On the Lam, 57.1 - Owbridge, ooh la la

[trmmilwwi]

After a 2nd straight 79-83 season the Outlaw Front Office was expecting some changes this offseason to get a bit more competitive on the field. Some veteran contracts were coming off the books and one big change was expected, infielder Jeremy Owbridge could finally be off the books. The ex GBCer had played in 5 all star games with the Bucharest Impalers, having his best year in '47 slashing .265/17/65. I neve rknew we had a team nicknames the Impalers, how did that one get past the legal eagles? Anyways, he was a great SS for the Impalers and was signed by the Outlaws to a very lucrative 6 year, $75.3M deal in the ‘52/’53 offseason.

His talents haven’t transferred as directly into the BBA and Owbridge has hit around .220 over his 4 years in the big league. His glove has started to fail at short and he was shifted over to second which helped this last season. Quite possibly the playing time at second hurt the franchise as the veteran decided to decline his player opt out to exercise his right to declare for free agency and will honor the contract signed back in ’52. He has 2 more years on his contract at $13.5M per year which seems to be a hefty sum for 0.7 of WAR. The last year of the contract includes a player option which will also likely to be left in place to earn his last $13.5 of the $73.5. Overall Owbridge sits at -0.2WAR since he signed his huge contract to come stateside and is unlikely to add a few clicks to the positive side. While the deal likely isn’t the worst ever given in the league, based on the amount of money and length it absolutely feels like it is.

The Front Office has been in talks with a few teams to send the veteran away in a trade but nothing has materialized as of yet. Maybe with the pending back payments of monies due to the league the Outlaws hand will be forced. We shall see.