Worst to First - The Sequel

[NYY #23]

Where to begin in Montreal? Let's begin with our goals from our owner:

1) Don't suck completely
2) Increase attendance from 26,148 per game to 29,000 per game
3) Bring more of your drafted players to your team
4) Reach the playoffs in the next 5 years

The next things that I noticed is that we are already over budget next year by just a hair under $7 million. That's without making a move, but on day one I was informed that we extended seven players:

SP Jorge Perez (5-15, 3.24 ERA) - $3.1 million
SS Claudio Bonilla (.237, 8 HR, 41 RBI) - $1.1 million
CF Chris Johnson (.275, 200 AB) - $1.1 million
2B Dave Rivers (.231, 267 AB) - $2.1 million
RP Mike Gill (4-4, 3.14 ERA, 97.1 IP) - $1.5 million
1B Thomas Blue (.167, 235 AB) - $1.1 million
RP Bryan Wilson (3-4, 3 SV, 2.63, 68.1 IP) - $800K

My next act was releasing impending free agent Manuel Olivas, who was designated for assignment, and out of time.

Next up was my coaching staff, with only trainer Rob Roberts surviving the mass firing. I'd rather have my guys in place. One of the first additions was Assistant GM Bobby Madritsch, who took the Miami Marlins to the playoffs for three out of four years in charge. He's got an excellent reputation, and we signed him to a five year contract. I'm going to try something different with the Expos and Madritsch. He's going to be in charge of drafting players, and international amateurs - at least for now. I've reviewed his picks with the Marlins, and while it is still too early to pass final judgement, he did a fine job. I can't promise this experiment will last, but it's worth a shot.

I'll stop here for now, because nobody in the majors is safe. My offseason priorities will be:

1) Finish hiring coaching staff
2) Lower payroll $20 million
3) Focus on acquiring prospects, with emphasis on pitching and defense

That's really it for year one. If a guy can't hit, I might as well find a good defender than can't hit. I've got some decent pitching, and I think improving our defense will help out quite a bit.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by rjl518

go 'SPOS!!!

I think it's going to be a rough start! I've been debating on this, but I am going on vacation next week. I think I'm going to wait and start things up with the Expos when I return. That's where I'm leaning, although I'll see what tomorrow brings.

[HerbertMcHoover]

Awesome! Expos! Good luck; hope you have a nice stadium.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by HerbertMcHoover

Awesome! Expos! Good luck; hope you have a nice stadium.

Thank you!

[NYY #23]

Starting pitcher Doug Bell is a fan favorite. The 30 year old Texan was drafted by the Expos in 2024 with the second pick in the second round, moved quickly through the ranks and made his debut in Montreal in 2027. He pitched just 8 innings that year, but moved into the rotation the next year and became the ace of the staff over the next few years going 16-13 with a 2.66 ERA in 2031, 12-7 with a 2.24 ERA in 2032, and 13-8 with a 2.76 ERA in 2033.

During the winter of 2033 Bell was awarded a one year $10.5 million contract, and later that offseason the Expos signed him to a six year $149 million extension which is set to kick in next season. Bell made just 13 starts last year before missing the rest of the year with a shoulder injury. His extension will pay him for his age 31 through 37 seasons, and take up about a 1/3 of our payroll and he's our #2 starter.

My first goal of the offseason was to hire a coaching staff. That's done, and my second goal of the offseason is to shed $20 million in payroll. You probably see where I'm going with this.

Now the big question would be would there be any takers, but both the Dodgers and White Sox had interest, and payroll room. The White Sox had better prospects they were willing to part with. The White Sox would also take on the salary of 29 year old centerfielder Jim Hindle who will be making $28 million over the next two years. He's not bad, but he's not great either. His WAR last year was 1.8. We included in the package 27 year old 1B Thomas Blue, along with his $1 million contract and -1.1 WAR, and minor league first baseman Steve Dyer and his $750,000 contract.

I don't even think it matters who we got back. This deal saved us just under $39 million. For the record we got back a pair of AA outfielders, LF Curt Henderson and CF Carlos Longoria, along with AAA reliever Jonathan Wheeler.

Neither the fans, nor other players are happy about the deal. I'm not worried about that yet though.

