Terra Baseball League: Bryant Warriors

[StLee]

I love the name Murtagh.

I have a player in my Fallout dynasty named Maxx Murtagh who is a descendant of famed Boston Red Sox pitcher Matt "The Missile" Murtagh. There is even a baseball card of Murtagh in Fallout 4: https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Matt_Murtagh

[jaa36]

It's been a slow start to 2007, with the Warriors finishing April with a 12-12 record. That's four games behind the Wonderwood Monarchs in the conference. Loran Hamrick has started strong, with a .400 average and a 17-game hitting streak. Luis Del Rosario is also off to a good start (.323, 16 RBI). The rotation has all been pretty good, other than Al Rendon.

Murtagh Pettijohn has returned from injury and is ready to go. Pitcher Shane Johnson may finally be ready to contribute soon as well. Meanwhile, Miguel Bello is CRUSHING it back in AA (.382, 10 HR) and I'll likely call him up next month.

[jaa36]

We won 17 games in May and moved up to a 29-22 record overall. That's still a game back of Wonderwood, but very much in the hunt. The Warriors started off slow, losing seven of nine, but then reeled off a ten-game winning streak kicked off by a 17-inning victory over the Monarchs. B.J. Pallister had a .388 on-base percentage, 6 homers and 21 RBI. Colton Sapp hit .330 and drove in 24. Miguel Bello, whose timetable moved up due to an injury to Reiji Kono, hit .303 in 76 plate appearances with the big club. On the mound, Pogo Turner gave us four wins, and Roddie Tirado seven saves.

We selected college pitcher Icarus Fischer with our first-round pick. In addition to having a sweet name, Fischer looks like a decent prospect for a future Warriors rotation. We ended up with two second-round picks, having gotten one for Noah Livingstone in the offseason, and picked high school catcher Shane Dunlap and college outfielder Kato Smith.

Around the league, Tim Adams is up to his usual tricks, with a .399 average and a 26-game hitting streak. The Crestmont Bobcats have reeled off seven wins in a row and are tied with the Stephens Rattlers with a 33-18 record in the Western Conference.

[jaa36]

Halfway-ish through the season, the Warriors are seven games behind the Wonderwood Monarchs. The club has underperformed, and has actually allowed more runs than it's scored, but still has a 40-37 record overall.

Murtagh Pettijohn has gotten off to a decent but not spectacular start in his first season in Bryant. Meanwhile, Luis Del Rosario and Loran Hamrick have paced the offense, with some help from rookie Miguel Bello. Meanwhile, the pitching slumped considerably in June, with Pogo Turner and Nadif Awuah both posting ERAs north of 6.

I've got my eye on Takaman amateur Hideshi Nakano, who's asking for $5M- Nakano could end up as a capable infielder, and looks like he could hit.

Crestmont has moved ahead of Stephens in the TBL West. Lawrence Green of the Terra City Capitals is putting together a spectacular year on the mound, with an 11-3 record and 1.50 ERA.

[jaa36]

The Warriors continue to fritter away a promising season, going 12-13 in July to end the month at 52-50. We're not completely out of it yet, just eight games behind the Wonderwood Monarchs. B.J. Pallister had a good month, with a .430 OBP, and first baseman Claude Speech hit six home runs and drove in 18. Meanwhile, Miguel Bello lost some of his luster, hitting just .179 and earning a demotion back to AAA. Roddie Tirado had another good month, reaching 17 saves and earning a two-year extension worth $18M total. Starters Kyoshi Anno and Mondarius Pratt were both sub-replacement level.

I traded away outfielder Andy Wright (again) for pitcher Neale Johnson. The 23-year-old right-hander doesn't have a very high ceiling but should provide us with some depth. I couldn't reel in Hideshi Nakano, but did pick up Sorenheim first base prospect Pete Johansson for $3.5M, which was probably an overpay.

Roddie Tirado, Luis Del Rosario and Pogo Turner (?) were all selected to the All-Star game. Murtagh Pettijohn strained his groin and will miss the next month.

The Crestmont Bobcats have opened up a big lead in the WC. Veterans Aiden Montpetit (1.97) and Lawrence Green (1.85) are both trying to post sub-2.00 ERAs.

[jaa36]

The Warriors played better in August, winning 14 of 25 games to enter September with a 66-61 overall record. We're still eight games back from the Monarchs, so there's little hope for winning the conference.

