2053.05 The "R" Word: Trade Gets Fans Riled Up

GM: Rob McMonigal

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2053.05 The "R" Word: Trade Gets Fans Riled Up

Post by Trebro » Sun Nov 27, 2022 2:07 am

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by Erwin Wardman

The Yellow Springs Nine are in unprecedented territory in recent memory. It missed the playoffs for the first time since 2037. Its 75 wins were were the lowest since 2027. Then longtime General Manager Ron Collins stepped down at the end of the season.

Now it's General Manager Rob McMonigal's team and his job to balance the need to see if this team has what it takes to compete with the Bluebirds for the top of the heap or if it's time to think differently. All eyes were on him this off-season and as we rolled into Spring Training, fans found that the team had done practically nothing.

There were the usual standard moves of releasing certain players before arbitration, but none of those were notable. In a sign of his management style, no players were taken before an arbiter, with all the effected players receiving and signing their offer sheets. He made a few staff adjustments, most notably adding an elder statesman, Wayne Myers, as bench coach. Myers came from Nashville, and fit the theme of the new coaches, namely men who came from winning teams with the ability to coach up players. It will be interesting to see how this strategy plays out in the minors and at the top levels. With there being rumors that the "kids" playing baseball right now just aren't as good as their peers from the prior decade or so, coaching could be a key to future success.

But despite having the budget to do so, and a gaping hole to fill at shortstop, McMonigal held his ground while top free agents were signed. Daniel Pepper might have required some salary cap adjustments and a slide of Thum to short, but that would have easily propelled the team into the talk of the league, albeit at a cost for the future. He ended up signing with Valencia for 15 million a year. Jeremy Owlbridge came over from the GBC to the Outlaws for a more reasonable 10.3 million a year and at just age 28, could have helped build the next set of winning teams.

I asked McMonigal about Owlbridge in a message and got a rather lengthy response back.

"Look if there's anyone who knows the GBC in our organization, it's me. And let me tell you, the quality of the game over there is not the same as the BBA. Just look at the stats for the players who leave the BBA for the GBC. You'll see people who barely hit their weight with no power suddenly start going yard thirty times a year and hitting for 50 or even more points over their career BBA average. Yes, there are exceptions. But spending what some of these GMs are is like a lottery ticket. A lot of them are going to be holding a multi-million bag of poop. In a salary cap league, that's just dangerous."

The trouble with that is you never win the lottery if you never play. And that's been the Nine's MO for decades now. It's led to the winning I mentioned at the top of this column, but it also means no championships. I pushed the issue.

"Can't Jackson absorb a release or two, if needed?"

"If we had to, yes, but what if things change financially? And what does that say about me and my staff's ability to judge talent? What does it say to our fans? And how about the player's agent? If you're signing a player with the idea of eating a huge salary, you probably shouldn't have signed that player. There's a lot more that goes into it than you think."

What I think is that McMonigal, who wasn't expecting to be a BBA general manager, probably acted too cautiously, afraid to make a mistake that would lock him into place and put a losing season front and center. As a result, the potential shortstop market, not very deep in the first place, dried up quickly.

Perhaps Rule 5 could have helped, but McMonigal didn't even bother showing up, simply protecting existing talent and not leaving any room for a potential steal that another GM was hoping to slide past. Meanwhile, other teams were taking players left and right.

I asked about that, too. Here's McMonigal again:

"I don't select a Rule 5 pick unless I'm 90 percent sure he's going to spend the year on the team."

Caution again. No chances. Playing it safe.

That meant it was time to explore trading. No GM is going to confirm any negotiations, but I can confirm at the Winter Meetings that while others were talking, talking talking, McMonigal sat off to the corner. He was surrounded by staffers, and they all looked very busy. But outside of internal discussions, I only ever saw them go to another GM's table once. It clearly didn't amount to anything.

Once again, I reached out.

"We aren't actively looking to move anyone," said McMonigal. "This team underachieved in 2052 and to start making radical changes isn't the way to fix things. There's a lot of potential to be successful and the best way to wreck that is trading without seeing what the team's true needs are."

Yeesh, what a timid mouse that McMonigal is, I thought as I ended the brief conversation.

Then The Trade happened.

No, not moving away from Thum, something fans argued back and forth all winter. I actually agree with that non move, as he's not horrible, just overpaid. And any trade partner would want a king's ransom back to take on the salary.

ImageInstead, it was on-the-shelf star starter Antonio Hernandez, who was by far the best and most established pitcher on the Nine's roster, albeit one whose future is in some doubt due to the injury. Finally McMonigal had made a move. I wondered what shortstop or perhaps outfielder was coming back in the deal. If not that, then a set of prospects, perhaps?

In a deal with the Rocky Mountain Oysters, McMonigal had sent Hernandez, whom some called a "hidden ace" to the newly-moved team in exchange for 22 year old troubled prospect Ken Plante, a starting pitcher still playing at the Short A level despite a huge amount of unrealized potential. This sent shockwaves across the league, with other general managers, speaking on background, telling me everything from Yellow Springs got fleeced to the idea that both sides were taking an awful gamble in the deal.

Hernandez broke into the league in 2048 and was an immediate impact player for the Nine. He never had an ERA over 4 in those seasons and racked up 55 wins against 31 losses, with 752 strikeouts and a solid WHIP of 1.06. The kind of pitcher teams anchor themselves around instead of cutting loose for a high-end flier. But the injury that sidelined Hernandez became increasingly severe and involves his arm. He may never pitch to that level of quality again. If he doesn't, McMonigal will look like a genius for flipping him for a player with potential, however faded. On the other hand, should Hernandez go to the All Star Game for the second time this year, he'll be the laughing stock of the BBA.

ImageA lot hinges on what Plante, now slated for Single A Silver Springs Tarpons, can do with his season. If he continues to build on the improvements in 2052, where he increased his k/9 to 7.1 (from 5.8) and keeps lowering his walks (from 4.5 bb/9 to 3.6 bb/9) as he did last season, then the 4 pitch hurler has a shot to make people think twice about their first impressions on the deal.

And oh my do the fans have impressions. Here's a sampling from anti-social media:

"Fire McMonigal!"
"Deport him back to London!"
"What's next, trading Lee for the two worst pitchers on my son's little league team?"
"If I were that bad at my job, I'd be scrolling the help wanted ads."
"We'll be Plante-d at the bottom of the standings now for sure!"


Only a few were willing to bring up the elephant in the room: Are the Nine in rebuilding mode? For over half of its 40 year residency in Yellow Springs, the team, its small city, and its legion of fans across the region have barely had to consider the word. A winning record and a playoff team were practically a given. McMonigal obviously wants to continue that, but can he? Should he? Would a stocking of a minor league system that can best best described at "not bad but not great, either" and a prep for striking in 2055 make more sense?

It's hard to know with McMonigal, as his actions this off-season started to look like a team standing pat, but now it seems like there will be changes. With money in his pocket from the Hernandez deal, there's definitely ability to make a splash on a great player who hasn't found a fit yet. But it also could be time to start pushing the 30-somethings out while the returns can be stronger than the Plantes of the world.

Perhaps Spring Training will tell us what we need to know. In the meantime, I'd advise fans of Yellow Springs to get used to adding a new, unpleasant word to their vocabulary if 2053 doesn't get off to a strong start.
Rob McMonigal
Yellow Springs Nine Sep 2052 - ????

London Monarchs Aug 2052 - Sep 2052

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