The IBL's Alaska Avalanche

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2029-30 OFF SEASON BEGINS
I have 3 contracts to make decisions on, Christian Holland, Marc Sheppard and John Drake. Holland is a no-brainer at 750K. I'd like to work something out beyond this year as well.

Sheppard, at 2.6 is a bit of a discussion, but in the end well worth it.

Drake is the stumper. He's good, he's durable and he's just 33. He's gone 67-25 3.20 in 4 years, missing just 4 starts. His option is 12.5 million, which is not a lot for a pitcher of his caliber.

The issue becomes our young pitching. Hall, Bowman, Rodgers and Shimizu are pretty much locks. RJ was on his way to a huge year, Carlos Hernandez control issues are a problem but he's in the mix. 22 year old Rich Jordan and 24 year old Paul Williams, both lefties, are ready for their shots. If I lose all my arbitration cases and keep Drake my payroll appears to be around 88 million with a new budget of 108. 6.8 in draft money, 12 million in scouting, 6.9 million in staff and 2.42 in player dev leaves me a little over a million in the red.

Now add Pitching Coach Pete Hardin, head scout Arturo Torres, and bench coach Ernesto Lopez all retiring, as well as manager Roberto Lopez contract running out, and we could have cash concerns. I will trim back the 12 million in scouting to clear the room, which is an easy fix, but I don't want to trim that much.

HIRINGS/FIRINGS
HAWAII-Fires GM Ramon Pacharo and Manager Lorenzo Carrillo
SAN JOSE-Fires Manager Pepe Sandoval
SAN ANTONIO-Fires GM Ron Quick

RULES CHANGE-The IBL has announced a change in the rules for the Disabled List. The term will go from 15 down to 13 days.

HIRINGS-Former Chicago Ace Walt Thompson has been promoted from the PC job in Westbrook, to the IBL coaching staff and offers have been extended to fill all other open roles. I have made a 5 year offer to former Iron Pig bench coach Matt Walls to take over as the new Manager here in Alaska.

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OFF SEASON NEWS-NOVEMBER

John Drake is the 2nd most popular player with fans. While that shouldnt' be a huge factor, it's something to think about. Stan Hall and Bob Harrell are free agents after the 2030 season, that IS a huge factor. Hall will take 20 million per to resign I think. I am going to pickup Drake's option, which is a complete reversal as I was already convinced not to. I will do so with the thought I can move him at the winter meetings. I have a good group here, with a very good young group at the plate and on the mound, coming up. I might be able to package Drake AND Harrell for young talent. Cabrera can play first, Cook and Martin both need to play.

11/4
Former Iron Pig hitting coach Matt Walls has accepted a 5 year deal to manage the Alaska Avalanche. The 51 year old has been in the Chicago organization in some capacity since 2018. First as the Manager at Class A Denison, and then 4 years as the bench coach before he became the hitting coach. He's one of the finest coaches in the game as a players guy and as an instructor.

11/5
44 year old Nick Maloney has accepted a 5 year 850K dollar deal to become the head scout for the organization. He's an exceptional scout who is keen on ability he can see, not project. He was the scouting director in Dallas from '22-'24, West Michigan in '25 and Baltimore in '26-'27 before his one year in Fresno last year.

11/23
ARBITRATION
Keith Hansen-Asked 3.62M offered 3.0M PLAYER WON
Anthony Hawkins-Asked 2.61M offered 2.2M PLAYER WON
Hayden Buffy-Asked 1.75M offered 1.4M TEAM WON
Luciano Craxi-Asked 3.75M offered 3.0M PLAYER WON
Mike King-Asked 1.005M offered 650K TEAM WON
Bob Brady-Asked 6.25M offered 5M PLAYER WON
Carlos Hernandez-Asked 4.5M offered 3.78M PLAYER WON

Not a good year in court....
With arbitration, and coaches signed, our expenses are now 110.9M. I am more than likely dealing some big ticket items at/before the winter meetings. Carlos Hernandez name is clearly one I am going to float.

