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With Baltimore seemingly on the outside looking in on this year’s playoff race in the IL, the rumours are starting to swirl that the league’s premier slugger over the last 9 years may be on the move. A source inside Rice’s inner circle has made it known that he is looking for a legacy deal in the range of $40M a year for at least 6 years, and more likely, 8 full seasons. Based on Baltimore’s history of not handing out such deals it seems a mere formality that this will be Rice’s last season in Baltimore. In fact, the same source has hinted that Rice may be on the move even earlier as the Bulldogs may look to the future at this year’s trade deadline. We take a look at four teams that have the need and the resources to get a deal done, along with the percent chances a deal will get done.
Toronto Canadians (15%)
The Trade
Toronto sends their top three non BLB prospects in SS Kerry Bell, CF Nathan Dawson, and 1B Mike Campbell
The Rationale
Toronto has pushed all in the last two seasons and is without almost all of their first three rounds worth of picks until 2046. Pushing the rest of their chips in to grab a premier slugger to replace a miscast Calvin Porter would be a huge upgrade to a team that currently sits dead last in the DL in home runs. Rice would immediately anchor the lineup and take a lot of pressure of their own power hitting superstar in Robert Jessee. Also, with Robert Jessee in the last year of his deal this might be the last chance that Toronto has to make a late run for the playoffs with the current roster intact. With the newly added Cooks fronting the rotation and Rice anchoring the order, Toronto could be looking at its first playoff appearance since 2039.
Phoenix Roadrunners (20%)
The Trade
Phoenix sends top prospect Cade Hogan, their top 1B prospect in Will Harper, and a future first round pick.
The Rationale
Phoenix has easily the best pitching in the entire BLB, and is led by a three headed monster of Derek Bell, Jakob Parnika, and Yuri Baldwin. All three reside on the Top Pitchers List are under team control for the foreseeable future. This allows them to move their top prospect and a future first, as they are loaded at the pitcher position now and in the future. Phoenix’s kryptonite, however, is offence. Although Rice plays 1B, and will cause a lineup nightmare for their new manager, Rice will impact the entire lineup and strengthen the team’s only weakness. Also, with money being tight now, and even more so in the future, as the young players want to be paid, this might be the time to go all in, and bring home Brewmaster back to Phoenix for the first time since 2023.
Santo Domingo Rum Runners (40%)
The Trade
SDR sends a future first round pick and their former top prospect in 1B Cody Masengill
The Rationale
As is the case most years, SDR has all the makings of a playoff team in the DL this year. Their team is currently first in the DL in home runs, and adding Rice would seem to be a bit of a luxury, but a luxury that the Rum Runners can afford. Having used the #3 overall pick this year on 1B Al Flanagan and recently signing Marco Taylor, Masengill is lost in the shuffle and to Baltimore’s delight becomes the centrepiece of the deal. Rice instantly makes the already formidable offence in SDR even stronger. In a DL with teams with loaded pitching staffs like Montreal, Pittsburgh, Wilmington, and Syracuse, adding another premier bat will help to balance out some of the deficit SDR faces lining up against the DL’s upper crust. Rumour also has it, that GM JB is tired of getting bounced early in the playoffs and has decided this is the year to make a big splash and finally bring home the title that has eluded them since 2033.
Pittsburgh Millers (65%)
The Trade
Pittsburgh sends two of their top prospects in LF Kade Priddy, 3B Mike Perrin, and a future first.
The Rationale
Pittsburgh has been the premier franchise in the BLB the last six years having been to final in three of those years. Each year, the Millers have come agonizingly close, and it has generally been their offence that has let them down. They currently have the #1 team in the entire BLB, and a well-balanced offence and pitching staff. Why do we think that Rice to Toronto makes so much senses then? The team’s financials would seem to dictate that this is the last year that this team will be together in its current form. GM Matt has long been against long term contracts and finds it almost offensive to sign a player close to, or in their 30s, to a long-term deal. So, with Osburn, Dasmarinas, Smith, and Coffey, Welborn all likely gone at the end of the year, this is the perfect time to make a slash to finally put the Millers over the hump. A little reshuffling would see Dasmarinas pushed back to the outfield, but the offensive firepower that lineup would use to attack other team pitching would be more than enough for a rotation fronted by Encinia, Gomez, and Hashim. Looks like fourth time is the charm as this is the year, and this is the trade, that finally puts the Millers in the winner’s circle for the first time in their storied franchise!
