Offseason
2060 Notes
League ERA jumped 6 points to 4.58, while BA ended up the same as last season: .270.
The 250HR Adelaide hit was the 3rd-best season mark ever, while the 717 walks Hobart drew was the 2nd-best ever.
The Metros, who’d been an awful pitching unit the last few seasons, put up some more unenviable numbers in 2060. The 1418 innings they pitched was the 2nd-least of any team since the 2022 Venom, while the 986 runs they gave up was worst ever, surpassing their total of 983 from 2059 and 976 from 2058. They walked 4.85 hitters every 9 innings, another worst-ever record. It was no surprise, then, that their WHIP of 1.693 was also a new highest-ever mark.
44 y/o Young-tae Lee (.281/.392/.437, 330HR) finally called time on his baseball career, having not played any major-league ball for the last 3 seasons. The 10-time Championship winner, who held the postseason career records for games (126), at-bats (495), runs (88), hits (157), total bases (264), singles (105), and walks (68), was more than happy with his 26-year pro career. Addressing media, he said, “I came across from Korea in 2033. Things were tough back then, and it was like some impossible dream that I might one day play professional baseball in the one place in the world that hadn’t been completely ravaged by The War. But I got to live that impossible dream. And not only that, but I got to live it at the highest level, and not only that, but be a part of so many winning teams. Sometimes I still pinch myself and think I must be dreaming. The funny thing is, I don’t know what I’ll do now. Of course, there are options within baseball open to me, but I haven’t decided if I want to try something else for a while instead. Perhaps I’ll travel. The world now is a much safer place than it was before I came to Australia, and my year in the Lower Americas has taught me that the variety of human culture is fascinating and amazing, and worth exploring.”
ABC Wrap-up
The ABC crowned a new champion in 2060, with both contenders playing in the Grand Final series for the first time. In the semi-finals, Melbourne overcame Jakarta 3-2, winning Game 5 by 1 run, scored in the top of the 9th. Brisbane disposed of Kalgoorlie 3-1 in the other match-up to set the scene.
The Grand Final series was a lot closer than the 4-1 winning margin appeared. 3 games were decided by 1 run and no game was decided by more than 2 runs. Melbourne, who’'d had the leakiest defense of any team in the ABC in 2060, won the 1st game 5-3. In Game 2, Brisbane came from behind to win it 3-2 via a walk-off single in the 10th. Game 3 saw Melbourne make a push in the bottom of the 9th but come up just short, going down 4-3. That was the same score as Game 4, Brisbane scoring 3 in the 7th to go ahead and eventually win. Game 5 was a punchy affair, both teams trading blows throughout the game. But it was the Broncos who finished victorious, winning 6-4 and taking home their 1st ABC Championship. Not bad for a team who had finished the inaugural 2058 season with a 58-104 record and had also failed to play better than .500 in 2059.
25 y/o Jakarta SS Sterling Withers (.251/.302/.411, 13HR) won the Golden Rookie Award.
Satya Susanti (17-7, 1.98 ERA, 1.95 FIP, 0.82 WHIP, 311 Ks, 10.1 WAR) was far ahead of any other ABC pitcher, his WAR around double that of next best. He won the Golden Arm, his goal for next season to strike out even more hitters than he had in 2060.
Rowan Reardon (.336/.440/.684, 56HR, 8.4 WAR) would command top dollar in the AUNZBL, the experts predicted. The 35 y/o soon-to-be free agent took out Golden Bat, and was sure his season HR record would “last a long time.”
BL Wrap-up
Asuncion and Maracaibo cruised through their semi-final matchups, winning 3-0 and 3-1 respectively. The Serie de Campeonato was no one-sided affair however, both teams trading victory for victory to force a Game 7. The decisive encounter was won by Maracaibo 5-1, giving the Magnates their 3rd BL Championship.
27 y/o Manuel Espinoza (.278/.331/.487, 18HR) had been drafted by Havana in 2050, but hadn’t broken into the top flight before becoming eligible for minor league free agency. He then signed with Canon City in the NABA and sat on their reserve roster for the better part of 4 seasons before getting called up. He played for them over 3 seasons, taking home their rookie award in 2058 and the MVP in 2059. Now he was back in the BL, playing for Lima, and said his “journey back home felt somewhat complete” after scooping the Novato del Ano.
