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With a few possible free agents still able to find a home before the regular season starts, we bring you the Frenzy a little early this year!
Today the assistant editor of the DK takes a look back at the last two months of free agency! Let’s take a closer look at the Top 5 Winners and Top 5 Losers as Spring Training gets ready to start tomorrow!
Winner #5 – Montreal Exports
Montreal consistently boasts one of the top minor league systems in the league, and those youngsters are starting to make an impact in 2039. Last year they were a respectable 76-86, while boasting a good young offence, but a middling pitching staff fronted be an underperforming Tawfiq Chabwera. In a surprise move during Free Agency they nabbed a true ace, in Ian Johnston, from Pittsburgh. That should allow Chabwera to settle into the #3 spot and give the Exports a very formidable top three of Johnston, Breed, and Chabwera to support a young exciting offence, as they battle down to the wire for the last Wild Card spot!
Winner #4 – Windy City Blues
Windy City boasts one of the best pitching staffs in baseball fronted by the game’s best pitcher in Barton Mejia. Unfortunately, last year their offence was a very pedestrian 8th overall and 10th in home runs. Fans will be excited to see the new addition of C Kaden Gaston to the middle of the lineup. He is a consistent 30 home run threat will add much needed thump to an offence that consistently left their pitching staff high and dry. In another underrated move they added platoon bat, Pat Smith, to give the offence more balance. Windy City will be looking to ride their new offence and pitching staff into the Wild Card in the coming season!
Winner #3 – Los Angeles Dinos
Los Angeles just missed the playoffs last year, as they missed be a mere two games! In a very tough IL, their offence often came up just short in the close game. They decided to fix the offence in a big way, as they spent $50M to bring in Nehemiah Daniel from division foe California. Daniel shores up the infield and adds 30 home runs of thump to the lineup. The ageless Jamie Bisbee brings another 20 home runs to the lineup as the Dinos look to make up ground in baseball’s toughest division. Slotting the new faces behind young guns Contreras and Rivera give the Dinos the inside shot at grabbing the last Wild Card spot in the upcoming season!
Winner #2 – Philadelphia Freedom
The Freedom were one of baseball’s best team over the second half of the season last year. One glaring weakness for Philadelphia last year were an anemic offence that finished 9th in home runs. The Freedom reinvented their offence by adding Chris Pineda (41 home runs), Tony Rivera (12 home runs), and Johnny Gammon (25 home runs). The new look offence will also be supported by the addition of SP Dave Householder and CL Tom Gowans, that will improve a staff that was 9th in runs allowed and 11th in strikeouts. Another furious offseason has Freedom fans dreaming of the post season in 2039!
Winner #1 – Baltimore Bulldogs
Rumoured to be on the hot seat, after two tough seasons, Bulldogs GM DelPrez had a fabulous offseason to quiet the critics in Baltimore. An offence that boasts the game’s best pure offensive talent in J.D. Rice just hasn’t been able to put together a pitching staff to help the young slugger. Last season, Baltimore was the only pitching staff in the IL to allow 1 000 runs, which lead to a 6.01 ERA and 6.4 runs scored against per game. This year they boast a whole new starting rotation, as the Bulldogs signed SIX starters to completely rebuild their staff. OF the newcomers, Pat Schick (16 wins and 212 IP) and Kristopher Ball (12 wins and 175 IP) look to be solid #1 and #2 starter as the Bulldogs look to return to the hey days of battling the Bats for the division lead! SPs Jayden Villcana, Gustavo Cordova, Freddie Stapleton, and Manny Sols will round out the new staff. It’s easy to see how we settled on Baltimore as this year’s clear winner of the 2039 BLB Free Agent Frenzy!
Loser #5 – Ian James Fans
The BLB’s greatest catcher in its storied history still sits in Free Agent purgatory. Another 34 home runs last year and James is only 19 home runs short of 500! James is also only 5.2 WAR from reaching an unbelievable 100 WAR! Hopefully some BLB GM gets off their wallet to add James to their lineup as one of the game’s immortals needs to be playing in 2039!
Loser #4 – Carolina Tobs
The Tobs had a quiet offseason in which they added no one of note. Perhaps the BLB’s best offence relies on Superstar Rory Elia and his band of thumpers that had 5 hitters pound at least 30 home runs last year. They snuck into the playoffs last year with the help of a +7 PYT. Unfortunately, this offseason they say goodbye to their top starter and staff ace Kaleb Purvis. It’ll be interesting to see how the Tobs fill in his quality 190 innings and 15 wins. It may be a rough season for Tobs fans, as it appears they may be on the outside looking in in next year’s ridiculously tough IL Wild Card race!
