I haven't done this exercise since my first season in the Brewster (2039), and it's as much of a potential discussion-starter as a -- and at the risk of using one of my least favorite office clichés -- "30,000-foot view" of the Spuds Opening Day roster that helps me see the patterns and successes/failures in assembling this current team.
Below shows the analysis of how each Boise player on the finalized 27-man roster was acquired:
2034
| PLAYER | AGE | SALARY | DATE ACQ. | SOURCE | ROUND | PICK |
|---|
| C José Rivera | 28 | $920,000 | 11/18/34 | Expansion Draft |
The list of expansion draft players has dwindled in the last few years, leaving Rivera as the last "Original Spud" standing. One of general manager Joe Lederer's pet players, Rivera is on the last year of his rookie contract and with younger backstops coming up the ranks, this could be the end of the link to the franchise's earliest beginnings. Anyone have a fruit basket guy?
2035
A small but impressive group of acquisitions, including Germán, the first-ever Boise drafted player. Terada was acquired via trade a week after the 2034 Rule 5 Draft. Boise originally selected outfielder Augie Plascencia from Edmonton with the 2nd overall pick, then flipped him to Mexico City for Terada in a five-player deal. It's no secret that the Rule 5 Draft can be a valuable source of cheap and/or undervalued players, or hidden gems that can bear fruit for the organization or be flipped for additional help. Ruíz was a stud 16-year-old prospect discovered out of Venezuela back in the era when game-changing talent popped up in International Complexes at an alarming rate.
2036
Former Spuds general manager "Big Al" Sganga didn't do much in his time in Boise, but he did one helluva job in the 2036 Draft. French going 1.1 was a no-brainer, but two more draftees from that class are important parts of this year's bullpen. With the unique financial constraints that come with a salary cap league, one cannot afford to whiff on draft picks, especially those in the first few rounds. Yamashita was signed with a $5M bonus out of Japan and international free agent signings is a acquisition route that Lederer hasn't quite got a firm grip on yet. If you miss in the draft, you can try and make up for it with piles of money in the IFA signing period. Look no further than Yellow Springs (ie Tomas Ramirez, Robert Chenoweth) to see how valuable mining for prospects can be during that period.
2037
| PLAYER | AGE | SALARY | DATE ACQ. | SOURCE | ROUND | PICK |
|---|
| SP Frank Metcalf | 24 | $500,000 | 6/8/37 | Amateur Draft | 1 | 6 |
| RP Tom Warren | 23 | $500,000 | 6/8/37 | Amateur Draft | 5 | 6 |
| 1B Pepe Madrid | 21 | $500,000 | 6/16/37 | Trade (TWC) | | |
There's hitting on a draft pick, then there's
hitting on a draft pick. Metcalf went #6 overall, and while it's great he's navigated through the minor leagues -- not all #6 draft picks can say the same -- his name was called ahead of the likes of Quinton Lara, Ángel González, Semei Kwakou, and Millard Younger. That said, twelve 1st-rounders in that draft have either still not yet made it to the majors or have put up negative WAR in their time in the bigs. Warren is one of just seven 5th-rounders from that draft that have made it to the majors. Madrid was acquired from Twin Cities in exchange for pitcher Cris Rios, who was part of the package that Boise received in the aforementioned Terada trade in 2035.
2038
| PLAYER | AGE | SALARY | DATE ACQ. | SOURCE | ROUND | PICK |
|---|
| RF Félix Román | 22 | $500,000 | 6/9/38 | Amateur Draft | 1 | 5 |
| SP Leroy Hoffman | 23 | $500,000 | 6/9/38 | Amateur Draft | 18 | 5 |
Blessed with a high draft position in the infamous "Super Draft" of 2038, Boise was one of several teams to snag a franchise player in Román. It's no secret: if you're not chasing pennants, you might as well be shooting for high draft picks. While tanking is frowned upon and essentially deemed illegal, a publicly-known rebuild of two or three seasons, if handled properly and with the upmost professionalism, can turn a franchise around quickly through the draft and is the better solution than reeling off a string of 80-win seasons and toiling in mediocrity. That said, it doesn't matter where you draft if you hit a lottery ticket with an 18th-rounder. Hoffman was drafted by San Antonio in the 13th round the year prior and went unsigned, leading the way for Boise to select him the following season.
