Offseason Recap & 1948 Season Preview:
Hall Of Fame Inductees: P Ray Brown, P Paul Derringer, C Bill DeLancey, P Wes Ferrell
We discussed Brown, Derringer, and DeLancey earlier and their stats are shown in their veteran's committee ballot. Thanks to those who voted.
Wes Ferrell was one of the top pitchers of any era. Ferrell played 19 seasons for the Reds, Phillies, Giants, and Senators, but he spent the first 9 years of his career as a Cincinnati Red. His career record was 310-256 with a 3.54 ERA. He struck out 2,373 batters, and broke 100 strikeouts in a season 15 times. Ferrell's WHIP was 1.35 and opponents batted .266 against him. He won 20+ games 5 times and posted at least 15 wins 13 times. His career VORP was 835.1, which is #2 all time for pitchers behind Chief Bender. Ferrell ranks 4th all time in wins, 4th in complete games, 5th in shutouts, 2nd in innings pitched, and 5th in strikeouts. Ferrell won Pitcher of the Year twice, was a 4 time All Star, and won 1 World Series ring with the Reds in 1933.
Yankees 1947 Award Winners: Joe DiMaggio won his 1st career Gold Glove. Dom DiMaggio won his 3rd career Gold Glove.
At least Joe did something right last year.
Draft Recap: A few well known names in this draft. Robin Roberts went to the Giants 1st overall. Del Crandall was taken by the Phillies, as was Jimmy Piersall. I was quite surprised to see a HoF reliever fall to 9th in the draft, so I was happy to take knuckleball specialist Hoyt Willhelm at that spot.
Notable Offseason Transactions: I didn't really feel like there were any moves I needed to make, but I ended up making a couple just to shake things up a bit.
October 10, 1947: OF Dom DiMaggio opts out of his contract
This was fine by me. Minnie Minoso seems ready now for the big time. He'll take over in LF and Dom's brother Joe will move to center.
November 26, 1947: Traded P Karl Drews, P Barney Schultz, P Art Houtteman, and $3,500 cash to the Detroit Tigers for P Joe Page and P Hal Erickson
I hated to trade Drews as he's turned into a very good pitcher, but I felt Page was a better option then Drews. Schultz was a very promising young reliever, and Houtteman had proven to be a good long reliever/spot starter, but I think Erickson can do a better job in a similar role.
Spring Training Injuries: Lum Harris, Whitey Ford, and Ray Martin all sustained minor injuries during the spring and have recovered.
Strengths: With Feller, Page, Feldman, & the bullpen we should have a very solid pitching staff. We have one of top outfielders in the game, if he remembers how to hit this year.
Weaknesses: Larry Doby & Minnie Minoso earned spots on the big team, but they join a very young team that will probably make a lot of mistakes.
Projected Record: We won 76 games last year. I think we're a little better and we'll finish above .500 for the first time since 1942. I'll say 80 wins.
1948 Budget: $2,106,619 (#5 in the league)
1948 Payroll: $1,314,662 (#14 in the league)
Still a low payroll because of how young this team is.
1948 Opening Day Roster:
