The IBL's Chicago Iron Pigs

[gehrig38]

12/2
Pittsburgh extended recently acquired 1B Mario Orosco for 2 years, 32M. There’s a 3rd year team option for 16M as well.

12/3
Buerhle dealt:
Buffalo acquired LH starting pitcher Mark Buerhle for 4 prospects. The Boston Bombers will receive 23 year old SP Ryan Smith (2.5 star, 2018 7th rounder out of Towson) 1B/2B Robert Bowers (3.5 star, minor league FA) Roy Reynolds (1 star, minor league FA) Randy Peckford (1.5 star, 2016 2nd rounder) in exchange for Buerhle. Buerhle is 26-26 4.49 in 63 starts over the past 2 years. He’s eligible for free agency after the 2019 season.

12/5
Bray moves on:
2 time Koufax winner and 4 time all-star Vincent Bray has signed a 2 year 35.2M dollar free agent deal with the Corpus Christi Hooks.

51’s ink Piercey:
Las Vegas signed 26 year old catcher Pat Piercey to a 5 year 77.1M dollar free agent contract.

World Champs retain Berkman:
Sacramento backed up the Brinks truck for 1B/OF Lance Berkman. Acquired at the deadline last season, Berkman signed a 5 year 98M dollar extension with Sacramento.

12/7
Pittsburgh signs Villanueva:
Alejandro Villanueva signed a 4 year 64.6M dollar free agent deal with the Bulldogs. The final 2 years are at 18.8 and 24M! The 33 year old is a career .284/.395/.513 hitter in 959 IBL games, all with Staten Island. He’s hit 211 doubles and 184 home runs. He’s struck out just 179 times in over 4000 AB’s, to exactly 600 walks.

12/10
SP Grant Thomas resigned with the FL Champion Green Bay Blizzard for 5 years and 80M. the 27 year old was 14-7 4.03 last year, and is 56-38 3.90 in 140 career starts.

12/11
Arizona inks star IF:
Former Roughrider SS Randolph Boyd signed a 7 year 99.1M dollar free agent contract with the Arizona Greyhounds. Boyd is a career .294/.341/.482 hitter in 971 games with 163 HR’s and 224 2B’s.

12/12
Managed to sign 25 year old free agent RP Masafumi Watanabe to a 4 year 3M dollar contract. He has 3 options remaining and provides very cheap bullpen insurance.

Baltimore re-signs O’Slattery:
Chris O’Slattery is hoping to spend his entire career in Baltimore. The 30 year old signed a 7 year 77M dollar extension with the Railcats.

12/15
Las Vegas signed free agent Closer Bill Barlow to a 2 year 12.4M dollar contract.

Edmonton signed former Columbus closer Ivan Lopez to a 2 year 24.8M dollar free agent deal. Lopez is 6th all time in the IBL in Saves.

12/16
We signed minor league OF Luis Rodriguez to a 4 year 2.7M dollar deal. A 24 year old corner OF who can run well, exceptionally good corner defender, and can hit. He’ll provide more depth and AAA insurance.

Pittsburgh deals for catcher:
Las Vegas sent 28 year old catcher Jeff Weeks to Pittsburgh for 25 year old SP Bill Sharp and 18 year old 5 star prospect SS Stan Powell. Weeks is a career .291/.351/.418 hitter in 347 games with 27 home runs. He will assume the everyday job of catching for the Bulldogs. Sharp will be the #5 in the 51’s rotation, and Powell is a 5 star SS prospect, drafted in the 2nd round of the 2018 draft (57th overall).

[gehrig38]

Winter Meetings:
George Perkins opened the winter meetings by announcing he had signed a free agent deal with San Antonio for 4 years, 82.3M. The last year of the deal will be at 29.4M dollars. Perkins is 3rd all time in the IBL in wins with 119 and is coming off his 3rd 20 win season last year (20-6 3.58).

World Champion Sacramento announced the signing of former Iron Pig ace Walt Thompson to a 2 year 37M dollar deal. Good for him. He certainly earned it, but its way above our threshold. We’ll end up with a compensation pick between rounds 1 and 2, which will replace the 2nd rounder we dealt away earlier.

The River Cats followed that up by dealing 29 year old Zorba Christofis to Houston for Closer Tim Ellis and 19 year old 2 star utility man Martin Cardenas. This is the 5th trade in the past 5 months Cardenas has been involved in.

Staten Island traded for Columbus Clipper slugger Wazir Ubadah. The Yankees sent 20 year old OF Gary Garrett and 28 year old RP Tomas Cruz to Columbus for the 25 year old slugger. Ubadah had his coming out party this past season, ranking 6th in RBI’s (113) and 8th in total bases (308) as well as 8th in extra base hits (67). He hit .268-33-113 in 157 games after a strong rookie campaign when he hit .276-21-87 in 118 games. Cruz will likely be in the mix to close for the Clippers.