Loser #3 – Hartford Whalers
Again, Hartford shows up at #3 on the Top Losers list. Whaler fans are hoping that is a good omen, as last year’s team rode their poor off season all the way to GM BDub’s second BLB title! The DL’s #1 offence lost a main contributor when they let C Josh Allen walk in Free Agency. That lose isn’t going to be near as painful as the loss the starting staff suffered with the subtraction of SPs Kristoffer Ball (10 wins) and Casper Schmidt (13 wins). The returning champs now have Robby McEvoy’s questionable work ethic leading the way as the Whalers look to become the BLB’s first back to back winner since Pawtucket in 2013/2014. With the losses, Hartford will likely finish the season looking up at the Pittsburgh Millers come season’s end!
Loser #2 – California Kodiaks
The Kodiaks are coming off their first ever four year run in the playoffs. Once again though, California fans are having to deal with a large exodus of players from last season’s roster. The Kodiaks are in a transition as they move to get younger in the field and on the mound. Nehemiah Daniel, the offensive and defensive anchor of the team, is a huge loss as the team brings in an unproven Tanner LeMaster to man one of the game’s most important positions. Gone also are, SPs Jarrod Peacock (6-1 down the stretch) and Pat Moore (13-6), to be replaced by young guns Blake Morris and Miles McIntyre. With the youth movement well underway, it’ll be another season going down to the wire as the Kodiaks again fight to grab a Wild Card spot!
Loser #1 – Toronto Canadians
After breaking an 11-year playoff drought, the Canadians had a very difficult offseason. The #3 offence hopes that the continued maturation of its young guns more than makes up for the loss of SPs Javier Reuda (12 wins and 197 IP) and Micah Laird (11 wins and 186 IP). A bigger blow may have been dealt to the league’s #6 offence as one of the BLB’s best leadoff man, Jamie Rush, left in Free Agency! Rush’s 0.442 OBP and 33 steals will be sorely missed in front of Jesse’s big bat! The Toronto fans were also dealt another big blow as LF Bert Garza returned back to the comfortable confines of the Washington Bats organization. With those four major losses and some of the improvements by the teams around Toronto it’ll be a battle down to the wire for a Wild Card spot next year! With two huge offensive and defensive holes, it’s easy to see how we settled on Toronto as this year’s big loser of the 2039 BLB Free Agent Frenzy!
Today the assistant editor of the DK takes a look back at the last two months of free agency! Let’s take a closer look at the Top 5 Winners and Top 5 Losers as Spring Training gets ready to start tomorrow!
Winner #5 – Montreal Exports
Montreal consistently boasts one of the top minor league systems in the league, and those youngsters are starting to make an impact in 2039. Last year they were a respectable 76-86, while boasting a good young offence, but a middling pitching staff fronted be an underperforming Tawfiq Chabwera. In a surprise move during Free Agency they nabbed a true ace, in Ian Johnston, from Pittsburgh. That should allow Chabwera to settle into the #3 spot and give the Exports a very formidable top three of Johnston, Breed, and Chabwera to support a young exciting offence, as they battle down to the wire for the last Wild Card spot!
Winner #4 – Windy City Blues
Windy City boasts one of the best pitching staffs in baseball fronted by the game’s best pitcher in Barton Mejia. Unfortunately, last year their offence was a very pedestrian 8th overall and 10th in home runs. Fans will be excited to see the new addition of C Kaden Gaston to the middle of the lineup. He is a consistent 30 home run threat will add much needed thump to an offence that consistently left their pitching staff high and dry. In another underrated move they added platoon bat, Pat Smith, to give the offence more balance. Windy City will be looking to ride their new offence and pitching staff into the Wild Card in the coming season!
Winner #3 – Los Angeles Dinos
Los Angeles just missed the playoffs last year, as they missed be a mere two games! In a very tough IL, their offence often came up just short in the close game. They decided to fix the offence in a big way, as they spent $50M to bring in Nehemiah Daniel from division foe California. Daniel shores up the infield and adds 30 home runs of thump to the lineup. The ageless Jamie Bisbee brings another 20 home runs to the lineup as the Dinos look to make up ground in baseball’s toughest division. Slotting the new faces behind young guns Contreras and Rivera give the Dinos the inside shot at grabbing the last Wild Card spot in the upcoming season!
Winner #2 – Philadelphia Freedom
The Freedom were one of baseball’s best team over the second half of the season last year. One glaring weakness for Philadelphia last year were an anemic offence that finished 9th in home runs. The Freedom reinvented their offence by adding Chris Pineda (41 home runs), Tony Rivera (12 home runs), and Johnny Gammon (25 home runs). The new look offence will also be supported by the addition of SP Dave Householder and CL Tom Gowans, that will improve a staff that was 9th in runs allowed and 11th in strikeouts. Another furious offseason has Freedom fans dreaming of the post season in 2039!
