[Bigfish1287]

I will summarize my offseason moves by outlining how we did in each priority.

Find a starting caliber center fielder
So this offseason only really had four viable options at center. The first two were older and expensive, I didn’t see a point in spending money on aging expensive players, especially if we know this team can’t compete. The other option we could have gone with was to re-sign Morales who also wanted a fair bit of money, around $8 million. The last option was Eric Anderson. He started around 60 games for Harwich and hit decently well in his time. I signed him for a cheap $1.2 million deal for the year and he will start. I can wait next offseason for better options if needed because we should not be winning games this year.


Get a starter or two for the rotation, to improve the horrible starting pitching
There were some cheaper options that could fit into our rotation, so I feel better about accomplishing this task compared to finding the center fielder we needed. Daniel Salas was a serviceable option for Yarmouth. A 4.17 ERA in 33 starts is fine enough for me to have. The other option we picked up was Nelson Santoyo, another former Yarmouth Gull. He pitched worse than Salas but again, compared to the rotation last season, he looks like an ace.

Finally I decided to pick up starter Hae-Young Kim in the rule 5 draft. He should be of use and is around the same talent level as Santoyo, if he doesn’t fit in the rotation we can move on fairly easily.


Two cheap bullpen arms that can fill out the rest of the pen
This was fairly easy as there were a ton of options for us to go with. Like usual, I went cheap. Alex Almaguer pitched for three separate teams in 2030, one actually being our lowly Blue Sox. He pitched in 38 games for us and was a decent relieving option actually, with a 4.40 ERA which is around league average. Reliever performance varies so much year to year but I’m comfortable bringing him in on a 1 year $2.2 million deal.

The other reliever I signed was Emilio Martinez, someone who could really be an underrated part of the team for years to come. Martinez was pretty lackluster in his first season with Falmouth, holding an ERA of 4.06 and an alarming FIP of 5.14. The good thing is he has an excellent fastball and a solid curve and talent wise has the ability to be a good piece for any bullpen. We may have overpaid him with a $3 million salary for three years, but he has the potential to be a great piece at a bargain price.


A good hitting infielder who can maybe start at shortstop or at least hit at a decent clip.
We ended up signing one infielder and he is predominantly a second baseman. Joe Horton was a solid starter at second for Mashpee but hurt his knee in July and missed the rest of the season. I don’t like his injury history, but my plan is to have him start at second for now while we move Alex Morales to short.

This is how I’d like to have my infield set up.

First - Easily will go to Ochoa as a 2030 All-Star while new signing Horton can be a good backup option.

Second - Horton will start as he can play solid defense and has decent hitting ability. Jim Britt was in contention but I worry about his lack of defensive ability. This could change if Horton struggles, but this is what I’m gonna go with to start.

Third - Like first, the job isn’t in question of who it will go to. Jason Keffer is old but he can hit and play defense at a very high level and is considered still a top-5 third baseman. Palafox will back him up and I will try to use him as a utility player since he can play short as well.

Shortstop - We decided to move Alex Morales to short as there was a lack of good options at short in free agency. We also promoted 23-year-old Bret Hullman from AAA to be a defensive replacement who can be a backup if needed.

Our infield is very hectic but I’m hoping some players impress me so I can know who to really believe in, especially at second and shortstop.

There will be no spring training in this league as I like all teams to have as little injuries as possible when the season starts, so we will be going to Opening Day 2031 soon enough.

Next, I will briefly preview each division and do a deep dive preview on our division as well. Let’s just say the EL Outer Division will probably be one of the most interesting races in the CCBL this season.

Attached are some tables as to who left us and who is coming to Eastham for the 2031 season.