Luis Del Rosario and B.J. Pallister both had good months offensively. Meanwhile, Randy Rojo is putting together another sub-.300-OBP season; his Warriors tenure has turned out to be a disappointment, but he'll be out the door at the end of the season. On the mound, Al Rendon put it all together this month, with a 3-0 record and 2.17 ERA.

Injuries nibbled at us this month, with Kyoshi Anno, Pogo Turner and Nathan Roelofs joining Murtagh Pettijohn on the IL. We didn't make any trades, having already dealt away Andy Wright.

The Monarchs and the Crestmont Bobcats both have comfortable leads, and might be the first repeat championship series matchup since 1982-1983.

[jaa36]

Oh how the tables have turned... the Warriors reeled off a seven-game winning streak and won 20 games overall in September, while the Wonderwood Monarchs won only 10. We took two of three from the Monarchs in a hard-fought series in the middle of the month, winning games on go-ahead ninth-inning singles by Reiji Kono and backup catcher Johnny Reinas. The end result of all this is that we head into October with a two-game lead, with nine games to play!

We got big performances from Murtagh Pettijohn, who returned from injury, and Claude Speech, who hit six homers and drove in 25, but a lot of the role players stepped up also, including infielders Colton Sapp, Leroy Sykes and Walt Cota. (Randy Rojo was an exception, hitting .151 as usual.). And Al Rendon won all six games he pitched in, advancing his record to 18-8 en route to winning the Pitcher of the Month. Roddie Tirado was lights-out all month, saving eight games with a 1.20 ERA.

We finish up with three games apiece against two mediocre teams (Silverley and Freeton) sandwiched around three games against Wonderwood, which I'll likely play out myself. We're reasonably healthy, with our only notable omissions being Pogo Turner and Nathan Roelofs, neither of whom is exactly essential anyway. The championship is in reach once again...

[jaa36]

The Warriors completed a remarkable comeback to win the Eastern Conference! We finished with a 93-69 record, good for a three-game advantage over the Wonderwood Monarchs. We had been eight games back with just 32 to play, and started playing like a house on fire while the Monarchs crumped. And sometimes it's better to be lucky than good- we exceeded our Pythagorean win total by five games, while Wonderwood fell short by six.

We came into our final series against Wonderwood with a one-game lead and six to play. Al Rendon faced off against Monarchs ace John Matthew Petty in the first game of the series. The Monarchs took a 3-0 lead on a home run by Kit Vazquez in the third inning. The Warriors chipped away, and were helped out by a fifth-inning rain delay of an hour that left Petty unable to return. In the ninth, the Warriors manufactured a run and tied the score when Walt Cota singled, Leroy Sykes pinch-ran and stole second, advanced on a groundout and scored on a single by Colton Sapp. But with ace Roddie Tirado on the mound, shortstop Charles Davies hit his 27th home run of the season to give Wonderwood the lead, which they held onto in the bottom of the inning, and the conference race was tied.

In game two, B.J. Pallister put the Warriors ahead immediately in the first with a single, and Bryant jumped out to a five-run lead in the second to win going away, with fifth starter Luka Polson picking up the win. Game three saw Wonderwood go ahead in the fourth on a two-run homer by Ellis Cleese, his 42nd of the season, and with future Hall-of-Famer Max Covert on the mound, it looked like that lead would hold up. But a double by Loran Hamrick in the fifth and a home run by J.R. Cody in the sixth tied the score, and Randy Rojo put Bryant ahead in the eighth on a sac fly. Tirado shut the door on Wonderwood in the ninth, and the Warriors had a two-game lead with three to play.

The final three games of the season weren't entirely free of drama. We jumped out to a 6-0 lead against Freeton, and won 9-5. The clincher came the following day, when we took an 8-3 lead before giving up four runs, and Roddie Tirado ended up going 2 1/3 innings to collect the save in a nail-biter. We ended up winning the final five games of the regular season.

We head into the TBL Championship Series against the 100-62 Crestmont Bobcats. The Bobcats are strong on both side of the ball, with offensive stalwarts Toby Younger (.306/24/109) and Stu Woodward (.313/22/102), and pitchers Aiden Montpetit (22-6, 2.19) and C.J. Welch (19-6, 2.70). Both teams come into the finals relatively healthy.