[NYY #23]

For two years Rich Harden dominated for the Twins and finally helped lead us to the World Series going 21-6 with a 2.23 ERA, and 19-8 with a 2.23 ERA. After six years on the ballot Rich Harden finally is enshrined in the Hall of Fame with 81.8% of the votes. He'll enter the Hall of Fame with catcher Salvador Perez, who hit .307 for his career with 249 home runs and 1162 RBI, and reliever Al Albuquerque who was 64-46 with 368 saves and a 2.19 ERA.

On the home front in Montreal we made several minor moves and signed the following players -

2B - Kawanari Aoki - a 28 year old Japanese import who is strong defensively, but is below average with the bat. Signed a one year $800,000 contract

CF - Roman Manuel - similar to Aoki, with the exception of the position and country he came from.

IF - Pete Woolford - his name should ring a bell to everyone. The 27 year old was non-tendered by the Knights after I left, and we agreed to terms on a three year $7.2 million contract.

3B - Jack Dunlap - at 35 years old he's past his prime, but was worth 2.4 WAR last and signed to a one year $1.1 million contract.

SP - RJ Rogers - after going 8-16 with a 4.84 ERA the 33 year old signed a one year $1.1 million contract. We'll look to him to fill the fifth starter role. Not quite the replacement for Doug Bell, but hopefully will be able to eat a similar number of innings

1B - Mike Greenawalt - another former Knight and was signed to a one year $1.1 million contract. I like his versatility, and should get more of an opportunity to play in Montreal

Perhaps the most interesting player we signed all winter to this point was unexpected, a 16 year old scouting discovery, SP Hector Martinez. He's a long way away, but I've never seen my scout uncover a pitcher with ace potential.

In former Knight news Bob Kirby joined the Colorado Rockies on a one year $4.9 million contract.

[NYY #23]

Opening Day 2035 and I hate to break it to Expos fans but I think it's going to be a long season. We didn't have a lot to start with, traded a couple of decent players, and are down a few players to injury with SP Tony Berndt, 1B Mike Greenawalt, SP Ricardo Moreno, SS Claudio Bonilla, and SP Bill O'Quinn. We did make one trade with the Astros, acquiring catch Cisco Aleman (.253, 11 HR, 66 RBI) in exchange of 2B Dave Rivers (.231, 29 RBI) and RP Mark Wilson (2-6, 5.06).

Filling out are Opening Day roster was pretty easy though, because that didn't leave too many people capable of being on a major league roster. The Expos were 14-14 in Spring Training though, and according to preseason predictions were expected to go 75-87.

I don't believe I've mentioned this yet, but the Expos play in a pretty big pitcher's park. Think Petco-like. Hopefully we'll be able to use that to our advantage. Although we have six prospects in the top 100, and not one is a pitcher:

1B - Howard McDonald (9th)
RF - Eddie Richard (25th)
RF - Matt Smalls (47th)
CF - Carlos Longoria (80th)
SS - Juan Menendez (99th)

[NYY #23]

Before I get into April (which really was a month I'd like to forget) I wanted to make a change. During my World Series afterglow with Carolina I indicated that I'd be handing over the duties of drafting and signing international amateurs to my assistant General Manager. That didn't last long into my tenure with the Expos, and I've taken control back without my assistant General Manager making any decisions.

Second, I was looking to add a veteran starting pitcher for depth. I was spurned by four pitchers before agreeing to terms Alberto Mendoza on a one year $2.5 million contract. He was 8-15 with a 4.02 ERA last year, with a slightly better 3.88 FIP.

It's pretty early in the season, and I didn't expect miracles in Montreal year 1, but I didn't expect this. We started the season 2-0, and since then we've had a 7 game losing streak, are in the midst of an 11 game losing streak, and we've gone 2-20. Outside of Franklin Connor and Mike Greenawalt every single hitter is doing worse than last year.

Things can only go up from here.