Winner #1 – Baltimore Bulldogs
Rumoured to be on the hot seat, after two tough seasons, Bulldogs GM DelPrez had a fabulous offseason to quiet the critics in Baltimore. An offence that boasts the game’s best pure offensive talent in J.D. Rice just hasn’t been able to put together a pitching staff to help the young slugger. Last season, Baltimore was the only pitching staff in the IL to allow 1 000 runs, which lead to a 6.01 ERA and 6.4 runs scored against per game. This year they boast a whole new starting rotation, as the Bulldogs signed SIX starters to completely rebuild their staff. OF the newcomers, Pat Schick (16 wins and 212 IP) and Kristopher Ball (12 wins and 175 IP) look to be solid #1 and #2 starter as the Bulldogs look to return to the hey days of battling the Bats for the division lead! SPs Jayden Villcana, Gustavo Cordova, Freddie Stapleton, and Manny Sols will round out the new staff. It’s easy to see how we settled on Baltimore as this year’s clear winner of the 2039 BLB Free Agent Frenzy!
Loser #5 – Ian James Fans
The BLB’s greatest catcher in its storied history still sits in Free Agent purgatory. Another 34 home runs last year and James is only 19 home runs short of 500! James is also only 5.2 WAR from reaching an unbelievable 100 WAR! Hopefully some BLB GM gets off their wallet to add James to their lineup as one of the game’s immortals needs to be playing in 2039!
Loser #4 – Carolina Tobs
The Tobs had a quiet offseason in which they added no one of note. Perhaps the BLB’s best offence relies on Superstar Rory Elia and his band of thumpers that had 5 hitters pound at least 30 home runs last year. They snuck into the playoffs last year with the help of a +7 PYT. Unfortunately, this offseason they say goodbye to their top starter and staff ace Kaleb Purvis. It’ll be interesting to see how the Tobs fill in his quality 190 innings and 15 wins. It may be a rough season for Tobs fans, as it appears they may be on the outside looking in in next year’s ridiculously tough IL Wild Card race!
Loser #3 – Hartford Whalers
Again, Hartford shows up at #3 on the Top Losers list. Whaler fans are hoping that is a good omen, as last year’s team rode their poor off season all the way to GM BDub’s second BLB title! The DL’s #1 offence lost a main contributor when they let C Josh Allen walk in Free Agency. That lose isn’t going to be near as painful as the loss the starting staff suffered with the subtraction of SPs Kristoffer Ball (10 wins) and Casper Schmidt (13 wins). The returning champs now have Robby McEvoy’s questionable work ethic leading the way as the Whalers look to become the BLB’s first back to back winner since Pawtucket in 2013/2014. With the losses, Hartford will likely finish the season looking up at the Pittsburgh Millers come season’s end!
Loser #2 – California Kodiaks
The Kodiaks are coming off their first ever four year run in the playoffs. Once again though, California fans are having to deal with a large exodus of players from last season’s roster. The Kodiaks are in a transition as they move to get younger in the field and on the mound. Nehemiah Daniel, the offensive and defensive anchor of the team, is a huge loss as the team brings in an unproven Tanner LeMaster to man one of the game’s most important positions. Gone also are, SPs Jarrod Peacock (6-1 down the stretch) and Pat Moore (13-6), to be replaced by young guns Blake Morris and Miles McIntyre. With the youth movement well underway, it’ll be another season going down to the wire as the Kodiaks again fight to grab a Wild Card spot!
Loser #1 – Toronto Canadians
After breaking an 11-year playoff drought, the Canadians had a very difficult offseason. The #3 offence hopes that the continued maturation of its young guns more than makes up for the loss of SPs Javier Reuda (12 wins and 197 IP) and Micah Laird (11 wins and 186 IP). A bigger blow may have been dealt to the league’s #6 offence as one of the BLB’s best leadoff man, Jamie Rush, left in Free Agency! Rush’s 0.442 OBP and 33 steals will be sorely missed in front of Jesse’s big bat! The Toronto fans were also dealt another big blow as LF Bert Garza returned back to the comfortable confines of the Washington Bats organization. With those four major losses and some of the improvements by the teams around Toronto it’ll be a battle down to the wire for a Wild Card spot next year! With two huge offensive and defensive holes, it’s easy to see how we settled on Toronto as this year’s big loser of the 2039 BLB Free Agent Frenzy!