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Art Deco · 11-23-2025, 12:46 AM

Retirements (quite a few big names included):

Notables: Mike Trout (#27 retired by Angels), Trea Turner (#7 retired by Phillies), Aaron Judge (#99 retired by Yankees), Bryce Harper (#3 retired by Phillies), Alex Verdugo, Adley Rutschman.

Former Rays: Isaac Paredes.

Awards season:

Gold Gloves: Our Earl Yohemas won at pitcher.

Reliever of the Year: Boston's Jorge Mercedes (37 SV, 1.04 ERA, 2.2 WAR) was the clear winner in the AL with our Joe Boyle finishing third. In the NL Steve Bell of St. Louis (43 SV, 1.73 ERA) was a near-unanimous winner.

Silver Sluggers: Two Tampa Bay winners: soon-to-depart C Samuel Basallo and CF Subaru Nakashima.

Rookie of the Year: When you put together a .322-46-126, 6.1 WAR season as a rookie it's no surprise when you win unanimously which is what Toronto 2B Juan Collado did. The NL winner was Arizona's Jonathan Williamson as the RF hit .339-13-66.

Cy Young: Cleveland's Prince Lovette took 28 first-place votes for the win thanks to a 17-8, 2.08, 287 Ks in 220 IP season which was also good for a league-leading 8.1 WAR. Our Zyaire Sesay was a distant sixth. In the NL the nod went for the third straight year to San Diego's Nelson Chaverria - the ultimate strikeout artist fanned 379 more in only 196 IP and was 17-8, 3.07.

MVP: Well as mentioned Toronto's first-year star 2B Juan Collado had an incredible season that was honored for Rookie of the Year and it was also good enough to net him the MVP, garnering 26 first-place votes in the process. Getting two first place votes (including mine) was our SS Edgar Quezada, although he ended up a somewhat distant fifth, just ahead of teammate Subaru Nakashima. Over in the NL St. Louis RF Rogelio Alvarado was a unanimous winner after a .308-61-152 year that was good for an MLB-best 8.5 WAR.

Well we kicked off what will be a busy offseason with a couple of trades, one significant and the other massive.

First, we got ourselves a late-inning reliever:

We parted ways with 2033 3rd-round pick Allen, who looks bound for the back-end of a rotation, and brought in Moore who saved 36 games for Cleveland last season. He's rated 60/65/50 and earned 1.0 WAR last year so he's good but not a no-brainer closer. He'd probably have the job right now but we still have a lot of additions to make.

Then we made this whopper:

It wasn't easy to pry the not only the best young catcher in the game but perhaps the best all-around catcher in the game, period, but we did it. Argueta has been an all-star his first two seasons in the bigs, an elite defensive catcher who's hit 16 homers each of the last two years while batting .260 and .275. He's averaged 3.3 WAR over those seasons and could still be an even better hitter. While we sacrifice some power from the lost Basallo, his defense was mediocre and his framing terrible, a key reason why some of our pitchers like Yohemas had high walk totals. Argueta will be our cornerstone catcher for years, not even eligible for arbitration until 2036.

But of course the price was high, most notably Cerda, who had his moments as a rookie and has been the best prospect we've had in the last several years. He's projected to be a 60 contact, 70 power and 65 eye guy and he's not that far from getting there. I fully expect him to tear up the NL in the years to come. The others have some quality but I'm not going to lose sleep over them. Satiro has teased with his 60/65 ratings and does mash lefties but has combined for a little over 1 WAR in his 3 seasons with us, Schwartz showed promise as a 2B with some power but was dismal in a backup role, and Wallace is a good pitching prospect but more of a 4th starter type and still has to realize his potential, especially in the control department.

November 27: Lost all 3 of our arbitration cases, with Nakamura, Quezada and Sesay getting about a combined $3M more than offered. Given we have nine figures to spend, it's a rounding error.

We have two big offers out there, one for a free agent coming from overseas. Stay tuned.

December 5: And here is one of them, a done deal:

The .252 career BA sells Kath a bit short as he's a plus fielder at 3B (an improvement over Tatis) and of course has 65 power and a 70 eye and has earned 16.5 WAR over the last 3 years. He is on the wrong side of 30 (32) but is a 3-time Gold Glover and 3-time all-star and one of the top 3B in the game. The fifth year of the deal is a player option.

We still have nearly $90M to spend.

December 6: Another big-name 3B signed as Marco Luciano joined the Astros for 5/173.

December 7: He's back!

Welcome back Crochet! The lefty pitched for us in 2032 and was quite good (a 2.50 ERA and 5 saves over 68 IP) and is still rated 70/65/55. The cost was minimal - a couple of C- prospects.

December 8: Veteran SS Gunnar Henderson joined the Mets for 4/117.

December 13: Mets sign C Edgar Quero to a 5/113 deal.