[NYY #23]

After the Expos went 13-17 during the month of May I'm hoping that is more reflective of our talent level. Our offense is predictably terrible, scoring the least amount of runs in the league. Perhaps one of the most interesting hitters on the roster is 23 year old Jesus Gomez. I haven't talked about many of the holdovers, because they really aren't worth talking about. Gomez may be the exception, although it's too soon to tell. Gomez was signed as an international amateur by the Phillies, and came over in a trade for starting pitcher Dan Anderson two years ago. While Anderson has gone on to be a solid starter, Gomez made his major league debut last year, hitting .244 in only 41 at-bats.

Gomez reminds me a lot of an outfield version of Pete Woolford - low batting average, below average speed, good power, and good defense. He's hitting .231 this year with 5 home runs and 17 RBI, and we'll see what he can do with a full season under his belt.

[NYY #23]

As we head into the amateur draft the Expos have started off June hot, going 10-3. Our pitching has really been carrying us, led by 27 year old Eric Laws who is 3-0 with a 0.43 ERA in June. As we head into July I can't help but thinking that I should consider trading him if I could get back a solid package of prospects.

Then I think he's only 27, so it may not be a good idea to trade him, unless the return is good. I do think we'll be active on the trade deadline as we approach the trade deadline if there is any interest in our players.

On to the Amateur Draft, where the Expos were drafting second overall and selected shortstop Mike Pearson in the first round with the second pick of the draft. He was drafted out of college, and my scout thinks he's an elite hitting prospect with plus power and plus speed.

The Expos had a pair of picks in the second round, selecting 3B Austin Tricket with the first pick of the second round, and CF Ray Cook with the fourth pick of the second round. Tricket also has plus power potential and was drafted out of college and should be able to stick out third base. Cook is more of a project, and likely won't be able to stick at centerfield. If his power fully develops and a lot of things go right he could be a future right fielder, although I think fourth outfielder is his ceiling.

In the third round we drafted 1B Sergio Lopez. He's another player with plus power potential, and was drafted out of high school. I think Lopez has more upside than anybody we drafted outside of Pearson.

In the fourth round we selected SS Carlos Guzman and SP Tim White was selected in the fifth round.

[NYY #23]

While the trade deadline is still a month away I know that the Expos are not going anywhere this year, and that isn't expected. Because of that this year is really about the future, that makes our veteran players expendable, given the right deal. Despite building for the future, there are also some of our prospects that are available because they don’t fit my long term vision, such as poor defenders or guys that I don't think we'll make it.

We completed a trade at the end of June with the Rays with an eye toward the future. I stumbled on CF John Bradshaw of the Rays and he became a priority for me to acquire. He's a potential impact bat, who got 72 at-bats last year with the Rays in September, hitting .222 with 6 home runs as the #8 best prospect in baseball.

Going to Tampa was 3B Jack Dunlap, 2B Pete Woolford, SS Juan Menendez, SS Mario Ruiz, CF Gerard Robert and $2.9 million in cash. Menendez was ranked the 99th best prospect in baseball, and Ruiz should rank somewhere close behind. Robert was a lower level prospect, but I have concern with the defense of all three players. Dunlap is a veteran on an expiring contract. He'll be hard to replace at third base this year, but I'm not going to let dealing a 36 year old on an expiring contract stop this deal. I have mixed feeling about including Pete Woolford. He's on pace for his worst season since his rookie season, and isn't happy in Montreal. He's signed to one more year and a player option after this year, and I think he'll turn things around.

In addition to Bradshaw, we received back a trio of prospects - SP Carlos Morales, SP Chris Stark, and 2B Logan Lawson. Bradshaw was the big piece, but the other three players are all 2 star potential.

That trade did leave us with a gaping hole at third base, which led to another deal with the Orioles. Going to Baltimore was 27 year old centerfielder Franklin Conner, relievers Cesar Garza, Larry Hammond, and starting pitcher Eduardo Escobar. Conner is the best of the bunch, and also not happy in Montreal.

Coming back to Montreal is 3B Tim Fitzgerald, SP Craig Kessler, and relievers Jason McKenzie and Alex Ball. I don't think Fitzgerald is a long term solution, just a stopgap, but I think McKenzie and Ball could be valuable relievers.

It was our first winning month in Montreal going 15-12 though. As we head into the trade deadline SP RJ Rogers, SP Alberto Mendoza, and closer Bryan Wilson will be on the block in the right deal.

