MLB announced the expansion of two teams to begin play in 2023. Franchises were awarded to Charlotte and Portland. In addition, MLB announced that the Oakland A's will relocate to.Los Vegas and the Tampa Bay Rays will relocate to Nashville (to be renamed the Nashville Stars).
Once the new teams begin play, MLB will realign into four AL and NL divisions, to look like this:
AL East: Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, NY Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays
AL North: Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins
AL South: Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Nashville Stars, Texas Rangers
AL West: LA Angels, Los Vegas Athletics, Portland Mavericks, Seattle Mariners
NL East: NY Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals
NL North: Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers
NL South: Atlanta Braves, Charlotte Knights, Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals
NL West: Arizona Diamondbacks, LA Dodgers, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants
I will be playing as they GM/Manager of the Charlotte Knights. The Knights will play at 45,200 Knights Field, an expanded version of their AAA ballpark. It is generally a neutral ballpark, perhaps slightly favoring hitters (1.022 average).
Notable Acquisitions & Transactions
July 3, 2022 – Charlotte made what they hope will be an impact move, signing International FA Rodolfo Mendoza. The 17 year old Dominican 3B has a compact swing, impact-type power, and above average speed.
July 11, 2022 – The Knights drafted 3B Cam Collier #1 overall. He projects to be an elite hitter with plus power. Other players drafted include 2B Thomas Gavello (2nd round), SP Walter Ford (3rd round), SP J. T. Quinn (5th round), and SP Sebastian Perez (7th round) – all projected to be solid major league prospects or better.
July 16, 2022 – The Knights made their 1st major trade, sending AAA pitchers Kevin Shackelford & Aaron Brown to Miami in exchange for.prospect Peyton Burdick. The Knights also acquired 2B prospect Samad Taylor in exchange for AAA pitcher Jhoulys Chacin.
November 17 – Expansion Draft
With the #1 pick, Charlotte chose San Francisco Giants OF Austin Dean.
The Knights drafted the following players (former team/pick in the draft)
SP – Carlos Luna (TB/#60)
RP – Austin Adams (BOS/#16), Jorge Alcala (MIN/#48), Joe Barlow (TEX/#13), Kevin Castro (SF/#32), Kutter Crawford (BOS/#4), A. J. Puk (OAK/#49), Vince Velasquez (ATL/#33)
C – Eliezer Alfonzo (DET/#40), Aramis Garcia (CIN/#17), Blake Hunt (TB/#65), Connor Wong (BOS/#5)
INF – Bryson Brigham (MIA/#9), Lewin Diaz (MIA/#8), Brandon Drury (CIN/#20), Matt Thaiss (LAA/#36), Cole Tucker (PIT/#21)
OF – Micker Adolfo (ATL/#25), Travis Blankenhorn (NYM/#24), Yonathan Daza (COL/#57), Austin Dean (SF/#1), Travis Demeritte (ATL/#29), Stuart Fairchild (CIN/#45), Clint Frazier (CHC/#37), Ryan Noda (LAD/#41), Harold Ramirez (TB/#56), Henry Ramos (TEX/#44), Danny Santana (HOU/#52), Canaan Smith-Njiba (PIT/#64)
December 16, 2022 – Cleveland contacted the Knights front office, offering INF Owen Miller in trade. The final deal was for Miller in exchange for Tyler Saladino, Drew Hill, and Abel Mercedes.
December 17, 2022 – Signed SP Danny Duffy (1/$2,400,000)
December 21, 2022 –
RULE 5 DRAFT – Drafted Texas SS Ezequiel Duran in the 1st round and Cleveland 1B Jhonkensey Noel in the 2nd round. (Reluctantly returned Duran to Texas at the end of spring training.)
December 31, 2022 – Signed SP John Means (1/$1,400,000)
January 1, 2023 – Signed OF Mike Gerber (1/$2,800,000) & SP Mike Clevinger (3/$27,000,000).
February 1, 2023 – Signed SS Jose Iglesias (1/$3,600,000), OF Anthony Santander (1/$1,900,000), and – the big acquisition – signed SP Sean Manaea (7/$61,000,000).
February 9, 2023 – Signed OF Kole Calhoun (1/$2,600,000)
February 26, 2023 – Signed INF Adam Frazier (1/$5,500,000).
Signed C Wilson Ramos, INF Ji-Hwan Bae, OF Austin Hendrick, & 1B Teriyaki Yamaoka (International FA) to minor league contracts.
The strategy has been to sign multiple players to 1 year contracts who can fill the major league lineup and rotation for 1 year while we continue to build the farm.system and develop younger players for (hopefully) sustained success at the big league level by 2025. Some of these players may be re-signed for 2024 and beyond, but most of them are likely to be flipped before the trade deadline for prospects. The only long-term commitments among the signings are to Clevinger and Manaea, who signed multi-year contracts.
Young players Noel, Wong, Miller, and Hendrick will have a chance to show what they can do and to see if they will be part of the long term core.
OPENING DAY ROSTER
SP (5) – Mike Clevinger, Sean Manaea, Danny Duffy, John Means, Shawn Durbin
RP (8) – A. J. Puk, Kervin Castro, Jorge Alcala, Joe Barlow, Austin Adams, Kutter Crawford, Vince Velazquez, Carlos Luna
C (2) – Wilson Ramos, Conner Wong
INF (6) – Jhonkensey Noel, Adam Frazier, Jose Iglesias, Cole Tucker, Brandon Drury, Owen Miller
OF (5) – Mike Gerber, Stuart Fairchild, Kole Calhoun, Anthony Santander, Austin Hendrick
IL– Danny Santana, Tommy Milone, Aramis Garcia
Charlotte's farm system is ranked #3, with Rodolfo Mendoza the #2 overall prospect. P Arturo Neyra (scouting discovery) is ranked #6 and Cam Collier is ranked #19
YOUR 2023 CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS
Team picture taken April 15th