11/24
AVALANCHE, KNIGHTS IN A BLOCKBUSTER
In a move that shocked everyone, Alaska and New York announced a huge trade today, with the Avalanche sending 33 year old co-ace John Drake, former top prospect and 20 game winner Carlos Hernandez and OF Mike King to the Knight in exchange for 2 arms many believe will be top of the rotation pitchers in a few short years. GM Curt Schilling cited the desperate need to trim payroll, combined with the significant SP depth they feel they have, and the huge upside of the pitchers coming back. “Trading pitching is always hard, especially the caliber of guys we just sent to New York, but any time you have a chance to get one, much less two, 21 year old top of the rotation arms, and trim significant payroll ahead of free agency, you have to look into it. I understand fans are mad, and they have every right to be, especially since we are coming off our first world series, but this move will make us better in the long run.”
Schilling went on to mention the return of Randy Johnson and that their baseball people expect David Rodgers to rebound from a dismal finish. With Hall as the opening day guy, Bowman as the 2 and RJ sliding into the 3 hole, he has Shimizu, Williams, Rodgers, Alba and Jordan for 2 spots. It does leave them with an abundance of left handers, never a bad thing.
Fan interest dropped 9 points on the news two very popular players had been dealt. The moves free up close to 20 million dollars for the free agent market, but it's not known where the Avalanche interest lies. It also means just Stan Hall and Bob Harrell will enter the market if they are not resigned this year.

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Some big time names, starting with Swagat and the 2 time Koufax winner in Brandon Webb. Sadao Suziki, out of Japan, huge get. He's a legit ace, 20 game 250 strikeout guy, works upper 90's. Looking for 20 million, which, at age 32 could be challenging. Might be, next to Webb, the best pitcher on the market.

[Orcin]

Congratulations on the World Series win!

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FREE AGENCY BEGINS, DECEMBER NEWS

11/26
Cabrera for Cox, Alaska and Buffalo deal.
Alaska has sent 26 year old OF/1B Jorge Cabrera and their 2030 2nd round pick to the Buffalo Bisons for top catching prospect Wayne Cox.
“Wayne is a top shelf catching prospect and a potential gold glove backstop. Jorge had a fantastic season and was a big part of bringing home the 1st world series here in Alaska, but our overflow of young outfielders and our desire to make Lowell Cook an everyday player led to this move”

What we are really saying. Cabrera was the ultimate sell high player, I think this was a career year. Carnaxide is a physical mess, and I am unsure how much he can be counted on to stay healthy. Cox is a better defender, younger, and has outstanding on base skills while possessing the very rare trait among catchers, the ability to run well above average. The pick moves us up to the top half of round 2. Most important is the room it provides to get Cook, and Hawkins, and Morton, more at bats.

RULE 5 DRAFT
There were some nice names out there, but nothing worth moving roster spots for. I lost 3B Gabriel Guerra to Hawaii and reliever Luis Padilla to Arizona.

12/4
Buffalo strikes first, signs Koufax winner Wright
The Bisons shelled out big cash to grab another top of the rotation arm in Russell Wright. Their top 5 are legit big time arms now. For a team that finished just 4 games out they are working hard to remake their club.

12/5
Suzuki could be the best arm out there this year, depending on how he makes the transition. Certainly a decent price for an ace to replace Brandon Webb. I was in on it but 5 years was too much for me, I was offering a higher AAV too.

San Antonio fills a hole
They grab Mathews to replace closer Antonio Rodriguez, and do it on a 1 year deal for minimal money.



12/6
LA pilfers rival
The Wizards announced the signing of closer Shimai Ikarashi today. The 33 year old agreed to a 3 year 20.1M dollar deal, with the 3rd year a team option at 7.4M with a 1M buyout. Ikarashi's signing means closer Craig Rowan will move into an 8th inning role, giving LA a formidable late inning 1-2 punch.

