Dugout Dirt 49.02 - Hitting the Road for 2049

[DugoutDesperado]

As the Canes just finished their third season out of their five season playoff contender window, a few major moves were needed. AS the front office mentioned in a private interview, some moves were tougher than others.
The results thus far were a little less than was hoped. In 2046, the Canes missed the playoffs by one game followed by a first round exit in 2047 and another immediate exit in 2048 although they did get a first round by last season. There was a hope that there may have been a Landis appearance by this point, but now the Canes are looking at some major extension while already being $100M plus on the payroll.

First on the agenda was to evaluate two of the heavier contracts that were still on-going for the 2049 season and beyond. Daryl Pris was on a player opt-out with a $13.5M contract coming in 2049. Once Pris determined he was not going to opt out, the Canes’ front office felt there was no real choice but to release him. Pris was on a decline from a 3.1 WAR season in 2045 to a combined -1.1 WAR season the following three seasons. Although his glove will be missed, his .205 batting average should not be that hard to replace. After parting ways, Pris signed a two-year, $3.7M deal with the Riyadh Red Crescents where he has hit .357 so far in spring training.

Next up was the harder decision with the release of Jose Zuniga. One of the local favorites over the years, the Canes could not keep him on the payroll of $12M for the next three years and still negotiate the needed contract extensions. Over the past 12 seasons, Zuniga stroked 393 homers and drove in 1,073 runs. Jose’s combined WAR for the last two seasons of -1.3 was the main issue to keep him around until the 400th home run. Zuniga has since signed a minor league deal with the Boise Spuds. If El Guapo can regain any resemblance of his 2040 season with a 7.4 WAR this could be a major move for the Spuds, but that was many swings ago.

All in all, the two moves freed up $25M in payroll that would help them keep some of the younger talent.