WAR GAINED:
1. Lewes Braves: 18.0
2. Salisbury Ports: 4.5
3. Georgetown Senators 4.2
4. King George Royals: 4.0
5. Baltimore Barons 4.0
WAR LOSS:
1. Newark Millers: -10.0
2. Wilmington Iron Pigs: -6.9
3. Chadds Ford Cannons: -4.2
4. Norfolk Cavaliers: -4.1
5. New Castle Colonials: -4.1
Firings, Extensions, Trades and other tid-bits:
Ellicott City Express: Boosted their starting rotation by acquiring Serio Santana (10-11 4.48) from the Christiana Blue Hens for 2 prospects 2B Gary Gole (A, #123) and 1B Howard Wiggins (SA).
Milford Clippers: Acquired starting pitcher Bernard Martin (8-14 6.13) from the Seaford Blue Jays for LF Antonio Chavez (AAA) and 2B Nick Walker (SA).
Free Agents Signings:
Ocean City Tourists: 3b Tim Simmons signed a 1 year $1,760,000.
Newark Millers: Signed SP Mariano Salazar to a 2 year deal worth $7,920,000.
King George Royals: Signed OF Vernon Tilly to a 1-year $770,000 deal.
Milton Brewers: 1B Yann Gosselin signed a 2 year deal worth $9,280,000.
Richmond Cardinals: 2B David Durant signed a 1 year deal worth $1,060,000.
Milford Clippers: Signed 3b Jose Rivera ($1,060,000) and 1B Doug Dook ($1,360,000) to 1 year deals.
Georgetown Sixteens: Signed 1B Kevin Barber ($3,760,000) and OF Henry Paker ($1,760,000) to one year deals.
Milton Brewers: Signed one of the games top closers Luis Deleon to a 2-year deal worth a total of $9,760,000.
Richmond Cardinals: Signed 1B Duncan Gilmore ($660,000) and OF Javier Janchez ($890,000) to 1-year deals.
New Castle Colonials: Signed the top starter on the free-agent market, Pedro Rivera, to a 2-year deal worth $22,600,000. The 37 year old is 6 wins from 200 and 101 K's from 2000.
Washington Senators: Signed SS Nick Potts ($540,000) and 1B Ralph Anderson ($720,000) to 1-year deals.
Richmond Cardinals: Signed SP Jamie Trujilio to a 2 year deal worth $6,240,000.
Georgetown Sixteens: Signed 1B Donald Kane to a 1-year deal worth $2,120,000.
Lewes Braves: Continued their spending spree signing LF Doug Gorden to a 2 year deal worth $9,040,000. Gorden hit .302-5-64 for the Barons last season.
Budget: $65,000,000 t22nd
Payroll: $25,240,000 24th
Money for Free-Agents: $6,098,000
Fan Interest: 100
Owners Mode: Happy
Offers:
none.
Signings:
January 2nd
1B Woody Brown agreed on a 3-year deal with us and he will be a welcome addition to the lineup. I am nervous about his "fragile" rating, but if he is healthy he could give us some big production. 3 yr deal / $3,200,000 per year, 3rd year option based on 250 PA. Contact: 10/10, Gap: 9/10, HR: 14/14, Eye: 8/9, K's: 7/7
GM Notes:
Not much to report on this month. We are about to head into spring training with a lot of battles going on. The big one is for the top 5-slots in the rotation. Here is a quick look at our 6 pitches heading for the 5-slots.
Angel Rivera: 11/15/12 - Rivera was a full-time starter for the Cavaliers in 2027 and went 8-7 3.61 in 29 starts. He has spent the past 2-seasons working out of the bullpen and looks forward to heading back to the rotation. Highlights: Extreme Groundball Pitcher and during his 2027 season as a starter he held his opponents to a league best .232 BABIP. With my goal of having a gold glove defense he should be able to get us a few wins. I look forward to seeing Rivera pitch again.
Esteban Calamacho: 10/12/14 - Calamacho pitched the past 3 seasons with the Richmond Cardinals and last year he set a person best with a 4.33 ERA, but he only had a 6-13 record. I am not sure what to expect from Calamacho, but I am guessing something similiar from his past will be most likley what I will get. He is 22-47 in 97 big-league games, 92 starts, over the past 3 seasons.
Lazzaro Tadiotto: 12/12/14 - Lazzaro has bounced around between AAA and AA over the past 4 seasons and he is ready to prove he should of been up full-time already. He hasn't appreard in a big-league game since 16 relief appearances in 2028 when he posted a 4.68 ERA. He did start 5 games for Norfolk in 2027 and went 1-4 4.62, but he has grown quite a bit since then. He is another Groundball pitcher who should benefit from a solid IF.
Alfredo Mejia: 10/13/11 - Mejia is a borderline big-leaguer. Last season with the Newark Millers he went 2-1 3.76 in 21 games. He did, however, start 26 games for the Millers in 2027, going 7-12 4.42. He seems to have developed much better control over the past few years and that should benefit him with the Cannons.
Jesus Salazar: 10/6/12 - Jesus split time between AAA (37 games) and the Blue Crabs (9 games) last season. Those 9 games are his only big league experience. For the Blue Crabs he pitched 14.2 innings, and posted a 4.30 ERA. He is a flyball pitcher with a lack of movement, so it could get really interesting when Salazar is on the hill.
Arturo Contreras: 10/11/11 - Arturo has the best pitch mixture to be a starter out of the remaining crop of pitches. But he does have very little experience in the DBL. Last season he made his debut with the Blue Crabs, posting a 5.87 ERA over 7.2 innings. In AAA he went 5-7 6.85 in 19 starts.
Overall our starters aren't very deep. Our bullpen is in much better shape and we could see some bullpen guys such as Alberto Sanchez, Leo Hampton and Ira Daniels make some starts. I could even try to pull off a trade, but with not much to work with I may just try to stick this year out by being quiet.
I am not sure why our owner is being so stingy. We have a $65M budget, and only a $25M payroll, but he said that is it. I would like to reach out to one or two players but Mr Corbin isn't letting me... which means we are going into this season with what we have and that ain't much! His goal for us in 2030 is "Don't suck completely" and I really hope we can do that. I think we aren't that bad, but that being said I could be WAY off...
Coming Up:
02/25/2030 - Spring Training Begins
04/0/2030 - OPENING DAY