[gehrig38]

One important note. The league GMs have agreed to raise the active roster limit from 25 to 27 players starting in the 1993 season. This will likely mean I will go to an 8 man bullpen.

1992 WINTER MEETINGS

12/15/92
Baltimore sends Holder to New York in 7 player deal.

Fans of the last place Blackbirds showed up in droves at the club's front office to voice their displeasure at the 111 loss teams announcement they'd traded star 1B CJ Holder to the New York Bombers in the winters first blockbuster.
Baltimore packaged the unhappy and reportedly disruptive star with 1B power prospect Matt Lampkin, SP prospect Antonio Cruz as well as their 1993 4th round draft choice to New York and received star closer Matt Holmes, minor league SS prospect Dave Rodriguez, 26-year-old shut down reliever Jordan McGraw, minor league C prospect Amari Bryant, 180K in cash and the Bombers 1993 2nd round draft choice.


BEHIND THE SCENES
Holder goes and the pen revamp begins. Holmes (23, 13-12 28 SV 2.27 93/38 K/BB in 91.1 IP) will be the 1st piece of what I hope ends up a completely redone bullpen full of power arms who can throw strikes. Rodriguez (20 and the games #60 ranked prospect) is a middle IF defensive whiz who will be good enough defensively to offset a limited offensive upside. McGraw (26) fractured his elbow in spring training but returned in September throwing 11.2 innings with 15 K's and 0 BB's. He's an arbitration-eligible RH power arm as well as a clubhouse leader. Bryant was an 8th round pick who had a monster rookie league season (.343/.444/.629 in 55 games) that we plucked out late in this deal. The cash and pick were nice adds.

12/16/92
Cherry dealt to Memphis.
The Blackbirds have sent 23-year-old RP Jake Cherry to the Memphis Sounds for 23 year old OF Bettino Rivera. The teams also exchanged draft choices, with the Birds sending their 1993 7th and 9th round choices in exchange for the Sounds 1993 4th round pick.

BEHIND THE SCENES
Next to Holder Cherry was the worst offender in the nightmare that was the 1992 Blackbirds clubhouse. Involved in multiple altercations he clearly didn't understand what being a part of a team meant nor could his performance (1-2 1 SV 2.88 ERA in 42 G 56.1 IP 51 K) ever overshadow his disruptive influence. Bettino is a legit 4th or 5th OF who plays all 3 spots and has track star speed as a calling card. Immense range and is one of the game's best bunters he's a team-first player and just 24.

12/16/92
LA, Baltimore make a deal
Not 20 minutes after the announcement they'd dealt RP Jake Cherry GM Curt Schilling was at the podium again. This time to announce the Blackbirds had reached an agreement with the LA Reapers to send 22 year old OF Josh Schlachter, minor league OF prospect Brian Foster, their 1993 4th round pick just acquired from Memphis, and receive 25-year old C Robert Serrano and LA's 3rd round pick in the upcoming June Draft.

BEHIND THE SCENES
This was more of a numbers trade. Schlachter was in a crowded OF and one of the guys who was more of a defensive liability than his bat would allow. Serrano is just 25, a max-effort guy, and a decent defender. The organization is barren behind the plate and that's something that needs to be addressed now.

12/17/92
Baltimore opens the final day of the Winter Meetings with a pair of trades
The Blackbirds have been the “Belle of the Ball” at the 92 Winter Meetings. Seemingly deserving of their own podium to announce the bevy of moves, trades and signings they've made.
Today they announced two deals.
The first, and actually the 2nd deal with LA in the past 24 hours, was to send SP Jon Perez and minor league SP prospect Cory Smith to the Reapers for defensive whiz Jesus Franco and the Reapers 4th rounder, dealt TO LA just a day earlier. LA received the Birds 1993 8th rounder as well.

The other deal announced was a minor transaction in which Baltimore sent P prospect Marcus Clark to Portland in exchange for minor league 1B Noah Booker.

BEHIND THE SCENES
Perez (4-15 5.56 in 20 GS 121.1 IP 142 H 73 K) has legit potential as a 3 or 4, but most likely a 5 on a good team. His changeup is one of the games best but he has major problems missing barrels. His command is decent to a tad above average but not nearly good enough for someone who allows so many balls in play. Franco is across the board a gold glove caliber defender at 3 different positions in the infield.
The Clark trade was made to clear a roster spot on the active roster.


12/28/92
December 28th will likely be a day many point to as the beginning of the new Baltimore BlackBirds. The team reaches terms with Suzuki.
One of the prizes on this winter's International Free Agent market, middle IF Sawao “The Iguana” Suzuki has agreed to terms on a 4 year 9.6 million dollar contract with the Baltimore Blackbirds. The Japanese star was swarmed by Japanese Media at the press conference. Baltimore, in its continuing effort to remake a league worst 111 loss team, has brought in a very large Japanese fan base who will follow Suzuki's every move. The 5'11” 22 year old RHH has extreme power and according to Baltimore scouts still has room to grow in every offensive and defensive category teams could hope for. A very solid defender he can play SS and 2B equally well. He is also a legit threat to steal 25+ bases and has, according to many baseball insiders, an extremely high baseball IQ.

