What do you do to top off a season where you hit .409? Well, if you're Joey McKinley, you win your 9th MVP award, and 4th consecutive award even though you missed the last week and a half of the season with an injury. Oh yeah, and you steal 30 bases for the first time in your career, at age 36!
Next year will be interesting for Joey, as he turns 37 on July 20, and OOTP may begin declining his stats. Of course, with a 9 in batting and 11 in homeruns, he will probably stay effective for a few years.
Ricardo Casella suffered through an injury plagued year, only appearing in 133 games, however he still posted an impressive .306/46/114 in those games (which projects to .306/55/137 in 160 games). He was resigned by the Yankees to a 4 year, $10 million/year deal.
The Devil Rays improved slightly to 82-80, still a bit disappointing. However, I've got about $6 million to spend on free agents and keep within budget, so hopefully 2023 will bring a better season. Fan loyalty has slipped from a high of 80 to a current 56, so a ticket price decrease is in order. With a payroll in the $50 million range, and broadcast revenue of $29.5 million, ticket revenue is not my top concern.
Now, here's Joey from 2022 and his career numbers, and Casella's 2022 and his career numbers.
2022 Career Casella Career
G 151 2,377 133 1,603
AB 582 8,756 496 5,743
H 218 3,076 152 1,781
2B 21 283 16 192
3B 6 73 0 0
HR 43 639 46 454
RBI 128 1,820 114 1,230
R 119 1,923 109 1,177
K 166 2,087 34 327
BB 100 1,687 87 948
SB 32 223 5 59
CS 12 107 2 25
AVG .375 .351 .306 .310
OBP .474 .456 .421 .408
SLG .653 .619 .617 .581
Joey got his 600th homerun and 3,000th hit this year, also his 2,000th strikeout. In 2023, he'll be looking forward to his 300th double, 650th homerun, 2000th run, and maybe even his 250th stolen base. I now expect him to be able to play effectively until at least age 39, which would put him at about 3,600 hits, 725 homeruns, and 2,150 RBIs. Unless his decline is total, he may last until about 41, with about 3,800 hits, 775 homeruns and 2,400 RBIs. He should also pass 2,000 walks. What an amazing player!
Casella is 33 now and will turn 34 in the off season, and at this point figures to have about 650 HR and 2,500 hits if he plays until 37 and 775 HR and 3,000 hits if he plays until 40. So, overall McKinley's career will be well superior to Casella's, although both are certain hall-of-famers. One thing in which Casella will be clearly superior to McKinley is his eye. McKinley has roughly 1.25 K/BB, while Casella has almost 3 BB/K.