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As the Indianapolis Racers celebrated winning the 2034 Brewmaster's at The Port of Seattle, many Pilots fans stayed seated in the stands. Most Pilots players and coaches, also stayed seated, on the bench. The feeling was all too familiar but everyone knew the team was headed for big changes. No one knew that more than the franchises only General Manager, Pat McLaughlin, who could be seen leaving the stadium on his private helicopter no less than five minutes after the final out. Luckily, we were able to catch up with him during the busy off-season.
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Sim Gaming Network News: "Going into this off-season there was a lot of speculation on what the Pilots would do. With so many free-agents on the roster, were you expecting this much turnover?"
General Manager Pat McLaughlin: "You could say that. After winning the 2026 Brewmaster's, we made the decision as a franchise to try and keep this window open as long as possible. We cut every corner we could with taking fewer international scouting trips, relying on analytics for drafting prospects, hiring first year coaches and forcing minor leaguers to do their own laundry. We failed to bring home another championship in the last eight years but we finished first in the Bock six times and won the Import League four times."
SGNN: "What does that have to do with roster turnover?"
GM PM: "I was getting to that.... Basically, this was the last year that we were going to go cheap in other areas. No matter what the result of the 2034 season, we or I was prepared to let players walk, so we could spend more on scouting, player development, international amateur free-agents and stadium upgrades. I think a lot of the players knew it too. We had half of our active rosters as potential free-agents. Maybe they played tense in the playoffs because of it. You never know."
SGNN: "So there was no attempts to bring back Johnny Swope? Jacob Stokes? The rest?"
GM PM: "How about I just take you through the entire off-season. I'm an open book. Once players had made their contract option decisions and we approached player arbitration, we started to negotiate with a few. Stokes opted out and the writing was on the wall. Swope refused anything less than five guaranteed seasons at $35M per. Because Joey Seymour was hurt we weren't going to bring him back. Ian Lisch made less than $1M for us, what did he get? $36M from New Orleans? Antonio Melendez was only a rental acquisition despite Pawtucket GM Oldclown insisting that he would opt into his deal. He didn't. Dave Maldonado and Dusty Borchers were only acquired as rentals. I know there are others, but those were the big names."
SGNN: "Take us through Free-Agency. You didn't attempt to bring any of those guys back once they hit the open market? What about the other big names? Dusty Schmidl? Dominican Import Lemarr Naunes was rumored to be interested in Seattle with their international history? Who else?"
GM PM: When free-agency opened up, we made a substantial offer to Schmidl. I don't have the numbers in front of me but it was something in the 5-years $130M range. I think it was $36, $18, $19, $20, $36, last year being a mutual option.
SGNN: "He told the media the Pilots offer wasn't long enough or big enough..."
GM PM: "That's what she said!"
SGNN: "Keep going..."
GM PM: "That's what she said!"
SGNN: "...."
GM PM: "So anyways. He didn't like it. So we moved on to other targets. On the eve of his signing with the Kodiaks, he got in contact with us again and said he wanted to rehash discussions, saying he would likely take our offer if it was still on the table. I figured his offers had dried up and he was getting desperate. I was wrong. It seems he wanted to replace "Big Stick" Swope as the face of the franchise and instead, is now playing next to him in California."
SGNN: "There were rumors that you made a substantial offer to Stokes, is that true?"
GM PM: "It's true. We knew other teams were interested but I thought our offer was better. More money. A better chance to cash in on a last big FA after this deal. We did $15MPO, $25M, $30MTO with a $5M buyout. So, two years for $45M if we declined the final year. Or one year at $15M if he wanted to cash in again. Or even, although unlikely, three years at $70M. He took three years in Baltimore at $11M, $20M, $20MPO. It is what it is."
SGNN: "Wow. You did bring in SS Erik Ward and veteran CL AJ Ingle for his second stint in Seattle."
GM PM: "Yeah, Ward should give us some infield depth that we lost with the departure of not only Swope but also Ian Harris and Hiroya Murata. Ingle wasn't really on our radar at the beginning of Free-Agency, but became a focus once Jayden Crawl spurned us."
SGGN: "Care you elaborate on that?"
GM PM: "Sure. Before the off-season we shopped him. Best offer we could get was a mid round draft pick. So, we declined his arbitration estimate of $6.7M, let him test the waters, thought we could bring him back. We offered him a three year deal, $4.5M, $4.5M, $4.5M, last year a mutual option. Instead, he took a two year deal, at $2.6M per to play in New Orleans. I think the trade rumors and decline of his arbitration might have upset him more than he let on."
SGGN: "Wow! SGN's Duster Blowmie is reporting the Pilots have traded for CF Tom Stark?!"
GM PM: "Ughhhh....we can't really get into that until it's finalized by the league office...but what I can say, is that he is one hell of a player, with an incredible body and anybody would be lucky to have him."
SGGN: "That's what she said?....."
The Pilots PR department said that was enough questions and the meeting was over.
