Trading Season

The 2019 winter trading season is upon us. With the World Series out of the way, this means it is time to announce all of the deals we've made during the "quiet period." Today, we announce five trades that have filled some holes and provided us with some much-needed flexibility in the auction/draft.

Trade #1: Yusei Kikuchi to Mission Viejo for Francisco Cervelli.

For our first trade of the winter, we traded a guy we pledged we would never trade. The more things change in Salem, the more they stay the same. With Gary Sanchez sucking the big one this year, we were left with an empty void behind the plate. Cervelli fills that void with arguably the best bat behind the plate outside of J.T. Realmuto. In 404 plate appearances, he hit .259/.378/.431 with well-balanced OPS splits of 803/811. With a salary of just $2 million, and at age 32, it's likely that he can give us another two or three useful years beyond 2019.

Trading Kikuchi is the price we pay for competing immediately. We feel that we have pitching depth in the years to come; therefore Kikuchi was somewhat expendable. We foresee him becoming a very solid #2-#3 starter this coming MLB season, and will be a terrific minimum-wage bargain for the Vigilantes (nee Buffaloes) in 2020.

Trade #2: Gary Sanchez, Adam Cimber, and Max Kepler to Cleveland for Clay Buchholz, Christian Villanueva, and Danny Jansen.

Sanchez was part of our "Untouchables" group that was supposed to form the core of our team for the next several years to come. That all changed this past season when he slumped badly at the plate. What's worse than his offensive woes, however, are his continued defensive struggles. He cut his errors in half (in three-quarters as many innings), but for the second year in a row he led MLB in passed balls. Watching him day-to-day, it just doesn't look as though he's putting any effort into his defense whatsoever. We believe he will hit 40 or more home runs in the 2019 MLB season, but within two years he will become a full-time DH.

We are big fans of Jansen, which is why we drafted him several years ago. We believe he will become a high-on-base batter (not unlike Cervelli) with at least league-average defense behind the plate. The plan is for him to take over as our full-time catcher next season, leaving Cervelli as trade bait. Then, maybe three or four years from now, Adley Rutschman becomes our franchise catcher. (Of course, these long-term plans never seem to materialize in Salem.)

Buchholz (98 IP, 2.01 ERA), who was infamously stolen from us by Tony Chamra last year and now returns to his rightful home, gives us another half-season ace to pair with Anibal Sanchez (137 IP, 2.83 ERA.) Villanueva (.336/.392/.726 vs. LH) gives us a monster platoon at third base with rookie Rafael Devers (.244/.307/.464 vs. RH). That platoon made Eugenio Suarez expendable.

Lastly, ridding ourselves of Kepler's $1.5 million seems like a paltry benefit, but every penny is needed given our #1 pick in every round of the draft.

Trade #3: Jose Quintana to Akron for Matt Wallner.

When we paid $9.5 million for Quintana a year ago, we really thought he would become a first-tier ace for us in 2019. Although he didn't pitch poorly this past MLB season, he didn't pitch nearly as well as we hoped. The 2019 auction features an historic pool of aces: Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Chris Sale, Patrick Corbin, Justin Verlander, Miles Mikolas, Dallas Keuchel, Zack Greinke, and Jon Lester to name only a few. That $9.5 million could fetch one of them.

Wallner is yet another former Salem farmhand returning to Salem. He is a highly-regarded college prospect eligible for the 2019 MLB draft. Our farm club is so barren at the moment, he is a welcome addition.

Trade #4: Eugenio Suarez and Yoenis Cespedes to Southern Cal for Trevor Cahill.

When we placed Suarez on the Selling forum, we expected a tidal wave of inquiries for the 27-year-old superstar coming off a career season. Instead, we received a trickle. It was an unimpressive trickle at that. Ultimately, the best offer we received was to rid ourselves of Cespedes' $5.5 million salary (with a guaranteed $6.5 million in 2020) and yet another half-season starter in Cahill.

The addition of Cahill (110 IP, 3.76 ERA) gives us NINE starting pitchers (ten if you count Shohei Ohtani), but only one (Jon Gray) with more than 154 innings. It should be an interesting season managing this pitching staff.