Eli Sanders of the Silverley Mustangs finished with 51 home runs and 150 runs batted in, just the fifth time a TBL player had reached that RBI total.

[jaa36]

What was I saying about it being better to be lucky than good? Against all odds, the Bryant Warriors mounted a remarkable comeback from a 2-0 deficit against the Crestmont Bobcats to win the TBL Championship Series in six games. The Warriors were all over the place on the base paths, stealing 19 bases and getting caught only twice against hapless Bobcats catcher Hideaki Ando, a former Warrior himself. B.J. Pallister was named series MVP after collecting 11 hits in 23 at-bats.

Game one: Bobcats 4, Warriors 0. Aiden Montpetit held the Warriors just just five baserunners in a complete-game shutout. Meanwhile, the Bobcats scored a run in the third and three in the fifth to chase Nadif Awuah.

Game two: Bobcats 2, Warriors 0. This time it was C.J. Welch's turn to shut out the Warriors. Welch only went six innings, but he and three relievers again allowed only five baserunners. A single by Hideaki Ando and a home run by Randy Burton accounted for Crestmont's scoring. The Warriors headed back to Bryant in a 2-0 hole, having scored zero runs in two games.

Game three: Warriors 7, Bobcats 3. Former Warrior Tatu Niemela walked four and hit a batter in the third to stake Bryant to a 3-0 lead; Niemela ended up walking seven total before departing in the fifth. Home runs by Reiji Kono and Murtagh Pettijohn helped the Warriors tack on four more runs, and the bullpen helped Rocky Long complete a somewhat tough outing. B.J. Pallister had three hits on the day. At least the Warriors wouldn't be swept!

Game four: Warriors 2, Bobcats 1. Hideaki Ando doubled in a run in the third as the Bobcats took the lead off Kyoshi Anno. Colton Sapp singled in a run off Julen Flores to tie the score in the fifth, and a double by Kono put the Warriors ahead in the next inning. Anno provided five solid innings, and Braden Hammel, Roddie Tirado and Josiah Willis held the Bobcats scoreless the rest of the way as the Warriors tied up the series. Willis made things exciting in the ninth, allowing the tying run to reach third on a wild pitch before freezing Sebastien Paoli on a 97-mph fastball. Now all we had to was find a way to beat Montpetit and Welch!

Game five: Warriors 5, Bobcats 4. Nadif Awuah allowed three runs in the first, helped along by a crucial error by Luis Del Rosario, and things looked pretty bleak against the dominant Montpetit. But the Bobcats chipped away, with a solo homer by Del Rosario in the fourth, a single by Pettijohn in the sixth, and a game-tying homer by J.R. Cody in the seventh. With Montpetit gone, ace reliever Sherman Martin walked Pallister, who stole second, moved to third on a throwing error by Ando, and scored on a passed ball to give Bryant the lead! Del Rosario followed up with another walk, stole second himself, and then advanced to score on two fly balls. With Tirado gassed from his efforts the last two days, rookie Luka Polson came on with a two-run lead, and gave up one but struck out Burton to send the Warriors back to Crestmont needing only one win for the championship!

Game six: Warriors 5, Bobcats 1. Pallister started the game off with a solo home run, and Pettijohn and Colton Sapp drove in two more runs to put the Warriors up 3-0 after two innings. Al Rendon was terrific, holding the Crestmont bats scoreless over five innings. Pallister added two more hits and stole two bases as the Warriors added two additional runs. Tirado took the mound to squelch a rally in the eighth, and then struck out the final two batters in the ninth (Ando and David Merkel) looking to give the Warriors their second championship!!!

[jaa36]

This was a surprisingly successful season, culminating in the second championship for the Bryant Warriors in six seasons. We finished fifth in the league in runs scored, and seventh in runs allowed, but that was good enough for a championship. The Warriors weren't a team with much power, but they finished first in the league in baserunning and tied for second in stolen bases- a talent that paid off handsomely in the postseason.

Owner Keith Little was extremely pleased with our performance (suddenly)- we finished with a season score of 799, and accomplished ALL of his goals, both short and long term (make the playoffs, improve attendance, increase profits, and win a championship), resulting in a three-year extension at $1.6M/year. Our 3.6M fans were the most in franchise history, and we turned a profit of $25M.

