[Bub13]

First, a bit of minor news on staff, and a surprising but odd retirement:
...Hawaii pitching coach Conor Russell and bench coach Fenway Parks are departing. Both wanted massive raises so I bought them plane tickets instead.
...AAA manager Ryan Castellani and A ball hitting coach Brady Nailing are also leaving. Money (RC) and mediocrity (BN) are the reasons.
...21-year-old rookie ball 2B Alex Juarez is retiring for some reason. I have no memory of him whatsoever, so I don't know if this is a good or a bad thing.

Our new budget comes down the wires, and it's back up to $160M. Supposedly we're only allowed to spend $130M or so on player salaries, which is risible given that we're already planning on about $150M for that line. Looks like we'll have to sell more t-shirts again this year. And have more bake sales.

Someone in corporate has apparently been spending time on FanGraphs too, as one of our goals for '55 is to increase our defensive efficiency. I wonder if they think that will help increase profits... Also, we have to find a local player. "Find me Lenn Sakata III, stat!"

......

It's good to see that health care for billionaire old fogies is still excellent, as none of the rich bastards kicked off this year. However, three teams do end up with new management. Toronto was sold by Jody Patterson to something calling itself "Jim White," while Miami is now under the thumb of bazillionaire tech titan Justin Cox. At his introductory news conference he already confused people by contradicting himself with "We're going to...play Marlins baseball...and win a lot of games." Good luck there, fella. Finally, 1000-year-old man Adam Thompson sold the Twins to puréed-food magnate Jake Johnson, described in the press as a "hands-on economizer...with lenient performance demands." Just what a 71-win team needs: lowered on-field standards.

Also, a pile of GMs (that you don't care about) and managers were given the heave-ho, while a few others were simply "not renewed." Same diff. The only guys who stand out in the latter crowd are 11-year vet Ethan Larrison, late of Oakland, and San Diego's 14-year skipper Robert Woodall. Both have won a lot of games, gotten to the post-season more than a handful of times, yet neither has won a title. Maybe they should've been traded for each other. Notable retirements include former Isles head man Matt Sargent and hitting coach Paul Trashini, as well as three of the league's four Korean managers. (Only Portland's TC Park remains.)

AWARD WINNERS

AL Gold Gloves: P Chris Liles (MIN) [2nd win]; C Juan Pizano (HOU); 1B Justin Sandy (OAK) [2nd]; 2B Mike McNeill (TEX); 3B Mike Lee (CLE); SS Oscar Garza (HOU) [4th]; LF Jordan Foots (MIN) [3rd]; CF Luis Rodela (DET) [2nd]; RF Enrique Hernandez (NYY)
NL Gold Gloves: P Shamar Jackson (STL) [4th]; C Steve Newman (ATL) [4th]; 1B Jim Timmer (ARI) [8th]; 2B Jasper Jacobsen (PHI); 3B Chris Gulland (ARI) [3rd]; SS Kevin Lutz (LAD) [2nd]; LF Jake Morris (ATL) [2nd]; CF Jason Welch (WSH) [3rd]; RF Pat Meade (ATL) [2nd]

AL Hoyt Wilhelm: Nate Kearns (HAW) [61 GP, 92 IP, 6-4, 19 SV, 2.74 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 104 K, 1.8 WAR]
NL Hoyt Wilhelm: Rick Ramirez (LAD) [75 GP, 82 IP, 9-10, 45 SV, 3.07 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 104 K, 3.2 WAR, 2nd win]

AL Silver Sluggers: C Victor Valadez (CHW); 1B Pat Townsand (DET); 2B Steve McClellan (BAL); 3B Ben Usilton (CHW); SS Ryan Boers (TEX) [3rd]; LF Jordan Foots (MIN); CF Ryan Lawler (MIN); RF Toshi Shimabukuro (MIA); DH Jules Medici (HAW)
NL Silver Sluggers: P Steve McKeen (CIN) [2nd]; C Juan Espinoza (RIC) [3rd]; 1B Alfonso Contreras (AUS) [4th]; 2B Alfonso Torres (NYM) [3rd]; 3B Gerardo Nieto (POR) [3rd]; SS Martin Matarrese (NOZ); LF Jake Morris (ATL); CF Nate Forrester (STL); RF George Livezey (PHI) [5th]

AL Rookie of the Year: OF Ryan Lawler (MIN) [.364/.406/.658, 38 HR, 7.9 WAR, won AL batting title]
NL Rookie of the Year: C Jonathan Krzanowski (BKN) [.316/.365/.495, 19 HR, 3.2 WAR, already 26 yrs old]

AL Manager of the Year: TH Nam (TEX) [2nd win, and recently retired]
NL Manager of the Year: Eric van der Zalm (LAD) [not bad for the Dutch rookie]

AL Cy Young: [b]Matt Waugh (HAW) [21-5, 3.14, 223.2 IP, 256 K, 1.15 WHIP, 169 ERA+, 7.8 WAR, 4th win]
NL Cy Young: Nick Light (WSH) [12-15, 3.17, 229.2 IP, 284 K, 1.04 WHIP, 158 ERA+, 5.8 WAR, surprise winner]

AL MVP: SS Ryan Boers (TEX) [.333/.425/.676, 49 HR, 9.2 WAR, won by five points over DET's Pat Townsand; Jules Medici and Matt Waugh also received votes]
NL MVP: OF Jake Morris (ATL) [.310/.385/.702, 63 HR, 7.9 WAR, takes home a nice triple crown of trophies]

Congrats to all the trophy winners! Matt Waugh has been worth the price, with two Cy Youngs in two seasons with us. Next year: hat trick! And special kudos to Nate Kearns, becoming the EIGHTH Islanders closer to win a Hoyt Wilhelm trophy. Most of those guys didn't last more than a season with the club after winning, so...yeah, be careful Nate. And I'll take credit for two former Isles pitchers winning both league's Gold Glove trophies.

......

Back to us... Salary Arbitration time! And we have fifteen cases coming before the arbitrator. Fifteen! How did I let this happen... We'll tender offers to everyone, which includes: four starting pitchers (Pearse, Bader, Irvin, Skiff), six relievers (Kearns, Ruiz, Booker, Bohlen, Yaung, Sitzler), C Mike Covington, three IF (3B Caleb Royer, 3B/1B Lua Ulkini, and UT Kevin Kelley), and OF Doug Pederson. I expect to get bombed in every big case, but possibly win a bunch of the smaller, more irrelevant ones. Closer to the point, I expect the price four the four SP to go from $20.8M ('54 salaries) to well over the current estimate of $25M. Some good news here is that we likely won't have to spend a ton to re-establish our quality bullpen for another season. But still, this isn't a suitable strategy for long-term contract management, with 3/5 of your roster dictating their terms to you year-in, year-out.

On top of that there are 26 minor league free agents-to-be. No standouts on the list, nor anyone I want to sign at the cost of putting them on a tight 40-man roster, but I'll take a sec to say so long to 2048 first rounder Josh Egan. He was our top pitching prospect once upon a time, but hasn't been the same since an injury cost him all of 2052. (And let's be honest: he was starting to leak oil before that anyway.) He threw well in relief in AA this year, but was poor in his first AAA callup, and my scouts say he doesn't even have the movement or control to stick there, at least.

One last note: we finished filling all the empty minor league personnel slots, and one name sticks out. Our new manager at A ball Eureka is...Adam Groff! I made him a coach, and then took the plunge and signed him. I hope he turns out to be a good one. (I told you I'd do this, didn't I!)