Trade #5: Triston Casas and Bryson Stott to Flagstaff for Enrique Hernandez.

This year's auction class is overflowing with great pitching, but is practically barren when it comes to offense. Only a small handful of quality first basemen and outfielders will be up for bid this winter, and we needed some flexibility to go in either direction. Hernandez (462 PA, .256/.336/.470) gives us that flexibility.

We are very high on Casas and Stott, but sacrifices must be made, as Cowtipper fans know all too well.

After all of this dust settled, we were left with $30.1 million to spend on eight roster spots.

Twenty Years of Disappointment

With the BDBL celebrating our 20th anniversary this year, it seems appropriate to take a look back at the past twenty years of Cowtippers history. If there has been one overarching theme that describes those twenty years in their entirety, it would be our seemingly endless streak of disappointing playoff defeats. Here now are our most disappointing:

9) 2017 OLDS vs. Los Altos

The Undertakers enjoyed a three-year reign of dominance unlike we've ever seen before -- and hopefully will never see again. They were the hands-down, no-doubt-about-it, favorites to win their Division Series last year against the lowly Cowtippers. But I had a strategy, and the strategy seemed to be working. I somehow managed to take that ridiculous team all the way to Game Seven, despite being down three-games-to-one after four games.

Steven Matz was a good pitcher throughout that 2017 season. He went 15-5 with a 3.60 ERA in 145 innings. You could argue that he was my best starter. He was an absolute disaster in that series, however. He allowed seven runs (all earned) in six innings in Game Three, and then five runs (four earned) in six innings in that fateful Game Seven.

We actually managed to make Los Altos ace Chris Sale look human in that final game, but ultimately it was the bullpen that did us in. We managed to touch Kenley Jansen with an RBI base hit in the eighth inning (making it a 5-4 game), but he retired Cameron Maybin, Miguel Cabrera, and Odubel Herrera in order in the ninth to close out the one-run win.

Disappointing, but not surprising.

8) 2007 OLDS vs. Ravenswood

The 2007 Cowtippers won 110 games -- eleven more than any other team in the BDBL. They outscored their opponents by 245 runs. No other team that year achieved a runs margin greater than 178. It's safe to say Salem was the best team in the BDBL in 2007. Yet they didn't make it past the Division Series.

The Cowtippers managed to win the first game, 11-4. It was all downhill from there. Four straight losses -- three by a margin of one or two runs. The final game was decided when Salem's Erik Bedard -- who won the OL Cy Young that season -- allowed four runs in six innings. 

7) 2002 World Series vs. Allentown

Game Seven. Tied at 1-1. Our best, most reliable, relief pitcher on the hill. We couldn't have asked for a better place to be during our first-ever World Series appearance, given the fact that we were facing the best team our league had ever seen before. Despite winning 112 games and outscoring our opponents by 344 runs, we were the underdogs. We were fortunate to be in that position. Hell, if not for a fluke 10th inning grand slam home run by a relief pitcher in Game Six, we wouldn't have been in that position in the first place.

What hurts about this loss isn't that we lost. What hurts is how we lost. I lost count of the number of times I have questioned my decisions in that game and wondered if we could have won it only if I had made different decisions.

The top of the ninth opened with Barry Bonds leading off for Allentown. Barry Bonds was pretty good. All he did that year was hit .337/.519/.785 with 66 home runs, 188 runs scored, and 159 ribbies. Incredibly, he was 0-for-3 at that point. I decided to use my LOOGY, Norm Charlton in that situation. That move paid off. Bonds popped out to right.

That brought Manny Ramirez to the plate. Ramirez wasn't nearly as good as Bonds. He only hit .309/.380/.644 with 54 homers and -- get this -- 182 RBI's. I couldn't let the lefty Charlton face the lefty-killing Ramirez. I could have brought in my best reliever, David Weathers. Maybe I should have. No, I definitely should have.

Instead, I saw that righty-killing lefty Robert Fick was on deck. I thought that maybe leaving Charlton in to face Fick would force Tom to bring in a pinch hitter. Then I could bring in Weathers to face his pinch hitter. It's called "over-managing", and I did a lot of that back in the day.

