a bit less power and a bit more speed albeit one would can play 3B w/De La Cruz entrenched. Abbott at absolute worst will settle in as a #4 guy. Quero has just enough value left for Cincy to take a flyer and I'd imagine putting some mildly intriguing minors arms in front of a Reds team that already has plenty would sweeten the deal. Oppor is the guy I like the least of anyone rated 15-30 in the minors so there ya go.
Trade #2
Angels Get: Rikku Nishida, Ryan Burrowes, Luis Castillo & Jordan Hicks
White Sox Get: Oswald Peraza
I suddenly have a need at SS after trading Colson which presents an opportunity. Hicks would be pretty flippable for Anaheim (fight me it's where they play) even if he remained just kinda slightly above average. Peraza was effectively a shiny 4th INF with an awesome SS glove. Castillo is their problem now and lord knows they have time on their hands. The cost? Two redundant but intriguing minor leaguers.
Trade #3
Padres Get: Davis Martin
White Sox Get: P Ryan Lynch (#8 SD prospect) & OF Alex Conover (#21 SD prospect)
So this is a bit outside the box but Martin had about the most uneven season I've ever seen out of a Sox pitcher. Even after coming back from IL stint which was proceeded by him nearly killing Sal Stewart he couldn't go deep into games. He was sort of effectively wild. When he's going great it's command dependent not so much stuff based. Lynch is a live as hell arm I've always liked from his CWS run w/UNC and Conover profiles as athletic. San Diego could see King, Ray and Mize all walk not to mention Pivetta maybe being dealt. Put it this way. If the choice between back of the rotation starter is between someone at best slightly above average (Anthony Kay & Fedde) or someone injury prone w/wild variance like Martin I'll cash him in before he pumpkins or more likely is ends up like Kay: someone who has lower his ceiling to raise his floor.
SUMMARY
This was about as shocking a season as I can remember but it also ended in disappointment. That disappointment will not linger if Getz learns from the mistakes of his predecessors. For the first time in god knows how long there's reason for more than hope in this organization. Some faith has actually been earned.
Couple of house cleaning items:
---Kay is the dinosaurs. Smith or Schultz are the asteroid. If he turtles or even just remains mid than they can slide into that spot
---The same is true for Taylor. If he struggles a la' Schultz in 2026 then it's Smith or Schultz's turn w/Thorpe, Vasil & David Sandlin also options
---Luisangel Acuna stays and maybe could start at SS sans Colson but it would be nut up or shut up time if he is replacement level again
---I kept Tyler Davis as my last guy and Fedde as the #6 starter effectively. You could swap him for Kay at #5 no sweat and have Kay be the long guy.
C - Teel / 800k
1B - Murakami / 17mil
DH - Benintendi / 17mil
2B - Chase / 800k
SS - Peraza / 1.6 (arb estimate)
3B - Vargas / 13mil (flat per year salary thru all 5 years)
CF - Peters / 800k
LF - Antonacci / 800k
RF - Montgomery / 800k
(C - Bart 2.9mil / OF - Doyle 3.6mil / UTIL - Acuna 800k / OF - Grichuk 4mil)
SP1 - Burke / 800K
SP2 - Peralta / 25mil
SP3 - Abbott / 5.8mil (arb estimate)
SP4 - Taylor / 800k
SP5 - Kay / 5mil
RPs - Morejon / 15mil
Junis / 3mil
Fedde / 3mil
Vasil / 800k
Smith / 800k
Schultz / 800k
Sandlin / 800k
Davis / 800k
Total payroll: 126.3mil
What lockout?