12/7
The following day the Patriots call another press conference. This time to announce the signing of former MVP Tony Greene to a 4 year 66.7M dollar free agent contract. Year 4 is a 19.2M team option with a 2M dollar buyout. Philly's offense, with Chris James (.289-32-107) and Tim Conley (.269-35-107) hitting in front, and behind Greene, just got a whole lot deeper. This is essentially a farewell to Lorenzo Bermudez and Brandon Webb, whom Suzuki and Greene are intended to replace many believe.



12/8
Which would mean the Patriots knew about this one. Fresno gets Bermudez on a 3 year deal, for 18 a year. He's a former rookie of the year (2022) and an MVP (2024) as well as a gold glove winner (RF 2028) and a 4 time all start ('23, '24, '27 and '29). Twice runner up to batting titles ('24 and '28) and he led the league in VORP (66.4) and WAR (6.8) in 2024. Fresno had the 13th best offense in runs scored, and 14th in AVG and OBP last year.

Immediately following that press conference the Grizzlies stunned everyone in the IBL by announcing the signing of another superstar. 28 year old Nawaf Ma'n agreed to terms on a 4 year 68.8M dollar deal. The final year a 17.2M player option. Ma'n is coming off a career high .331 year, in which he hit 34 homers and drove in 95.

12/9
Coming off his 3rd place finish in the Koufax voting Tom Warner turned it into a huge pay day. Signing for 4 years with the Colts. Warner, at 28, gives the Colts what could be one of the youngest and most talented 5 man staffs in the game.

12/10
Vegas and Swagat agree on 3 year 54.2M dollar deal.
The 51's took the markets best bat in former batting champion and gold glove Catcher Asiman Swagat, leaving Iron Pig fans stunned, shocked, and angry. No one saw this coming, as Vegas catcher Justin Reed is just 26 and a terror on RHP. This move certainly makes them a force again in the Southern Division.

27 year old Mark Allen signed a 5 year 64.5M dollar deal with the Blizzard. He's been off and on the DL the past 2 years, limiting him to just 28 IBL starts.

12/14
Heading into the winter meetings and I've made two very bold surprising moves. The 1st was to offer OF Ricciardo Vasaro a 5 year 76.75M dollar free agent deal. He's 26, a superstar in the making, and an exceptional teammate and player.

The 2nd was to make a huge offer to Arizona for 19 year old OF/1B Domingo Casillas. The leagues 27th rated prospect (9th hitter) and a potential .340+ 50 HR + guy.

I have offered a ton of talent, starting with OF Bob Brady, and 2 RP's in Rodriguez and Mathis, as well as 2 younger IF prospects and 3 picks. Vasaro becomes the everyday center of the lineup if this works out, Brady leaving clears the room. That gives me Aguilar, Hawkins, Morton and Cook to rotate between LF/RF. The thought right now is Aguilar goes to AAA again, as he's still maturing on and off the field, Cook gets every AB in LF, Morton and Hawkins move around. The issue is they are both very heavily skewed as left handed hitters vs RHP, neither should be in the lineup vs LHP although Richards eye, per our scouts, is now rated a 21.

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2029-30 WINTER MEETINGS DAY 1

Word of our offer to Vasario is out, but he's let us know he's leaning our way. Like to get that done ASAP.

SIGNINGS
White Caps resign Franklin, getting him for 2 years at about 50% the money I paid for Casas.

Jackson looks to be a good swing man, his stamina is a concern to getting deep into games but the stuff is there.





TRADES
Fresno is busy, remaking about everyone, everywhere.

I don't know if that's the move, but Stephenson would appear to be Chicago's replacement for Swagat? Fans won't be happy at all with that one.

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SIGNINGS
Staten Island lands the big fish, landing 2 time Koufax winner Brandon Webb. The move vaults them to the top of the WAR gained this off season, ahead of Fresno. The loss of Mark Allen appears to be much less painful now.



TRADES
Columbus deals Cruz just 2 years after signing him, in what appears to be a significant salary move, and getting 2 good young players back.