[NYY #23]

The Expos completed a couple of trades this month, were hit with a series of injuries, and went 7-19 for the month. It was a rough month, but I do think that we'll be better in the long run for our moves. The trades were:

To Atlanta

SP RJ Rogers
SP Jorge Perez
RF Curt Henderson
SP Chris Stark (AAA)
SP Michael Bell (AA)

To Montreal

SP Nick Seaton (AA) - #31 prospect
RP Denny Jones (A)
RP Judd Jarvis (A)
SS Julio German (AA) Braves #8 prospect

To San Diego:

C Javier Perez
CL Brian Wilson
SP Alberto Mendoza

To Montreal

3B Artie Muller
2B Andrew Baker - Padres #6 prospect
CF Ricardo Montoya - Padres #11 prospect
SP Hector Garcia - Padres #8 prospect
SS Michael Cummings - Padres #14 prospect

We managed to trade almost every veteran with value, and really depleted our major league roster in the process. The big name coming back in both the deals is Nick Seaton. He's got front of the rotation potential.

This month we also signed international amateur Ramiro 'Boom Boom' Ayala to a deal, spending $9.8 million on his bonus. He's 16, a long way away, but was the top rated international amateur and thought it was worthwhile using some of our budget surplus on a lottery ticket.

We already have some high end prospects in Montreal, and I'm excited to see how things turn out. We now have 5 players in the top 100, and 8 in the top 200 before adding Ayala.

[Trebro]

Man, I bet the Montreal press is eating you alive, and in a language you might not even be able to read, LOL!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by Trebro

Man, I bet the Montreal press is eating you alive, and in a language you might not even be able to read, LOL!

That's kind of funny that you say that. After completing the second trade last night I had an idea to write a column expressing their frustrations with me trading everybody that had any value. I was planning on writing that tonight, but at some point today I thought - wait, I don't even know French so I can't do that and scrapped the idea.

I probably still could have done that, but I am pretty confident both the press and Montreal hate me right now. I've really don't nothing that they have liked, and I've traded away quite a few of their favorite players. For a franchise that's never been to the playoffs I'm sure they don't appreciate a complete rebuild, but I'm hoping it's all worth it in a couple of years and they'll forgive me!

[darkcloud4579]

Just spent a while looking at this because it's always interesting to see what other people are able to conjure and this is an impressive a dynasty as there is. If this was the old days when we used to rank them, this would be a HOFer. Such a neat concept and congrats on the last title. Good luck in Montreal!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by darkcloud4579

Just spent a while looking at this because it's always interesting to see what other people are able to conjure and this is an impressive a dynasty as there is. If this was the old days when we used to rank them, this would be a HOFer. Such a neat concept and congrats on the last title. Good luck in Montreal!

Thank you very much!

[NYY #23]

The Expos wrapped up another losing month going 12-15, and despite our terrible record for the year I'm feeling pretty good about our future. We'll get our first glimpse of 23 year old Matt Smalls in September, the #47 prospect in baseball who will get his first shot at the show. We'll also get SP Eric Laws back from injury, with our next wave of prospects - 1B Howard McDonald, CF Carlos Longoria, SS Julio German, and SP Nick Seaton just about ready for a call-up.

Behind them in double A we've got Mike Pearson and Andrew Baker ready to move up. Both are listed as shortstops, but both can also play second and third. In the majors we've got CF John Bradshaw hitting .254 with 3 home runs and 20 RBI as a 21 year old.

I know Expos' fans probably want to run me out of town right now after a disappointing first year at the helm (by record), and I know my owner doesn't like me, but I think 2035 could be the Expos first winning year since 2025.

[NYY #23]

The Expos lost four more games this year than the year before, our fan interest dropped, and our owner cut our budget. Nobody is really happy in Montreal, but I'm ok with that, and still think 2036 will be a good year.

My owner goals for next year are:
1) Play close to .500 ball
2) Upgrade at first base
3) Increase attendance to 29,000/game (Current - 15,442)
4) Increase profit to $14,500,000
5) Improve my draft record
6) Build up team to reach the playoffs by 2039

With arbitration coming up we decided to part ways with 2B Mike Weber, 3B Eric Anderson, SS Claudio Bonilla, LF Victor Gray, and CF Chris Johnson when they were non-tendered. We are also letting CL Mike Gill, 1B Mike Greenawalt, and 1B Anthony Zimmerman leave via free agency.

