[JayW UK]

2020 Off-Season

Charles B Dolan and his backers were back, once again trying to lure an NABL team to St. Louis. This time the focus of their attention was the Memphis Kings who were still struggling to attract fans through the turnstiles, only once in their short history had they broken the 1.5M attendance mark (2018) when most other NABL clubs were attracting in excess of 2.5M. Unfortunately for Dolan the Kings owner, Bob Hannigan, a billionaire Texan, had another bid for his team that was far more attractive to him. The offer, from a group based in Austin, Texas would not require Hannigan to give up control of his ball club (Dolan’s offer did, as he wanted to buy the franchise outright) and also offered the Kings use of a state-of-the-art domed stadium that was under construction. Due to be opened in late 2020, the Austin Lonestar Dome would have a capacity of 40,200 and offer 100 luxury suites, giving plenty of opportunity for generating revenue, something the Kings had always struggled with. Armed with this deal, Hannigan set about securing approval from the Commissioner’s office for his Kings franchise to move from Memphis to Austin, the proposed date for the move would be January 2021 giving the club ample time to be ready to start play in their new home on opening day 2021. Approval for the move duly arrived and so Charles Dolan and his consortium were once again looking for a way to procure an NABL franchise for St. Louis.
While the Memphis to Austin move was being thrashed out the business of the NABL continued as usual. Just days after their crushing World Series loss, Los Angeles were rocked by the resignation of Manager Angel Miranda amid rumours of extra marital affairs and imminent divorce proceedings. The Lynx moved quickly to replace him appointing Mario Sanchez as the new skipper, Sanchez had been a success while managing at Tulsa Rattlesnakes (Washington’s AAA affiliate) guiding them to the AAA championship twice, before being lured away by LA. Despite interim manager Keith Bennett’s relative success (the Giants went 43-43 under his stewardship) Detroit decide to release him and name former Cleveland and San Jose skipper Allen McGuire as their new manager, many observers questioned if McGuire’s abrasive personality would be a good fit in Detroit.
The first player movement involved Cleveland trading away starting Third Baseman Gary Cox and defensive stud 2B Millard Bly to Sanfrancisco for star outfielder Netuno Ermida and veteran reliever Curt Rice, this move was partly motivated by the need to open playing time on the roster for a slew of promising youngsters including CF Dominique Boutin Jr, 3B Richie Rambeaux, 2B Ronald McKinney and 2018 first round pick LF Chandler Harrington. Denver once again splashed the cash, signing Outfielder Charlie May to a 7 year $140M deal. Dallas couldn’t agree terms on a new deal with slugging First Baseman Tony Diaz, allowing Washington to steal in and sign him away for a massive $105M over six years, a hefty price to pay for the 32-year-old, especially for a team that had posted a -$17.1M operating loss the previous season, as the Generals had. Next to move was Los Angeles 2B Jeff Miller, who left the Western League Champions for Florida, signing a lucrative 2-year deal to return to Tampa Bay. The other Florida club Miami, lost one of their own stars when 1B Carlos Vazquez signed a 2 year $34.5M deal with New Orleans, while the Blues lost starting pitcher Marvin Ashley to Kansas City, he signed for $77M over the next five years. Kansas City lost power hitting LF Francisco Martinez to Philadelphia, Martinez parlayed his stellar 2019 season into a deal for $40M over two years, the offer he received was too rich for the Tornadoes to match so they had to reluctantly let him go. San Diego Outfielder Bryan Lamond upped sticks and moved to division rivals Seattle Pioneers in a deal worth $99M over five years, many San Diego fans were upset with the front office for allowing Lamond to leave, but in truth there was little chance him staying in Southern California, as he had stated on numerous occasions that he was unhappy and wanted to be closer to his family in Oregon. Pitcher Lou Murphy turned his decent healthy campaign in Las Vegas (14-12, 3.52 ERA) into a 1 year $11.5M deal with Denver while Los Angeles added to their already impressive pitching staff by acquiring LHP Jimmy Chien from San Jose for two prospects, SS Julio Zuniga and LF Gabriel Hudson.
The 2020 draft boasted two all-American High School players and several quality College players for teams to choose from. Highly touted two sport High School star Brandon Davis was an interesting case as he had made it clear he wanted to pursue his dreams of a Football career by honouring his North Carolina Scholarship over a career in baseball. However, there were still teams willing to take the chance on him come draft night, it was just a case of who would jump first. High School player Carlos Fierro and North Carolina State’s Sam Lloyd were the top pitchers according to the scouts while USC’s Ben Cox was the best position player available.
In a move that surprised many people the San Jose Spartans drafted Arkansas State’s Randall Jones, a slick defensive 3B but with only average offensive tools, Seattle jumped at the chance to draft High School pitcher Carlos Fierro next while in a move that mystified many, Detroit drafted High School 3B Brandon Davis, despite him once again stating his intention to forego baseball and sign with North Carolina to play football. In a move that continued the theme of questionable decisions, Philadelphia plucked CF Dave Welch from Cal-State Fullerton fourth overall, while Welch was not a bad player, he did have a reputation of being un-coachable. San Diego picked top pitching prospect Sam Lloyd with the fifth pick, he projected to be a power pitcher with good control. Denver eventually ended USC 1B Ben Cox’s surprising slide, when they tabbed him with the sixteenth pick.