I decided to do something that has been considered taboo in the game of baseball for over a century: I intentionally walked the go-ahead batter. Just as I hoped, Tom brought in righty Ellis Burks, and I oh-so-smartly countered with Weathers. I then watched with horror as Burks doubled to the gap. The slow-footed Ramirez was waved home. The throw arrived...too late.

Someone named "Lincoln" then came in to face my franchise's greatest player, Lance Berkman, in the bottom of the ninth. Berkman whiffed. So did Craig Wilson. Ray Durham then grounded out to short. Game over. Series over. But it's never really over. Not in my head.

6) 2013 World Series vs. Southern Cal

The 2013 Cowtippers seemed like a Team of Destiny. We barely won a spot in the playoffs, winning the OL wildcard in the final series of the season. We barely beat a heavily-favored Undertakers team in the Division Series, winning a nailbiter Game Seven in the 11th inning -- the only Game Seven on record to go into extra innings. We then upset the #1-seeded New Milford Blazers in the OLCS, winning two of the five games by just one run.

The Southern Cal Slyme were a better team by nearly any measurement. It didn't make that year's World Series loss taste any better. It was our FIFTH trip to the World Series. The Baseball Gods owed us one, no? Instead, mostly thanks to the atrocious performance of our franchise pitcher Stephen Strasburg (10.2 IP, 18 H, 13 ER), we upped our World Series record to 0-5.

5) 2010 World Series vs. Allentown

The first time was expected. The second time was devastating. The third time was just an insult. By the fourth time we faced the Allentown Ridgebacks in the BDBL World Series, the joke had grown stale and rotten. If I had the choice, I wouldn't have played at all. I knew the outcome before the first pitch was thrown. I'd seen this movie before. Three times.

Still...there is always a little part of me that thinks: "maybe it'll be different this time."

I had a reason to be optimistic. The Chapter Four trade that brought Zack Greinke to the Cowtippers made us into a much different team. With Greinke, 25-game-winner Felix Hernandez, and the always-reliable Dan Haren, the Cowtippers had a playoffs-caliber starting rotation, combined with a stifling bullpen led by Trevor Hoffman, and an offense that scored over 800 runs.

None of that matters in the playoffs, however. After upsetting both the Undertakers (with a sweep) and Infidels (revenge for 2004) in the Division and LCS, we traveled back to Allentown yet again for yet another World Series matchup. Right away, the series got off to a bad start. One of our three closers, Joe Nathan, had allowed just one home run in 33+ innings during the regular season, but served up a three-run homer to Jorge Posada in the 10th inning of Game One, giving Allentown a walk-off win.

The Ridgebacks held a two-games-to-one advantage in the series when Game Four began. Hernandez (who had a durability rating of Ex) was scheduled to start that game on three days of rest, but was listed as "tired." My choice was between starting a tired Hernandez or a fully-rested Jorge de la Rosa. I opted for the latter, who was absolutely pounded for twelve runs in just four innings.

The rest of that series was as predictable as the rising sun. Four World Series appearances -- all against Allentown -- and four World Series losses. Hilarious.

4) 1999 OLDS vs. Stamford

By nearly every measurement, we had the best team in the Ozzie League -- if not the entire BDBL -- in our inaugural season. We led the Ozzie League in wins, runs scored, and runs differential. We owned the league's MVP, John Olerud, and the league's Cy Young winner, Greg Maddux. If we simply awarded the league championship to the best team, the Salem Cowtippers would have faced the Southern Cal Slyme in our first World Series. But we actually play the games to determine the winner.

The series began on a high note, with our boys winning by a score of 11-1. We dropped the next two games (in a best-of-five series!) to bring us one game away from elimination. As if that weren't bad enough, our ace, Maddux, was forced to leave the game after pitching only two innings in Game Four, thanks to a rain delay. Despite the Baseball Gods' best efforts, we managed to win anyway, forcing a fifth and final game.

