[Elendil]

2012-13 Offseason: Major Transactions

The first big free agent signings were announced October 10th. The Bethel Mushers were bringing Sean Heath, signing him to a 2-year, $174,391 deal (loss to Sitka). The Yukoners made a splash by landing shortstop Sloan Starr (loss to the Bucs), signing a somewhat risky 4-year, $252,630 contract. Finally, the Chugiak Jets gave in to Ikarashi's 7-year contract demand, signing him to $53,000 per year.

The signings started to come fast and furious after that. The Jets stole away the Nicks' closer, Ed Staitie, for a mere $22,000 per, but the Nicks more than avenged themselves, taking premier FA Eugene Pond for $70K per year for two years. Olivier Theriault opted to come back to Juneau as widely expected, on a reasonable 3-year, $35,000 per year deal. Monzaemon Mihashi decided to re-up with Jets, signing a 2-year, $127,264 deal. The Nicks brought back Bob Horton for two years at almost $90,000 per year.

Some contracts looked smart, others not so much. The Yukoners paid through the nose to get Charley Logan, giving him a 4-year, $341,087 deal. That's a lot of money for a guy who really hasn't proven himself in this league yet. On the other hand, the Glacier Pilots, now in the hands of new ownership, landed aging center fielder Dominique Gaudet from the Nicks for two years at just $15,000 per. This is a guy with a .983 OPS last year - in center field!

The Jets took a bit of a risk in bringing back Mike Gaston for three years at roughly $35K per year. He really hasn't broken out yet, though some say he hasn't reached his potential yet. John Horswill also re-signed with the club for almost the same money per year. He's more of a known quantity, reliable but not really a star. The team inexplicably shelled out almost $40K a year to bring back Jonathan Bertrand, who will apparently start at first base for them this year after Stanton Ryan left for Mat-Su. This is a team decimated by free agency: they've done their best to bring guys back and even bring in some new faces, but that's getting really costly for them.

The Glacier Pilots then really started opening up the wallet, bringing back 2B Chris Webb for more than $50,000 per year (not so savvy) and bringing on SS Sherman Ferris for three years at less than $80,000 per year (a more calculated risk).

Bryce Payne, meanwhile, left Bethel for Mat-Su and will make $39K a year for two years. His friend, teammate, and fellow outfielder Mike Collette also decided to leave Bethel for Mat-Su and will make almost $50K a year for two years.

The Whitehorse Yukoners ended up winning the Ron Yuke sweepstakes. He will make $52,000 for one year before presumably hitting the FA market again. Whitehorse also got a solid setup reliever in Philippe Bisaillon, who will make $19K a year for two years. The Yukoners are apparently going to try to make a push in the Denali this year. It's about time.

By December, the feeding frenzy had died down, and the trading season really got into full swing. There was one blockbuster deal this offseason, not counting the Leroux deal in September, which was a clear salary dump.

The Jets traded away 27-year old catcher Bob Russo, a defensive wiz best known for his work with Juneau's championship teams (hit .253/.338/.451 for Chugiak in '12), to the Kodiak Grizzlies, getting back former Jet starting pitcher Martin Gagnon, the 2011 Pitcher of the Year (8-3, 3.11 last year) and now 35 years old. Russo is making $14K more per year than Gagnon. Apparently the Jets are going to go with Dave Lepine, also a defensive stalwart, as their starting catcher again, and this deal replaces Eugene Pond in the rotation.

For the Grizzlies, this move positions them better for the future. They weren't likely to contend in 2013, but they don't want to go into a complete rebuild either. Their rotation will be weaker, particularly after also dealing Jesse Alexander to the Bucs for outfielder Kelyn Birley. However, they have Mexican national Cisco Pena coming up through the system, and they hope (probably vainly) that former stars Ron Quinton, Stephen Hill, and Geoffrey Townend will return to form.

As spring tryouts began in April, the Glacier Pilots dropped a bombshell on the league. As one of the few teams left with ready cash (it just sounds wrong to say that about the Pilots, doesn't it?), they were able to think outside the box, and so they did. They brought in 26-year-old Tommy Okawa, who had made it to AA as an outfielder last year and hit .392/.524/.505! When the Blue Jays organization informed him that they viewed him as a prospect no longer, he requested and received his unconditional release. Tommy has family in Alaska; in fact, his younger brother Stan is working in Anchorage and playing for their ATL affiliate, the Cook Inlet Glacier Pilots. Stan even got 45 AB's with the big-league club last year. Tommy would make $55,000 per year over the next three years.

Two more players from the Lower 48 were said to be in negotiations with the Glacier Pilots: center fielder Elvis O'Halloran, thirty years old (hit .242/.349/.420 at A ball last year), and third baseman Tim Arnold (hit .279/.374/.407 at A ball last year). In fact, on opening day, the Pilots announced contracts with them both. They would actually have a fairly decent lineup in 2013, even after losing Leroux. The irony is that Okawa and O'Halloran will certainly push out of the lineup either Beard, the guy they got for Leroux, or Gaudet, another free agent signing.

The recent trend toward signing out of state players was starting to cause grumbling among some of the other players, but especially the owners of small-market teams (excluding Sitka, which had benefited from the practice). The league office remained studiously silent on the issue, but a rule change might be in the offing.