Successes:
1. Colton Sapp. The 28-year-old finished third in Rookie of the Year voting, hitting .298 with 35 doubles and playing a good second base. He proved to be a capable replacement for Nicky Willey at a fraction of the price.
2. Claude Speech. The first baseman led the team with 28 home runs and 109 RBI, and while not an All-Star like Toby Younger in the past, he was certainly good enough.
3. Murtagh Pettijohn. Pettijohn only made it into 95 games, but he was excellent when he played, with a .369 OBP and stabilizing the pitching staff.
4. J.R. Cody. The 31-year-old veteran was picked up off the scrap heap, and rewarded the club with 1.7 WAR in just 47 games.
5. Al Rendon. Rendon put things together in 2007, winning 18 games with 231 1/3 solid innings.
6. Roddie Tirado. The veteran closer had his second straight sub-2.00 ERA season.

Disappointments:
1. Randy Rojo. This was the second straight sub-replacement level season for Rojo, whose career has taken several steps back after a very solid start.
2. Andy Wright. The rookie outfielder was extremely terrible and was traded away to Wal.
3. Munemitsu Hiraki. I have no idea why I keep expecting him to play better...

The farm system is now sixth overall, and the single-A Tavistock Highlanders had a 111-51 record. Miguel Bello had an OK debut with us and will really, seriously, definitely finally start for us next season. Jimmy Potter, our fourth-round pick this season, quickly moved up the prospect ranks to #32 overall.

Among former Warriors, several hitters had great seasons- Lou Harte and Gus Zahakis with the Freeton Crusaders, Toby Younger with the Crestmont Bobcats, and Wyatt Cox with the Sidney City Scorpions. Nicky Willey slumped to 1.3 WAR and looks to be more of a role player at the age of 37. Michael Schneider was terrific with the Titans, Senan Harris was below replacement level for the Silverley Mustangs, and Lucio Montoya and Felix Rodriguez have succumbed to age and ineffectiveness.

Around the league, Joseph Johnson of the Lenaway Storm won the Player of the Year, with a .392 OBP, 40 homers, 117 RBI and spectacular center field defense. Aiden Montpetit of the Bobcats won his fifth Pitcher of the Year (and third straight), going 22-6 with a 2.19 ERA. Adrian Kowalcyzk of the Marsh Heroes was the Rookie of the Year, and Ian Gusman of the Patrick Legends won his second straight Reliever of the Year.

The goals this season are relatively modest, and we'll have a decent chunk of change to work with. We'll need a shortstop, and to shore up the bullpen. I'm looking to sign Rendon to a long-term deal. Our coaching staff will all return unchanged.

[jaa36]

This year's inductee to the Hall of Fame is Simon Borland. Borland signed as an international amateur signee out of Rowenia by the Freeton Crusaders in 1976, and advanced to become a top-five prospect before making his debut in Freeton in 1981. The right-hander quickly became one of the top pitchers in baseball, making his first All-Star team in 1984. The next season, he led the league with 19 victories, and won 21 six years later. He was durable, starting 30 games or more in 15 consecutive seasons, and leading the league in innings pitched in 1989 and 1990. Borland won a total of seven championships, five with the Crusaders, and two later in his career with the Silverley Mustangs. He won 263 career games, third all time, and made five All-Star teams total, with 74 career WAR.

[jaa36]

The Capitals are a franchise that should have been better than they actually were. Terra City is the second-largest city in Terra, located south of the Middle Sea, in the province of Dunstan. Fitting of the team's nickname, Terra City is the capital city of Terra itself. It's currently considered the fifth-largest market in the league, behind Freeton, Silverley, Sungate and Patrick. Capitals Ballpark is good for average, but suppresses home runs somewhat.

The Capitals have managed to keep above .500 overall, but they've only made it to the playoffs 14 times, and have only won it four times. The team's first championship was in 1911, and it had a drought of 69 years before winning it all again in 1980, with EIGHT unsuccessful postseason appearing in between those victories. Since then, they've also won it in 1985 and 1996.

Highlight: Probably the 1980 championship season. The team had finished in second or third the past five seasons, then won 93 games and defeated the Sungate Falcons in five games, with Hall of Famer Lew Montroy bookending the series with victories.

Lowlight: 1973, the fifth of six consecutive losing seasons, and one in which the Capitals lost a franchise-record 104 games. A younger Montroy lost 22 games in that season.

