2062.15 The Big Fish

[ae37jr]

The Big Fish
.
Max Shepperson was the guy. He was always the guy. For all intent and purposes, he has been listed on the teams internal depth chart for over a year now. Externally he was eluded to as "a big lefty bat". In the teams war room... we just called him Max.

In the midst of a fire sale in the summer of 2061, the River Monster made a critical pivot. They were not able to procure the pitching prospects they desired to rebuild a pitching and defense based team. It was during trade talks with Montreal where the decision was made to flip the script. Let's keep our rotation intact, shed some payroll, and bring in a bunch of major league depth pieces. If we can pair Raul Gallehos with a lefty bat like Shepperson.. that would be epic.

We saw Shepperson becoming available from a mile a way. He was an about to be 30 year old expensive DH entering the final year of his contract on a declining team. His numbers, while still stellar, had fallen off since his Silk season in 2060. Entering the off season, the plan was to sign Wilson Prieto or Callum Mckay and then trade for Shepperson. When we failed to sign a quality RF, we got cold feet. I really didn't think we were capable of doing what we have done.

As the season went on, luck kept aligning for us. Pedro Aguilar was passed up by nearly every BBA team in the draft. He immediately gave us that secondary lefty bat we coveted to give protection to Gallehos in the order. Around the time we brought him up to the BBA, we reached out to acquire Shepperson. The Rocky Mountain GM said they wanted something similar to a comp pick. We felt we had just the guy in Vince Guin. We made the offer. It was never answered. Our dreams were crushed. We were sure a deal would get done.

Scrambling to find answers on how to become elite, we moved some pieces around. Octavio Sanchez ended up raking in left field(where a displaced Gallehos would have stayed if a Shepperson trade was made), we traded for Felix Ramos to block 3B(another spot Gallehos could go to to make room). and another DH Parker Clontz had made the most of every opportunity he got. All of a sudden, I talked myself out of wanting Shepperson. Why upset the apple cart? We have something special going.

Then one day a message appears on the forums "please welcome back Justin Niles as GM of the Rocky Mountain Oysters.". Well, that escalated quickly. We knew for sure that Niles would answer our trade request. It may not be the answer we liked, but he'd answer. Niles is the type of GM that, when you ask about a small deal for a player of his on the waiver wire, he'd come back with a counter that included your top prospect in a 10 player deal that would make GBC teams jealous. Luckily for us. Two things were working in our favor. First of all, our farm system is barren. There isn't much to squeeze out of us. Secondly, Rocky Mountain was up against the clock. If no deal was made, Shepperson walks away for maybe a comp pick.

We offered the same offer of Shepperson for Guin that we had to the previous GM. The Oysters said they wanted Mark Busse included. Busse is a great fielding corner outfielder with a 10 eye. He failed miserably in 45 BBA games this year. His stock had fallen a bit for us. And with Juan Serna and Darren Wearne already on the roster, there wasn't much room for another right handed hitting short side platoon outfielder/defensive sub. They gave us a couple of names they'd include and we settled on Francisco Rios. Rios is a similar skill level, albeit younger and more well rounded version of Busse. A 4th outfielder of the future type. So that probably works in our favor. I should have made a Busse/Rios type deal regardless of Sheppersons involvement.

In other trade news, we acquired Pepe Gonzales from Yellow Springs. Pepe was blocked by Tony Bunce. The 25 year old tore up AA with a .315/.383/.566 batting line. His bat looks like it will play at the BBA level. He is viewed as a cheap and possibly slightly better replacement for Jose Perez at 3B if the team wants to save a few million. Gonzales clock has not started yet, so look for Twin Cities to bring both to camp next year. Either Pepe will head to minors for depth or Perez could possibly be dumped if Gonzales wins the job.

There was a third deal that fizzled or should I say Faisaled out as the clock struck midnight. The River Monsters saw an opportunity to add a lefty bat that could back up both SS and CF. Potentially saving a valuable roster spot. Twin Cities appears to be inspired by the idea and may look into similar players this winter.

[BaseClogger]

Rios is a good starting outfielder if he fully develops (unlikely).