Players With Contract Decisions Looming Who Will Be Returning:
RP Neil Davies will be returning to the team after the Flyers pickup up the $2 million team option for 2058. Davies was acquired mid–season and pitched very well for Charlotte. He posted a FIP- of 62 with the Flyers. Retaining Davies was one of the first things the front office did this off-season.
These players are all arbitration eligible and are expected to be retained: OF/DH Fawwaz Amin, RP Pete Benoit, RP Felix Camarco, RP Tony Giles, RP Antonio Cuartas
Players Leaving the Big League Roster:
C Hollis O’Hara opted out of his contract for 2058. He is heading to free agency after having the best season of his career in 2057. He played a career high 127 games and posted a career best 2.2 WAR. He came to town billed as a defense first player. It turns out that his defense is real, and it’s spectacular. He was not brought in for his offense and his wRC+ of 58 fits with that narrative. He did produce numbers higher than his career averages, scored 51 runs and drove in 39. He also hit 20 doubles, 1 triple, and 2 home runs on the year. O’Hara is rumored to be looking for about $6 million in 2058 and the team is not interested in spending that much on their catcher this season.
C Cheng-ji Ouyang has been released. Ouyang was the primary backup to O’Hara throughout the 2057 season. His wRC+ of 71 was a slight upgrade over O’Hara. His defense was a downgrade from O’Hara. He was due for arbitration this offseason and the team cut ties with him after deciding that he would not be the starter in the upcoming year.
P Liam Johnston has been released. This came as a somewhat surprising move as Johnston was owed $7 million in 2058 and had a team option for 2059 with a $1.5 million buyout. The team apparently determined that not having Johnston on their team in the upcoming year was worth $8.5 million. Johnston started hot this year, going 2-0 with 1 save and a 2.54 ERA in 28.1 April innings. He struggled the rest of the way, ending the year at 5-7 with 5 saves and an ERA of 5.21. He ends his time in Charlotte with a FIP- of 106. Paying a reliever who is performing below league average $7 million is probably not the best fiscal decision so even if the move was somewhat surprising, it also makes a lot of sense.
Utility Man Stan Seymour was released. Seymour was due arbitration and the team decided to part ways with him instead. His wRC+ of 78 and WAR of 0.2 were actually among the best of his career but they are ultimately easily replaced. He was not the primary backup at any position but did spend some time at 5 different positions throughout the season. His versatility was Carlclearly his biggest asset. While it is nice to have someone who can realistically provide respectable to good defense at 7 positions is useful, it’s probably not worth the salary bump he was expected to get in arbitration.
There will be other players on the 40-man roster who will likely be released soon as well. These will likely be players with limited big league experience who will be released in order to make room for incoming players.
Players Joining the Big League Roster:
SP Carl Vincent has been acquired via trade. The veteran southpaw is due arbitration this offseason and the Charm City Jimmies decided to move him. The Flyers sent two players to Charm City in the deal. 20 year old pitching prospect Gabriel Carlos and slick fielding infield prospect Jose Valle were shipped to the Jimmies in the deal. The 2057 Charlotte pitching staff was extremely right handed. This move, and the next one we will discuss, look like attempts to make the rotation more balanced in the upcoming season. Vincent was 11-7 with a 4.81 ERA and a FIP- of 91 in 2057. If he puts up similar numbers in Charlotte in 2058, that would be an improvement over what they got out of that rotation spot this year.
SP Tokugawa Yamashita is another left handed starting pitcher acquired via trade recently. The Flyers sent versatile prospect Paul Parham to Twin Cities to acquire him. Yamashita appeared in 24 games, starting 18 for the River Monsters in 2057. He ended the year 6-6 with a 5.08 ERA. His FIP of 4.19 and FIP- of 94 were encouraging statistics that indicate he performed well overall. His new team would like to see him build on the positives from this past season while providing the left handed balance they were needing.
RP Chris Lacey was acquired via trade as well. The Flyers sent pitching prospect Eduardo Ramos to San Fernando in exchange for the 30 year old right hander. Lacey is coming off of back to back seasons in San Fernando with a sub 3.50 ERA. The bullpen was a sore spot for Charlotte in 2057 and this is a move to try to help solidify that group in 2058.
Players With Uncertain Futures in Charlotte:
As recently as a few days ago, I thought 3B Banger Dan belonged in the players leaving portion of this article. However, there have been some pretty reliable sources telling me that the front office has recently made a concerted effort to sign the Great Piano Man to a contract extension. If that happens, then the fans in Charlotte will surely be excited. Dan plays with a fire that crowds love to cheer for and he is coming off of a career year in which he posted a wRC+ of 151 and a WAR of 4.6. If he can produce at that level for the Flyers over the next few seasons, it could go a long way toward helping the team compete for a spot in the playoffs.
Infielder Rich Dares seems likely to become a casualty of the salary cap if some of the rumors I am hearing are true. Dares had a very strong season for the Flyers in 2057. He set career highs in most offensive categories this year, including AVG, OBP, SLG, wRC+, and WAR. He also played good defense at 2B and 3B and covered SS on several occasions. His career year is the main reason he will likely not be retained. If Banger Dan is actually signed to that extension, there won’t be room under the salary cap for Dares to be on the team.
There also seems to be a bit of a logjam in the outfield. It will be interesting to see how that works out and whether there are any more moves made to deal with that in the offseason.