2039
| PLAYER | AGE | SALARY | DATE ACQ. | SOURCE | ROUND | PICK |
|---|
| SP Robin Cooper | 21 | $500,000 | 6/1/39 | Amateur Draft | 1 | 7 |
| C Hank Brewer | 36 | $8,000,000 | 11/20/39 | Trade (POR) |
| RP Bill Carter | 28 | $980,000 | 12/3/39 | Minor Lg. Free Agent |
Every transaction from this point on has the fingerprint of Lederer on it, including his first draft selection as Boise's general manager in Cooper. Cooper's arrival in Boise last year continued a streak of five consecutive Boise first-round picks to make their way to the big leagues, a feat not as easy as it sounds. Brewer was acquired in a trade that took several days of negotiations. Prior to the 2039 Expansion Draft, Lederer agreed to a deal with Portland general manager Chris Wilson, promising to draft the unprotected Brewer in exchange of three prospects. The addition of Brewer brought in Hall of Fame talent to a team looking to get out of the cellar of the standings and the catcher has been as-advertised in his first two seasons in Boise. Carter is one of many minor league free agent signings to make their way onto the Boise active roster under Lederer's run. These types of acquisitions are incredibly valuable as the under-market salaries that help combat financial constraints.
2040
After the Brewer trade with Portland, Lederer went back to the well with two more trades in 2040 with the League's two newest expansion clubs. Lederer took full advantage in understanding Portland and Charlotte's unique ability of player acquisitions, namely the trade market: either taking on salary in exchange for younger talent to stock the minors or hoarding players merely as talent assets, then trading them to teams with a need. Marin is the rare case of Lederer taking on a large contract with more years than he'd like, however with the club's solid financial situation, Marin's $24M was just enough to stomach. Arce's signing was right out of the Lederer Free Agent Playbook: risk-averse above-market AAV at shorter length contracts. The Boise general manager has not been shy in overpaying for talent with the trade-off being financial flexibility down the road.
2041
Clohessy and Hernandez are two more minor league free agent signings, again showing that Lederer is not afraid to extend low-risk contracts while similar players are signed to longer-term and/or more expensive deals elsewhere. While Lederer has made bigger deadline deals (ie Frank Mahaffey and Ryosei Akiyama in 2041), he's shown the propensity to also make deals that barely make a blip in league transaction news, if only to marginally help the Spuds down the road. Germán and Campos were two such low-level trade deadline additions last season, and both are expected to be important members of the roster in a Frontier Division-title repeat attempt.
2042
Garza, Barnard, and Braun were brought strictly to help in 2042, as all three players can (and most likely will) hit free agency at the end of the year. Alicea's front-loaded $30M in year one of his five-year deal makes him the highest-paid player in the league along with Héctor Amaral, Aki Kondo, Aaron Stone and Carlos Valle. However the next two years at $15M each make his AAV tolerably as other contracts will fall off the Boise payroll and the likes of French and Román will be looking for extensions or arbitration increases, respectively.
* * * * *
SUMMARY
| SOURCE | # OF PLAYERS |
|---|
| Amateur Draft | 9 |
| Trade | 8 |
| Free Agent | 4 |
| Minor Lg. Free Agent | 3 |
| Expansion Draft | 1 |
| Scouting Discovery | 1 |
| IFA Signing | 1 |
| Rule 5 | 0 |
| Rule 6 | 0 |
| Waivers | 0 |
In looking at the composition of the Opening Day roster, I'm actually surprised, if not impressed. In my OOTP online career prior to joining the Brewster, I traditionally made my bones filling out my rosters thru the Rule 5 draft and waivers, as well as minor league free agents. I've yet to make a mark in the Rule 5 through my first four drafts, but I have found some success on the waiver wire despite none on the 27-man roster. Instead, I've adapted to the Brewster by making way more trades than I'm accustomed to. I expect to sign more players in the International Free Agent filing period moving forward as the Boise budget rises.
