Staring out at the winter chafe and happy knowing that corn stalks would not be back for months, GM Webb turned his attention to his roster. The team in 2043 played something like the hapless victims in the beginning of an 80’s horror flick who die from either ignorance to the existence of the killer or due idiotic decisions brought on by vanity.
The first victim in this slasher film was pitching. Admittedly, Des Moinians knew coming into the season that this would be the first victim, but it still came as a shock when it failed so miserably halfway through the season. Interestingly, the cause of its death was balls put in play and not an unhealthy BB%. Opponents put up a Division-worst .346 OOBP based on a .303 BABIP and a .283 AVG. Simply put, the Killer dismembered Kernels pitching by hitting the ball where they ain’t.
The second victim in this B movie was the defense. This victim went down in a very gory manner, causing some audience members to just up and leave the theatre in disgust. Except for the Catcher, every position on this team put up a negative zone rating. This is the horror movie equivalent of first being stabbed by the killer, only to escape by falling from a cliff, hitting every rock and then landing in a wood chipper. Particularly gruesome was the -16.79 put up by the SS’s (Thanks Williamson!) and the -15.19 put up by the RF’s.
Finally, the most surprising victim to go was the hitting. Everyone thought that this victim would make it to the end with some injuries, but surviving nonetheless. This victim carried the hapless group to safety in the first month by hitting righteous dingers, but quickly succumbed to the killer’s slow poison in the form of division low AVG and OBP.
With all this in mind, GM Webb had to set about fixing what he could with what he has…and he doesn’t have much. With no money in the budget for FA’s at the start of the offseason and a handful of bloated contracts, the only solution was a couple of minor trades that could bolster the pitching staff and the defense.
First trade was to move prospects SP Jaimie Mendoza and RP Raymond for young Calgary Pioneer players RP Ihara and CF Sui. At this point, if Des Moines young core is going to win, then the defense and bullpen need to be shored up. But Sui in particular also adds some OBP capability (if he makes contact) and has speed to add another dimension to the offense.
The second trade to happen sent another prospect, CF Neela to the Charlotte Cougars for SS Luis Cruz. Cruz’s role will be to simply suck less than Williamson who as mentioned, was a horror movie trope equivalent to the dumb jock who thinks he can take on the killer with a butter knife (in other words, a dumpster fire).