Top player: Uriel Morse. The right-hander won seven consecutive Pitcher of the Year awards (and eight total) for the Capitals, compiling an even 100 WAR and a 2.81 ERA with the club over 13 seasons in Terra City. Sadly, Morse never won a championship, losing in all four postseason appearances with the Capitals. Morse entered the Hall of Fame in 1973.

[jaa36]

The 2008 ABC was won by Mapleshire, who defeated Valoria two games to one in the finals. Mapleshire went 9-3 in tournament play, besting Kilwinning 1-0 behind a shutout by John Matthew Petty to make it into the finals. Valoria was 10-1 in the round robin portion. Valoria thumped Mapleshire 13-3 in the first game of the finals, but Mapleshire came back to win the next two, with Mars Aravjo and T.J. Deel providing six hits apiece. Our old friend Jeremiah Mellado was three for three for Mapleshire (of course). Usaboro Sugiyama had 19 hits and 7 homers for Takama to win Player of the Year, and Hayden Cann of Rowenia was 2-0 with 29 strikeouts to win Pitcher of the Year.

Miguel Bello hit .328 with three homers for Valoria. Luis Del Rosario, B.J. Pallister and Murtagh Pettijohn all hit .300 as well. Nadif Awuah and Al Rendon allowed just two runs apiece, in 15 and 14 1/3 innings respectively.

[jaa36]

Most of work in the offseason was of the retooling variety rather than making wholesale changes- no sense in tinkering too much with a winner. There were two big prizes on the market, Max Covert and Aaron Cisneros, but the former went to the Freeton Crusaders for six years and $249M, and the latter to the Crestmont Bobcats for five years and $154M. We ended up filling the vacancy in our rotation by trade, acquiring 34-year-old Vidal Connell from the Sidney City Scorpions for a minor leaguer. Connell makes $15.8M each of the next two seasons, and posted a 12-7 record and 3.70 ERA last season. Another trade with Sidney City brought in 35-year-old reliever Jack Lane, who led the league with 35 saves last season and makes $5.3M in the last year of his contract. Meanwhile, we have former first-round pick Shane Johnson coming back from a second straight season lost to injury, and hopefully he'll be able to contribute.

The toughest decision of the offseason was an offer for Loran Hamrick. The 32-year-old veteran had been a huge part of our two championship teams, was coming off a season in which he hit a career-high .331 with 3.4 WAR, and was making just $4M the next two seasons. But the return was too good to pass up- 26-year-old outfielder Gaby Shade, who provided perhaps even better on-base skills and base-running, similarly great outfield defense, a lower salary for 2008 ($1.4M), and less likelihood of decline in the next few seasons. In the end, sense prevailed over sentiment and I accepted the deal.

I spent $9M for nine-time All-Star Kjell Skjervold, who's reliably provided 4 WAR a season since 1995. Skjervold is 35, with very limited defensive skills, and I figured he could slot in as our DH, but with our glut of outfielders the fit didn't make a lot of sense... and I ended up trading him away to the Sungate Falcons for infielder Leon Gardner-Lee. The 24-year-old doesn't provide much with the bat, but does give us excellent defense, and we do need a shortstop.

I also signed outfielder De'Andre Harris, a 29-year-old coming off a 25-homer, 92-RBI season with the Falcons. Harris will make $6M with a player option for a second season; he should fit well in a corner outfield spot. I also picked up 23-year-old outfielder Alexis Ioannou as a rule 5 pick.

[jaa36]

We made it through spring training relatively unscathed. Keith Little expects us to make the playoffs, and we are projected to win 86 games.

25-year-old Miguel Bello will finally join the starting lineup- seven years after he was signed. The outfield looks very different from last season, and we have a new shortstop. The rotation is reasonably strong from top to bottom, but we don't really have an ace. The bullpen looks pretty good overall though is vulnerable in the middle innings.

The farm system has slipped to 11th overall, with Jimmy Potter our top prospect at #26 overall.

[jaa36]

Don't look now, but the Warriors have won 14 games in a row... including two 15-inning wins. Despite this we are still in second place, a game behind the Sidney City Scorpions.

Several of our new additions are performing well- Leon Gardner-Lee is hitting .326, De'Andre Harris .293 with 4 homers and 13 RBI, and Miguel Bello .297 with 5 homers and 15 RBI. Roddie Tirado has saved seven games and hasn't been scored upon.