Game Five was tied at a score of 2-2 heading into the eighth inning. Because Maddux had thrown only 24 pitches in Game Four, and because there was a one-day break between Games Four and Five, Maddux was ready to start that fifth game. He had thrown over 90 pitches heading into the eighth, but I felt we had to stick with our ace. He recorded one out in that fateful inning before Rafael Palmeiro juiced one over the wall to put Stamford in the lead. Mad Dog then served up back-to-back doubles to score another run before he was pulled. Stamford's closer, John Wetteland, then retired all three batters he faced in the ninth, in order (including MVP Olerud) to clinch the Stamford victory. 

3) 2005 World Series vs. Allentown

In 2002, we lost the World Series to an Allentown Ridgebacks team that ranks among the greatest teams the BDBL has ever seen. Although it was difficult to lose the way we did, it was easy to accept a defeat to such a dominant team. 2005, on the other hand, was supposed to be our turn for payback.

The Cowtippers were undoubtedly the best team in the league that year. We led the BDBL in wins (108), runs scored (964), and runs differential (280). We sailed through the playoffs, defeating Ravenswood in six games and then Sylmar in five. I was so confident about our World Series rematch with Allentown that I began writing an online novel about it: "Five Games in November."

We held the home field advantage that series, and split back-to-back 10-inning games in the first two games at our home field. We lost the second game of that series when our all-world closer, Mariano Rivera, served up two hits. The knife in our gut was a clutch, two-out, RBI double by Brian Roberts that became the winning run of the game. Roberts had hardly played that season, amassing just 194 at-bats and batting .227. Yet, his double in the top of the 10th inning was his fifth hit of the game.

When the series shifted to Allentown, we never dreamed we wouldn't play another game in Salem. Yet that's exactly what happened. We dropped Game Three, lost a 10-7 heartbreaker in Game Four when our always-reliable reliever, Juan Cruz, loaded the bases with three walks and then surrendered a clutch two-out, two-run, double to a pinch hitter. The World Series ended when our arch-nemesis, Randy Johnson, tossed a complete-game shutout, allowing just six hits against an offense that had led the entire BDBL in runs scored.

2) 2004 OLCS vs. Ravenswood

My starting rotation already included Cy Young candidates Barry Zito and Curt Schilling when I added a third: NL Rookie of the Year, Brandon Webb. With all three rated Vg or Ex in durability, I knew they could start each and every game of the postseason. The only possible stumbling block en route to the trophy was the Los Altos Undertakers, but they were conveniently dispatched by the surprising Ravenswood Infidels in the Division Series.

Ravenswood didn't seem like much of a threat. They won "only" 92 games that season (compared to our 104 wins.) They scored 65 fewer runs than we did and allowed 31 more. Confidence was high when the OLCS began. It only grew when we took two of the first three games. Then, Game Four began with three runs scored in the very first inning against Schilling. He ended up with five earned runs (on two homers) in only four innings.

Not to worry, though. We had Webb starting Game Five. He had been lights-out all season, and would finish second in the OL Cy Young balloting a few weeks later. Webb recorded two quick outs to the first two batters in the Ravenswood lineup. Then the floodgates opened. A double, two walks, and three base hits later, we were looking at a 4-0 deficit. For the second game in a row, we were looking at an early deficit and never recovered. Our Cy Young candidate ended up with five earned runs in less than five innings of work.

We then asked Zito to stop the bleeding in Game Six. Instead, he allowed the first five batters he faced to reach base. After getting a sac fly for his first out, he allowed yet another hit before he was pulled from the game. By the time the dust settled, he had allowed SIX earned runs in just one-third of an inning. We went on to lose by a score of 11-4.

1) 2001 OLCS vs. Stamford

2001 was a year of profound tragedy for our country and for me personally. I lost my mother that year after her 21-month battle against cancer. Throughout that season, the BDBL provided me with a much-welcomed escape from reality. I immersed myself into the BDBL universe on a regular basis and truly believed I would be rewarded in the end. I felt as though the universe owed me one. Instead, the universe delivered a swift kick in the balls.

Watching the Stamford Zoots win not only our first BDBL trophy, but the next one as well, left a very bitter taste in my mouth. I wanted that trophy -- badly. By 2001, I was ready to sell my soul for that trophy. Absent that opportunity, I sold every bit of my franchise's future to ensure I would not fail as I had in both of the previous seasons.

