The other side of the coin

Going back to season 5, Salem was a budding franchise on the cusp of something special. The prior owners (3 over the first 3 seasons) had clearly acquired talent, but were also clearly tanking. By the time I got there in season 4, there was enough talent to challenge for a playoff appearance, but nearly enough pitching to get us over the top. Despite turning over a sizable portion of the major league talent to get the proper pieces in place, a top of the rotation ace was sorely lacking. After squeezing out a divsion title (despite just 84 wins) and a league championship appearance, Salem went on the hunt for a top shelf ace for season 5 and beyond.

Enter flytekk and the Florida Flytekks, a new owner to this world in season 5, a new owner to the game. Under the prior regime, Fly's new organization had been near the top of the world. Along with average 100+ wins each of the first four seasons, the organization brought home the big trophy in season 3. Fly found himself in the middle of a very solid organization with enough talent to compete right away. However, he had a clear mission in mind. He didn't want to ride the coat tails of the previous staff to a W-S title, he wanted to mold the organization his way. So off the trade market he went, peddling his wares for top shelf talent. Despite more than one brash statement, a handful of pissed off owners and several outrageous demands, Fly held tight to his guns when Salem came calling to incquire about the services of season 3 Cy Young and perinial all star ChadLamb. Salem had a couple of top level prospects worthy of a deal, but Fly in all his brashness was insisting on both CorbanWalters and StewartWells. Both bright young prospects with all multiple all star appearances all but assured.

The demands for Lamb were not only beyond absurd, they were fairly in line with several other deals that had crept thru the grapevine involving Fly and his first offseason. More than 1 owner vowed to never do a deal with him. Personally, I didn't care much either way, but when Fly mentioned that without both Walter and Wells, Lamb wasn't heading for the pacific northwest. Fine I said, told him I'll gladly trade either, but certainly not both should he change his mind. Thinking any deal was pretty much dead in the water, Salem had set its eyes elsewhere until a few days later, Fly relented and offered up a deal so perfect, I hadn't even thought of it. One that fit Salem's current needs so well, as well as Fly's long term goals that it couldn't be passed up. In addition to Lamb, Fly added postseason super star, GalahadDale in exchange for Walters, Wells and the contract of the solid and steady PTAbbott.

With the addition of Dale & Lamb, Salem's rotation was quickly in the running as league's best. Lamb would headline the Salem rotation to the next two world series championships. Dale, in addition to a career best 19 wins in season 6, was his typical postseason dominate self, going 4-1 over seasons 5 & 6, in addition to a 6-0 mark in season 7 helping guide Dover to a W-S, Dale's 4th ring in 5 seasons.

While the deal made perfect sense from a talent standpoint, there was more than one owner concerned that Fly was selling off his high end talent, and wouldn't even be around more than 1 or 2 seasons. Fly gladly claimed he was in it for the long run, and garunteed he'd be playoff bound in his 4th season at worst, and competing for a W-S quickly there after. Well Fly upped that mark by 3 seasons, making his first postseason in season 6 and hasn't missed the playoffs since, adding 4 division crowns in the meantime. Furthur more, when season 9 rolled around, Fly opened up the bank account to re-sign Lamb as he hit free agency, as well as the top pitching coach needed to ensure his services. From the original deal, PT Abbott was quickly flipped, while Wells and Walters are key cogs in their franchise. Now that Fly has won his first title, will number 2 be far behind?

As I look back on how this deal dramatically affected the fortunes of both teams, I'm left to wonder if this isn't one of the biggest deals made in this world. Not only did both teams come up winners in this deal, but both won big.

the "Next 10" series, part 5, corner infielders and power bats

finally we've come to the spot we're we can throw defense out the window and grab the biggest, baddest bats under 26 that this world has to offer. As we approach the end, its my hope all of these guys get some consideration for the HoF. I'm sure the primarily defensive types will struggle to get in, as well as the middle relievers, but all of these guys should be multiple time all stars, if not pace setting record holders. We'll start the last 3 picks looking at 3b, where defense is certainly a consideration. ValRosario was signed out of the dominican as a SS, but has moved to CF for St louis. Frankly his defensive ratings would suggest he could handle any position on the diamond defensively outside of catcher, and would be a gold glover at all of them but SS & CF. We've decided to make him our 3b, where he may well be the most valuable position player in this world once you add his .850+ OPS bat to his defense. At 24, and only 4 seasons into his career (2+ in the majors) Val has already made the last 2 all star teams and shown up on the MVP ballots. While it may be a season or 2 too soon for legit MVP consideration, expect him to remain a fixture on the final ballots over the next decade. Moving across the diamond, we'll take a look at one of the sweetest swings in this world: JulianHall is still a season away from making the show, despite his multiple seasons w/ an OPS over 1.000, Hall will remain an elite hitter, despite power in the mid 70s. A switch hitter, Julian is equally effective on both sides of the plate and should settle out in the mid to upper 80s in contact, splits & batting eye. Finally, rounding out the roster, we'll add the biggest power threat in the world. Afterall, what kind of "next 10" team wouldn't include the guy most capable of knocking down all home run records? RaulCerda, in his second full season hit 47 long balls this season. Season 10's rookie of the year, Raul knocked out 36 long balls in 150 games with an OPS of 1.010. This left handed masher should have no trouble approaching 700 long balls by the time his career is over.

the "next 10" series, part 4: Middle of the Diamond

Jumping from the defensive minded Catcher spot, we'll move across the diamond to the equally important defensive spots at SS and 2b, however, with no PC rating to worry about, we'll look for a little offense in these spots as we get near the completion of this "next 10" squad. NorbertoSantos leads us off at SS. Admittadly, he's a little more "Jeter" at SS than Omar Vizquel, but he's definently Barry Larkin at the plate. Even though NY has him playing primarly 3rd base, we'll slide him to SS and watch his bat shine. Santos made his first All star appearance in his rookie campaign of season 10, ending with 27 long balls, 93 rbi, and 97 rbi for the powerful Moose Knuckles lineup. Despite having a sophomore slump in season 10, he's still going to score voer 100 runs, hit mid 20+ homers, and drive in 70+ runs. Still showing slight signs of improvement at 23, Santos should continue on to a very solid .290/.375/.465 type career. Very solid numbers for any SS. If Santos is going to provide the offense at SS, we'll back him up w/ a premier young defensive SS in the league. When it comes to defense, HipolitoIglesias doesn't dissapoint. On top of that, he's carrying a .700+ OPS bat to compliment all that defense. He's certainly not going to crush any team offense numbers hitting around 12-15 homers a season while playing superb defense. Forming Santos' double play partner will be EugeneGarcia. Season 4's #4 overall pick, Garcia is favored to win his 1st gold glove this season, his first full season playing 2b. And if you think this is strictly a defense first, Garcia's .800+ ops bat has lead to three consecutive all star appearances, begining with his first full season in the bigs during season 9. A nice combination of a little bit of pop, and a good amount of speed (172 steals in 217 attempts) Garcia gives the added benefit of playing near gold glove level defense if needed in CF. Next in the series, we'll take a look at 3b, 1b and DH to round out the last 3 spots on the team.