Logan Dale (8-7, 3.01 ERA, 2.47 FIP, 1.12 WHIP) had played 3 seasons for Belo Horizonte between 2056-2058 before heading back to the AUNZBL and turning out for Melbourne in 2059. Now he was back in the BL, this time with Guayaquil, and was deemed good enough to win Jarra de Ano.
27 y/o Troy Hopewell (.275/.410/.501, 25HR) had been Wellington's 13th-round draft pick in 2056, before being released by the organization a year later to make room for a new draft pick. 8 days later he signed a minor-league deal with San Jose and began working his way up through the BL minors. He broke into the BL top-flight midway through next season before being traded to Juarez in the latter half of the 2059 campaign. Juarez had to be happy with the trade, as Hopewell led the league in runs (85), HR, PA (517), and WAR (5.0) in 2060, as well as winning Bateador de Ano. When asked if he'd one day like to return to give the AUNZBL another go he smiled and said, "Maybe," before winking and continuing, "but that ABC definitely looks like it might be worth a shot."
League News
Notable Club Happenings
Canberra: Temporary Cavalry skipper Noel Howell (1-3) didn’t do well enough in his short audition to hold onto the job longterm. Rafael Kelly, who’d been bench coach since 2048, was also told to find a new job. Kelly was not happy about the decision, saying, “I’ve been here 13 years and this is only the 3rd time we’ve put up a losing season. Besides that, we’ve won 3 Championships and been to the postseason 8 times. I would’ve thought, with the loyalty I’ve shown and the results I’ve helped this organization achieve, that I’d be in line for a chance to show my worth as manager. But maybe it’s a good thing for me to move on. Honestly, as long as Goodwin* remains at the helm I can only see this team getting worse.”
*Stephen Goodwin, Cavalry GM of 3 years
Hobart: “Sure, going out with a Championship victory would’ve been real sweet, but this is the next best thing.” So said 61 y/o Martin Chapple, announcing his retirement from baseball. Chapple had been Hobart’s skipper for 6 seasons, taking them to the playoffs for 2 of the last 3. Hobart was the only team he’d managed, though he’d been Newcastle’s BC for 6 seasons prior. He finished with a 494-478 record in the manager’s chair and had led Hobart to a 99-63 record this season. With him retiring, the question in media circles was, ‘Would the AUNZBL still consider him eligible to contest Skipper of the Year?’ Chapple would be replaced as skipper by bench coach Junior Munoz, whose only previous stint as manager in the bigs had been an unsuccessful part season for the Metros in 2053, when his charges had gone 32-60 before he’d got the boot.
Melbourne: Owner Hack Ginnis came down hard the day the offseason began, fronting media to announce that GM Danny Stapleton and skipper Ling-lai Tsao had both been sent packing. Aces’ fans rejoiced. Stapleton, who’d sat in the big office for 2 seasons, wasn’t available for comment, though anonymous sources close to him said he was of the opinion that if Ginnis wanted a winning team he ‘needed to do something about his ballpark.’ Tsao was available for comment, and didn’t hesitate to lay the blame at Stapleton’s feet. “Look,” he said, “if Danny had been more focused on building a team around our strength, which is hitting, and focused less on trying to buy aging pitchers chasing milestones, we’d have done a lot better. It’s pretty sad, in my opinion, that I should take the fall for his inadequacies as general manager.” 66 y/o Brett Rawnsley, who’d been BC for the last 3 seasons and had never yet managed in the bigs, was promoted to skipper. Many thought this was a short-sighted choice, however, as advancing age made it unlikely that Rawnsley would stay in the game much longer.
Notable Free Agent Signings/Player Contract Extensions
28 Mar: 25 y/o Mitchell Cox (.280/.361/.421, 27HR), who’d hit .321/.396/.473 in 2060, signed a 6-year extension with the Roos.
18 Apr: Kununurra bought out 27 y/o Nick Ahern’s (.236/.328/.438, 91HR) remaining arbitration years and then some with a 5-year contract extension.
18 Apr: 27 y/o Dermott Alcock (.273/.314/.432, 27HR) and Central Coast agreed to a 3-year extension to see out the rest of his arbitration period.
18 Apr: Perth and power pitcher Jose Ramirez (51-41, 4.29 ERA, 4.46 FIP, 1.35 WHIP) agreed to a 4-year extension. 24 y/o Ramirez already had 4 years ML service time under his belt and was excited to have his future with the Heat sorted out. “Love it here,” he said. “Love hearing the fans chant my name when I strike a guy out.” In 2060 he’d fanned 176 hitters in 173.1 innings pitched.
