A Flock of Bluebirds 2043.1- Decisions, Decisions

[recte44]

A Flock of Bluebirds 2043.1- Decisions, Decisions
November 20, 2042

With the BBA's 2042 season officially in the books, attention has now turned to the offseason. "Every decision we make now will impact the 2043 team, either good or bad," explained Nashville GM Matt Rectenwald. The Bluebirds had several important decisions to make.

Team Options:
Nashville had to opt in or out of two team held contract options for 2043.

Off Topic

Executed the contract year option of RF Mark White.
Voided the team option year(s) of RP Freddy Delgado for a buyout of $1,100,000.

While everyone expected the option of Delgado to be declined despite some solid performances throughout the 2042 season, some were surprised that Nashville elected to execute the 2043 option of White. White did total 1.5 WAR for the Bluebirds this season, and as the playoffs got closer and closer he began to play more and more. "We feel that $4.22M is more than fair to bring Mark back to the Bluebirds," announced Rectenwald. "We aren't completely closing the door on Freddy, either."

Arbitration Eligible Players

Off Topic

Signed CL Lorenzo de' Medici to a 1-year contract extension worth a total of $6,960,000.
Signed SS Mike England to a 1-year contract extension worth a total of $4,060,000.
Signed CF Kidane Ata to a 1-year contract extension worth a total of $4,700,000.
Signed 1B Ernesto Sousa to a 1-year contract extension worth a total of $1,220,000.
Signed 2B Jesús Yan to a 1-year contract extension worth a total of $790,000.

Nashville signed all five of their Arbitration Eligible Players in advance of hearings. ""We feel that it's important to avoid hearings if at all possible," Rectenwald said. "Too many hurt feelings can come out of those hearings."

The signings of de' Medici, Ata, Sousa and Yan were no brainer decisions. It was the negotiations involving England that were quite interesting. "It's no secret that Mike didn't play very well for us after coming over from Vegas," said Rectenwald, referring to England's .201/.288/.353/.641 slash line with -0.6 WAR for Nashville in 2042. "We certainly considered simply non-tendering him, but after great debate we chose to extend the one year offer that he agreed to. Mike will be a super-utility guy this year and may even see more playing time at shortstop. We have things that need to shake out this offseason, so his versatility only helps."

Team Personnel:

Off Topic

Pitching Coach Mike Ellison leaves the team, his contract was not renewed.
Hitting Coach Joe Thomas leaves the team, his contract was not renewed.
Signed pitching coach Mike Ellison to a 1-year, $500,000 per year contract.
Signed hitting coach Joe Thomas to a contract with the Lynchburg Whiskeyjacks (R).

Nashville and the two coaches failed to come together on extensions before the free agent deadline, but they quickly reuinted. Ellison is back as the Nashville pitching coach, while Thomas is awaiting assignment in the minor league system with Alexander Rigney replacing him as the Bluebirds' hitting coach. Thomas is expected to manage one of the minor league teams in 2043, a change for him.

Free Agents:

Off Topic

3B Michael Best becomes a free-agent.
RP Francisco Barrera becomes a free-agent.
RP Freddy Delgado becomes a free-agent.
RP Alexandre Doyle becomes a free-agent.
RP Alejandro Ramírez becomes a free-agent.
SP Roberto Rodríguez becomes a free-agent.
1B George Robertson becomes a free-agent.
C Jesús Ayala becomes a free-agent.
1B Andy Seekins becomes a free-agent.
RP Negasi Anum becomes a free-agent.
CF Rafael Rodríguez becomes a free-agent.
SP Román Sánchez becomes a free-agent.
RP Ulbert Vleugel becomes a free-agent.

Many of these guys were simply not going to make an impact on the Bluebirds in 2043: both Rodriguez's, Ayala, Seekins, Anum, Sanchez and Vluegel were minor league depth pieces. Delgado's situation has already been discussed. No one expected Ramirez to be anything but a stretch run arm. So that leaves four free agents whose departure has some level of impact on the 2043 team.

Best, acquired at the trade deadline, stopped listening to offers from Nashville shortly after being acquired. "Michael was great for us in the playoff push, we just couldn't get together on a deal," said Rectenwald.

Robertson was a September call up after being a late season minor league signee. HIs left handed bat figured to help down the stretch but he didn't do much at all. "He'll find a place to call home," said Rectenwald.

Nashville also loses two members of their bullpen. Doyle was a free agent signee for the 2042 season and pitched quite well, despite some control issues. "Alexandre is going to make some money this offseason," Rectenwald chuckled. Barrera has been the Nashville lefty specialist for the past two years, and performed well. With that good performance comes increased salary, which Nashville wasn't ready to do. "Hard to justify a couple million for less than 20 innings," deadpanned Rectenwald.

[jleddy]

Fantastic way to summarize the start of the off-season...good stuff.

[RonCo]

Nice.

I like the white extension...where Michael Best lands will be interesting to see.