When Yan and I left the bunker, we were both satisfied with the work that we’d done – confident that it would carry us forward in the not so distant future and keep us on the path towards perennial contention. So, when the trade of our aging and highly paid starter, Cliff Slavinski, hit the news we expected kudos, we expected the pundits to laud our expertise, and to be recognized for the geniuses we so obviously are… Unfortunately, our fans did not agree – they were devastated and, in that devastation, made their feeling known. I think it’s safe to say that, despite getting RP Murray Wagner (a really good, young, reliever with plenty left in the tank) and a solid SP prospect in Nick Espinal, our fans, who are stuck living in the past, are unhappy with our decision making here. They will, of course, eventually come around – because, if my crystal ball is correct, this is the trade that will put us over the top in the future, this is the trade that makes us champion… or not. Or, more pointedly, definitely not. It should also be noted that we will be retaining 65% of Cliff’s contract and that we had to give up a couple of solid prospects in 3B Lima Laney and SP Skip Dokken. And, if I’m being honest, Yan didn’t really like the trade that much – she wanted more, didn’t really feel that we were getting the value necessary to pull the trigger – but, I just didn’t want to pay Cliff so much money over the next 2 years… $27M per? Nah. Of course, this is not a move that I expect to help us this season – in fact, it will likely do the opposite… it really leaves my rotation in a bit of a lurch. The reality, however, is that we didn’t come into this season with playoff expectations and I didn’t get hired to construct an average ballclub – our mission, the one we accepted from Elvira Hancock, was to become a dynasty and this is just another baby step in that direction.
And, it should be noted that this is probably not my best work – short term a divisional foe gets better at an acceptable price. The Montreal Wanderers (Cliff’s future home) didn’t exactly leverage their future here – they still have prospects in the funnel, are only paying half of his salary, and will be able to part ways with him after the 2080 season, if not before. They also didn’t need to promote anyone to the big club after the trade – so, their everyday deck was improved here for 2079. For my part, I just wanted to dump some salary and start building something new instead of shedding dead weight in the offseason. This frees up some capital and moves us, ever so slightly, in that direction. Plus, if he ever makes it up to the big club, Nick Espinal looks like the kind of fella you don’t want to charge for putting one up & in on you.