Finally getting the minors organized now that the dismantling of the Key West Pirates is complete. For those of you interested in why I dismantled a team that was still competitive and about to have a significant amount of salary available here's the deal. When I looked at the two drafts I did and what was in the minor system that was ready or close to being ready for WBL I didn't really see guys that would be more than role players. To augment the empty farm I had grand plans to make splashes in Free Agency and the IFA market but, since the playoff run didn't get past the first round, I was out of money and the guys in the draft that I could have drafted my scout did not like at all.Seeing little chance to improve the team with mid-level FAs and lottery pick IFAs and draft picks I decided to blow the team up and start over.
The first moves I made took place during the 2053 season with me sending OF Ryan Fuller to Helsingborg for SP Juan Sanchez and SS Hanbal Bin Kedar, both at AAA for additional seasoning before their inevitable call up to the show. Ryan Fuller was a great player but the farm being so empty and the outfield (at the time) being full I felt moving him for two solid pieces was a good move since I had already started considering a complete rebuild. After getting swept in the playoffs and, as a result, not having enough money to do the signings I wanted to this offseason I decided to throw caution to the wind and embrace my inner Riverboat Captain - the rebuild was on.
First trade of the rebuild process:
Miami sends:
Chris Carrillo, CF, WBL
2054 3rd round pick
2054 4th round pick
UK sends:
Garland McIlrath, SP, AA
Christopher Mena, SP, AA
Carrillo was one of my first FA signing ($30M/3 years) and had a solid 2.5 WAR season with the last Key West team but I didn't see him in my future plans and wanted to get some pieces for the farm and clear salary. Garland McIlrath is now in AAA (#2 SP) after his lights out performance in AA to start the season and looks to be a potential 4-5 on a future Manatees team. Christopher Mena, on the other hand, struggled at AA this season but was elevated to AAA (#5 SP) when I let the AI redo my farm after I cleaned up the guys with no future. If he has further issues I'll drop him down to AA but right now I'm giving him a long leash and will see how he does. The picks I sent in this trade, when you look at future trades and my prior drafts, I felt were fair since the picks I've made in those rounds have been awful and these guys were much better than what I would have draft. It helped that
@NML also took $22M in salary in this trade so this I felt was good trade on both sides.
Second trade of the rebuild process:
Miami sends:
SP Robbie Marijnissen WBL
LF Jari Kievit WBL
Las Vegas sends:
RP Can Son (AA)
OF Niek Ploeg (AA)
RP Brad Martin (AA)
C Fernando Zacorias (A)
C Oliver Docking (I)
CF Jorge Barbosa WBL
RP Carlos Velez WBL
RP Wes Buckley (AAA)
Wu Li (WBL)
2054 3rd Round Pick (compensation for taking Wu Li)
@doh and I had hammered out a pretty insane trade similar to this one but Francsico Rojas exercised his 10-and-5 rights and we had to go back to the drawing board. A few other people made decent offers for Jari Kievit and Robbie Marijnissen (both together and individually) but I wasn't interested in WBL level talent (most didn't fit the identity I wanted) or draft picks (past two drafts have been awful and my picks were even worse) and I really wanted Niek Ploeg. After some back and forth we put together a package that I felt was really good for both sides.
Kievit, much like Turtle and Rocky, is an excellent WBL player with great contact but very little power and didn't really have enough strength at a single OF position where I felt he alone would make or break a team. If his power had been in the 55-60 range I wouldn't have moved him but with Carrillo and Fuller gone I wanted someone with power in the OF and he wasn't it. Now, a lot of people rightfully said that Niek Ploeg (the player I plan to take Kievit's place) also doesn't have an OF position but, according to my scout, his Contact, Eye, and Avoiding Ks potential are much higher than Kievit and he has options left (if needed). He may end up just being a solid, if unspectacular, DH (2-3 WAR) but I wanted to rebuild this team from the minors up and felt he was a solid piece to start with right now.
Moving Robbie Marijnissen was a difficult call given how cheap his contract is for the next three seasons and how flat out dominating he's been the past two seasons (13.6 WAR) but it netted me some pretty solid pieces that I don't think I could have gotten on my own drafting or in FA or IFA. I know that relievers aren't super valuable but my scout and I both really liked Can "Wacko" Son (currently AA) and feel that, if he develops like I hope, he can be a dominate closer in the WBL for a very long time. Brad Martin (currently at AAA) doesn't have the stuff of Can Son and struggled as a starter at AA when he was with LV but I put him as the closer at Winston-Salem and so far, so good.
The other pieces in this trade I've put as starters at the level I felt was best for them in minors and hope to see them reach their potential. Oliver Docking (A) is currently the starting C at Kenley where's struggled early (19 SO in 47 AB) but I expect that to change as the season progresses. Fernando Zacorias is currently at AA but might be dropped down to A to DH if he struggles early this season. Neither of these guys have high potential at the actual C position but I felt they were better options than what I had or could find in IFA or FA so I'm giving them a go. The WBL level guys (Wu Li, Jorge Barbosa, and Carlos Velez) are filling in great on the new Manatees squad where I suspect Wes Buckley will spend some time at some point this season as middle relief.
Third trade of the rebuild process:
Miami sends:
Yasin 'Turtle' Bin Nazeeh
2054 2nd Round Pick
Helsingborg sends:
Hammer Harris
Olav Verstraten
Jose Hernandez
This trade started out innocently enough (I wanted Hammer Harris for some solid power in the OF) and wound up turning into a pretty solid return for both teams. Turtle has put up over 10 WAR over the past two seasons (including winning the batting title in 2052) but he was going to be a free agent in two years and, as much as I would have liked to have held onto him if I could have extended him, I didn't see that happening. Hammer Harris had a horrible, injury plagued season in 2053 but is off to an ok start (3 HRs) and gives me a power threat in the OF, something missing from last years team (ignoring that bozo OBKE I signed). My scout really liked Jose Hernandez (AA, clean up hitter) but didn't like Olav Verstraten (A, #1 SP) for some reason but I did and felt that giving up this year's 2nd round pick was worth Olav. My only concern with Olav is if he never improves his control he might not make it at the WBL as a starter or as anything other than middle relief.
Fourth trade of the rebuild process:
Miami sends:
Brady "Rocky" Thompson (WBL)
Istanbul sends:
Gil "Blanks" MacDonald (AAA)
Freddy Lara (AAA)
Cesar "Trucker" Israel (AA)
Shakil "Slippery" Arfan (A)
When Yankee said he'd be willing to move Blanks for a solid WBL hitter (he had originally made a similar trade offer without Blanks for Rocky) I knew I had to make the move. Yes, Rocky is an elite hitter with outstanding gap power and speed and is going to be cheap until 2062 but Blanks (AA, #3 hitter) is really a player I felt I could build a new team around that would make serious noise in the playoffs. Given that I had already gotten a pretty solid core for the new team in the prior three trades this was an easy one to pull the trigger on. When you throw in that I also got Freddy Lara (solid LF or RF with a great eye), Cesar "Trucker" Israel (AA, leadoff hitter), and Shakil "Slippery" Arfan (A, DH/1B) that was a pretty serious haul for my farm and, if these guys develop up to their potential, should have the Miami Manatees teams of the 2060s a legit contender.