[jaa36]

The winning streak extended to 15 games before it was snapped by the Wonderwood Monarchs. We finished May with a 33-20 record, which remained a game behind Sidney City. Luis Del Rosario hit .355 on the month, and De'Andre Harris hit seven home runs. Nadif Awuah was 4-1 with a 2.16 ERA.

We picked 19-year-old pitcher Zack Enriquez with the 17th overall pick in the draft. Enriquez will probably end up a starter, but isn't too shabby with the bat, and could have a path to make it as a first baseman if his arm falls off.

[jaa36]

A three-game losing streak to end the month left us three games behind the Sidney City Scorpions in the TBL East. We lost 15 games total on the month. Our base running, usually tops in the league, has slipped to 13th place. Claude Speech is hitting just .171 and B.J. Pallister just .216. We have hit for some power, with Miguel Bello providing 17 home runs and De'Andre Harris 15. Nadif Awuah has been solid as usual, with a 2.87 ERA.

Around the league, the Patrick Legends lead the WC with a 44-34 record. Joseph Johnson of the Lenaway Storm is doing is best to repeat his Player of the Year performance from last season, and Tim Adams of the Silverley Mustangs is leading the league in batting average as usual. Max Covert of the Freeton Crusaders is making me wish I had ponied up the $250M it would have taken to get him.

I've got some money in the budget after dumping Kjell Skjervold prior to this season, and I can get one of the better international amateurs- probably Valorian pitcher Aaron Pabon. Additionally, I can probably swing a trade for an expiring contract or two if we remain in the hunt.

[jaa36]

Another mediocre month leaves us six games behind the Sidney City Scorpions... Well, we've overcome worse odds, I suppose. Luis Del Rosario is having a banner season, hitting .350 and with 4.8 WAR. He, Murtagh Pettijohn, Nadif Awuah and Roddie Tirado all were selected to the All-Star team. Miguel Bello leads the team with 23 home runs, and Luka Polson has put together a great year out of the bullpen.

36-year-old Gareth Sutton hit his 500th career home run for the Patrick Legends. The Legends are currently in first out west.

I have my eye on a couple of potential additions down the stretch- shortstop Sebastien Paoli, in the last year of his contract with the Crestmont Bobcats, or starting pitcher Matias Nelson, who has missed the last year rehabbing from a torn UCL, but should return soon and is under contract for next season.

[jaa36]

We went 15-12 in August, advancing a game on Sidney City in the postseason race. We're currently five games out. Miguel Bello continued his terrific year, hitting .292 with six home runs, and Luis Del Rosario was outstanding again, hitting .338 with four homers and putting together a 20-game hitting streak. Murtagh Pettijohn hit for the cycle. Al Rendon was 4-1 with a 1.52 ERA, Roddie Tirado saved seven games with an 0.82 ERA, and Munemitsu Hiraki (of all people) was 3-0 with a 1.27 ERA.

When deciding between Sebastien Paoli and Matias Nelson, I decided why not both? Paoli is a 27-year-old shortstop making $18M in the last year of his contract. He's asking for >$500M as an extension so I can see why the 61-68 Crestmont Bobcats were willing to deal him. Paoli hit .348 with 43 doubles before joining our club and gives us a serious offensive threat at shortstop for the first time... ever? The move allows us to mix and match Colson Sapp and Leon Gardner-Lee at second base. The Bobcats got #17 overall prospect Jimmy Potter in return... Potter looks decent, but we have several similar pitching prospects in the pipeline.

Nelson, meanwhile, makes $30M this year and next, and will only be a factor in the last week or so of the regular season and the postseason (if we make it), but has more upside than anyone else on our staff. He cost former first-round pick Rick Cook, who really didn't look like much of a prospect.

I also brought back a couple of former Warriors. Senan Harris, making just $1.38M and now 37 years old, was offered to us for a low-level minor leaguer; Harris had a 2.99 ERA in 11 starts with Terra City, and improves our rotation depth. Jordon Needham, last seen with the Warriors way back in 2001, was brought back for an aging minor-league outfielder. Needham is now 35, and is now in the final year of a seven-year, $71M contract, but will help to solidify first base, where Claude Speech has been atrocious (.177/.281/.321) before getting traded away himself.

The Patrick Legends have a comfortable lead in the WC, while we have two teams to jump if we hope to make the postseason.