22 Apr: Newcastle saw 24 y/o Dean Ambrose (9-13, 19 sv, 4.21 ERA, 4.44 FIP, 1.55 WHIP) as a guy who could a job for them anywhere, from the rotation to the pointy end of the bullpen. The youngster threw a great fastball and a super curve, along with a pretty mediocre changeup. He’d been acquired by the Roos in the Rule 5 Draft in 2058, and had now inked his name to a 6-year extension. He already had 3 years ML service, and hoped he’d remain at Newcastle for the duration. “They believe in me and encourage me,” he said, “and belief and encouragement, to me, are the most valuable things a ballplayer can have.”
8 May: The top 5 free agents on the market this season, according to OotPB TV were:
28 y/o 1B Richard Moore
26 y/o SS Carlos Aguilar
37 y/o 1B Patrick Maggs
30 y/o 2B Quentin Welch
35 y/o RF Rowan Reardon (ABC)
Surprisingly, Ismael Aguirre didn’t make the list, with a lot of analysts of the opinion a broken elbow would be a hard thing, at his age, to recover from well enough to reach the heights he had before.
Other free agents of interest on the market were:
37 y/o 1B Ismael Aguirre
30 y/o C Yen-nien Liu
35 y/o RF Manuel Alou
30 y/o RF Peter Moy
30 y/o RF Rodney Ellison (ABC)
35 y/o SS Adare Subadio (ABC)
35 y/o 1B Ed Geoghegan
27 y/o 2B Maurice Clemens
31 y/o SS Michael Waddingham (ABC)
32 y/o CF Martin Boston
35 y/o SP Baden Henderson
32 y/o CL Ryan Digby
Not quite as interesting to the pundits but still looking for a home in 2061 were:
37 y/o 1B Marcos Lopez
30 y/o SP Eddie Zglinicki
39 y/o C Jacob Blanksby
36 y/o LF Norman Ladds
34 y/o SP Xuan-ling Wong
35 y/o SP Dan Pankhurst
30 y/o 1B Si-xun Qiao
41 y/o C Zachary Woollett
29 y/o SP Bradley Boston
35 y/o 3B Yong-jun Chu
33 y/o SP Bruno Budd
36 y/o 2B Manuel Salinas
27 y/o 2B Dylan Glynn
34 y/o CL Caspar Buffey
29 y/o RF Arturo Medina
There was a real dearth of quality pitchers in this free agent class, and an overabundance of offense.
Hobart and Perth were the biggest losers, the meat of their lineups ripped out. Hobart lost 12.3 WAR and Perth 11.3. Canberra (-9.1), Adelaide (-7.4), and Brisbane (-7.2) were the next worst. Both Newcastle (+0.9) and Kununurra (+0.6) gained WAR.
14 May: Was the ABC beginning to rise on the list of player destinations? 27 y/o SP Gordon Brown (34-26, 4.39 ERA, 5.04 FIP, 1.39 WHIP), who’d played 5 seasons with Cairns but not been offered arbitration this offseason, was off to the Melbourne Victory. He’d signed a 7-year deal.
16 May: “We’re just super-excited he’s coming back,” Hobart GM Charles Dethridge told media. “Even at 37 years of age and coming off injury, he’s still one of the premier talents in the league, and just having him on the roster means we’ll be competitive again in 2061.” Who was Dethridge talking about? Ismael Aguirre (.320/.378/.573, 667HR), of course. The 5-time SotY had signed a 2-year deal. Yes, he admitted, it was for a lot less than his last 2-year deal with Hobart, but he’d signed last time to win a Championship, and felt he’d shortchanged the club due to injury. Across 2059-2060 he’d appeared in only 195 of a possible 324 regular season games.
17 May: With a wink, Martin Boston (.331/.369/.409, 18HR) said the thing he was looking forward to most about moving to Brisbane was the weather. “It gets a bit cold in Canberra,” he said, “but I don’t think ‘cold’ is a word that’s in the vocabulary of anybody in Brisbane.” The Bandits had netted the AUNZBL’s career BA leader and 4-time Gold Glover on a 2-year deal.
17 May: Yen-nien Liu (.303/.382/.456, 97HR) admitted it’d be hard playing for a team other than the Metros, but he was determined to make a good fist of the opportunity. He’d signed a 7-year contract with Newcastle.
