[JetsIn06]

The 1959-1960 Offseason

What an incredible series. I'm sad that many, many words that were written while I was playing it out are lost to the internet void, but flags fly forever.

FA roll (1-3): 1
Trade roll (1-3): 2

Carryover from last season: +1 FA
Profit ($13.9M): +1 to both
Worst record penalty: N/A
Win World Series: +1 to both

Total:

45+ rated FA: 4
Trades: 4

That's a good amount to work with, and we're going to need it. We have five departing players heading to free agency, the most important of which is C Adam Flowers. We knew this before acquiring him, of course, but he's far too expensive to keep. RP Javier Vasquez is also going into FA, along with our backup catcher and bench outfielder, C Lance Premo and CF Mike Martinez.

Right now, we only have about $4.6M in budget room in 1960. On top of that, the league is going to expand! Still working out the details, but we'll surely lose a role player or two in that draft.

And then the cherry on top, a thirteen-player arbitration class with SP Tom Brown, RP Danny Hamilton, CL Jerry Johnson, and 1B Nick Henriksen all entering their final season of team control. All three pitchers played key roles in the World Series, and Henriken had a strong season (124 wRC+) but missed the victory due to injury.

We swing our first trade of the offseason, moving 1B/DH Jose Luis and 2B Ruben Perez to the Chicago Packers. It's a disappoint end for Luis, who we signed on the IAFA market back in 1951. While he played well this season, he was only able to get 249 PA due to injury. He missed all of 1958 as well. An incredible contact hitter, it's a shame we never got to see his true potential, but maybe he stays on the field somewhere else. Perez is a league average player who can play decent defense at 2B/3B, but he's due to make $3.6M as he enters arbitration and we have a very similar player in 2B Chris McGinnis in AAA, who's been waiting there for a couple of years for his time to come up. We also send 20-year-old catching prospect Dave Dorman, our 2nd round pick last year.

In return, SP Jack Hall joins the club. He's in the final year team control, but will bolster our rotation quite a bit. He made 32 starts last year with a 3.78 ERA. His K% is just 18.4%, so he doesn't quite have the stuff we typically look for, but he'd be great towards the back of this rotation and we're definitely lacking the depth I would like.

But what may be the true prize here is C Bryan Hanna, the #48 prospect in baseball. He's a strong defender but an even better hitter, and he was incredible in his pro debut in rookie ball, hitting .344 with a 121 wRC+.

FA: 4
Trades: 3

Awards season comes, and Chris Rodriguez wins the 1959 Pitcher of the Year Award. He started 33 games, and went 20-4 with a 2.60 ERA and 190 Ks.