New Hampshire unloads 4 prospects for SP Morales:
The Fisher Cats traded 22 year old 2B Henry Johnson (2 star, minor league FA) 22 year old C Russell Armstrong (1 star, minor league FA) 19 year old OF Clement Jones (1 star, 2018 6th rounder) and 23 year old RF Francisco Lopez (1 star, 2014 3rd rounder) to Edmonton for 27 year old SP Sixto Morales. Morales was 14-13 4.27 last year and is 49-53 4.90 in 146 lifetime starts. Morales will become the #2, behind ace Nick Powell, in the New Hampshire rotation.

[gehrig38]

Other significant off-season moves

LA managed to re-sign former batting champ Vincente Soto to a 3 year 29.7M dollar deal. He's a .319 hitter with 100 career homers.

Columbus inked former CL Aaron award winner and batting champion Allen Hedden to a 5 year 96M dollar free agent contract. Holy cow, this lineup is now featuring 2 MVP's, multiple gold glove winners, all stars and just all around very good players. They were a 97 win team last year.

2018 FL MVP Michael Moran (AZ) signed a 6 year 115.5M dollar free agent contract with San Antonio. Amazingly this deal ups the Silver Stars payroll to just 64.4M dollars. With two players (Moran, Perkins) accounting for 33.8M of that next year.

Corey Elkins signed a 5 year 64.5M dollar deal with Brooklyn. The 27 year old former strikeout champion was 10-11 4.41 last year and is 37-29 4.55 lifetime.

Philadelphia signed free agent 1B Todd Helton to a 4 year 78.5M dollar deal.

Tim Hudson (HOU) signed a 5 year 70M dollar deal with the New York Knights.

35 year old Closer Tom Conklin signed a 3 year 38M dollar free agent contract with West Michigan. This is the first big signing I can remember for the White Caps. The 3rd year is a 13.9M vesting option (40 games finished). Former Iron Pig Craig Frank (38 saves last year) will move into a setup role.

New York GM Tomas Hernandez knocked me off my feet on New Year's Eve. He wants Hugh Collins, our 29 year old CF who's an MVP in waiting. However Hugh's a free agent after this year. The 'off my feet part' came in the offer. SP Jesus Romano, a 26 year old ace who's already 65-53 4.41 in his young career. Issue being he's also a free agent at years end, and making 8M this year, to Collins' 4.105M. Early conversations with Collins are putting his ask in the 20M a year neighborhood. My guess would be Romano will be near there as well. He also offered 22 year old Raul Ortiz (1B, 2.5 star power hitter, decent fielder in short season right now) 23 year old Cristobal Perez (IF/OF utility man, great glove around the OF, very good 2B, 1 star, decent runner) 30 year old Anastasio Leon (SP, 1.5 star non AAA pitcher). I tweaked it, turned it over, worked it, but couldn't find a match. I feel very good about my rotation, and depth, and also my OF. But I will hold onto this as we move through spring training.

Staten Island signed 28 year old ace Antonio Rodriguez (author of the highest rated pitching performance in IBL history with his 99 game score 16K no-hitter last season). Rodriguez signed a 4 year 74M dollar deal.

Former triple crown winner and FL MVP Bill Hill has agreed to a 2 year 24.6M dollar deal with the Dallas Texans.

2 time all-star catcher Jorge Ibarra agreed to a 3 year 12.6M dollar deal with the Boston Bombers.

3 time gold glove winner Paul Reeves signed a 4 year 60.6M dollar free agent deal with El Paso. Reeves has a career year last year, hitting .258-40-104 in 152 games for Pittsburgh.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by gehrig38

New York GM Tomas Hernandez knocked me off my feet on New Year's Eve.

Wow, it must have been hard to turn this down. I know how you love pitching, especially 26 y/o aces.

[gehrig38]

Ed Thomas has signed a 3 year 22M dollar deal with Alaska. Thomas, a 27 year old 1B, is a career .283/.347/.522 hitter in 715 games with 159 home runs and 551 RBI's.

3/6
Houston and Philadelphia have swapped veteran former all-star sluggers. Houston acquires 33 year old Kevin Moore (career .311 hitter with 147 homers, 685 RBI's and 268 stolen bases (2nd all time) as well as 3 time gold glove winner at 1B, also Moore has played in 1121 games, of a possible 1134 since 2012) and Philadelphia gets 35 year old former batting champion Gregory McCain (career .315 hitter with 123 HR's and 530 RBI's). Philadelphia also acquired 22 year old OF prospect Miguel Lugo (1 star 2016 6th rounder).