***
Seattle lost an (assumed) BLB record 40 WAR in the off-season. There are going to be a lot of new faces on the roster. The Windy City Blues finished 2nd in the Bock and despite the trade rumors surrounding Stark, will be gunning for the Bock crown. The California Kodiaks were the "winners of the off-season" with all of their additions and some are already calling them the favorite. The Bock division feels up for grabs for the first time in a long time and that should make for an exciting 2035.
***
Sim Gaming Network News: "Going into this off-season there was a lot of speculation on what the Pilots would do. With so many free-agents on the roster, were you expecting this much turnover?"
General Manager Pat McLaughlin: "You could say that. After winning the 2026 Brewmaster's, we made the decision as a franchise to try and keep this window open as long as possible. We cut every corner we could with taking fewer international scouting trips, relying on analytics for drafting prospects, hiring first year coaches and forcing minor leaguers to do their own laundry. We failed to bring home another championship in the last eight years but we finished first in the Bock six times and won the Import League four times."
SGNN: "What does that have to do with roster turnover?"
GM PM: "I was getting to that.... Basically, this was the last year that we were going to go cheap in other areas. No matter what the result of the 2034 season, we or I was prepared to let players walk, so we could spend more on scouting, player development, international amateur free-agents and stadium upgrades. I think a lot of the players knew it too. We had half of our active rosters as potential free-agents. Maybe they played tense in the playoffs because of it. You never know."
SGNN: "So there was no attempts to bring back Johnny Swope? Jacob Stokes? The rest?"
GM PM: "How about I just take you through the entire off-season. I'm an open book. Once players had made their contract option decisions and we approached player arbitration, we started to negotiate with a few. Stokes opted out and the writing was on the wall. Swope refused anything less than five guaranteed seasons at $35M per. Because Joey Seymour was hurt we weren't going to bring him back. Ian Lisch made less than $1M for us, what did he get? $36M from New Orleans? Antonio Melendez was only a rental acquisition despite Pawtucket GM Oldclown insisting that he would opt into his deal. He didn't. Dave Maldonado and Dusty Borchers were only acquired as rentals. I know there are others, but those were the big names."
SGNN: "Take us through Free-Agency. You didn't attempt to bring any of those guys back once they hit the open market? What about the other big names? Dusty Schmidl? Dominican Import Lemarr Naunes was rumored to be interested in Seattle with their international history? Who else?"
GM PM: When free-agency opened up, we made a substantial offer to Schmidl. I don't have the numbers in front of me but it was something in the 5-years $130M range. I think it was $36, $18, $19, $20, $36, last year being a mutual option.
SGNN: "He told the media the Pilots offer wasn't long enough or big enough..."
GM PM: "That's what she said!"
SGNN: "Keep going..."
GM PM: "That's what she said!"
SGNN: "...."
GM PM: "So anyways. He didn't like it. So we moved on to other targets. On the eve of his signing with the Kodiaks, he got in contact with us again and said he wanted to rehash discussions, saying he would likely take our offer if it was still on the table. I figured his offers had dried up and he was getting desperate. I was wrong. It seems he wanted to replace "Big Stick" Swope as the face of the franchise and instead, is now playing next to him in California."
SGNN: "There were rumors that you made a substantial offer to Stokes, is that true?"
GM PM: "It's true. We knew other teams were interested but I thought our offer was better. More money. A better chance to cash in on a last big FA after this deal. We did $15MPO, $25M, $30MTO with a $5M buyout. So, two years for $45M if we declined the final year. Or one year at $15M if he wanted to cash in again. Or even, although unlikely, three years at $70M. He took three years in Baltimore at $11M, $20M, $20MPO. It is what it is."
SGNN: "Wow. You did bring in SS Erik Ward and veteran CL AJ Ingle for his second stint in Seattle."
GM PM: "Yeah, Ward should give us some infield depth that we lost with the departure of not only Swope but also Ian Harris and Hiroya Murata. Ingle wasn't really on our radar at the beginning of Free-Agency, but became a focus once Jayden Crawl spurned us."
SGGN: "Care you elaborate on that?"
GM PM: "Sure. Before the off-season we shopped him. Best offer we could get was a mid round draft pick. So, we declined his arbitration estimate of $6.7M, let him test the waters, thought we could bring him back. We offered him a three year deal, $4.5M, $4.5M, $4.5M, last year a mutual option. Instead, he took a two year deal, at $2.6M per to play in New Orleans. I think the trade rumors and decline of his arbitration might have upset him more than he let on."
SGGN: "Wow! SGN's Duster Blowmie is reporting the Pilots have traded for CF Tom Stark?!"
GM PM: "Ughhhh....we can't really get into that until it's finalized by the league office...but what I can say, is that he is one hell of a player, with an incredible body and anybody would be lucky to have him."
SGGN: "That's what she said?....."
The Pilots PR department said that was enough questions and the meeting was over.
***
Seattle lost an (assumed) BLB record 40 WAR in the off-season. There are going to be a lot of new faces on the roster. The Windy City Blues finished 2nd in the Bock and despite the trade rumors surrounding Stark, will be gunning for the Bock crown. The California Kodiaks were the "winners of the off-season" with all of their additions and some are already calling them the favorite. The Bock division feels up for grabs for the first time in a long time and that should make for an exciting 2035.
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