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SIGNINGS
Kokawa lands a mega deal with the Patriots, which, when combined with the Suzuki signing, Greene signing, gotta believe they are odds on favorites in the Keystone as of today. They've lost a stunning 25.2 in WAR, with Webb, Bermudez and Boyd Jackson, as well as C Pat White. But they have now added Kokawa (3.1) Greene (2.5) and Cody Powers (via Trade 1.7).



TRADES

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TRADES
Philadelphia gets another power bat in Carrillo, which puts their offense into another dimension as far as power goes. He's a legit 30-40 homer bat if he plays regularly.

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HIRINGS-
HAWAII-Hired GM Josh Walton who GM'd in Edmonton for just 67 games last year (20-47) and they hired former Avalanche manager Roberto Lopez, a career 960-651 record and the 2020 Manager of the year in Columbus. He's managed 7 different clubs to the post season.
SAN JOSE-Hired former Clipper Bench Coach Glen Miller as their new manager.
SAN ANTONIO-HIred Bruce Arnold as their new GM. Bruce has not held a job on the field or in a front office before being hired.

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2030 NEW YEAR BEGINS
Well that answers that. Stepehenson wasn't the plan to replace Swagat was, Chicago drops a boat load of cash on a guy I almost drafted when I was there. A guy who's had repeated off the field issues, marital and otherwise. No doubt about the talent, but the guys an ass.

The Blizzard answer with their own huge deal. Grabbing a guy who's done nothing but hit, a ton, since arriving from Japan.



I had flirted with Hoffman but would only offer big money through incentives, as he's coming back from major surgery, and he was not interested. Now I know why. He's a 4 time all star.

Davenport was a guy I drafted, and thought about going after this winter to give Casas a lethal setup man. He was looking for 7 a year, and ended up getting close to that from the Silver Stars.

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Sparkplug doesn't begin to describe this kid. At 5'8" and 190 pds he's the IBL's version of Dustin Pedroia. Gave me fits in the World Series last year, left an impression.



The signing gives me 1 too many CF'ers and Hawkins nets me a very good young pitcher, as well as moving up in the rounds after the 1st. I do NOT give up picks lightly, so signing Vasario was done with every consideration. Brady moves into a potential backup role, and I'll be talking to clubs as we move forward.

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The IBL will be handling Hall of Fame inductions differently. Every 5 years the ballot will be passed around, and votes will be made. The only criteria that matters is the player being retired, no matter how long that player has been.

Retired players never become ineligible for the HoF.

2030 is the first year Hall of Fame ballots are being cast. And the following players are the 1st players elected into the IBL HALL OF FAME



HUGH COLLINS-Chicago Iron Pigs


(Rank all time on day of induction)

Finishes his career a 2 time world champion, and 6 time all star. The 765th overall pick in the 2012 inaugural draft.

AVG-.2934 (95th)
OBP-.3733 (98th)
SLG-.5526 (10th)
OPS-.9258 (19th)
VORP-702.72 (4th)
GAMES-1979 (7th)
AB-7545 (7th)
RUNS-1454 (4th)
HITS-2215 (5th)
TOTAL BASES-4169 (4th)
1B-1296 (14th)
2B-374 (21st)
3B-55 (t-26th)
HR-490 (3rd)
RBI-1550 (4th)
SB-233 (25th)
BB-932 (25th)
K-1540 (13th)
WAR-82.76 (4th)

Career leader for Center Fielders in SLG, OPS, VORP, AB, R, H, TB, HR, RBI, K, WAR, GAMES, INNINGS PLAYED

Holds the single season record for CF's in OPS, VORP and WAR, all in 2016
AWARD FINISHES-Hank Aaron Award = 2nd (2016)

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RICH ALFRED-Tulsa Drillers


A 2 time world champion and 8 time all star. The 1641st overall pick in the 2012 Inaugural draft.

