[ayaghmour2]

In an effort to shore up our rotation, we linked up with an old familiar face, acquiring a 36-year-old veteran with over a decade of big league service time who once began his FABL career with the Cougars. That would be southpaw and former #2 overall pick Mike Murphy, who was a part of the Tommy Wilcox blockbuster that did not work out so well for the Cougars. Murphy made a 4 game debut season back in 1931 before being moved in that Summer blockbuster the following season. Murphy then finished the season in the Kings rotation, going 7-2 with a 2.53 ERA (165 ERA+), 1.30 WHIP, 29 walks, and 51 strikeouts in 11 starts. From then on, Murphy solidified himself as a rotation fixture, starting 32 or more games in each of the next seasons before finishing his final full season in Brooklyn with 28. He was then shipped to Detroit the following July for a pair of picks, ending an eight year stint with the Kings. His best season was 1936, where he was 17-8 with a league best 3.07 ERA (148 ERA+) in 252.1 innings pitched. Murphy totaled 1,655.2 innings, was a part of three All Star games, and won a World Championship with Brooklyn in 1937. He finished an impressive 115-69 with a 3.52 ERA (117 ERA+), 1.33 WHIP, 446 walks, and 609 strikeouts.

The Dynamos were in a pennant run in '39 (eventually finishing a game out of fist), and they thought a change of scenery could do Murphy well. He was just a year removed from a dominant season, but just 3-7 with a 4.86 ERA (88 ERA+), 1.43 WHIP, 18 walks, and 19 strikeouts in his 11 starts. He didn't quite turn things around, but finished with a nearly league average 4.19 ERA (99 ERA+) in 135.1 innings with Detroit. Murphy went 8-8 with 44 walks and 37 strikeouts, and with just one better start Detroit could have finished the season tied with the Miners. The Dynamos have fallen on rougher times lately, but to Murphy's credit, he was average or better from '40 to '42. The then 35-year-old lefty had a bit of a down season this year, in part due to a two month absence with elbow tendinitis. He made just 18 starts, going 6-7 with a 3.92 ERA (87 ERA+), 1.39 WHIP, 33 walks, and 20 strikeouts in just 119.1 innings pitched. It was his lowest inning total since his first season in Brooklyn, and one of just two seasons with 200 or less innings since 1933. Combine that with his age and the Dynamos not planning to compete this season, he was readily available and cost us a pair of prospects who rank inside our top 20 in Johnny Weaver (10th, 148th) and Sam Hess (18th, 224th).

Murphy gives us another quality vet to add to the rotation, and brings along 2,560 innings of FABL experience. The former Cougar draftee has now come full circle, and enters the season with a career 167-121 record. He owns an impressive 3.59 ERA (111 ERA+) and 1.32 WHIP with 659 walks and 839 strikeouts while being worth 40.8 wins above replacement. A pretty durable lefty, Murphy has only had three injuries last more then a week, and as a groundball pitcher he should benefit a lot from having Skipper Schneider at short, and while Billy Hunter is no Clark Car in the field, he's another natural shortstop who is really adept at the keystone. Adding Murphy also allows us to go with a six man rotation, likely squeezing between Harry Parker and Dick Lyons for the 3rd spot in the rotation. Art White will lead the troops into battle, while both Rusty Petrick and Ken Matson can give us starts or late inning relief work based on how the schedule lines up. I'm never truly done making trades, but our roster looks more or less set for Opening Day, as we look to return to the postseason after a pair of seasons where we vastly underperformed our expected record. We have a very deep staff and a strong lineup, and the positional rankings have us up three in each spot except catcher (5th with Mead) and center (Montes is 3rd, but Yates just 9th). Technically we are 7th for relievers, but since not everyone has RPs in their pen (and not sure it counts CL like Curtin) the numbers are a bit funky. With all the uncertainty in the league, it's impossible to make accurate predictions, but it seems like the Cougars should be in contention yet again, looking to post a winning record for the sixth consecutive season.

The regional pick also happened (while I was writing this post!), and while I'd normally commit a separate post for the pick, we got one of the new players without any stats, so it wouldn't really be worth a standalone post. That being said, I am very excited for our pick, as we got another high schooler in 17-year-old Harry Austin. A New Athens, Illinois native, Austin won't be 18 until September, and while his makeup is a little concerning, OSA raves about his potential talent. A purely corner bat, Austin projects plus contact potential with well above average power, all mixed with outstanding plate recognition skills. Will he be an elite left fielder like they project? Likely not, as he's not very baseball smart and his work ethic leaves a little to be desired, but his offensive potential is off the charts. We have a ton of versatile, athletic, and hardworking players, so we can afford to use our lottery ticket here on a one dimensional hitter. It'll be interesting to see what Tom Weinstock thinks of the the young lefty, and I'm excited to see how many homers he hits as a senior.

Lastly, I realized that I didn't post a recap of my second rounder, Tom Jovin, so I'll have to find that. Otherwise, I'll likely have to rewrite it; either tonight or sometime tomorrow.