In order to keep our quota of Zimmerman's in place we have hired Jordan Zimmerman to be our new manager. He'll be joined by new hitting coach Roger Bernadina and a new pitching coach, David MacDonald.

After being traded to the Rays Pete Woolford woke up hitting .296 with 12 home runs in 74 games. We also found out that former Twin Scott Frazier retired at the age of 41. Frazier hit .263 with 223 home runs during his career and 956 RBI. (You know you've been doing this a long time when the fictional guys you drafted are starting to retired.)

With a payroll of $30 million the Expos do have $30 million available for free agents. Maybe that should be $15 million if I am going to increase my profit, but I'm not afraid to spend money if it'll help the team.



Montreal Expos - 66-96 (.407) 31 GB
2035 - Montreal Expos - 62-100 (.383) 33 GB (Season Score - 1)

[NYY #23]

Our goal this offseason is really to get better. While we did have $30 million to spend, we have a lot of holes, so the goal was to spread the money around and target players that I think can help, without breaking the bank on any one player.

Our first signing of the offseason happened pretty quickly. Former All-Star and Knight Eric Wolf was non-tendered by Carolina after an injury plagued season in which he hit .199 with 7 home runs in 371 at-bats. He was still worth 2.2 WAR, but he was looking for a one year deal to restore some value. We agreed on a one year $1.3 million contract.

Reliever Jack Roy was signed to a one year $950,000 deal. We are taking a chance on Roy, who has never pitched in the majors, but was 3-3 with 9 saves and a 1.95 ERA in AAA last year. The Expos also brought aboard former Yankee closer Julio Mateo on a five year $12.3 million deal. He worked as a set-up man last year and went 3-2 with 3 saves and a 3.30 ERA in 87 1/3 innings. We also added veteran reliever James Numbers on a one year $1.1 million deal. Last year Numbers was 6-5 with a 3.82 ERA in 101 1/3 innings.

Then our biggest splash of the offseason was signing catcher Zhao-Ji Shaw to a 6 year $73.5 million contract out of Taiwan. The sixth year is a team option for $13 million. He's a good hitter, although average defensively. I expect he'll take over as our starting catcher, with Cisco Aleman moving into a backup role.

We have offers out to six additional players, five infielders on one year contracts, and a starting pitcher.

[NYY #23]

The Expos head into Spring Training with six new players signed since the beginning of the year.

We ended up getting into a bidding war with the Pirates over starting pitcher James Blake, but agreed to terms on a three year $25.2 million contract, with the third year being a team option for $8.5 million. Blake is coming off a year where he went 15-3 with a 2.83 ERA for the Astros. Blake is 31 years old, and not quite as good as his record would indicate last year. He'll be a solid #3 starter though, behind Eric Laws and Ricardo Moreno.

2B Michael Cunningham signed a one year $984,000 contract trying to bounce back from a terrible 2035 where he hit .176 with 4 home runs. It was by far the worst year of his career after a 3.1 WAR season the year before. We'll hope that the 32 year old can bounce back.

SS Jorge Salcido signed a one year $984,000 contract to man shortstop. You can pretty much take what I wrote for Cunningham and substitute Salcido, shortstop, and 28 years old. After being worth 2.8 WAR two seasons ago Salcido hit just .231 for 0.9 WAR.

3B Donald Williams signed a one year $1,033,200 contract. He's 30 years old and in continuing the trend saw his WAR fall from 2.6 to 0.1 last year.

3B Jack Dunlap signed a one year $1.2 million contract. You should remember Dunlap from last year before he was traded. He'll still provide solid defense, a little bit of pop (15 home runs last year), and some value (2.1 WAR last year).

1B Augusto Rodriguez signed a one year $2.1 million contract. Rodriguez is 38 years old and is an insurance policy in case 21 year old Howard McDonald is not ready. They'll battle it out in spring training, although it's possible both could make the roster.

The common theme among most of these players is buying low, and hoping they bounce back. If not they are on a one year contract so it is little risk.