[JayW UK]

2040 Off-Season

Since buying the Austin Kings back in June, new owner Lorenzo Collazo had spent the intervening months observing the running of the franchise, after promising on-field play and the strong performance of GM Jerry Phillips, he decided not to make drastic changes. Both Phillips and manager Ephraim Bonekamp were retained but with one change, Collazo‘s son Albert Jr was named as assistant GM, with many observers wondering how this arrangement would play out in the long run. Although Austin made no managerial changes a number of teams would be joining Dallas, Detroit and St. Louis in the market for new management. Las Vegas skipper Bruce Weaver called an end to his career quickly followed by Miami’s Joe Hart and OKC’s Jim Scheid, Baltimore did not offer Allen Long an extension with Minneapolis following suit when they let Allen Richardson leave. New Orleans lost both manager Rob Nava, who left to manage in Japan, and Hitting coach Steffen Hurtado who departed to take the vacant OKC job, another assistant coach getting a chance was Detroit Pitching coach Andrew Simpson who was named the new Miami manager. Las Vegas lured Gomes Solano away from Seattle to take over from Bruce Weaver, while Seattle moved quickly to replace Solano, naming former Minneapolis skipper Allen Richardson as their manager. New Orleans settled on Allen Long as the man to replace Nava, while Dallas named Omaha bench coach Angel Romero as their manager for 2040, after missing out on several of the top candidates, Minneapolis decided to stay in house and promoted bench coach Jose Diaz to the top job. Baltimore, Detroit and St. Louis all chose to raid the minor leagues for their new skippers, Keith Key (BAL), Mike Anderson (DET) and Jesus Velasquez (STL) were the men to make the leap.
The big losers of free agency were Charlotte, with the club having to balance the books after losing $34M in 2039, the Express were unable to prevent several key players from leaving. Pitchers Greg Marshall (2-year $32M deal with Tampa Bay) and Jim Jacques (4-year $64M with Boston) joined superstar third baseman Brandon Townsend (7-year $140M superdeal with Sanfrancisco) in leaving North Carolina for pastures new. Their limited resources were spent on securing the services of former Houston starter Wes Pierson on a two year $43M contract. At the other end of the spectrum were Sanfrancisco who in addition to star 3B Brandon Townsend also secured the services of veteran pitcher Cristobal Chapa from Baltimore on a 2-year deal and brought back former star closer Barton Rogers after he opted out of his Chicago contract, these moves bolstered their already stacked roster and made the Gold one of the favourites to win the WL pennant. OKC were also busy, luring star pitcher Shane Olson away from Philadelphia on a 4-year $76M deal and bringing back 1B Randy Harrington from Indianapolis a year after letting him go, signing him for 2-years at $18M per year. Tampa Bay raided division rivals New Orleans for slugging 1B Rick Flynn (4-years and $77M) adding his power bat to an already explosive offense and making the Hurricanes a strong contender to unseat Atlanta as kings of the Southeast division.
The 2040 draft class was all about pitching, with no fewer than five pitchers who could realistically be taken first overall, three high school stars and a pair of college arms. Willard Murray and David Hills, both hard throwing, high control all-American high school stars, were the leading underclassmen while Todd Morgan (Vanderbilt) and Pat Rogers (Mississippi State) were the top college arms. High school phenom Felipe Morales was the fifth pitcher, a late riser on draft boards after a stellar senior year saw him go from relative unknown to likely top five selection. The top position players in the class were South Carolina’s star CF Michael Stewart and high school 3B Earl Roberts who possessed a budding power bat and the eye to match.
With the first pick Detroit selected pitcher Felipe Morales, the move was seen by some as a risk due to his late rise up draft boards. Austin added to their stable of young building blocks by picking pitcher David Hills next while Baltimore took pitcher Willard Murray third overall. Cleveland maintained the theme of drafting pitching when they nabbed Vanderbilt’s Todd Morgan fourth before Miami broke the trend, selecting South Carolina centerfielder Michael Stewart with the next pick. Washington landed 3B Earl Roberts sixth while Mississippi State ace Pat Rogers slid down to ninth, where LA were more than happy to end his fall.
In a surprising move that caught Boston and the NABL world off-guard, Pilgrim manager Christian Eberlein, frustrated with team owner Tex McGuinness and his unwillingness to discuss a contract extension, announced he was stepping down with immediate effect. The resignation threw Boston’s title defence into disarray, with barely three weeks to the start of the season the Pilgrims were left scrambling to replace the man who had led them to three World Series appearances and two titles in five years at the helm. After a whirlwind search, Eberlein’s understudy Terry Nelson was the man chosen to step into his mentor’s shoes, a tall order if ever there was one.
Even after Eberlein’s departure Boston were still seen as the cream of the Atlantic division and unless things imploded for new man Terry Nelson, the Pilgrims were expected to remain at the top of the standings. New York were expected to be their only rivals for the division crown as the other three teams, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington were all predicted to finish the season below .500. In the Central, Chicago and Indianapolis were once again set to contest the title, only St. Louis with new manager Jesus Velasquez were given any chance of un-seating the pair. The Southeast was looking to be a battle between defending champions Atlanta and big-spending Tampa Bay, while Miami and New Orleans were widely expected to battle for the #1 pick in the 2041 draft.
Over in the west, defending WL champions Omaha were predicted to come under pressure from OKC for the Midwest division crown while in the Southwest Las Vegas were clear favourites, but both Houston and Phoenix were in the running for the wildcard spot. Sanfrancisco, after adding star 3B Brandon Townsend and P Cristobal Chapa to their already loaded roster, were in prime position to claim the Pacific division crown, while San Jose and dark horses Los Angeles would be waiting in the wings for any slip-ups.