[Paulie123]

29 Jan 2035

Early start to meet and greet the front office staff. The club lawyer, C. U. Incourt, or Clare to her friends, seems really nice. She looked at me, and I got a funny feeling in my stomach. I'm not sure I have time for all that.

All morning was devoted to a meeting with pitching coach Sly Derr and the rest of his team. We discussed the rotation and bullpen, and I could see immediately how we ended up with only 69 wins last season. The pitching corps is a low-quality mess. Worse, the club appears to have done nothing about pursuing the best free agents over the offseason, despite having plenty of cash and a protected pick. They're now off the board and it's too late.

Rotation

SP Scott McGivern (30, throws R, 4*): Two-time EBA all-star with terrific stuff, good control, and a devastating curveball. Entering the last year of a bumper $26.4m contract which his performances don't merit. Flyball pitcher, which is certainly not my preference, but he's by far the best starter I've got at the moment.

SP Carl Sears (31, throws R, 2*): Has the quality of a #4 or #5 starter but takes the #2 position on this weak staff. Throws four unspectacular pitches but has great movement and is hard to hit out of the park. Went 8-22 last year but his 3.81 FIP shows he was better than that record suggests. Another player due to hit free agency after this year.

SP Alexander Jackson (27, throws R, 2*): Throws six good pitches, but his control tends to let him down. Was ranked the EBA's #36 prospect four years ago, but struggled to fulfill that potential so far.

SP Antony Sampson (23, throws L, 1*): Extremely popular groundballer who is due to reach arbitration after this season. Has mainly played out of the bullpen in his Hedgehogs career so far but stepped up into the rotation for two starts at the end of last year. Gets nice movement on his pitches but control could be better.

SP Britt Mitchell (23, throws R, 1*): Similar calibre to Sampson, but throws wider variety of pitches. Both are really AAAA quality players but that's enough to get a spot on this roster at the moment. Scouts don't back him to get any better than his current level.

Bullpen

CL Jeff Carlson (28, throws L, 4*): 31 saves for the Hedgehogs in 2034 and has 205 to his name during his EBA career so far. Fantastic stuff has seen him rack up a 11.5 K/9 strikeout rate but another whose average control can be an Achilles heel.

MR Bennie Smith (26, throws R, 0.5*): Righty setup. Only played 18 games in the majors so far. 9 of them came last year, where he posted a respectable 3.00 ERA despite an unlucky .357 BABIP. High stamina and keeps the ball down in the zone, but that he has the setup role - at the moment anyway - shows the lack of quality in this bullpen.

MR Gonzalo Morán (23, throws L, 0.5*): Lefty setup. Gets that role by default due to being the only lefty reliever on the roster other than Carlson. Has a nice changeup and cutter in his arsenal, and good control.

MR Cory Murray (24, throws R, 3*): Mediocre righty who is yet to make a major league appearance. Has no glaring weaknesses but no particular strengths either.

MR Jonathan Ramey (28, throws R, 2*): Former 5th round draft pick by Newcastle who developed rapidly is the minors and has spent the last six seasons in the Swordfish's pen. Career 4.99 BB/9 mark exemplifies his poor control but hard to hit out of the park when he does get it right.

MR Jim Smith (30, throws R, 1*): Deploys five good pitches including a tricky fastball, but allows too many walks. Not worth the $6.1m he'll earn this year before reaching free agency.

MR Porter Walker (32, throws R, 0.5*): Was EBA #59 prospect just over a decade ago, but abysmal control has hampered him his entire career. Excellent movement on his pitches means he rarely gets shelled but his lifetime 0.95 K/BB ratio encapsulates his limited ability. The previous GM signed him to a crazy $7.9m contract for 2035 at the end of last season, but thankfully for just the one year.

There is a decidedly limited amount of good news here. There is little to shout about in the minors either, so as well as having a poor active roster the club has little or no pitcher depth. I will need to move swiftly to bolster the ranks via free agency. Fortunately we should have a protected first round draft pick so I'll be able to sign Type A free agents without losing that vital means of getting in top drawer new young talent.

I've already made my first move, offering a minor league deal to undrafted 21-year-old SS Teinosuke Shirai, who my scouts say has the attributes to become a decent reliever.