World ML: OK, Cards, how do you grade your off-season?
crabman26: I give my offseason a 5 out of 10. There wasnt much I could do, due to
the fact I inherited some bloated contracts, I lost Reid Jordan, and
lost out on some impact FA pitchers. So yeah, by my standards it was a
pitiful offseason.
World ML:
overeasy: Honestly we did not have a lot of holes to fill, so the offseason was about finding the final pieces to the puzzle.
So
not being able to re-sign Smalley instantly puts this offseason in the
crapper. The Contreras/Smalley combo would have made us the WS favorite
for the next 3 or 4 seasons, depending on how Luis holds up.
I didn't see Santiago as being worth a max deal, especially factoring in
that I would be giving my first round pick to a division rival, so I
went for the best option where I keep my pick in Reid Jordan. I definitely paid more than what I wanted to, but since I had kept aside
enough money to pay Smalley the max, I needed to spend it somewhere, so
I tried to frontload the money as much as I could.
Reid is no slouch
and has performed very well in St. Louis, which has a similar ballpark to Shea. So his addition bolsters what is already a deep pitching staff.
On offense, I needed to find a new RF to replace the departing platoon of Damaso Baez and Cap Turner. My goal was to fill the only lineup gap I had at the same time, a solid
#2 hitter who could have a good OBP. I think I found a good fit with
Roberto Rodriguez and hope he performs closer to last season than the
previous campaigns.
So I guess after the Smalley debacle, we recovered well, but I would
still give us a middle of the road 5. If we hadn't done the Smalley deal
last season, I would have probably scored it a 7.
Oops! Not exactly a quick hit, but I guess I like talking HBD. :)
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