2034 Off-Season Johnson League Free Agent Review Podcast

[Ted]

Note: This was recorded prior to 2034 Spring Training. It was actually the third podcast I made this offseason. The first is a review of Frick with Fred Holmes. Unfortunately, Windows decided it needed to restart the laptop I was using to record my half of the show (I use two to simulate to recording channels, which is easier for mixing), and I lost all my audio. I have Fred's, so I've been re-recording my part. I'm the type of person who just needs to do thing in order, so this and the trade review were delayed in publishing because I wanted to get the first one done. It's taking forever. I hope to have it up later today. Sorry Fred.

A review of the free agent signings from the 2034 off-season. Hosted by Ted Schmidt with guest Randy Weigand. Apologies for the furnace kicking on at about 52 minutes. It lasts less than ten minutes. I couldn't filter it out because apparently my voice has thee soothing tones of a gas furnace, so remove the furnace noise cut out enough of my voice to make it unrecognizable.

Atlanta 8:28
Brooklyn 13:51
Charm City 18:53
Havana 23:49
Hawaii 25:48
Huntsville 27:23
Jacksonville 35:19
Las Vegas 38:28
Montreal 39:25
Nashville 44:02
New Orleans 52:25
Phoenix 54:19
Rockville 58:24
San Antonio 103:58

[usnspecialist]

Come for the FA discussion, stay for the bonus team preview.

[bcslouck]

Adams wanted more money when I looked at him. Considering the offers for bigger moves I had out there, I was coming close to my cap. So I signed Padilla at his number a lot earlier just to get me a solid backup. If I could of gotten Adams at the same salary, I would of signed him. But I like Padilla.

Perez is a good glove at 2B and was successful at AAA and limited ML AB's. $2.5M isn't much to take a flyer on, especially if he is successful considering he is under team control a few years an is an auto sign at $2.5M next year. He sucks, I let him loose before he gets that auto salary. At worst though, him and Hatcher give me a very good middle IF defense. I just hope they are like 80 or better OPS+ players.

I did go after both Soto's (2B and SS). I brought up the one contract, but I didn't lose out because of it. Just looks REALLY bad. 2B Soto, I just got beat on my offer. We were really close and I thought I was going to get him at just under $9M based on what he wanted, but Edmonton came over the top at like $12M.

Just wasn't aggressive enough. And I think you guys are wrong on my money issue. It isn't that my team is expensive. If you look, the majority of my best guys are making like $5M or so. It's Salazar's $30M, which was to be expected. That is on me but I do not regret making that signing. He's been a hell of a player and his signing started making us relevant. I think I managed the rest of my contracts fine. I don't regret letting go of Workman and Soto either. They aren't worth what they were set to get if I kept them. In the preview written up on us, Workman was 2+ WAR player at 2B. He wasn't. He was basically replacement level until I moved him to 1B. Hearle was awful last year for some reason and I'm hoping for a turn around. But If I could of got Soto and Workman for 75% (or less) of last years salary, I would of brought them back. I had a ton of money, I just had too many needs and probably should of focused on one at a time.

Despite what it looks like on the outside, I think we can compete.

[udlb58]

I agree that we shouldn't be able to offer team options with $0 buyouts. I didn't used to do this, but probably 3/4 of the league does this, so I got tired of throwing away money while others were signing 0 risk options.

If it had a buyout, it would make sense. He was originally asking for just over $1m and a 1 year deal. I know someone was offering a multi-year contract, but I don't know if that one had options too. So he basically is betting on himself. He signs for a little less than his original asking price and if he somehow pitches well enough to be a #4/5 starter, we will certainly execute those options. If not, he'll be a free agent and still probably find a landing spot because of his talent.

If you think this contract is bad, you should see some of the extensions guys were willing to sign that I withdrew because they were so criminally bad for the players.

[udlb58]

Oh, and Nashville should sign Castillo and Lopez to extensions, even if it is just 1 year. They'll completely max out fan interest if they do.

[bcslouck]

I know a lot of the league does, but I still can't bring myself to do that. I usually do 20-25% on the buyout. That's a rule in my other league, and now that we run StatsPlus, it's a lot easier to monitor. You can put in buyout requirements and it will highlight "illegal" contracts. It was more annoying to see after I paid out like $5M+ in buyouts for Workman and Soto.

Not sure what pitcher you are talking about. I can get adding on an option. But if it's just a year flyer or to plus a hole for a year, I don't want to deal with potential option issues down the road. Plus, if the guy is awful, I can't cut him. If I do, I have to pay out his option, no matter which one it is. The Padilla one was a mistake. Didn't see the player option marked and was pretty irritated with myself that I missed that consider he would of had team control. Now he doesn't.

