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2022 Off-Season
A number of teams were on the lookout for new managers, three teams went the promotion from within route. Las Vegas promoted Bench Coach Pat Bennett, the former manager of the year had his work cut out for him with the Gamblers ageing roster, Miami promoted Francisco Cerda to be their new skipper, Cerda had experience as manager having skippered Memphis from 2015 to 2018. San Jose, having fired manager Dave Nelson despite the fact he had led the team to their best ever record, also promoted from within, tabbing bench coach Pedro Garcia to be their new field manager. Minneapolis on the other hand raided Atlanta’s coaching staff, prising hitting coach Matt Hunt away from Georgia to be their new manager. Less than two months after signing a five-year deal Denver centerfielder Ron Massey found himself on the trade block along with teammate Ronald Shockley. The two players had got themselves in hot water with the team after being arrested on a night out and in a move designed to send a message to the rest of the team, both players found themselves on their way out of Denver. Washington took a chance on the two players, trading pitcher Gordon Duval to Denver for the pair, most observers believed that if Massey and Shockley knuckled down and stayed out of trouble then Washington had definitely got the better of the deal, but that was a big if.
The biggest story by far of free agency was the next destination of superstar 1B Gabriel Mendez, having left Indianapolis after his contract expired, he was looking for a new home. Fully three quarters of the teams in the NABL had shown serious interest in obtaining his services, in the end it was the bright lights of LA and money on offer from the Lynx that won the day, he signed a $63.5M deal to call southern California home for the next three years. On the down side for the defending champions they lost key contributors to free agency, 1B Jonathan Baker left town and signed with Phoenix for $61M over 4 years, closer Luis Maldonado signed a lucrative $33.5M, 3-year deal with Austin but the biggest loss was star pitcher Zander Pace who was lured away by Washington, signing on for two years at $20.4M per year. Washington, who posted an operating loss in excess of $20M for the second season in a row, also signed former Miami and New Orleans 1B Carlos Vazquez to a 2 year $36M deal and pitcher Benedict Lewis to a 4 year $49.5M pact, Lewis had gone a long way to repairing his reputation during his one year in Austin after his unsavoury exit from Detroit. However, the Generals didn’t have it all their own way losing their own top pitcher Ray Charles to division rivals New York for $55M over 3-years. The senators also won the race to sign star LF Francisco Martinez, landing the veteran on a three year $58M deal while catcher Alaeddin Cobanoglu, turned his solid season with Cleveland into a lucrative 3-year deal with Tampa Bay worth nearly $17M per season.
The 2022 draft board was heavy on High School talent, with two pitchers and three position players being talked about as potential top 5 picks. The two pitchers were Rajion Samit who profiled as a power pitcher with average control and Anthony Dyer who was the opposite, a low strikeout pitcher but with excellent control. The top position players were OF Jared Guest who many scouts thought to be the best batter to declare since Dixon Bodean, 1B Matt Henderson who hit for average and power but also struck out at a high rate and 2B Adonis Moore who was average at the plate but had speed to burn and was a plus defender. The top college pitcher available was Edward Williams of St Johns while LSU catcher Dan Matterby was the top college position player. When draft night arrived, it was pitcher Edward Williams who was taken first overall by Dallas, high school pitcher Rajion Samit heard his name called second by Seattle. Adonis Moore was taken third by Miami while Boston tabbed Jared Guest with the fourth pick, pitcher Anthony Dyer rounded out the top five when he was drafted by Detroit. Matt Henderson was taken tenth by Chicago while Dan Matterby lasted until the seventeenth pick where San Diego ended his fall. Immediately after the draft, Matt Henderson was installed as BNN’s top prospect while Jared Guest was listed at four, with many seeing their rivalry as one to watch over the coming years.
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