Mumbai Memos: 38.013: GM Voice Memo 3: Night of the Long Knives

[HoosierVic]

[Begin Recording]

This is GM Vic Caleca, and this is voice memo Number 3.

In coming years, I think, anyone connected with our AA team in Ho Chi Minh City will remember this as “the night of the long knives.” I basically waded through the Explorer’s pitching staff with a machete – and there ain’t much left standing.

But it had to be done: as I record this memo, Ho Chi Minh is 8-31 on the year, and they’re 2-15 so far in May. There’s plenty wrong with the lineup – and we’ll be looking at that next – but the pitching staff had reached critical mass of suck.

The staff ERA is 8.32; the starters’ ERA is 8.48; and the bullpen is 8.09. Now, granted, the bullpen consisted of a closer and two setup guys, so they were shorthanded as hell.

But still.

Anyway, I promised the manager I would bring in reinforcements, and I have: On May 15, I signed 12 free agents – including a couple of guys who, on first blush, didn’t seem interested. Once they had the offers in front of them, though, they changed their minds. Greed is a marvelous thing.

Once I had those guys on board, I waded into the Explorers staff and started making room for the new guys.

I cut starter Abba bin Wajih; starter Hashim Fahad; setup guy Ken Lawrence; the other setup guy, Kafkas Uzunçarsili; and starter Will Townsley. I also cut a couple of terrible reserve catchers – the Explorers had four on the roster. Why, I don’t know. I also cut one of the six shortstops.

So now, we’ve added a bunch of new guys, including starter Ernesto Aybar, who spent some time in the Yellow Springs system. Our scouts say his “stuff,” relative to our league, grades out at an 8, although his movement and control leave something to be desired. Still, he’s a major upgrade and we’ve slotted him into the No. 2 spot in the rotation.

Basically, we remade the entire rotation, with the exception of one guy: Lucan Calazzo, the No. 1 starter. We still think the guy has some talent (our scouts grade his potential at 7/3/4 and say his fastball, curve and change all grade out at 8s), but was pitching in an impossible situation. So, we’ll see.

Anyway, we now have a full bullpen, including a new closer – Wally Lopez, who bounced around the Vancouver, Brooklyn and New Orleans systems before signing with us.

It’ll be interesting to see how the team responds with, essentially, an entirely new pitching staff.

Now, I go back to sharpening my cutting knives and looking at the position player side of things.

Night of the long knives, the sequel? We’ll see.

[End recording.]