[Ted]

Adams wanted more money when I looked at him. Considering the offers for bigger moves I had out there, I was coming close to my cap. So I signed Padilla at his number a lot earlier just to get me a solid backup. If I could of gotten Adams at the same salary, I would of signed him. But I like Padilla.

Perez is a good glove at 2B and was successful at AAA and limited ML AB's. $2.5M isn't much to take a flyer on, especially if he is successful considering he is under team control a few years an is an auto sign at $2.5M next year. He sucks, I let him loose before he gets that auto salary. At worst though, him and Hatcher give me a very good middle IF defense. I just hope they are like 80 or better OPS+ players.

I did go after both Soto's (2B and SS). I brought up the one contract, but I didn't lose out because of it. Just looks REALLY bad. 2B Soto, I just got beat on my offer. We were really close and I thought I was going to get him at just under $9M based on what he wanted, but Edmonton came over the top at like $12M.

Just wasn't aggressive enough. And I think you guys are wrong on my money issue. It isn't that my team is expensive. If you look, the majority of my best guys are making like $5M or so. It's Salazar's $30M, which was to be expected. That is on me but I do not regret making that signing. He's been a hell of a player and his signing started making us relevant. I think I managed the rest of my contracts fine. I don't regret letting go of Workman and Soto either. They aren't worth what they were set to get if I kept them. In the preview written up on us, Workman was 2+ WAR player at 2B. He wasn't. He was basically replacement level until I moved him to 1B. Hearle was awful last year for some reason and I'm hoping for a turn around. But If I could of got Soto and Workman for 75% (or less) of last years salary, I would of brought them back. I had a ton of money, I just had too many needs and probably should of focused on one at a time.

Despite what it looks like on the outside, I think we can compete.

I forgot that Salazar is the big sink you have on cap space. You pretty much ad to to that to get him, and he has worked wonders for you. Anywho, if we seemed overly negative or critical, apologies. Was not the intent.

[usnspecialist]

Adams wanted more money when I looked at him. Considering the offers for bigger moves I had out there, I was coming close to my cap. So I signed Padilla at his number a lot earlier just to get me a solid backup. If I could of gotten Adams at the same salary, I would of signed him. But I like Padilla.

Perez is a good glove at 2B and was successful at AAA and limited ML AB's. $2.5M isn't much to take a flyer on, especially if he is successful considering he is under team control a few years an is an auto sign at $2.5M next year. He sucks, I let him loose before he gets that auto salary. At worst though, him and Hatcher give me a very good middle IF defense. I just hope they are like 80 or better OPS+ players.

I did go after both Soto's (2B and SS). I brought up the one contract, but I didn't lose out because of it. Just looks REALLY bad. 2B Soto, I just got beat on my offer. We were really close and I thought I was going to get him at just under $9M based on what he wanted, but Edmonton came over the top at like $12M.

Just wasn't aggressive enough. And I think you guys are wrong on my money issue. It isn't that my team is expensive. If you look, the majority of my best guys are making like $5M or so. It's Salazar's $30M, which was to be expected. That is on me but I do not regret making that signing. He's been a hell of a player and his signing started making us relevant. I think I managed the rest of my contracts fine. I don't regret letting go of Workman and Soto either. They aren't worth what they were set to get if I kept them. In the preview written up on us, Workman was 2+ WAR player at 2B. He wasn't. He was basically replacement level until I moved him to 1B. Hearle was awful last year for some reason and I'm hoping for a turn around. But If I could of got Soto and Workman for 75% (or less) of last years salary, I would of brought them back. I had a ton of money, I just had too many needs and probably should of focused on one at a time.

Despite what it looks like on the outside, I think we can compete.

I forgot that Salazar is the big sink you have on cap space. You pretty much ad to to that to get him, and he has worked wonders for you. Anywho, if we seemed overly negative or critical, apologies. Was not the intent.

i will have to listen to this when i get off work, because i honestly dont remember being too critical of charm city (except for saying i dont think they will make the playoffs). If it came off that way brandon i apologize, because i dont hate what you did this offseason (at least compared to some other teams). I dont think you helped yourself a ton, but other teams made far more questionable moves than you did.

[Ted]

I edited in parts where you call Brandon a ton of names. Not even nice ones.

[bcslouck]

No, no, no. You guys are fine. I'm just commenting on what you said. And the comment about competing just comes from more overall things I've seen and heard from multiple sources, which I don't even necessarily disagree with. I was just giving you guys my thinking on the things you did say. Just to give some perspective on what I was thinking throughout the offseason and the moves I made.

EDIT: I do think I can compete. But that doesn't mean I don't think it can go sour either.

[usnspecialist]

I edited in parts where you call Brandon a ton of names. Not even nice ones.

i was wondering if you did that, or just looped some of my huntsville comments into the charm city section lol.

[bcslouck]

I edited in parts where you call Brandon a ton of names. Not even nice ones.

i was wondering if you did that, or just looped some of my huntsville comments into the charm city section lol.