I poured my heart and soul into that team. I turned over nearly 100% of my roster the winter before the 2001 season. I made seventeen trades, but I didn't stop there. At the Chapter Two deadline, I added a closer (Keith Foulke) and an all-star catcher (Jason Kendall.) Then, at the final trading deadline, I made my biggest move of the year, adding two MVP-caliber bats (Jeff Kent and Gary Sheffield), sacrificing my best farm players to get them.

The end result was an absolutely stacked roster with the league's top scoring offense. We hit .285/.375/.473 as a team. In addition to Kendall, Kent, and Sheffield, we had Jeff Bagwell (.308/.412/.572, 45 HR), Sammy Sosa (.294/.373/.567, 46 HR), Bobby Abreu (.309/.421/.524), and Lance Berkman (.323/.462/.617). Our lineup was so stacked, Travis Fryman (.341/.420/.541, with 103 RBI) batting seventh. There was NO WAY we could lose.

We swept the Gillette Swamp Rats right out of the OL Division Series. The momentum was undeniable. We were going to sweep our way straight through to our first trophy. There was no doubt in my mind. I took a road trip to New Jersey, so I could play the OL Championship Series head-to-head and face-to-face against my arch-nemesis, Paul Marazita.

I never stood a chance.

The OLCS began with an 8-0 shellacking. My world-beating offense finally managed to score a run in the seventh inning of Game Two en route to a 4-1 loss. The Zoots took a 5-0 lead in Game Three and eventually won 7-3. Then Stamford won Game Four by one run. A four-game sweep. Seventeen years later it still stings.

2018 Wrap-up

The 2018 regular season is officially in the books. We finished strong with a 19-9 Chapter Six -- our best chapter of the season. Our goal of winning our first division title since 2008 fell short once again, but we're still in the thick of the OL wilcard race. Now we wait to see how the Kansas City Boulevards fare over their last 20 games of the season.

Regardless of how it ends, 2018 will be remembered as a disappointment. This looked like it would be better than a 93-win team when we began the season. Our failure to live up to expectations rests primarily with our performance in one-run games. We finished the season with a record of 21-23 in those tight games, thanks in large part to a bullpen that had an uncanny knack of imploding at the worst-possible times. Had we won only a handful of those games, this year-in-review would have a much different tone.

2018 will also be remembered for the extraordinary number of bone-headed trades I made throughout the season, from beginning to end. It was, by far, the worst year of my 20-year career as GM of this franchise. When it comes to trading, our motto is "Don't Do Stupid Shit." And yet we did -- again and again and again.

The stupid shit began with our very first trade of the season when we sent Blake Parker and Martin Prado to the Flagstaff Outlaws in exchange for Mike Leake. The thinking at the time was that Leake would provide some much-needed innings at a price that we would not have been able to replicate in the auction. His free agent status at the end of this season also meant that we would be off the hook for his contract. Leake did give us innings -- over 200 of them -- but he also posted a useless 4.85 ERA on the season, allowed more hits than innings, and gave us only 15 quality starts. Parker, meanwhile, led the entire BDBL in saves.

Our next stupid trade was sending Jorge Soler to the Granite State Lightning in exchange for Luis Perdomo. The trade itself wasn't bad, since neither Soler nor Perdomo amounted to much. What made it stupid was when we signed Perdomo to a two-year contract at $3 and $4 million. Just to rub additional salt in our wound, Perdomo logged just 44.2 innings in MLB with a 7.05 ERA. Had he pitched just five fewer innings, we could have released him without penalty.

We shopped Hyun-Jin Ryu to every team in the BDBL last winter, and finally found a taker in Bart Chinn. Chinn was rewarded with a pitcher who tossed 82+ innings in MLB with a microscopic ERA of 1.97. Although the player we received in that deal, Matt Joyce, had a terrific season, we'd rather have Ryu at the bargain-basement salary of $100,000.