17 May: The Townsville Taipans jubilantly announced the signing of Jacob Blanksby (.299/.392/.535, 517HR) on a 2-year deal. 39 y/o Blanksby admitted he no longer had the swing of previous years, but was excited both at the prospect of playing ball in Northern Queensland and playing in the ABC.
17 May: Blanksby wasn’t the only former AUNZBL signing Townsville announced this day. 36 y/o Joshua Angwin (.275/.325/.480, 292HR) had agreed to terms on a 3-year deal.
17 May: 41 y/o Blair Toohey (.264/.371/.398, 208HR) would extend his career another couple years by heading back to the BL. He’d signed with Guayaquil for 2 seasons.
18 May: To the ire of Perth fans, Quentin Welch (.290/.378/.484, 136HR) was jumping across to division rivals and defending champions Adelaide on a 6-year agreement.
19 May: In a case of like-for-like, Hobart replaced Maurice Clemens with former ABCer Adare Subadio (.274/.372/.534, 86HR). Subadio was 8 years Clemens’ senior, but Prospects’ management were certain he’d be productive across his 3-year deal.
21 May: Clemens (.246/.334/.468, 185HR) was off to the Pioneers. Kununurra was the team that had drafted him in 2051 and even given him a handful of March at-bats in the majors that same year. Hobart had claimed him off waivers in 2054 but now the Pioneers really wanted the star 2B back. To that end, the parties had worked out a 3-year agreement.
21 May: Adelaide fixed their 1B issue in the best possible way, by signing Richard Moore (.288/.376/.516, 205HR) to a mammoth 6-year contract. Moore said, “The Venom are a winning team with a winning attitude, and that’s the type of outfit I don’t just want to play for, but also have a career with.”
21 May: Sydney swooped on former Jakarta CF Rodney Ellison (.318/.385/.510, 68HR), snaring him on a 7-year deal.
22 May: Carlos Aguilar (.280/.355/.385, 47HR) had played in the bigs for Perth since he was 18, but said he was “champing at the bit for the new challenge” of playing in Fury colours. Aguilar had put up 5+ WAR his last 2 seasons, thanks to hitting over .300, fielding either side of 2B with aplomb, and being a kleptomaniac on the base paths.
22 May: 2057 Rookie of the Year, a now 29 y/o Tim Broomhall (.286/.348/.475, 99HR), joined the stream of players off to the ABC. He’d turn out for the Gold Coast, having signed a 6-year contract.
23 May: Norman Ladds (.251/.367/.458, 309HR) would once again be teammates with Blanskby. The wily LF had also signed with Townsville on a 2-year deal.
23 May: The Melbourne Victory signed Si-xun Qiao (.258/.322/.463, 200HR) for 7 years.
24 May: The PU made an interesting internal move today (though it didn’t take long for it to leak out to press). They advised all players and agents associated with them to be wary of any ABC deals offered longer than 4 years as they were “still not sure of the financial viability of the new league.”
25 May: Sydney signed another ABC gun, wooing Rowan Reardon (.313/.408/.615, 136HR) with a 3-year deal. Reardon, nicknamed ‘Beast’ and muscled like an Olympic wrestler, said he “couldn’t wait to team up with the other ABC guys and give this league a real shakedown.”
26 May: The ABC Commissioner responded to the PU’s in-house advice with an angry public response: “What the PU has done in instructing players aligned with it to not consider extended contract offers from our clubs constitutes an illegal restraint of trade. They need to immediately revise their standing on this matter or legal action will commence.”
That evening the PU issued an answer: “Advice is not the same as instruction. Word choice is important. However, advice could easily become instruction if so deemed to be in the best interests of the players. Caution is therefore advised (yes, advised, not instructed, or demanded, or any other word with a vague resemblance).”
The ABC made no reply.
27 May: Hobart had been busy already this offseason, making a lot of depth signings. Today's announcement wasn't AAA-depth, however. 33 y/o Dwi Purbacaraka (35-21, 2.31 ERA, 2.41 FIP, 1.03 WHIP) would be joining them on a 4-year contract. Southpaw Purbacaraka had previously led the Dunedin rotation and was known as a guy who ‘threw hard and got fizz’ even if he sometimes had control issues.
28 May: Hobart made another addition to their pitching staff, signing Ryan Digby (34-52, 228 sv, 3.42 ERA, 3.68 FIP, 1.25 WHIP) for 3 years. He would likely go into a setup role, as it was hard to see anybody dislodging Isaac Canavan from the closer’s slot.
