[illeracula]

Around the Leauge
CF Carlos Peralta of the Ellicott City Express announced his retirement. The announcement came as a shock, as the 23-yr year old has decided that treatment for his strained hip muscle, sustained more damage than originally thought. Peralta hit .227-5-15 this season and for his career he finishes with a .248-57-290 line, playing in 328 games.

37-yr Andres Salinas and the Lewes Braves agreed to terms on a 2-yr extension, paying Salinas $16,000,000 per year. Salinas hit .283-25-93 and won the DE Confernce playoff MVP award. For his career Salinas is .274-198-672 with 1266 hits. The oft-injured Salinas has been healhty the past 2 seasons, after failing to play in over 88 games the previous 4.

Dan Nelson (8-2 3.43, 6 SV) was acquired by the Ellicott City Express in exchange for 2 minor-leaguers. The Christiana Blue Hens acquired CF Jamie Villareal (A, #156) and RF Marcus Moore (A).

The biggest and most shocking deal this off-season came just weeks after the Clippers were eliminated from the playoffs. The have decided to send their star 1B Eduardo Green (.282/.324/.458, 22 HR) to the Richmond Cardinals for MR Ray Stewart (2-1 2.96) and a prospect 3B Jesse Galloway (#69). Facing a huge raise ($4M+) during the arbitration season the Clippers decided it was best to part ways with Greene.

Cav's Corner
Budget: $138,000,000 (11th)
Payroll: $119,085,000 (5th)
Money for FA: none
Money for Ext: none
Fan Interest: 100

Team News:
One of my goals this off-season was to move Jeff Lewis. I was hoping he wasn't going to excecute his player option, but he did. I did try to trade him, but guess what? He is a 10/5 man and he doesn't want to be traded... That got me thinking, so is King Brock and Miguel Contreras, two other guys making big bucks that I won't be able to deal... and then there is Augusto Rodriguez who is making $5+ M and has a no-trade clause.

I tried to extend Paul Brown, but my 2026 salaries are so far out of whack, I am not able to pull it off... Financially our team is not in a good spot right now.

Trade News:
Norfolk Ships Lambert to New Castle: Earlier today, officials from the Norfolk Cavaliers and the New Castle Colonials announced that they had finalized negotiations on a trade between the two teams. The deal will send 28-year-old right fielder Wally Lambert, 24-year-old minor league starting pitcher Kakalia Kalani, 30-year-old second baseman Ramón Granados, 22-year-old minor league first baseman Jorge Trujillo and a 7th round draft pick to New Castle in exchange for 19-year-old minor league starting pitcher Joaquín Hernández and 21-year-old starting pitcher Ángel Rivera.

During his career Lambert has notched 587 hits and a .291 average with 93 home runs and 302 RBIs.

This deal was nothing more than a salary dump. I was done paying Granados $7-8 Million for his performance and he has an attitude that I no longer welcomed. Lambert was tough to say good-bye too, and I really didn't want to ship him away, but I had to. Financially, with the inability to deal Lewis, it had to be made.

We got back two prospects, so hopefully they will amount to something in the long-run.
SP Joaquin Hernandez (#3)
SP Angel Rivera (#96)

GM Thoughts:
I am not sure what I think right now. I still like our team heading into 2025 even with the loss of Lambert. It will free up a slot on the roster for another player, at least that is the bright side. With Granados and Lambert gone we will now have a better view of who will be where next season... I still have one too many outfielders, but that is better than 2 or 3 too many...

Henry Hamer / Leonard Lawson / Jeff Lewis / Sergio Galvez / Sergio Rodriguez

Going to be a pretty stocked outfield... This might mean that I need to move Francisco Gallegos, something I really don't want to do.

The infield is a little better off...
SS Anthony Lucarelli
3B Mario Gomez
2B Robinson Lopez

with Carlos Franco and Benardo Velez to back them up.

It will be interesting to see what youth we have stepping up and being "ready" for the 2025 season.