2058.18: San Fernando's Turbulent Trade Deadline

[BaseClogger]

9/1/2058


I was inclined to hold onto Sammy McNeill and Jeffrey Smith. McNeill was very likely to opt out of his contract but net me a draft pick at the end of the first round as type A compensation. Or maybe I'd extend him in the short window after he opts out. Smith held a 2059 team option for a lower salary than he's making in 2058. So while our playoff aspirations turned to a long shot it was not an imperative to sell.

Then I saw Michael Schultz's three month injury. Schultz is a flawed player whose OBP and defense limit him to being around a 2 WAR player. But he was also leading the Brewster in home runs and the only replacements I had were rookies from the farm system. With so many teams bunched up in the Pacific I decided I'd explore McNeill's market and see if I could trade some relievers I was going to have to give buyouts to if I didn't pick up their team options.

The decision to trade Smith was made after I'd traded the other three players. At that point I figured my playoff chances were shot and while Smith's 2059 team option looks good it also opens the door to a 2060 player option when he'll be 41 years old. I came to these conclusions on my own and I swear Chad's podcast had nothing to do with it!

I started asking Des Moines about Sonny Bigalow before he was officially put on the block. In my eight years as GM of the Bears the only decent center fielders I've had were Arvin Duggan for a year and Jamie Angwin for a year. Bigalow hasn't been given a chance to play center field everyday and I think he can be a neutral defender there while hitting 30+ home runs in my ballpark. Extended affordably for six more seasons, I hope I can plug him in center and turn my attention elsewhere. Josh asked for a hefty return and I clearly overpaid but there's a possibility no better center field options are even available this offseason and I'm right back where I started. I'd amassed a long list of C-level pitching prospects and I've found pitching to be the easier player type to acquire on the cheap so I didn't mind including the three pitching prospects. Two of the young pitchers are fragile and I don't expect any to become impact starting pitchers. Salih bin Salah is obviously a very good prospect but he's 17 years old. My team is primed to compete again in 2059 so I took the bird in the hand.

At the major league level I'll need Dick Walton to take over shortstop when he's activated from the injured list next sim. I think the dropoff there will be cancelled out with Bigalow taking over center field, a position where I've gotten about -2 WAR of production this season. Hemming is clearly inferrior to Smith but he's still a legit starting outfielder. Costa will get into the mix at first base to help replace Schultz. I lost two relievers who were pretty good but I think I can absorb them with some guys from AAA.

At the minor league level I gave up three C prospect pitchers who were more advanced in their development but I backfill them with some decent looking teenagers in Brown, Werth, and Beers. Garcia and Carmona are lotto tickets at positions where I didn't have a ton of depth.


Long Beach receives:
Sammy McNeill (50% retention)
Rolf Reinhardt
San Fernando receives:
Salih bin Salah
Hector Garcia
Gustavo Brown

Vancouver receives:
P You-Cheng Hang (SFB retains 50%)
San Fernando receives:
P Alberto Romero
P Harland Werth (R) (IL)

Vancouver receives:
LF Jeffrey Smith (SFB retains 50%)
San Fernando receives:
LF Martin Hemming (AAA rehab)
1B Pancho Costa (VAN retains 25%)
SP Jake Beers (A)
1B Pedro Carmona (S A)

San Fernando receives:
ML OF/IF Sonny Bigalow
$3,000,000 in unmarked bills
Des Moines receives:
DFA OF Salih "Hammerhead" Bin Salah (I think he's DFAed if he was just traded?)
A SP Javier Duarte
SA SP Salah Lutfi
AAA SP Joe Hulton

[recte44]

That's a wild deadline- I like it a lot.

[Dington]

Way to keep the fans and players guessing.

[BaseClogger]

I did manage to increase Fan Interest by like 8 points from this mess which doesn't make any sense haha

[Dington]

I did manage to increase Fan Interest by like 8 points from this mess which doesn't make any sense haha

That's impressive after sending away McNeill and Smith.