28 May: Zachary Woollett (.304/.377/.519, 454HR) signed with the Sydney Highlife for the 2061 season.
5 Jun: Peter Moy (.295/.340/.464, 106HR) was ecstatic that he’d signed with the Fury, the ball club of the city he was raised in. “It’s always been a dream to pull on this jersey,” he told reporters moments after pulling on a Wellington jersey for the first time. “And now I’ve fulfilled that dream it’s time to fulfill another: winning a Championship with the Fury.” Moy had inked his name to a 5-year deal.
5 Jun: “I never really wanted to leave,” Manuel Alou (.299/.390/.500, 313HR) said at the presser to announce he’d re-signed with the Roos for a further 3 years. Negotiations before free agency filing, Alou went on to say, had stalled but he’d never seriously considered going anyplace else even though he’d had tempting offers from several clubs.
7 Jun: Patrick Maggs (.302/.378/.527, 441HR) was heading back to Darwin on a 2-year deal. Alan Sneddon was excited at the chance to play with his old teammate again: “Yep, really looking forward to it. We came up through the grades together in Whangarei and then spent time here with the Diggers, and it’ll be great to see him in this uniform again. I might have to try to get a regular assignment to RF so I can spend the game heckling him.”
9 Jun: Darwin believed they’d got themselves a steal. 29 y/o RHP Willie Russell (51-71, 4.81 ERA, 4.37 FIP, 1.42 WHIP) had slipped under everybody’s radar, especially as he’d so far only had 1 winning season in a 6-year career as a starter, way back in 2057. But Darwin management felt he was much better than that, but just hadn’t received the support (both defensive and offensive) that he needed. The Diggers signed him for 4 years.
11 Jun: Baden Henderson (143-137, 4.27 ERA, 4.24 FIP, 1.35 WHIP) would ply his trade for Kununurra in 2061 and, if all went well, in 2062 also. The 2nd year of his contract was a vesting option, based on innings pitched.
12 Jun: Newcastle were confident everything was coming together for a good season. Dylan Glynn (.278/.327/.408, 62HR), 3-time league leader in triples and 4-time Gold Glover, signed with them today for 5 years.
16 Jun: Darwin added some more pop to their lineup, signing Ed Geoghegan (.284/.363/.490, 372HR) on a 3-year deal, the 3rd year being a vesting option based on games played.
27 Jun: Eddie Zglinicki (77-75, 4.33 ERA, 4.51 FIP, 1.35 WHIP) was off to the ABC. But he wasn’t going far. He would trade in his Melbourne Aces uniform for a Melbourne Victory uniform. He’d signed for 5 years, and when asked about the wisdom of that choice he responded, “The Victory have been very open through this whole process. They’ve let me and my agent look through the books, they haven’t held anything back, and I’m confident they and this league will be around a long time.” Zglinicki would join fellow former AUNZBLers Si-xun Qiao, Marshall Tipping, Logan Eissens, Nicholas Ahernfeld, Yi-da Jiang, and Gordon Brown at the Victory.
30 Jun: Sydney and Manuel Salinas (.311/.412/.380, 34HR) agreed to terms on a 1-year deal.
7 Jul: Marcos Lopez (.316/.363/.514, 382HR) started his big-league career with Wellington and it looked as if he might finish it there, having signed a 2-year contract, the 2nd year being a vesting option based on games played.
7 Jul: Power pitcher Xuan-ling Wong (66-86, 4.78 ERA, 4.60 FIP, 1.41 WHIP) was quite open about his reasons for signing with Dunedin in the ABC: “I’m sick of the disparity between bat and ball in the AUNZBL. Over here, pitchers get an even shake.” Wong had gone 6-16 for Canberra in 2060.
11 Jul: Perhaps spurred on by news of his buddy Maggs re-joining the team, 36 y/o Alan Sneddon (.301/.437/.410, 99HR) today re-upped with Darwin for another 2 years - the 2nd being a vesting option - meaning he might be in Diggers’ uniform until the end of the 2063 season.
29 Jul: Bruno Budd (120-93, 4.05 ERA, 4.12 FIP, 1.33 WHIP) was taking his big ticker to Adelaide, signing on with them for 4 years. He’d likely be their ace, too, as their rotation looked as light as it had last season.
