1st January 1882
The fans of the Red Stockings were pleased to see further improvements made by the front office to the team during the off season.
The team was well represented at the NL Awards Dinner in late October. Pitcher Monte Ward, First Baseman John Morrill, Second Baseman Fred Dunlap and Centre Fielder Orator Shafer all made it onto the NL defensive team of the year and picked up Golden Glove awards.
The team traded 36 year old Short Stop Bob Ferguson to the Philadelphia Athletics in exchange for 28 year old Catcher Doc Kennedy and 23 year old Short Stop Art Whitney. While Ferguson may still have a couple of good years in him he was not getting any younger and the team was looking to freshen things up to push for this years pennant. The fans are excited by the players they got in return for him and will be looking forward to seeing what they can do in a Red Stockings jersey.
The team picked up 2 minor league free agents during November.
The team was active in the first year player draft and chose 5 new players for the club. The top pick was Pitcher Bert Dorr. The full draft log is shown below.
All draftees signed by the deadline day.