Sticking Points 2038.7: Looking Ahead To Next Year's Contracts

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Sticking Points 2038.7: Looking Ahead To Next Year's Contracts

Post by aaronweiner » Wed Mar 06, 2019 7:26 am

Rockville's situation is consistently complicated by the fact that they are so young, and so talented, their salary situation is constantly in flux. Next season, the following huge names will be potential free agents: Mario Guerrer, Francisco Flores, Fernando Marquez, Bob Coleman, Celio Marin, Jin-Song Xuan, and Yi-ke Zang. There are already rumbles internally about dealing Guerrer, who may be pricing himself off the Pikemen with his consistent excellence. But, what about the others?

"There are good problems to have, and then there's this," said Pikemen GM Aaron Weiner. "We've been working overtime to try and figure out what we're doing here."

Flores appears to be the only player that the team absolutely must sign. Consistently among the top catchers in the BBA, Flores has improved his defense and has never hit below .302 for a full season of baseball; the former prodigy carries a lifetime .326 batting average into the 2038 season.

"We are already in talks with Francisco and hope to have an extension done before the season," said Weiner. "We're consistently amazed by that young man."

Marquez, one of the better relievers in the BBA, is an interesting situation. The Pikemen have been aggressively drafting relievers, and they have a logical heir apparent in the major leagues in Nick Snyder. Still, two top relievers are better than one. Coleman is also interesting, as it may be a marriage of convenience; the Pikemen will need a fourth starter and Coleman has been one of the more consistent ones in the league, but it's likely that Coleman will want upwards of $7 million per season for many seasons. The franchise really has no one in house to replace Coleman at all.

"These are where this stuff gets sticky," said Weiner. "Obviously we want both those guys back, but we also have to think about Dan Cannon's expiring deal in 2039 and all the arbitration kids in future years, and that makes everything a little tighter."

Marin, Xuan and Zang are all interesting cases. Marin got a starting job last year and is likely to keep the fifth starter spot this year, but he's likely to price himself off the team in 2039 due to dramatic improvement in his performance. Zang and Xuan have exactly the opposite problem; neither one of them has performed at all well over the past two seasons, but they both currently slot into starting outfield positions. There are players in the minors who might be able to replace one or both outfielders (and current starting 2B Felix Delvalle can play the outfield), but no one is currently ready for that kind of assignment.

"Celio has made it clear to us he's interested in free agency, and while we'll try to bring him back we also wish him well if he goes to another team," said Weiner. "Zang and Xuan will both have to keep their demands reasonable to return, as neither one of them has performed at all well in recent years, but we'll negotiate with both of them."

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