The Twin Cities River Monsters are essentially the BBA's version of build-a-bear
Last week we took a relatively deep dive into David Simpson, who has since lumped another point of contact, range and errors and baring a Brewster Series MVP award, will become a free agent after this season. But that is not the only option the team holds. TWC also has 9 other player options, 3 arbitration decisions, and many more pre arb decisions.
But first let's talk about a decision made last winter that has come back to bite the team. Sertaç Safavî was an 8/8/8/8/6 DH coming off a .294/.377/.524 age 27 season. The River Monsters viewed him as a part of their young core and had no issue extending him to 2056 to pick up the fan interest bump that comes with extending an extremely popular player. Since then, Safavi has hit just .239/.325/.397 and has lumped to 6/8/7/8/6. Quickly turning the one year, $9.4 million extension from a market value deal to an albatross. It's unlikely the team will find a trade suiter, so we are just going to have to hope for a bounce back season
Andy Elmer-decline
Elmer is one of the longest tenured River Monster, having been with the club since mid 2051. He was once one of the strongest defenders behind the plate with a great eye. While nothing has changed scouting wise, his last 2 season he's been a shell of his former self. Expect the team to either trade, decline his option, or maybe even release him to spread the damage over 3 years.
Gilberto Falchonelli-pick up
We signed Gilberto last winter thinking he was a nice little player. Wow, did he play better than we expected. With a .293/.343/.546 line and a 2.2 WAR in just .300 at bats. Falchonelli played like a pro rated 11-12 million dollar player. While we certainly don't expect him to repeat that, he'd have to regress a lot not to be worth the $3.4 we will be paying him. And with Simpson out, Falchonelli should get a bigger role than he was given to start this season.
Edgardo Encarnación-trade?
Double E is wrapping up his second tenure with the club. He did alright I suppose. His main purpose was to buy us a season to cross train Kelsey Perry all over the place in AAA. His 3.5 ZR at 2B was good, but maybe down a bit from career averages. Likewise with his .278 average. Combine that with his age(37) and the teams depth at position and it just feels right to move on and use that cap space for something else
Rumors are swirling that the River Monsters have found a suiter, so they will be off the hook on the buyout and receive a warm young body back.
Dane Licht-pick up
We saw Dane sitting in free agency in April, out with an extended injury. Did we need him... No. But we saw value in signing him. And him being on DL actually added to that value as the timetable for his return lined up with roster expansion. Meaning we didn't have to make any tough decisions.
Now with a decling Simpson being being let go, we already have an in house replacement at less than half the price.
Ignacio Venegas-pick up
Have I ever said that I love I-Gas? I believe you can find a couple of articles dating back to 2038 when I drafted him in the 5th round. Look up utility infield in the dictionary and there you'll find him. Slick fielder who can play all 3 spots to perfection. Decent enough hitter not to kill your offense. Great speed, can drop a bunt like no other and totally humble in the club house.
You can make a case that his offensive numbers dropped this season and he is turning 35 soon, so maybe $3.4 million isn't a wise gamble. I admit he is probably a little over paid even if he bounces back to career averages. But he is one of my guys. He's been to 3 Cartwright Cups with me and I'll go to war with him anyday.
Yoshii Takuda-pick up
Well, we didn't trade for Takuda to decline his option, so he has a really long leash here. Especially since we are letting Jose Martinez walk. Thus far he has started his TWC career like just like he did in Louisville. Lights out one day... Terrible the next. Luckily for him, I like projects. It's hard to put a value on him. His potential is much more than $4 mil. We are gambling a bit trying to hit that.
Edward Crutcher-pick up
I always liked Crutch. For my money there is nothing more valuable than a left handed starter with reverse splits. Crutcher rewarded me for my fandom with a career year at a bargain bin rate. $1.7 mil for 4.2 WAR is a phenomenal return on investment. Best part is his team option is $300k LOWER. He'd probably want $12 mil in free agency. Like Falchonelli, he has already earned his 2056 salary. Even if he blows out his arm in spring training, I will not regret picking it up.
Sergio Herrera-pick up
Herrera was one of my top off season targets last season. I felt that he is a lights out, high workload reliever that has been miscast as a starter in recent years. After all, acquiring talent is one thing. Putting them in positions to succeed is a whole other animal. Herrera was another home run for me. Posting a 2.2 WAR out of the bullpen. That values him at around $6.6 mil, we will only be paying him $1.2.
Luis Rúbio-pick up
Like Herrera, Rubio was another down on his luck starter that we picked up to bolster then pen. This was a strategic plan that has worked out well as a whole. I wouldn't call Rubio a homerun like some others on this list. But he has panned out well. One WAR in 70 innings... $1.2 mil option... Eh, seems about right.
You could argue that I should decline this one as our pen is pretty stacked, causing him to fill a lesser role than he should and we have a serious lack of options problem that is holding back a few up and coming RP in our org. But that's what we call in the industry "a good problem to have". There is really no point in paying to decline his option now when someone would surely claim him on waivers April 1st if we change our mind.
Fun fact.
Last off-season my number one free agent target was Gerald Sizemore. I saw I was in a bidding WAR with Jacksonville. Knowing that Sizemore is an Aaron guy, I knew it was a battle nobody was going to win. So I pulled an audible and signed Crutcher, Rubio, Fields, Encarnacion, and eventually Licht with the money allotted for Sizemore.
Sizemore posted a respectable 2.5 WAR while the guys I did sign with the $12 mil allotted posted 7.5 WAR, netted me Tony Tighe and two warm body prospects, while leaving a ton of roster flexibility.
Welp. That's it for this episode. I still need one more team news to avoid getting kicked out of the league so maybe we'll save arbs and non tendies for another day.
