San Fernando is involved in half the trades made since the final out was recorded of the Monty Brewster, moving quickly to enhance our roster in preparation of 2064.
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11/5/2063 Edgar Chávez traded by the Phoenix Talons to the San Fernando Bears in exchange for minor league P Roger Bryant and minor league P Gary Hochstetler.
We've been actively pursuing relief pitcher conversion candidates in the trade market since realizing that is one of the most fun things you can do in the BBA and we're here to have fun. Giving Chavez an additional layer of intrigue for me is transactions history: San Fernando once signed him to a $11M signing bonus before leaving him exposed in the rule 5 draft. He's had an up and down career with multiple teams since then, culminating in a very effective run out of the Talons bullpen in 2063. Following in the footsteps of Myung-joo Pak, Chavez will become the second pitcher I've signed for a $10M+ signing bonus, lost in the rule 5 draft, and then reliever converted nearly a decade later.
This means the Bears will have to delay their plans to reliever convert Leland Rogers by at least a year. Rogers will spend a year acting as an important bridge to our upcoming pipeline of starting pitching prospects.
Phoenix gets a couple of pitching prospects drafted in the last few years. Bryant doesn't have huge upside but threw 141 innings of 3.06 ERA baseball in AA last season. Meanwhile, Hochstetler was just getting his first taste of pro ball last year after being drafted in the third round. Both pitchers should be highly effective in Toledo.
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11/5/2063 José Reyes traded by the San Fernando Bears to the Charm City Jimmies, along with minor league P Yushua Ka'im, in exchange for RP Augusto González and minor league CF Dallas Sly.
Reyes first appeared on the trade block at midseason and Charm City inquired. We balked at the time, assuming they wouldn't part with any key parts of their bullpen during a pennant run. Reyes is available because not only can we slide Yuu Suzuki over to third base, but Jose Mendoza has been chilling in AAA. It felt like time to cash in a redundant resource and get something of value back, and ultimately Reyes is found money since he was scooped up in the rule 5 draft before the 2062 season.
Our primary organizational need was a young impact reliever after using Carlos Williams to restock our starting pitching reserves last year. Gonzalez has the same stuff and control ratings as Williams but you'd have to ignore the platoon splits and difference in movement to get them confused. Gonzalez is a high risk trade target as a later round bumper who will serve up homers in Chico's Bail Bond Stadium if he doesn't continue to improve. We've squinted at his player page long enough to believe filling out his sinker is the key. We also put more weight into his small sample run in Charm City during a playoff race than we'd care to admit.
Sly offers the team an important center field insurance policy in case our starter gets injured. We like the balance to the bench his left-handed swing will bring. And its nice to reunite Sly with the organization who originally drafted him.