30 Jul: Caspar Buffey (49-71, 326 sv, 3.45 ERA, 3.13 FIP, 1.23 WHIP) was hoping the pitcher-friendly climes of the ABC might help rejuvenate his arm. He’d signed a 3-year deal with Dunedin, but seeing as the last year was a vesting option triggered by 40 games finished, it was pretty likely he’d only be there 2 seasons.
3 Aug: Bradley Boston (63-53, 4.02 ERA, 4.45 FIP, 1.31 WHIP) became the latest pitcher to turn his back on the AUNZBL, heading to the Highlife on a 4-year deal.
4 Aug: Brisbane snared Arturo Medina (.267/.355/.458, 167HR) on a 3-year contract.
12 Aug: Dan Pankhurst (127-149, 4.45 ERA, 4.41 FIP, 1.42 WHIP) had always flattered to deceive. But the 35 y/o had been a AUNZBL regular since the latter part of 2048 and would be so for at least 1 more season, signing a value-for-money 1-year deal with the Diggers.
14 Aug: Eccentric IF Yong-jun Chu (.300/.335/.427, 178HR) would play for Newcastle in 2061.
14 Aug: There had been at least some interest in AUNZBL quarters regarding Michael Waddingham (.309/.354/.391, 7HR) but that obviously didn’t amount to much, as today he signed a 1-year small-money deal with the Victory and would therefore remain in the ABC at least another season.
Notable Trades
7 May: Not the first trade of the offseason but probably the most interesting thus far: Melbourne, who had signed now 29 y/o Alwin de Lange (43-36, 107 sv, 4.01 ERA, 4.27 FIP, 1,30 WHIP) to a 3-year contract before the 2060 season, sent him off to Cairns in exchange for declining 36 y/o veteran Rob Lane (.309/.379/.508, 277HR career - .233/.311/.377, 13HR in 2060). Lane was in the last year of a big money deal, while de Lange had been moved around between closer and the rotation and even admitted he “sometimes wasn’t sure of what game face to bring.” Early indications were Cairns wanted de Lange setting up Sterling Boston at the backend of games. What the Aces wanted with Lane was anybody's guess. New Melbourne GM Rory Ollson, who’d been at the helm of the Sydney Highlife in the ABC the last 3 seasons, immediately got a roasting on talkback for the move, the common themes being, ‘Looks about the same as the last guy and we didn’t like him very much either,’ and, ‘I know there’s money in retirement homes, but come on.’
17 May: Christchurch and Perth pulled the trigger on a trade. Perth sent 27 y/o corner outfielder Bryan McMullen (.267/.319/.387, 4HR in 769PA across parts of 6 seasons), who’d hit .291/.341/.443 in 2061 in 413PA, to the Cowboys in exchange for 33 y/o Zachary Pengilly (.259/.297/.427, 148HR) and cash.
17 May: Kununurra and Wellington engaged in some trade behaviour. Wellington shifted 31 y/o utility Al Ayliffe (.262/.328/.435, 189HR), whose primary claim to fame was 3 Grand Slams in the 2054 postseason, while Kununurra parted ways with 27 y/o SS Blake Caffyn (.288/.329/.452, 43HR).
23 May: With Aguilar coming into the Wellington team, suddenly 30 y/o Beau Snell (.324/.375/.419, 49HR) was surplus to requirements. Today they sent him off to Cairns, along with cash, in return for 30 y/o CF Marshall Hooks (.241/.293/.436, 106HR) and a pitching prospect. Snell, who’d just a few weeks prior launched his own charity golf tournament in the windy city, wasn’t willing to talk to reporters about the situation.
28 May: Central Coast had shown in recent years that they weren’t tied to individual players but rather were more concerned with how the overall team was constructed. Even so, there were a few long faces amongst the fans at news that 34 y/o Edwin Hayes (.266/.332/.512, 374HR) had been shifted on to Melbourne in exchange for 30 y/o CF Jayden Downes (.294/.318/.370, 23HR), a 21 y/o outfield prospect, and cash.
23 Jul: Christchurch parted ways with 28 y/o 3B Blake Rawnsley (.240/.309/.427, 87HR), who’d bashed 31HR in 2060, sending him to Sydney in exchange for 27 y/o relief pitcher Martin Silva (20-29, 34 sv) and a gun 1B prospect.