Toronto Canadians (15%)
The Trade
Toronto sends their top three non BLB prospects in SS Kerry Bell, CF Nathan Dawson, and 1B Mike Campbell
The Rationale
Toronto has pushed all in the last two seasons and is without almost all of their first three rounds worth of picks until 2046. Pushing the rest of their chips in to grab a premier slugger to replace a miscast Calvin Porter would be a huge upgrade to a team that currently sits dead last in the DL in home runs. Rice would immediately anchor the lineup and take a lot of pressure of their own power hitting superstar in Robert Jessee. Also, with Robert Jessee in the last year of his deal this might be the last chance that Toronto has to make a late run for the playoffs with the current roster intact. With the newly added Cooks fronting the rotation and Rice anchoring the order, Toronto could be looking at its first playoff appearance since 2039.
Phoenix Roadrunners (20%)
The Trade
Phoenix sends top prospect Cade Hogan, their top 1B prospect in Will Harper, and a future first round pick.
The Rationale
Phoenix has easily the best pitching in the entire BLB, and is led by a three headed monster of Derek Bell, Jakob Parnika, and Yuri Baldwin. All three reside on the Top Pitchers List are under team control for the foreseeable future. This allows them to move their top prospect and a future first, as they are loaded at the pitcher position now and in the future. Phoenix’s kryptonite, however, is offence. Although Rice plays 1B, and will cause a lineup nightmare for their new manager, Rice will impact the entire lineup and strengthen the team’s only weakness. Also, with money being tight now, and even more so in the future, as the young players want to be paid, this might be the time to go all in, and bring home Brewmaster back to Phoenix for the first time since 2023.
Santo Domingo Rum Runners (40%)
The Trade
SDR sends a future first round pick and their former top prospect in 1B Cody Masengill
The Rationale
As is the case most years, SDR has all the makings of a playoff team in the DL this year. Their team is currently first in the DL in home runs, and adding Rice would seem to be a bit of a luxury, but a luxury that the Rum Runners can afford. Having used the #3 overall pick this year on 1B Al Flanagan and recently signing Marco Taylor, Masengill is lost in the shuffle and to Baltimore’s delight becomes the centrepiece of the deal. Rice instantly makes the already formidable offence in SDR even stronger. In a DL with teams with loaded pitching staffs like Montreal, Pittsburgh, Wilmington, and Syracuse, adding another premier bat will help to balance out some of the deficit SDR faces lining up against the DL’s upper crust. Rumour also has it, that GM JB is tired of getting bounced early in the playoffs and has decided this is the year to make a big splash and finally bring home the title that has eluded them since 2033.
Pittsburgh Millers (65%)
The Trade
Pittsburgh sends two of their top prospects in LF Kade Priddy, 3B Mike Perrin, and a future first.
The Rationale
Pittsburgh has been the premier franchise in the BLB the last six years having been to final in three of those years. Each year, the Millers have come agonizingly close, and it has generally been their offence that has let them down. They currently have the #1 team in the entire BLB, and a well-balanced offence and pitching staff. Why do we think that Rice to Toronto makes so much senses then? The team’s financials would seem to dictate that this is the last year that this team will be together in its current form. GM Matt has long been against long term contracts and finds it almost offensive to sign a player close to, or in their 30s, to a long-term deal. So, with Osburn, Dasmarinas, Smith, and Coffey, Welborn all likely gone at the end of the year, this is the perfect time to make a slash to finally put the Millers over the hump. A little reshuffling would see Dasmarinas pushed back to the outfield, but the offensive firepower that lineup would use to attack other team pitching would be more than enough for a rotation fronted by Encinia, Gomez, and Hashim. Looks like fourth time is the charm as this is the year, and this is the trade, that finally puts the Millers in the winner’s circle for the first time in their storied franchise!
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