We Got Wood - 45.32 - Amaral Fails To Vest

[7teen]

It was likely to happen this season. When the Lumberjacks acquired Hector Amaral in a trade prior to the season with Twin Cities, what the Portland front office liked most was the flexibility they'd have with his contract. Pitch well, and perhaps Amaral could return for another season with a couple of options floating around. Pitch poorly, and they'd shut Hector down or limit his innings to allow him to walk.

After a 3-16 season that saw Hector post a 6.87 ERA, he'll walk.

Amaral had an opt-out clause at the end of this season as well as a vesting option that would have kicked in had Hector pitched 160 innings in 2045. Amaral only managed 153.1 innings this season thanks to a limited pitch count over the final month that restricted Hector's innings count.

Hector made $12.5 million this season and produced a -0.1 WAR. He was set to make $11.5 million in 2046 with a player option of $10.5 in 2047. The departure of Amaral will have the Portland payroll below $65 million heading into the 2046 season. With some expected call-ups next season from the farm system, Portland projects to have a payroll of around $70 million before any free agent signings are made. At this point, it is unclear what sort of signings the team will look for.

"We'll need some guys to draw fans to the stadium for sure" commented Kate Fiscus. "Hector was popular amongst the fans so his departure will likely hurt us in that department. Considering we are already in trouble in those regards, we could use both a rebound season in the standings as well as a couple of popular faces on the team to draw attention. We'll see how that goes after the Landis is completed."

[Dington]

I bet you had a lot of sleepless nights trying to decide if you'd wanna keep him around.

[JimBob2232]

A good career comes to an end. Remember him fondly here in New Orleans.