Our stupid shit continued when Mike Ries took over the Granite State Lightning franchise and we made the same offer to him that we had made countless time to the franchise's former owner, Ryan Glander. Unlike Ryan, Ries listened to me when I said his franchise would be better off without Sonny Gray and his albatross of a contract. If only I had listened to my own advice. Gray (4.90 ERA in MLB) will cost us a whopping $4.6 million to occupy a spot on our reserve roster next season. Worst yet, we can't even cut him, since he's signed through 2021 (at salaries of $6.1M and $7.6M).

Oh, but wait. I'm not done. I saved the best for last. Back in late June, when we were still entertaining fantasies of winning the division, the Niagara Locks were shopping Max Kepler. Because Odubel Herrera was such an unexpected disappointment all season, we needed a strong left-handed bat in center field. I sent Locks GM Mike Ranney a bunch of names I was willing to trade for Kepler, and he responded with one I hadn't listed: Wander Franco. Since Franco was only 16 years old and hadn't yet swung a bat in a professional game, I figured why not? Within a month, Franco shot up the prospect lists into the top 20 and became one of the hottest prospects in baseball. As for Kepler, he posted a batting average and OBP that was nearly identical to Herrera's. Oh, and we will now pay a $1.5 million penalty just to get rid of him this winter.

The Good

We didn't always make shitty trades. In fact, one time we traded somebody named Austin Bergner for Jose Ramirez. True story. You can look it up. Ramirez was, without a doubt, our MVP this season. He hit .306/.371/.538 with 58 doubles, 24 home runs, 112 runs scored, and a team-leading 123.1 runs created. He also swiped 17 bases for good measure and played an above-average second base.

Gary Sanchez led the team with 40 home runs and 104 ribbies and created 109.1 runs. Matt Joyce (.241/.344/.506) ranked #2 on the team in homers, with 28, despite playing almost exclusively against right-handers.

Coming off his career-worst season (5.10 ERA), Stephen Strasburg gave us (arguably) his best season to date. In 191+ innings, he posted a 15-4 record and a 2.25 ERA. He should earn a few Cy Young votes this winter. In the bullpen, we couldn't have asked for more from Mike Montgomery (12-7, 2.21 ERA in 142+ IP), Brad Brach (2.06 ERA in 52+ IP as a 'Tipper), and Tommy Hunter (1.53 ERA in 47 IP for Salem.)

Along with Strasburg, our other franchise pitcher, Jon Gray, also had a stellar season in 2018. In 119+ innings, he went 7-6 with a 2.86 ERA. Unfortunately, it looks like it will be back to the bottom of the rotation for him in 2019.

The Bad

Not only was Sonny Gray a costly pickup for us this year, but his performance (6-3, 4.32 ERA in 75 IP for Salem) hardly warrants the expense. In particular, his numbers against lefties (.312/.368/.532) had no resemblance whatsoever to his MLB numbers (.221/.293/.352). He allowed 6 home runs to left-handers in just 141 at-bats (compared to 7 HR allowed in 281 AB in MLB -- in a much more homer-friendly ballpark.)

We may have a scoreboard problem in Salem. For years, the centerfield scoreboard in Sam Adams Stadium featured the serious game face of Stephen Strasburg. Stras had such an awful 2017 BDBL season we figured we'd change our luck by featuring Andrew Benintendi on that board this season. Benny's rookie season didn't exactly go as planned. He hit just .241/.315/.372 (compared to his MLB numbers of .271/.352/.424.) He hit just 15 home runs (compared to 20 in MLB), and created just 59 runs (compared to 88.1 in MLB.)

Odubel Herrera's splits were backwards in 2018. In MLB, he hit .288/.323/.471 against left-handers and .279/.326/.445 vs. righties. In the BDBL, he hit .312/.368/.426 against lefties and just .239/.295/.367 against righties. If his numbers against right-handers were anywhere NEAR his MLB numbers, we'd still own Wander Franco today.

Like Benintendi, we expected more from Trea Turner in his first full season in the BDBL. Instead, he hit just .248 (nearly 40 points lower than MLB), hit just .183/.231/.211 against lefties, posted a meager OBP of .318 against righties, and hit just 5 home runs (less than half his MLB total.) Most bizarre of all, he was also caught stealing a whopping dozen times in 37 attempts. His 68% success rate paled in comparison to his MLB rate of 85%.