3/11
New Hampshire and 1B Alberto Vargas agreed to a 5 year 80M dollar contract extension. Vargas' 271 career home runs ranks 3rd all time.

3/13
Tim Terry (BRO) will miss 4-5 months with a torn back muscle. Tim is a 23 year old 2016 1st rounder who went 12-14 4.57 last year. Brooklyn has lost both Terry and SP Dan Griffin (out for the year), they were expected to be the Cyclones 2 and 3 starters behind free agent Corey Elkins.

[gehrig38]

At the end of camp I find, outside of reliever Jake Ellison, no significant injuries and 3 players I need to make decisions on due to being out of options. IF Will Harris, SP Jimmy Mason and MR Robert Helms. I end up packing them, and AAA OF Luis Avila, to Baltimore for 25 year old fireballer Steve Mckinley, who was 15-11 5.05 in 34 starts for San Antonio last season, and has 3 options left, and 23 year old CF prospect Cooper Bannatyne, Baltimore’s 3rd round pick in 2016 out of Rice. A great glove, speedy hitter with a good eye, outstanding contact and gap hitter and Baltimore’s 2019 2nd round draft pick (they actually have 2 2nd rounders).

This gave me more AAA OF'ers than needed. Orlando Reyes was sent to El Paso for SP Dave Wamboldt, a 26 year old SP with a big time arm.

[gehrig38]

Originally Posted by Orcin

Wow, it must have been hard to turn this down. I know how you love pitching, especially 26 y/o aces.

Yup, but, when playing with the finances, and playing as if they truly matter, his 8M salary would create problems. Not to mention the guy I'm giving up is a stud. I likely can't sign either to a long term deal, and I have depth, big time depth, in pitching. Though I am an ace 'short', but I think one of the guys in the rotation will assume the mantle at some point this year.

[gehrig38]

Starting Rotation:
1) Roberto Martinez-22 year old former 1st round pick coming off a 15-11 3.88 season, his first. He's a mid 90's righty, with one of the best curve balls in the game. His 3rd pitch is a change up, and it's a decent one. The hope is he's an ace for the next decade in Chicago.
2) Ken Lee-(29) The veteran leader of the staff now that Thompson is gone. He's 55-20 4.13 over the past 3 seasons. A low to mid 90's lefty with great control. Works a good fastball with a decent cutter, outstanding change and split.
3) Bryan Rogers-The rotations best, and likely one of the leagues best power arms. Works in the upper 90's, hitting triple digits often. 31-17 4.65 the past 2 seasons with 406K's and 171 BB's in 373.2 IP.
4) Gerardo Zamora-Another 1st rounder. The 24 year old righty is 32-16 in 75 starts over the past 3 years with a 5.17 ERA. Outstanding command but gives up a few too many hits. Mid to upper 90's fastball with a decent curve, and forkball, and an outstanding changeup.
5) Mike Hamilton-The 26 year old newcomer. Went 38-8 2.90 the past 2 seasons in AAA. Was 3-1 3.61 in 7 starts last season. He allowed the team to let Walt Thompson move on. Works an upper 90's fastball with a good cutter, curve combo and has a useable changeup.

The Tulsa rotation has 3 3+ star prospectes, with 1st rounder Jorge Trujillo as the leading prospect, and just 23 years old. Steve McKinley (26) and Augusto Rocha (24) are the other big prospects and ready if needed.

Bullpen
Right handers Pedro Garcia and Orlando Velez are the newcomers, taking over for free agent Arturo Rodriguez and injured lefty Mike Moore. With Ernesto Cruz getting healthy everyone falls back into their slots but with 4 righties and 2 lefties until Moore gets healthy. 21 year old lefty Jorge Pacheco continues to progress at AAA Tulsa.

Catching
28 year old George Knox takes over full time catching duties. The FL's 2018 gold glove winner hit .243-34-91 last season in 130 games. 26 year old Martin Ramirez takes on the backup duties, both are right handed. Martinez hit .292 in limited action last season, but had a monster .299-27-109 AAA season, winning the league MVP. He won a gold glove at AA 2 seasons ago.

Infielders
Just about the same infield, Salinas at 1B, Riggs 2B, Morgan at 3B with the only real change being Massi Lorenzelli taking over full time SS duties at the outset. The last roster cut was incredibly difficult, as star in waiting Alberto Rivera had to be sent back, given the lack of AB's he'd be getting up here. Wes Webb and John Johnston take over the backup roles, with Webb starting vs LH, and Morgan sitting. Lorenzelli struggled against righties last season and if that potentially happens again Webb would be available to play some short. Johnston is a switch hitter, and Morgan is the only LH hitting infielder.

