I had the idea for a TN series summarizing all the trades I've made since taking over the San Fernando Bears in 2051 because who doesn't love looking at their old trades? Bonus points since this topic naturally involves many of the other teams in the league. It ended up being a list of more than 50 trades so I started breaking them down into eras, and while doing this I realized you could really see my development as a GM through this lens. The letter grade represents how well the trade worked out for San Fernando.
This post covers the second era, The Build Up (2054-2056) Part 1.
| Year | Wins | Losses |
|---|---|---|
| 2054 | 65 | 97 |
| 2055 | 75 | 87 |
| 2056 | 72 | 90 |
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01/01/2054 1B Randy Hargrove traded by the Edmonton Jackrabbits to the San Fernando Bears in exchange for SP Ilhan Suker and RP Antonio Cruz.
If I remember correctly, Hargrove was trade blocked and I liked the cut of his jib. Edmonton clearly had the superior scouting reports because Hargrove never did figure out BBA pitching.
Suker never reached the majors. Cruz was kind of interesting; San Fernando claimed him off waivers in a year he had rule 5 restrictions attached and he pitched ok (4.16 FIP). He was pretty good for Edmonton in 2054 and I remember them thinking they had something but a torn elbow ligament in the last week of the season effectively ended his career.
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06/10/2054 RP Michel Gautier traded by the Calgary Pioneers to the San Fernando Bears in exchange for LF Ming-yu Yip.
The Bears selected Gautier in the rule 5 draft then negotiated this trade so we could stash him in the minors. He was still pitching in the BBA as a 35-year-old for Boise in 2062 but that's more a testament to the long life expectancy of lefty relievers than anything else. Gautier's been replacement level for his career.
Yip spent the last eight years soldiering away in Calgary's upper minors without ever getting the big league call. He's got a 10 eye which is cool but can't do much else.
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07/08/2054 LF Ramon Pagan traded by the San Fernando Bears to the Edmonton Jackrabbits, along with RP Edwin Harney, in exchange for RP Juan Oliver.
Oliver was a reliever with options but control issues who never played for the Bears. He popped back up with ATC in 2062 at 36 years old and pitched ok, his first appearance in the BBA since 2058.
Pagan was a popular player signed to give us a little bench pop and chase his 600th career home run (he would eventually hit it after the trade deadline with Edmonton). Other than that milestone, Edmonton wouldn't get much out of either player and they would be out of the league within a few years. They both were making more than league minimum so we cleared a bit of payroll.
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07/08/2054 SP Amayas Moelling traded by the San Fernando Bears to the Long Beach Surfers, along with RP Juan Martinez, in exchange for RP Lowell Cook and 2B Zhi-huan Lew.
I thought this trade was going to be a smashing success for SFB because Zhi-huan Lew was a raw but good looking prospect at the time who had made the top 100 prospect list a few times. He could play several positions and had a nice power/eye skillset. However, it wasn't meant to be as Lew would experience one of the more dramatic lumps I've seen and be released the following year. Cook was whatever but did manage to hang around in our organization until 2061. Fun fact: he pitched exactly 0.1 innings in AAA.
Moelling belongs in the Hall of Very Good after a successful career that included 160 wins. At this point in his career he was signed on a one-year deal to eat innings and he did that effectively for the Bears and the Surfers after the trade. Martinez was the better pitcher and the Surfers would eventually extend his contract for several years. This was another deal that cleared some payroll with an eye to the future.
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08/05/2054 SP Ramon Gonzalez traded by the San Fernando Bears to the Las Vegas Hustlers in exchange for SP Pete Morris, C Ramiro Cheron, 3B lkay Berkes, SS Etugrul Inonu, and CF Rocky Allen.
The chief return in this trade was Inonu who would make the top 100 prospect list several times over the next couple of years before his candle slowly burned out without ever reaching the show. Allen and Cheron were modest contracts attached to the deal to make the finances work for Las Vegas. Allen was an interesting player who put up two 4 WAR seasons before his 23rd birthday and then only came close to that kind of production once the rest of his career. Berkes was brought in to give us someone competent to play at the hot corner down the stretch and he rewarded us with a .361 OBP but he's a career AAAA guy. Morris remaining in the San Fernando system until 2061 but never broke thru.
"Phenom" Gonzalez just easily had the best season of his career as a 36 year-old starting pitcher in his second tour of duty with the Hustlers. At the time he was a slightly overpaid and underachieving starting pitcher who'd had the best seasons of his career several years earlier as a reliever. Gonzalez originally signed a six-year major league contract in 2044 and debuted that same season while still 18 years old.