The Ugly

Raisel Iglesias' performance in 2018 defies explanation. In fact, if you were to point a finger at one single player and claim he lost the division for us, Iglesias would be that player. He managed to lose 10 games for us -- which is no easy feat for a relief pitcher. It could even be a BDBL record! Despite pitching in a MUCH friendlier home ballpark, Iglesias' numbers in the BDBL are nowhere near his MLB numbers. His ERA (3.80) is nearly 1.5 points higher than his MLB number. He allowed nearly three times as many home runs in the BDBL as he did in MLB. His numbers against lefties (.287/.355/.553) make him look like an entirely different pitcher than his MLB counterpart (.256/.360/.349.) I shudder to think how many longballs he'll surrender in 2019.

Another baffling performance came from Pedro Strop. His BDBL ERA (5.20) is well over two runs higher than his MLB ERA (2.83). He allowed far more hits and walks than he did in MLB, and his OBP against lefthanders (.353) is nowhere near his MLB number (.265).

All season long, we asked ourselves: what the fuck is wrong with Mitch Moreland? That question remains unsolved. Only a Chapter Six surge saved him from posting a batting average below .200. He finished the season at .207/.269/.371 overall, and hit just .203/.257/.377 against righties (compared to .246/.324/.460 in MLB.) So, what the fuck is wrong with Mitch Moreland? Your guess is as good as mine.

We were beyond thrilled to have landed Yoenis Cespedes for "only" $5.5 million in last winter's free agent auction. We figured not only would he be an asset for us in 2018, but that we were "buying low" on a player who topped 30 homers in the previous two MLB seasons and still had plenty of upside potential at age 32. Boy were we wrong. Not only did Cespedes spend nearly the entire 2018 MLB season on the DL (but managing to get just enough PA's to kick in his contract for next year), but he was all but useless to us this season. He hit just .239/.286/.414 overall, with barely half the number of home runs (9) as he hit in MLB. We were especially counting on his bat against left-handers, but he hit just .214/.245/.480 against them instead. And thanks to his Type-H salary, we get the privilege of signing him to a two-year contract in a few weeks.

Looking Ahead to 2019

Although our 2018 season may not be over just yet, it never hurts to look ahead. Unfortunately, there isn't much to look forward to in 2019. We thought we had suffered an unusual rash of injuries on our pitching staff heading into the 2018 season, but this year we took the art of being injured to a whole new level.

Jose Quintana managed to pitch a whopping 174 innings in MLB this season. Jon Gray tossed 172 innings in MLB this season (posting a 5.12 ERA.) Believe it or not, out of the NINE starting pitchers we have on our roster, those are the only two pitchers who topped 160 innings this season. The next-highest total is Stephen Matz's 154 innings. Then we have three pitchers (Strasburg, Anibal Sanchez, and Sonny Gray) in the 130's. We can squeeze a full season's worth of innings from the pitchers we have only if we include Mike Montgomery's 124 and Felix Pena's 93.

Our bullpen is well-stocked with live arms like Richard Rodriguez (69 IP, 2.47 ERA), Pedro Strop (60 IP, 2.26), Matt Grace (60 IP, 2.87), and Jonathan Holder (66, 3.14). We will likely use yet another injured pitcher, Shohei Ohtani (52 IP, 3.31 ERA) out of the bullpen as well.

Offensively, it seems as though the entire team did as much as they could to destroy their season's worth of effort with the shittiest September possible. Jose Ramirez was hitting over .300 as late as August 19th. He then proceeded to hit .167 the rest of the way, dragging his overall average down to .270. His overall numbers (.270/.387/.552) are still decent, but no longer MVP-caliber.

Eugenio Suarez was also hitting .300 (with a .941 OPS) on August 14th. He hit .236 (with a .756 OPS) the rest of the way. His overall numbers (.283/.356/.526) are also decent, but no longer MVP-caliber.

Andrew Benintendi (.290/.366/.465) and Trea Turner (.271/.344/.416) should be above-average with the bats as well. Odubel Herrera was looking like a potential batting champ in April. He finished the month with a .343 average, and saw it rise to .361 through the middle of May. Then he turned back into a pumpkin and hit .216 the rest of the way. He's a borderline keeper at this point.

