[U7Gohan]

State of the Team

GM U7Gohan entered this offseason with big plans, but as usual, they took a turn and he ended up having the most active offseason of his long OOTP career, by far. He did not do what he initially set out to do, but he transformed the roster all the same into what he expects to be a juggernaut, all while working with the new rule of the Designated Hitter being removed from the AL by Commissioner Rob Manfred...

News Dump

GM U7Gohan was busy at the Winter Meetings, making six trades that all greatly impacted what the 2025 roster will look like. Without further ado...

Trade 1: San Diego Padres

Outbound: RF Oscar Gonzalez (2.5, 2.5)

Inbound: RP Steven Wilson (4.0, 4.0), RF AJ Shaver (0.5, 1.5), SP Colin Czajkowski (1.0, 1.5)

The Padres made this offer early in the offseason, and with Gonzalez not in the team's plans, we decided to pounce to bolster our bullpen with a low-cost reliever just entering arbitration. Shaver and Czajkowski are lottery tickets the Padres offered to sweeten the deal.

Trade 2: San Francisco Giants

Outbound: RF Kyle Tucker (3.5, 3.5), SP Damon Casetta-Stubbs (2.0, 2.5), RP Jake Miller (2.0, 2.0), RP James Karinchak (4.0, 4.0), SP Trenton Denholm (2.5, 2.5)

Inbound: C Patrick Bailey (4.5, 4.5), LF Luis Matos (3.0, 3.5)

We realized that the Giants were very high on Kyle Tucker and were also willing to trade Patrick Bailey, who was running away with the NL Hitter WAR lead until he got injured at the start of September, so with Luis Campusano falling out of favor, we saw a chance to upgrade bigtime at the catcher position for the next four seasons. Each piece of this trade ended up being necessary without substitutions, as they were insistent on Karinchak and it took Denholm, a recent Top 100 Prospect, to complete the deal. Matos came back to replace Tucker and is under team control for the next six seasons. This was a deal both for the present and for the future.

Trade 3: Minnesota Twins

Outbound: SS Angel Martinez (2.5, 3.5, #55 Overall), SP Gavin Williams (2.5, 3.0), RP Allan Hernandez (1.5, 2.5), CF Michael A. Taylor (2.5, 2.5)

Inbound: CF Byron Buxton (3.5, 3.5) (15% Retained), CL Jovani Moran (5.0, 5.0)

This trade ended up being an unexpected one. The Twins indicated their interest to deal Moran early, but in the process of trying to move either Andres Gimenez or Angel Martinez for a starting pitcher, I realized Byron Buxton was available and also on a team-friendly contract despite his injury history. I pounced at the opportunity and moved Taylor back to offset some of the money for 2025, leaving me on the hook for just $12.75M per year over the next four years for Buxton, an incredible talent. This does all but seal away my chances of signing Andres Gimenez to a long-term extension, for now at least, but I saw it worthwhile to deepen the lineup further.

Trade 4: New York Mets

Outbound: C Luis Campusano (3.0, 3.5)

Inbound: SP Sonny Gray (3.0, 3.0) (55% Retained)

With Patrick Bailey in the fray, it was time to trade Luis Campusano. My ultimate goal this offseason was to trade Andres Gimenez for an ace, but between his rising arbitration costs and now being two years away from free-agency, his value plummeted and so Angel Martinez ended up being my best trade piece. I still got a starting pitcher, however, as Gray could fall off at his 35 year-old age but has five pitches and a well-rounded profile that showed itself in 2024. I am also only on the hook for just under $12M/2yr.

Trade 5: Cincinnati Reds

Outbound: RP A.J. Puk (3.0, 3.0), SP Cody Morris (2.5, 3.0), RP Denny Bentley (3.0, 3.0)

Inbound: SP Nick Lodolo (3.5, 3.5)

Despite acquiring Sonny Gray, I didn't want to give up on the hopes of acquiring a top-flight starting pitcher. Lodolo may not be an ace, but he would slot in as potentially the second-best arm in the rotation, and I got him without needing to give up anyone who wasn't replaceable. I had hoped to keep Morris for his promising limited showing, but ultimately he would not have a place in the rotation with this deal completed. I also had high hopes for Puk as a reliever, but his value was too high for me not to capitalize on.