I guess that's what we get for just showing up to talk and letting Ted do the hard stuff behind the scenes. LOL

[ae37jr]

Haven't had time to listen to the whole thing yet, but fast forwarded to the Brooklyn part.

-I definitely signed Workman to play 1B, not 2B. But as Randy mentioned, I platoon everyone. If I'm playing a near all right handed lineup *cough* San Antonio *cought*, then I may shamelessly punt right side of the infield defense hoping that the ball isn't hit there much. Originally I wanted to get someone a lot bigger at 1B. There really wasn't any free agents that fit the bill. I kicked some tires for guys like Moreland, Estrada, Winston, Nightmare, Munoz, and Gaona. They were all either unavailable or way over valued. In Workman, I'll at least have a very good defensive 1B who works deep counts(something I've been trying to improve). I do feel like I overpaid a bit to get him. But as Brandon said, he would have brought him back at a slight discount so I guess I needed to overpay a bit. And beyond him, I don't know who I would have gotten.

-In Ciccolella I didn't mind overpaying for one year and two "Tim Wakefield options". I let Chandler and Morales walk cause I have a solid pipeline of young guys coming up and didn't want to hand out long term deals to either. Though none my young pitchers are established yet so I wanted a veteran that could eat innings. I did make a 20 mil + offer to Pep Gomez, but lost out. My next thought was there is no better innings eater then Ciccolella. I know he won't be as good as last year. I'm just looking to use him in a similar fashion. Give me 220 innings with an ERA in the neighborhood of 4. He is also Extremely Popular, which is worth several million to me.

-Garza was a fan interest move as well. $3 million for an EX-POP=free to me. Actually better then free as he'll help expand next years budget.

-Santana/Martinez might be the best free agent signings I've made in a long time. Great role players at a cheap price. Hopefully they produce like I think they will in my split happy system.

-Both of you guys have suggested that my RF is either not that good or that I need to upgrade. No love for Harold Smith? I know he isn't the best defender in the league and is a right handed bat, but he hit .317/.371/.558 last year and didn't do much worse the year before as a rookie. I actually view him, Rectenberg, Sean Smith and Wade as our offensive core.

[RonCo]

One point you need to take into account on how finances change -- payroll down, etc -- is the influence of the big drafts that have been happening for several seasons. Add 10-12 minsal guys who can play into an organization that has a strong top end, and you've got a major revenue producing club with a very small cost structure.

[Ted]

Haven't had time to listen to the whole thing yet, but fast forwarded to the Brooklyn part.

-I definitely signed Workman to play 1B, not 2B. But as Randy mentioned, I platoon everyone. If I'm playing a near all right handed lineup *cough* San Antonio *cought*, then I may shamelessly punt right side of the infield defense hoping that the ball isn't hit there much. Originally I wanted to get someone a lot bigger at 1B. There really wasn't any free agents that fit the bill. I kicked some tires for guys like Moreland, Estrada, Winston, Nightmare, Munoz, and Gaona. They were all either unavailable or way over valued. In Workman, I'll at least have a very good defensive 1B who works deep counts(something I've been trying to improve). I do feel like I overpaid a bit to get him. But as Brandon said, he would have brought him back at a slight discount so I guess I needed to overpay a bit. And beyond him, I don't know who I would have gotten.

-In Ciccolella I didn't mind overpaying for one year and two "Tim Wakefield options". I let Chandler and Morales walk cause I have a solid pipeline of young guys coming up and didn't want to hand out long term deals to either. Though none my young pitchers are established yet so I wanted a veteran that could eat innings. I did make a 20 mil + offer to Pep Gomez, but lost out. My next thought was there is no better innings eater then Ciccolella. I know he won't be as good as last year. I'm just looking to use him in a similar fashion. Give me 220 innings with an ERA in the neighborhood of 4. He is also Extremely Popular, which is worth several million to me.

-Garza was a fan interest move as well. $3 million for an EX-POP=free to me. Actually better then free as he'll help expand next years budget.

-Santana/Martinez might be the best free agent signings I've made in a long time. Great role players at a cheap price. Hopefully they produce like I think they will in my split happy system.

-Both of you guys have suggested that my RF is either not that good or that I need to upgrade. No love for Harold Smith? I know he isn't the best defender in the league and is a right handed bat, but he hit .317/.371/.558 last year and didn't do much worse the year before as a rookie. I actually view him, Rectenberg, Sean Smith and Wade as our offensive core.

Just flat out missed Smith. Sorry.

[ae37jr]

The worst part of Datiz/Hernandez with Huntsville is that they are both right handed flyball pitchers in a park with 1.200 HR for left handed hitters. Vegas is also 1.250, and the rest of the division is more or less slightly over 1.000. Poor Solis is going to be on the DL with a stiff neck all year.