December 15: And there he goes - Fernando Tatis Jr. hooks up with the Angels for 3/81. Also Austin Riley to Philly for 3/77.

December 17: And who else but the Mets, who keep flashing the cash, sign star starter Andrew Painter to a 6/155 contract.

December 21: Added P Dillon Vokey, OF Amari Brokenborough, P Jorge Amaya and C Zion Rose to the 40-man roster.

Vokey is of course a top 15 prospect in baseball and could make our rotation next year, Brokenborough was our 3rd round pick a few years back and looks like a well-rounded OF prospect, Amaya is a power arm and a future bullpen piece while Rose of course was once our backup C and has hit well at Durham so we'd like to keep him around.

December 22: Emiliano Teodo, in our rotation the last 6 years, is returning to his original organization as Texas signed him for 4/64. Also it was the day of the Rule 5 Draft and we...

Selected P Antwone Kelly from Texas in the Rule 5 draft, lost IF Eddinson Paulino to Oakland.

Not to be confused with the older lefty Antoine Kelly, this Kelly is 31 but has yet to pitch in the bigs despite being rated 70/65/45. The righty will slot into our new-look bullpen. Paulino is a 32-year-old vet who was signed by Durham to a minor league contract and will not be missed at all.

December 28: Signed Taiwanese free agent SP Wen Thean to a 5-year, $153 million contract.

And there it is - the other big free agent signing I was teasing earlier. The 21-year-old phenom has had the attention of the world and we won the bidding war that was anticipated when he became eligible. What's all the fuss about?

The 6'2" lefty's ratings are already mouth-watering and he has the potential to be one of the top pitchers in baseball. We've got him for 3 years at least, for which he'll be paid $23.2, 27.2 and 32.8M, and then he has an opt-out with a couple of player options at $35.2M. So if he's as good as we hope, we might not have him that long but we'll see how things go. He'll slot in as our #2 starter behind Sesay right now and allows us to keep Vokey at Durham to work out some minor control issues. We still have $54M to spend on payroll so we're not quite done yet, although we've filled our catcher, 3B and SP holes. Still need a couple of bullpen arms and maybe a RH OF bat.

Also today we lost longtime bullpen piece Juan Nunez to Philly for 2/23, where they oddly show him as a starter despite 35 stamina.

December 29: And the last of our big free agents signed elsewhere as Samuel Basallo joined Texas for 4/90. We qualified him so we'll receive a supplemental 1st round pick as compensation while we did lose a 3rd rounder for signing Kath.

