It’s Been Awhile
UMEBA Competitive Balance Efforts
By Khepri Quraishi, Egypt Today Sports
June 23, 2048
And it's been awhile
Since I could hold my head up high
And it's been awhile
Since I last saw you
And it's been awhile
Since Cairo stood on its own two feet again
And it's been awhile
Since I could call you
OK, the newspaper strike in Egypt is over. For now, at least. Let’s get back to talking baseball and the Pharaohs. Did you miss us? Don’t answer that!
The early season didn’t go well with Cairo lagging in last place with the worst record in the UMEBA. Lately the team has done somewhat better – 14-12 over the last 26 games, an indication that playing .500 baseball in Egypt is not impossible. Unlikely maybe, but not impossible. The recent sweep of the 43-30 Bucharest Impalers was probably the most impressive feat this team has ever accomplished.
Lots of stuff has happened since we last talked.
Probably the most notable set of roster moves saw:
- Wally Geoghegan, who just got a $5.5 million arbitration salary, was released outright. GM Joe Geoghegan commented, “We never should have let him go to arbitration. I guess I was blinded by his name, but there’s no way that he deserves that kind of money. My bad. I hope he gets picked up somewhere.
- Letting Wally go was a first step towards reducing the payroll. The Pharaohs were right up against the salary cap this year. With Wally likely seeing $7.0 million plus in arbitration next year, he had to go before year-end. Temporarily at least, Lawrence Blanchard was recalled from Pretoria to act as the backup first baseman.
- With that little bit of daylight opened in the salary cap window, the Pharaohs signed outfielder Juan Rocha to a one-year deal that expires at year end. Geoghegan said, “ “Rocha can hit and hitting is good. He’s got a little power too. He’ll probably mostly pinch hit and fill in at the outfield corners from time to time.” Actually Rocha has been a mainstay in the outfield since the day he arrived. In 41 games he is hitting an astonishingly good .381with a .655 slugging percentage.
And the Pharaohs have added another infielder into the mix. Cary Brackett, released by Louisville in the BBA, was signed to a minor league deal and then almost immediately elevated to the Pharaohs when Quintin Trewartha was put on the Injured List with a nagging day-to-day hamstring injury that did not respond well to therapy. Brackett seems an ideal utility infielder who can play second, short, or third.
We cannot avoid mentioning the contribution of the Cairo catchers.
- António Ruíz has been incredible. He’s hitting .322 with 8 home runs and 41 knocked in. At the start of the year ex-Pharaoh Diesel Dave was lighting it up with Riyadh. But as I write this, Dave has a WAR of 0.6; Ruiz’s WAR is 2.0. Who misses Dave?
- Ed Cooper became the backup catcher mid season last year and surprised everyone, probably including himself, by hitting .381. No one expected that kind of offense to continue. And yet here he is hitting .354 as we go to press.
The UMEBA made some competitive balance adjustments before the start of the season. Budgets for Ridayh and Cairo were increased to $70 million. Fan interest for those two cities was ramped up with advertising campaigns. The Pharaoh and Red Crescent media contracts were increased to equal the rest of the UMEBA teams. These moves, much appreciated in Cairo and Riyadh, helped with procuring some talent and increasing revenue.
Both Cairo and Riyadh were given additional competitive balance picks at the end of the first and second round of the recent amateur draft. While talent in the UMEBA draft this year most likely was better than that in the BBA, there were no ‘can’t miss’ prospects. The eventual impact of the extra draft picks probably won’t be fully understood for several years.
Both Cairo and Riyadh were assigned three free agents at a pre-ordained salary of $1.5 million with two additional team-option years at $1.0 million. Here’s how Cairo’s assignees have fared:
- 36-year old pitcher Juan Nicto was certainly not a long-term solution to anything, but he had the skills to provide some solid pitching help this season and maybe next. Very solid in relief for the past two seasons with champion Mumbai, Nicto was inserted back into a starting role with the Pharaohs. That didn’t work out too well. He was 3-4, 6.75 in the rotation. Since being switched back to the bullpen, he is 1-0, 1.23. Hopefully he will continue to be a valued reliever as the years chugs on.
- Outfielder Frank Mahaffey, soon to be 37, came to Cairo with much needed power credentials, but the Pharaoh ball park is not conducive to home run hitters. Mahaffey started off horribly, but he has come alive lately. The problem is that doubles machine Eliseu Satino is pretty locked in as the DH and Mahaffey is a defense liability in the outfield. He has gotten hot lately and the team has to figure out how to best use his power talent.
- First baseman Nacho Méndez has played well. His acquisition made the release of Wally Geoghegan, discussed above possible probable inevitable.