Outfielders
The leagues best OF returns all five. Batting champion Eric Coates in left, Hugh Collins in center, and the IBL's all time home run leader Bill Alexander in right, with Luis Chavez DH'ing and Ron Miller in the lineup vs lefties. The one change will be in the lineup, moving Chavez into the 2 hole and Riggs to 7.

State of the organization
We're contenders again. With just 2 players contracts due up at seasons end (Collins, Lorenzelli) it should remain that way. But we've now moved into “win it all or else” mode from the front office on down. Last years first round exit had as much to do with the in game management in the Arizona series as anything and everyone's comfortable that will not happen again.

We've finally managed to clear enough room in the budget to increase scouting (7.8M this year) but fan interest has dropped to 76 over the past 10 months with the first round exit and free agent defection of Walt Thompson. If possible I am going to see what I can do to get Collins signed to an extension, but I don't think I have the funds to make that happen without a significant trade of a large contract. There's been talk, with Rivera sitting in AAA, of potentially shopping Wes Morgan around, though it's not public at the moment. Teams are certainly interested, as he's got 2 years and a 3rd year player option left. The most interesting possibility is Baltimore’s offer of 31 year old 2014 Koufax winner Chris O'Slattery. It saves me a couple million this year and next, but he's signed for 7 more seasons, starting after this year, at 77M, with a base of 7.4/8.6/9.8/11/12.2/13.4 and a vesting 7th season.

As I drill down on the offer, looking over their roster, understanding their 'win now' approach, I ask for 24 year old OF Dennis Ash, by including 24 year old Gerardo Zamora. Now I never advocate trading young pitching but we do have a good stable of arms, at AAA and below, and in this organization Zamora is probably the kid I feel has the 'shortest' upside. He's going to be prone to a lot of hits and a lot of HR's imo. Ash would allow me to let Collins walk, and provide gold glove defense wherever I chose to play him in the OF. He's a 5 star guy, no pop, track star speed, gold glove defense, and a batting title type left handed bat. O'Slatterty provides a power, veteran arm, is under contract for what is likely the rest of his career, is an innings horse (never thrown fewer than 238 innings in a season, 1753 IP is #1 all time in the IBL) and is a huge influence, positive, in the clubhouse. I topped it off by asking for their 1st rounder, in exchange for the 2nd rounder I got from them earlier this winter. Which would give me 3 of the first 30 picks in the draft. GM Will Fleming is sleeping on it.

[gehrig38]

By WAR gained, lost. Can Michigan really like losing that much?

[gehrig38]

Some good, some bad, and some in the middle. No serious injuries other than Ellison out the first week of the season.

[gehrig38]

Brooklyn stems the tide:
After suffering 2 major injuries to the rotation, the Cyclones reached out to 36 year old Steve Copeland and have come to terms on a 3 year 16.5M dollar free agent contract. Copeland (70-52 4.56) is a gold glove winner and 2 time all star, went 14-9 4.54 last season for Philadelphia.

[gehrig38]

The top orgs and players. Check out San Antonio, #1 and #2 prospects, both pitchers. Michigan, though stinking the past 7 seasons, appears to have had a few good drafts.

[gehrig38]

Some very interesting #s all over these predictions.

[Orcin]

If you could take those three hitters numbers right now, you could bank the 100 wins. Lee's numbers are pretty strong too. You have a real hitter's league, and that 3.34 ERA would be equivalent to a 2.10-2.25 in my league.

[gehrig38]

Ya, you can understand my trepidation at it being a 'hitters league' too. Talking about a pitcher with a 3.7+ ERA as a 'stud' bothers me

[MizzouRah]

Need more!

[gehrig38]

Ya, been a busy time, going to get moving again. Will be traveling to Spring Training and then overseas (USO tour) mid and later this month, so my 1950 league will be getting a lot of playing time.

[mort4785]

Wish you would of came on a USO tour when I was overseas!

Do you do any stateside USO tours?

Barksdale AFB (Shreveport, Louisiana)

Taking the kids to Disney the last week of March. Hopefully I can catch a Braves game while I'm there. Never been to spring training.

[hfield007]

Michigan could be a force in a few years in your division with that lineup. Or maybe you'll be worried about meeting San Antonio in the series. 4 top 56 pitching prospects? That'll be interesting if they can get 3 of them into decent arms and pick up a free agent for the rotation.

[aclay1919]

Reading through all this has really taught me a lot of things I need to try out!! Thanks!