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SP Feliciano Rafael | CF Abdelwahab Kamade
Phoenix Gets:
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SP Ignacio Rodriguez | 2B Manuel Martinez
November, 2031:
The Talons had just been inagurated as an expansion team three seasons before, and the club had just come off a 2031 campaign that saw them win 85 games for their first foray above .500. This club clearly thought that they were close to competing, and wanted to make a big spash in the pitching department. Meanwhile, the Sugar Kings, later the San Fernando Bears, were in the 4th year of a 5 year rebuilding campaign which saw them lose 100 games in the 2031 season.
At the time, Ignacio Rodriguez was the star of the deal. I-Rod had signed a big 6 year, 90 mil contract extension the year before, a deal that would quickly become untenable for a rebuilding team like the Sugar Kings. Rodriguez, who had not had any major injury problems since 2026, was a 5 WAR pitcher in five of his last six seasons and looked like just the veteran arm the Talons needed to make their first playoff push. He was also an intelligent clubhouse leader who could bring together a fledgling franchise.
Feliciano Rafael, on the other hand, was a relatively mediocre prospect, ranked #73 in the BBA, who had just finished a 4.70 ERA season with the Talons' Short Season A club. He had been drafted as an unheralded third rounder in 2029, and immediately suffered a torn labrum that ended his first pro season after only 10 games. The Talons kept him healthy for a while, but he never recorded an ERA lower than 4.21 while in the Talons system. Then, in late 2031, he began having back issues, and the Talons began viewing him as more suspect than prospect. Granted, Rafael was drafted very young, but only exceeded 100 IP in a season once up to the time of the trade.
So the Talons thought they were getting a solid, proven veteran pitcher, under contract, for an injury prone prospect who had never seen success so far in the minor leagues. But wait, there's more: The Talons also sent over Abdelwahab Kamade, a young center fielder who was brought over in the expension draft from the franchise's Munchen Brauers days. Kamade had just made his ML debut in 2031, and performed well despite suffering a shoulder injury that kept him out for over a month. That didn't stop him from winning a Zimmer for his work in CF, however. Even so, the Talons weren't high on him, and the thought within the front office was that he had already reached his peak with his recently completed 3.1 WAR season. In return, the Kings sent over Manuel "Zap" Martinez, an infielder/outfielder who was qualified at 2B and CF. Zap was 19 at the time, and the Talons liked his speed, versatility, and minor league track record thus far.
Results:
Its obvious why the Kings made their deal. Here was a chance to unload a high priced veteran in I-Rod who, though successful, didn't fit in with a rebuilding program that went on longer than anticipated. The Kings even got a speedy, defensive minded CF in the deal. And though The Talons didn't care for Rafael, the Kings likely saw a diamond in the rough who had good potentials, whom the Talons grew impatient with despite the fact he was only 18 years old at the time of the deal. As mentioned before, the Talons thought Rodriguez was the relaible veteran SP they needed to get the club to its first ever 90 win season, all for an injury prone pitching prospect and a young CF who they thought was playing above grade and due to regress. Plus the Talons got an intriguing young player in Martinez who could eventually fill roles all over the diamond.
But things didn't go the way the Talons anticipated. Feliciano Rafael flourished in the King's system and topped out quickly. He made his debut in 2033 and one of his highlights that year was shutting out his old team, the Talons, in September. Rafael, though dogged by injury problems and a fragile reputation, would go on to compile a borderline HOF worthy career, which sits at 60.3 WAR thus far.
Rodriguez, on the other hand, didn't fare so well. his 2032 season for the Talons went as advertised, as I-Rod fought through a surprising number of minor ailments to garner a 4.3 WAR in 170 innings. The following Spring Training, however, saw the veteran SP suffer a catastrophic elbow injury that would keep him out for the next 14 months. He fought back, returning for 2034 but still fighting through a truly eye popping gauntlet of other injuries, managing to piece together a 1.5 WAR season. But the damage had been done. From 2033 to 2035, scouts cut his "stuff" rating from 12 to 6, and he would never see success in the BBA again.
Kamade as well is still playing, just like Rafael and, also like the SP, now plays for the Talons as they push for a WC slot in 2047. The young CF initially struggled through a sophomore slump with 1.5 WAR in 2032. However he slowly inproved and had a pretty admirable run of success through 2039, winning two more Zimmers along the way. Kamade later faded somewhat, becoming more of a part time player. In fact, his recent success this year for the Talons would be his best full season since 2041.
Manuel Martinez was eventually called up to Phoenix in 2034, where he had a decent debut. But in 2035, Zap exceeded all expectations and exploded with a 4.9 WAR campaign which saw him win a Zimmer of his own at 2B. It was small consolation for the Talons, who by that time had witnessed the destruction of the starting pitcher that they had pinned their franshise hopes on. Besides, Martinex returned to earth the next season and was traded late in the year, never seeing the same success again. He was out of baseball by 2040.
The Talons would quickly fade from that false hope of a 2031 season, enduring three more sub-.500 seasons until they finally had a string of pkayoff appearances in the late 2030's. Those four post seasons in 5 years from '35 - '39 remain the only such berths in the franchise's history, with only 2035 having anything to do with the players received in the trade. Havana, later San Fernando, rode Feliciano Rafael's debut into a string of 7 post-seasons in 8 years, including the 2034 championship that was fuelled by a combined 7 WAR from Rafael and Kamade.
Join us next time as we stroll through the minefield of the Talons trade history!