"I believe you have to be able to do everything well," explained new Montreal general manager Herb DeSpain. "Sometimes if you can do two things ok then you can get into the playoffs but very rarely can you make the postseason by just doing one thing well."
DeSpain wasted no time putting his signature on the team finishing a trade his first day on the job. By the time the offseason was finished he had shipped 3/5 of the 2043 starting rotation out of Montreal and brought in several free agents that he hopes will make a difference. "I know Hernandez, Geestman, and Ando were good players for us." said DeSpain. "If they were bad players then we would not have gotten the return for them that we did. We have a surplus of starting pitching talent and we needed to even out the pitching and the offense."
Trade 1
The most controversial trade was the first trade that sent 24 year old Hernandez and OF Jim Antolin to Omaha for 27 year old SP In-sung Yi, 24 year old RP Raul Luna, 22 year old C Ramiro Cheron, 20 year old SS Orlando Lopez, and 16 year old SS kwan-uk "Tommy" Chong.
DeSpain's Take: Hernandez's ERA has gone up every season for three seasons and his ERA+ has gone up every year to the point he was no longer a even league average. This despite our pitcher friendly ball park. Antolin was not likely going to make our team so he was expendable. What we got in return was a starter that needed a second chance. Yi will start the year in the rotation and we think he'll bounce back to 2042 form when he had a 119 ERA+. It will be a short leash but he'll get a shot. Luna is another reclamation project that we believe in and we think he'll pitch better for us. Before the Bradshaw deal Cheron was going to be our starting catcher so we still really like him a lot and now we think he will be a very good backup. Lopez will step into the starting lineup and get plenty of playing time as a 20 year old. And finally we think Chong, while he's a long term prospect, will one day be a productive player in the BBA. We hope it is for us.
Trade 2
29 year old SP Drees Geestman and 21 year old C Reggie Leeper to LV in return for 22 year old OF Manoel Whanon, 23 year old P Roberto Frias, and 17 year old OF Faud Demirel.
DeSpain's Take: Geestman was asking for a lot of money following his final arbitration season in 2044. We thought it was best to move him and see what we could get. After the Cheron trade we didn't need Leeper anymore so he was also expendable. Getting Whanon in return gives us a lot of flexibility in the outfield. He can play all three positions very well and he crushes righties. His career OPS vs RHP is almost .900. Frias has the ability to be a starter for us once he finishes learning the change up. That will give him four above average pitches. Demirel is like Chong. We like to take chances on young players that have a bright future. He's a high work ethic kid that we really like.
Trade 3
Sent 20 year old P Lorenzo Aquilar to Sacramento for 24 year old 1B Cesar Feliciana.
DeSpain's Take: After a 2.1 WAR rookie season in 2041 Feliciana has struggled to a -1.1 total the past two seasons. He struggled enough that Sacramento basically gave him to us for a 40 potential prospect. Feliciana has the raw ability to put up big numbers but the question becomes does he have the right frame of mind. We think he can hit for a decent average and pound out a lot of doubles at home. We'd like to see him take more pitches and put up an OBP closer to the .348 he had in '41 instead of the .273 he had last year. Bottom line, he's a former first round pick that got his feelings hurt when he was pretty much given away so he has a lot to prove to himself and the rest of the BBA.
Trade 4
23 year old SP Ando to Twin Cities for 22 year old C Joe Bradshaw.
DeSpain's Take Ando was a hard one to let go but he was coming up on his arbitration years and he would have cost us an arm and a leg. If you look close enough he regressed quite a bit between '42 and '43. I like Cheron but the opportunity to get a real game changer at the catching position was something that I could not pass up. We traded for the Bradshaw of '42(138 OPS+, 5.5 WAR), not the Bradshaw of '43(92 OPS+, 1.1 WAR).
DeSpain's Final Take: While there is no doubt that we gave up some good players we believe as an organization that we have filled some big holes. If our returns play up to their scout ratings then all of these trades are lopsided in our favor. Don't forget about the young players we added to the farm system that could be impactful in the future.