Trade 6: Philadelphia Phillies

Outbound: 1B Vinnie Pasquantino (3.0, 3.0), SP Trevor Stephan (2.0, 2.0), RP Tanner Bibee (1.0, 1.5)

Inbound: RP David Bednar (3.5, 3.5) (70% Retained), RP Cristian Hernandez (2.5, 2.5)

This trade was painful to make, but I could not roster both Pasquantino and J.C. Correa without the DH and neither Pasquantino nor Correa had that much value. So, I had to cut my losses and trade Pasquantino for a reliever, as despite my hopes of trying to make him a big piece in the Nick Lodolo trade, the Reds were not interested in him. I was happy to at least get Hernandez as a sweetener given the strikeout rates he has posted in the minors, but this was a difficult deal to make. My hope is that Pasquantino reverts back to his 2022-2023 form so I feel less bad about it.

In the Rule 5 Draft, we protected RP Cristian Hernandez (2.5, 2.5), RP Nathan Ocker (2.0, 2.5), and CF Isaiah Greene (2.0, 2.5). We then drafted RP Justin Hagenman (3.0, 3.0), 2B Euribiel Angeles (2.0, 2.5), and CF Jordyn Adams (2.0, 2.5).

The 40-Man roster stands at 37.


Minor League Report

With Angel Hernandez traded, we now rank 12th in MLB with three Top 100 prospects:

SS Luis Carrizales (0.5, 5.0) - #6
RP Lenny Torres (3.0, 3.5) - #69
2B Tommy Troy (2.0, 4.0) - #93

Other emerging prospects to watch are...

SP James Nesta (0.5, 3.0) - R ACL


Around the League

Major Free-Agent Signings

1B Jared Walsh (3.0, 3.0) signs with Cubs for $26.4M/3yr
SS Trea Turner (4.0, 4.0) signs with Cubs for $124.4M/4yr
RP Edwin Diaz (5.0, 5.0) signs with White Sox for $10.6M/1yr
SP Zack Wheeler (4.0, 4.0) signs with Cubs for $102.4M/4yr
SP Satoshi Sakai (2.5, 2.5) signs with Red Sox for $74M/5yr
CF Victor Robles (3.0, 3.0) signs with Red Sox for $102.9M/5yr
3B Alex Bregman (3.5, 3.5) signs with Astros for $91.8M/4yr
SP Hyun-woo Kim (3.0, 3.0) signs with Red Sox for $82M/5yr
SS Brandon Crawford (3.5, 3.5) signs with Cardinals for $40.4M/2yr
1B Raita Yamaguchi (4.0, 4.0) signs with Astros for $82M/5yr
RP Ryan Pressly (4.0, 4.0) signs with Rangers for $19.6M/2yr
SP Max Scherzer (3.5, 3.5) signs with Rockies for $65.6M/3yr
SP Matthew Boyd (3.0, 3.0) signs with Rockies for $49.2M/4yr
SP Jameson Taillon (3.0, 3.0) signs with Tigers for $31.8M/5yr
RP Tommy Kahnle (3.5, 3.5) signs with Dodgers for $14.8M/2yr
RF Max Kepler (3.0, 3.0) signs with Athletics for $41.4M/3yr
LF J.D. Martinez (2.5, 2.5) signs with Red Sox for $9M/1yr


Major Trades

Padres SP Joe Musgrove (3.0, 3.0) to Mets
Twins 3B Gio Urshela (3.0, 3.0) to Athletics
White Sox SP Dylan Cease (3.5, 3.5) to Braves
Red Sox 1B Anthony Rizzo (3.0, 3.0) to DBacks
Reds SP Tyler Mahle (3.0, 3.0) to White Sox
Brewers RP Joe Ross (3.5, 3.5) to Royals
Brewers RP Devin Williams (5.0, 5.0) to Cardinals
Brewers 2B Luis Urias (4.0, 4.0) to Dodgers
DBacks SP Zac Gallen (3.0, 3.0) to Rangers
Royals C MJ Melendez (3.0, 3.5) to Yankees
Padres RP Ken Giles (3.5, 3.5) to Yankees


Major Extensions

SS Luis Garcia (3.5, 3.5) signs with Nationals for $46.8M/4yr
SP Zac Gallen (3.0, 3.0) signs with Rangers for $73.8M/4yr


The next post will preview Spring Training before what figures to be a franchise-defining year for the Guardians.