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A season of near-misses for all three of my FTP teams.
The Cluckers were in way over their heads in their first year in Bronze. They had only a handful of diamond players in a division where the top two teams were stacked with perfects and diamonds. The one silver lining was Joe Nathan winning reliever of the year award. They managed to avoid relegation (another team with the same record was relegated), but have not yet been able to make any roster improvements so far this season. Pitching help may be on the way, however.
The Irregulars finished just short of promotion to Bronze in 2026, meaning they were repeating Iron in 2027. Despite several pitching and position player upgrades over the course of 2027 (Walters, Kendall, Kiner, Bryant, Winfield, Caldwell, Wainwright), they ended up with the same 89-73 record as the year before, finishing just out of the wildcard again. Their efforts were rewarded, however, with promotion to Bronze for 2028. Offseason additions Randy Johnson and Dale Murphy will hopefully push them to the next level. In the meantime, the team will look to upgrade their pitching staff.
Los Perros started off 2027 strong, leading their division in Bronze for much of the first half of the season, before the offense fell off the cliff, with Grandal, LeMahieu, Correa, Winfield, and Gallo all performing at or below replacement level. The result was finishing a game out of the wildcard. The team nonetheless was promoted to Silver for 2028. Hopefully a full season of Bagwell, who got a cup of coffee in 2027, and the offseason additions of centerfielder Ichiro Suzuki and backup catcher Jason Kendall will help jumpstart the offense. In the meantime, the team is looking into upgrading at second base.
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