(Rank all time on day of induction)

AVG-.2962 (78th)
OBP-.4126 (12th)
SLG-.4957 (80th)
OPS-.9083 (27th)
VORP-590.84 (7th)
GAMES-1550 (51st)
AB-5513 (t-59th)
RUNS-1033 (30th)
HITS-1633 (48h)
TOTAL BASES-2733 (48th)
1B-1058 (48th)
2B-301 (t-57th)
3B-23
HR-251 (t-67th)
RBI-962 (44th)
SB-4
BB-1034 (14th)
K-502
WAR-57.84 (10th)

Catching he is the career leader in VORP, RUNS, RBI's, BB, WAR 2nd in HITS, TOTAL BASES, 1B, 3rd in 3B, HR, 4th in AVG, OBP, OPS, GAMES, AB, 2B, 5th in SLG 38th in K
AWARD FINISHES-Hank Aaron Award = 2nd (2019) 3rd (2018)

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JAN-FEB NEWS, SIGNINGS AND TRADES



I was going to make a run at Park but thought the asking price would be too much. I need some RH hitting as well as some depth in RF.



Green Bay gets active to fill some holes and an old friend, Wes Webb, snags a 2 year deal from the Hooks.



Philly adds Bernarda at the 11th hour, reinforcing an already sickeningly powerful offense. If he stays on the field they are going to murder LHP.

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2030 SPRING TRAINING
Richard Morton and Cole Martin go down day 1 of camp in a 7-2 win. Morton is out a month, he'll miss spring training. No word on Martin yet.
He ends up being day to day for 3-4 days.

ALASKA SIGNS ACE
Under the radar I had been talking with Stan Hall. I think the feelings mutual in that we'd like to keep him here through the end of his playing days, with any job he wants after. He agreed and today we agreed on a record 6 year 109.6M dollar extension to keep him here through the 2036 season (year 6 is an 18.2M team option). Fan interest shot up 8 pts (88) at the news. Looking ahead I believe the decision has been made for us in a way, we will likely allow Bob Harrell to walk at years end, with the young bats maturing, his likely ask, and our payroll situation, it might be best for all involved if that's the course we take.



3/6
Joao Carnaxide goes down, and will be out 2-3 weeks with a hairline fracture in the foot.

IBL ACTIVE CAREER LEADER: RUNS
1850 Curt Whimster (LV)
1706 Luis Chavez (CHI)
1566 Jeff Hudson (PIT)
1381 Michael Moran
1257 Fred Gill

3/10
New York loses 26 year old RP Logan Blanton (2-5 5 SV 5.60 72G in Michigan) for 4-5 months to elbow surgery.

3/11
Houston loses SP Adrian Gomez (17-12 4.48) for 2-3 months to arthroscopic shoulder surgery.

3/12
Tulsa signs veteran IF and gold glover Andre Blakeway to a 1 year deal.

3/13
Michigan will be without 4-time all star Ricardo Flores (.296-33-92) for 5 months after he tore his flexor tendon.

LA resigned closer Craig Rowan (5-1 40 SV 2.40) to a 2 year 15M dollar extension.

3/15
Philly signs free agent reliver Orlando Rea to a 2 year 2.7M dollar deal. The 33 year old will be their closer opening day. He's 52-31 3.75 ERA with 84 career saves.

3/17
Esteban Figueroa has missed most of the first two weeks, and is out at least another week with forearm tendinitis.

23 year old superstar in the making, Paco Padilla (EDM) will miss the year with a torn rotation cuff. He came in as the IBL's #5 prospect last year and was 8-5 3.15 in 15 AAA starts before his callup (4-6 6.93 in 17 starts).

3/19
Fresno has signed Japanese FA SP Masakazu Osawa to a 2 year 6.26M dollar deal.



There were some other smaller signings, nothing major, Pete Merritt, the batting champion, still unemployed at the end of camp, again....





3/27
I've extended a 1 year offer at next to no money to 31 year old Jerry Bond. A switch hitting OF who can help vs LHP, and be a late inning guy in RF if needed. He's a career .286/.345/.531 hitter with 180 homers in 916 games. He's physically a mess though, so we're not going to count on a big year, just insurance. The move allows me to send Raul Aguilar back to Eagan for 1 more year.

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