Crawdad Chronicles 57.06 - Key Decisions Await in NO

[JimBob2232]

Its already been announced that OF/1B Luis Estrada will likely test free Agency in 2057. There are 2 more key decisions GM Jim Roberts will have to make in the near term after being bounced early from the playoffs.

1. C Todd Tatlock. One of the better defensive catchers in the league - and his bat has been solid too. The 31 year old catcher hit .333/.362.424 this season, with a 4.5 WAR. He is a 2 time all star and 4 time yogi winner. The crawdads elected not to trade him at the trade deadline, and instead keep him for a playoff run. The decision now looks suspect, but New Orleans now has to decide if its worth shelling out $9M/year for an aging "wrecked' catcher, who has never appeared in more than 130 games in a season, including 116 this season and 91 last season. Even as good as Tatlock has been - New Orleans might have to let him walk.

2. OF Juan Donestavez - Quite possibly one of the best ever to wear a Crawdads uniform - and thats a big statement for a team that boasts the likes of Sawyer Silk and Regolio Morales. He is #1 all time in most of the major categories in crawdads history, including Hits, Home Runs, RBIs, and Stolen Bases. But father time is undefeated. And Donestavez is 36 and spent the playoffs on the IR after an impressive season where he led the league in OBP at .416, and racked up a spectacular .355/.416/.545 season with 21 HRs and 5.5 WAR. New Orleans would surely like to bring him back, But rumor has it he is looking for a big payday - one which neither New Orleans or any other team in the leauge would likely give him.

Time will tell how these shake out, but with the loss of Tatlock, Donestavez, and Estrada, New Orleans could be letting 16 WAR walk out the door this offseason, and would then need to re-prioritize the 40M in available capital to try to get back to the playoffs again for the 3rd straight year.

[Dington]

If I had acquired Tatlock, I would have just benched him for the majority of the rest of the season. Wrecked catcher just seems too scary. Yet, I signed J-Rod to a one year extension last sim, but I can just cut bait if he dies next season.

[JimBob2232]

I should have done that with donestavez.

I kinda had a similar plan signing a bunch of old guys very late…but I foolishly did it after the September call ups so they were ineligible for the playoffs