16 Sep: Halfway through spring training, Hobart dealt 34 y/o 1B Mitchell Jarvis (.188/.314/.373, 13HR in 328PA in 2060), who’d come over from the ABC in 2059 and played in the minors before getting called up to the bigs midway through last season, and a young 3B prospect to Whangarei in return for 26 y/o RHP Jason Brewster (17-28, 4.64 ERA, 4.44 FIP, 1.45 WHIP). Hobart skipper Junior Munoz was excited about the trade. “Jason will fill out our rotation nicely. Really, I can’t see any weaknesses in our roster now.”
NABA Wrap-up
The regular season was no close race this year, Canon City crowned winners with a week to spare. The wildcard wasn’t close either, Evansville clinching it easily. This would be Evansville’s 7th trip to the NABA Cup and they were desperately hoping to break their duck. Canon City, on the other hand, while never having won the regular season race before, had been to the Cup in 2054 and won it.
Evansville took out the first game 5-4, despite a late comeback across the 8th and 9th by the Convicts. 2 days later, in Canon City, 13 innings were needed before the Convicts put together a rally to walk off 3-2 winners. The decider, however, was nowhere near as tight as the first 2 games. After 4, Canon City led by 4 and didn’t let their feet off the Peacemakers’ throats, running out 9-1 winners to secure the NABA Cup for the 2nd time. Antonio Suggia, who had thrown 3 shutouts during the regular season, including a no-hitter, was the winning pitcher, going 6.2 innings to ensure the rout.
28 y/o Alfredo Colon (.292/.401/.552, 16HR), in his 1st full season with Olympia, won the North Cascades Award. Rookie Colon led the league in runs (53), OPS, and WAR (3.2).
Former AUNZBLer Nathan Floyd (9-2, 2.43 ERA, 3.37 FIP, 1.08 WHIP) of Canon City took out the Yosemite Award. He’d spent 6 seasons in or around the big leagues with Brisbane before heading across to the NABA at the end of 2058. This season he led all qualified NABA pitchers in ERA and WHIP.
36 y/o Randolph McKinna (.298/.379/.570, 19HR) looked every day his age and then some, but that didn’t slow him down any on his return to the NABA after a year back in the AUZNBL minors trying for one last shot at big-league glory. The Evansville 3B won the Grand Canyon Award, leading the league in SLG, HR, and isolated power (.273).
Other Notes
It seemed a shift might be taking place within the baseball landscape. Not a monumental shift, not yet at least, but still a shift. While in previous offseasons the BL snared a lot of AUNZBL players either on the fringes of the majors or wanting to age gracefully, this year it was the ABC doing all the signing. The BL wasn’t inactive, but its primary movement was in player retention and the new guys entering that league seemed to be coming mainly from the ABC or the high AUNZBL minors. Only time would tell if the trend would continue, but it made sense on one level: for the guys who couldn’t break in as everyday players in the AUNZBL, moving to the ABC meant they were still in the room, so to speak. Good performances would make the news, therefore it’d be easier to be seen by AUNZBL GMs than it would playing over in the Lower Americas. For some pitchers, though, the move had a much simpler rationale: higher mounds equalled better times on the mound.
Another thing to note about the ABC: it was concentrating on developing international talent. Its scouts were everywhere, it seemed, and if one kept a close eye on the signing wire, it looked as if young talents were being brought over daily. Indeed, baseball journalists in various parts of the world described the scouting scene as a ‘warzone,’ with ABC and AUNZBL scouts clashing time and again in the race to secure the next Ismael Aguirre, Jorge Diaz or Young-tae Lee.
From a business perspective, the move was a smart one. Better to grow players than buy them. From an entertainment perspective it was also shrewd. Make the league a melting pot, have your fans delight in spotting the next big thing, keep the playing field from getting stagnant.
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As Opening Day loomed the stats-heads converged to add up which teams had benefited the most from their offseason activities, and which teams had done the worst. The clear WAR winner was Sydney, who’d piled on a staggering additional 17.0 WAR, though a lot of that came down to the signings of Reardon and Ellison and nobody quite knew how they’d go in the AUNZBL. Newcastle was next-best, adding 10.8 WAR, while a gaggle of other teams (Kununurra - +7.8 - Darwin - +7.6 - Adelaide - +7.5) made up the chasing pack.
Perth, whose financial position restricted the moves they could make, were the biggest losers, down 10.9 WAR. Canberra (-9.1), and Whangarei (-8.9) weren’t far behind.
All in all, it was an action-packed offseason.