11-23-2025, 12:46 AM	#288
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,697	2034-35 Offseason, Part 1 Retirements (quite a few big names included): Notables: Mike Trout (#27 retired by Angels), Trea Turner (#7 retired by Phillies), Aaron Judge (#99 retired by Yankees), Bryce Harper (#3 retired by Phillies), Alex Verdugo, Adley Rutschman. Former Rays: Isaac Paredes. Awards season: Gold Gloves: Our Earl Yohemas won at pitcher. Reliever of the Year: Boston's Jorge Mercedes (37 SV, 1.04 ERA, 2.2 WAR) was the clear winner in the AL with our Joe Boyle finishing third. In the NL Steve Bell of St. Louis (43 SV, 1.73 ERA) was a near-unanimous winner. Silver Sluggers: Two Tampa Bay winners: soon-to-depart C Samuel Basallo and CF Subaru Nakashima. Rookie of the Year: When you put together a .322-46-126, 6.1 WAR season as a rookie it's no surprise when you win unanimously which is what Toronto 2B Juan Collado did. The NL winner was Arizona's Jonathan Williamson as the RF hit .339-13-66. Cy Young: Cleveland's Prince Lovette took 28 first-place votes for the win thanks to a 17-8, 2.08, 287 Ks in 220 IP season which was also good for a league-leading 8.1 WAR. Our Zyaire Sesay was a distant sixth. In the NL the nod went for the third straight year to San Diego's Nelson Chaverria - the ultimate strikeout artist fanned 379 more in only 196 IP and was 17-8, 3.07. MVP: Well as mentioned Toronto's first-year star 2B Juan Collado had an incredible season that was honored for Rookie of the Year and it was also good enough to net him the MVP, garnering 26 first-place votes in the process. Getting two first place votes (including mine) was our SS Edgar Quezada, although he ended up a somewhat distant fifth, just ahead of teammate Subaru Nakashima. Over in the NL St. Louis RF Rogelio Alvarado was a unanimous winner after a .308-61-152 year that was good for an MLB-best 8.5 WAR. Well we kicked off what will be a busy offseason with a couple of trades, one significant and the other massive. First, we got ourselves a late-inning reliever: We parted ways with 2033 3rd-round pick Allen, who looks bound for the back-end of a rotation, and brought in Moore who saved 36 games for Cleveland last season. He's rated 60/65/50 and earned 1.0 WAR last year so he's good but not a no-brainer closer. He'd probably have the job right now but we still have a lot of additions to make. Then we made this whopper: It wasn't easy to pry the not only the best young catcher in the game but perhaps the best all-around catcher in the game, period, but we did it. Argueta has been an all-star his first two seasons in the bigs, an elite defensive catcher who's hit 16 homers each of the last two years while batting .260 and .275. He's averaged 3.3 WAR over those seasons and could still be an even better hitter. While we sacrifice some power from the lost Basallo, his defense was mediocre and his framing terrible, a key reason why some of our pitchers like Yohemas had high walk totals. Argueta will be our cornerstone catcher for years, not even eligible for arbitration until 2036. But of course the price was high, most notably Cerda, who had his moments as a rookie and has been the best prospect we've had in the last several years. He's projected to be a 60 contact, 70 power and 65 eye guy and he's not that far from getting there. I fully expect him to tear up the NL in the years to come. The others have some quality but I'm not going to lose sleep over them. Satiro has teased with his 60/65 ratings and does mash lefties but has combined for a little over 1 WAR in his 3 seasons with us, Schwartz showed promise as a 2B with some power but was dismal in a backup role, and Wallace is a good pitching prospect but more of a 4th starter type and still has to realize his potential, especially in the control department. November 27: Lost all 3 of our arbitration cases, with Nakamura, Quezada and Sesay getting about a combined $3M more than offered. Given we have nine figures to spend, it's a rounding error. We have two big offers out there, one for a free agent coming from overseas. Stay tuned. December 5: And here is one of them, a done deal: The .252 career BA sells Kath a bit short as he's a plus fielder at 3B (an improvement over Tatis) and of course has 65 power and a 70 eye and has earned 16.5 WAR over the last 3 years. He is on the wrong side of 30 (32) but is a 3-time Gold Glover and 3-time all-star and one of the top 3B in the game. The fifth year of the deal is a player option. We still have nearly $90M to spend. December 6: Another big-name 3B signed as Marco Luciano joined the Astros for 5/173. December 7: He's back! Welcome back Crochet! The lefty pitched for us in 2032 and was quite good (a 2.50 ERA and 5 saves over 68 IP) and is still rated 70/65/55. The cost was minimal - a couple of C- prospects. December 8: Veteran SS Gunnar Henderson joined the Mets for 4/117. December 13: Mets sign C Edgar Quero to a 5/113 deal. December 15: And there he goes - Fernando Tatis Jr. hooks up with the Angels for 3/81. Also Austin Riley to Philly for 3/77. December 17: And who else but the Mets, who keep flashing the cash, sign star starter Andrew Painter to a 6/155 contract. December 21: Added P Dillon Vokey, OF Amari Brokenborough, P Jorge Amaya and C Zion Rose to the 40-man roster. Vokey is of course a top 15 prospect in baseball and could make our rotation next year, Brokenborough was our 3rd round pick a few years back and looks like a well-rounded OF prospect, Amaya is a power arm and a future bullpen piece while Rose of course was once our backup C and has hit well at Durham so we'd like to keep him around. December 22: Emiliano Teodo, in our rotation the last 6 years, is returning to his original organization as Texas signed him for 4/64. Also it was the day of the Rule 5 Draft and we... Selected P Antwone Kelly from Texas in the Rule 5 draft, lost IF Eddinson Paulino to Oakland. Not to be confused with the older lefty Antoine Kelly, this Kelly is 31 but has yet to pitch in the bigs despite being rated 70/65/45. The righty will slot into our new-look bullpen. Paulino is a 32-year-old vet who was signed by Durham to a minor league contract and will not be missed at all. December 28: Signed Taiwanese free agent SP Wen Thean to a 5-year, $153 million contract. And there it is - the other big free agent signing I was teasing earlier. The 21-year-old phenom has had the attention of the world and we won the bidding war that was anticipated when he became eligible. What's all the fuss about? The 6'2" lefty's ratings are already mouth-watering and he has the potential to be one of the top pitchers in baseball. We've got him for 3 years at least, for which he'll be paid $23.2, 27.2 and 32.8M, and then he has an opt-out with a couple of player options at $35.2M. So if he's as good as we hope, we might not have him that long but we'll see how things go. He'll slot in as our #2 starter behind Sesay right now and allows us to keep Vokey at Durham to work out some minor control issues. We still have $54M to spend on payroll so we're not quite done yet, although we've filled our catcher, 3B and SP holes. Still need a couple of bullpen arms and maybe a RH OF bat. Also today we lost longtime bullpen piece Juan Nunez to Philly for 2/23, where they oddly show him as a starter despite 35 stamina. December 29: And the last of our big free agents signed elsewhere as Samuel Basallo joined Texas for 4/90. We qualified him so we'll receive a supplemental 1st round pick as compensation while we did lose a 3rd rounder for signing Kath.