Baltimore snags star Closer Miller, 8.22M over 6 years
The press conference to announce the Suzuki signing wasn't over at that point. Two more very significant announcements were to come.
The second was to announce the club had managed to convince star closer and the 1992 Bruce Sutter Award winner Ryan Miller had agreed to a 6 year deal with the team.
Miller will receive 8.225 million over the 6 years with the final seasons 1.5 million being part of a player option. An otherworldly 1992 season featured a 5-3 43 SV 1.78 ERA top line. In 81 IP Miller fanned 118, walked just 18, and yielded just 51 hits.

Veteran 1B Hernandez agrees to terms with Baltimore
36-year-old 1B Ricky Hernandez, a 1992 All-Star and the AL Silver Slugger at 1B agreed to a 3 year 6.9 million dollar contract with the Blackbirds today. The 2.5 million third year comes as a player option. Hernandez slash line .289/.367/.469 went with 22 HR and 68 RBI's. The club sought his services as much for “his locker room presence” as much as his on the field ability. While certainly on the 'back 9” of a great career the veteran still brings a thunderous middle of the order bat from the left side that will help this team forget the 1992 season ever happened.

BEHIND THE SCENES
The International market was actually quite ripe with prospects this winter. Most of them from Japan's major leagues. I targeted Suzuki from day 1 and was pretty relentless in pursuit of his talent as he's still improving and will provide stability to the middle of the diamond to go with a potential 40 homer bat and 30+ steal legs. The reaction was apparent after hearing season ticket sales jumped 12% within hours of the announcement.

The Miller signing wasn't done in a vacuum. Having already acquired 2 legit back-end arms this signing creates a 3-headed monster to close out games for the new manager. His leadership and game mentality will do nothing but make the guys in that bullpen better.

Hernandez 'replaces' Holder in most every meaningful way. While he is clearly not the offensive star CJ is and will be, he stabilizes a revamped clubhouse, brings a booming left handed bat, and at 6'7” 226 lbs he brings a lot more presence on the field.

Blackbirds deal twice, continue organization wide overhaul.
The Baltimore Blackbirds sent their opening day Closer, Martin Vega, to the Columbus Chargers for 26 year old C Melvin Cordova. Vega was recently bumped from the bullpen with the clubs multiple acquisitions and the team has made no bones about its dearth of catching up and down the ladder.

BEHIND THE SCENES
Clearing roster space and adding backstops. Cordova is an insurance piece who will likely be in AA or AAA all year barring a rash of injuries behind the plate. The bullpen spots are growing scarce as trades and signings have made it look like a completely different animal going into 1993.

Blackbirds send McGregor packing.
Baltimore, in announcing it's 5th and final move on the 28th, sent 1B/OF 23 year old Tim McGregor to the Portland Bandits for 28 year old SP Victor Ramirez and 24 year old SP Matt Curry.

BEHIND THEE SCENES
Same M-O here. Clearing roster space and adding depth. McGregor had a horrendous year (.163/.217/.277) but most scouts feel like, and we agree, it was more a lack of consistent at bats than anything. His defense is suspect at best but we all think he will hit down the road. Ramirez went a combined 12-8 3.24 over 29 GS and 169 IP in AAA for Brooklyn and Portland after a deadline deal sent him west. He's pitching depth should we need it. Curry spent most of 1992 in the bullpen in AAA going 4-7 15 SV 4.41 over 51 IP, 56 H 60 K and 17 BB. He'll get a shot to start in Knoxville this season.

Baltimore stuns the league, announces the signing of closer Jessie Anderson.
Given what GM Curt Schilling had already done this offseason the market for star closer Jessie Anderson didn't seem to have the Birds in it.
That was clearly not the case as they announced they'd reached a 5 year 6.75 million dollar deal with the hard throwing righty. The 27 year old will have his choice in year 5 as it will be in the form of a 1.5 million dollar player option.

BEHIND THE SCENES
Well, I said remake the pen, and I did. Anderson went 2-5 40 Saves with a 1.14 ERA over 87 IP. He fanned 121, walked 22, gave up just 2 HRs and a paltry 59 hits. I have a hard time seeing this pen be anything but the games best by a wide margin. Multiple late-game options for the manager and everyone a legitimate power arm who can close.

In a couple of minor deals, I sent OF Jorge Valles (.294/.358/.563 in 100 AAA games) to San Francisco for a Catcher and OF who will both likely be AAA guys.
Then I dealt 3B Jonathan Reyes, veteran Minor League IF Kelly Parker, a 4th rounder, to Milwaukee for a AAA arm and their 3rd rounder.