The Bears enter the final five game sim with a record of 80-77. Our playoff hopes are technically still alive (0.3% chance!!) but we would need to sweep the sim and have several teams ahead of us lose every game. Thus, I'm making decisions for this sim as though we're already eliminated.
- Perhaps the most significant roster move made all season by San Fernando occurred recently when we signed middle infielder Ramon Garcia to a three-year, $23M free agent contract. The contract is heavily front loaded since SFB has the cap space and will pay Garcia $5M each of the next two seasons. Unfortunately released by Chicago due to a missed sim, their loss is our gain as Garcia gives us nice depth on the bench. His career .249/.315/.358 triple slash has been worth 2.6 WAR in just 589 PAs thanks to the 26 year-olds adequate defense at shortstop and excellent defense at second base. The biggest concern is Garcia's durability but this isn't a position group where we have a ton of minor league depth.
- Impending free agent and team closer Edgar Chavez (2.74 ERA, 32 saves) signed a two-year, $2.75M extension. It's no Dave Ferrell contract but we think it's good value.
- Southpaw reliever Edison Williams was claimed off waivers from Cobble Hill. The 28 year-old has been an average-ish reliever over the course of his career and has the potential to take a step forward with his control. I'm not sure he'll survive the offseason on our 40-man roster but we wanted more left-handed depth in the bullpen, particularly as we look to rest a few starters.
- This final sim will see spot starts by Dhrtatman Seshadri and Doug Pomeroy. Seshadri's been more average than we'd like this year and could use some additional innings. We still think he should be able to start and would like the flexibility of having a left-handed starter available to mix and match in 2065. Pomeroy has become a tantalizing prospect and with him in tow we could have an entirely under 25 year-old rotation next season. We're resting 22 year old starters Brent Chappel and Marcos Rodriguez since they've already amassed sizable workloads, particularly Chappel after missing most of 2063 due to injury.
- Final September call-ups yield Antonio Garcia who will work as a right-handed specialist in the bullpen. Pepe Rodriguez, who hit .279/.353/.533 in AAA, will nab a couple starts behind the dish as he enters 2065 without any options remaining. Stephen Moorhouse will be rewarded for his 134 wRC+ in AAA by accumulating a few days of service time as a pinch hitter. And perhaps most notably, Jose Mendoza will replace Yuu Suzuki in the starting lineup as he looks to reverse the narrative on his 2064 BBA performance.