Other than that, we have nothing. Gary Sanchez was supposed to be the best-hitting catcher in baseball. Instead, he's as horrible with the bat as he is behind the plate. At best, we can use him against lefties (.229/.354/.518), but we now have to find another catcher, since our backup, Travis d'Arnaud, missed almost the entire season with an injury.

Of course, we can't even use our best hitter in the starting lineup! Shohei Ohtani (.313/.387/1.043) will be the league's best pinch hitter.

At this point, 2019 is looking like a rebuilding year. But you never know.

Chapter Four Review

Another chapter is in the books, and the Salem Cowtippers continue to dance along the fine line between playoffs contention and also-ran irrelevance. We wrapped up Chapter Four with a respectable 15-9 record, but fell to two games behind in the division race, as the Joplin Miners went 17-7. We are two games behind in the OL wild card race as well, tied with the Bear Country Jamboree, and trailing the Kansas City Boulevards.

Despite draining our season's VORP cap on relief pitching, our bullpen continues to be our Achilles heel. We blew three late-game leads in Chapter Four and went 3-4 in one-run games. We somehow managed to blow SIX saves in only twenty-four games. Raisel Iglesias, alone, blew four saves in Chapter Four. He inherited ten base runners, and half of them scored!

The Good

Stephen Strasburg got off to such a horrendous start to this season, but has redeemed himself lately. In Chapter Four, he went 3-0 with a 1.04 ERA. Most importantly, he allowed only one home run in four games.

We had been using Luis Perdomo as our spot starter throughout the first half of the season. He sucked so badly that we figured we'd give Matt Shoemaker a chance to pitch instead. He has been nothing short of brilliant. Last chapter, he went 2-1 with a 2.37 ERA in three starts.

It turns out that we traded a top-30 prospect for him, but Max Kepler's Salem debut has gone very well so far. We gave him plenty of playing time in Chapter Four, and he rewarded us with a .338/.405/.507 batting line.

Gary Sanchez (.333/.380/.556), Andrew Benintendi (.307/.379/.533), and Jose Ramirez (.303/.373/.606) also excelled in Chapter Four.

The Bad

Trea Turner (.244/.295/.366 in Chapter Four) has proven to be a huge disappointment this season. Not only isn't he hitting, but he was also thrown out in four of seven stolen base attempts.

When we signed Yoenis Cespedes as a free agent, we thought we had signed not only a very useful part-time player for 2018, but a cost-effective impact player for 2019 and beyond. Not only has Cespedes become useless to us going forward, but he hasn't done much at the plate in 2018, either. He hit .227/.320/.500 in Chapter Four, and is batting just .242/.284/.435 on the season. Thanks for nothing, Yoenis.

The Ugly

We depend a lot on Raisel Iglesias, as he is supposed to be our premier closer against right-handed batters. He held righties to a .163/.200/.252 batting line in a tough ballpark in MLB, and has held righties to a .178/.235/.290 line in the BDBL. For some reason, though, he just completely choked in Chapter Four. We handed him the ball THIRTEEN times in the chapter. He pitched nine innings in total, and allowed nine hits, nine runs, nine earned runs, six walks, and FOUR home runs. He allowed four home runs in nine innings -- and allowed five home runs in 76 innings in MLB. On the season, he has allowed NINE home runs in just 62 innings. And Cincinnati is a tremendous home-run hitter's ballpark! Go figure.

Mike Leake (1-1, 5.91 ERA in five games) was just about useless in Chapter Four. As was Odubel Herrera (.206/.270/.265), who has incredibly become a bench player after the acquisition of Kepler.

Okay, what the fuck is wrong with Mitch Moreland? Seriously. Someone check his player card. There is just NO WAY he can possibly be THIS shitty. For the fourth chapter in a row, he has been absolutely useless. He hit .188/.243/.333 in Chapter Four, and is hitting .173/.235/.307 on the season. Keep in mind, we only play him against right-handed pitchers, and he hit .246/.324/.460 against righties in MLB!

Looking Ahead

We've now reached that time of the year when we have enough data to look ahead at the 2019 season. Back in April, it seemed as though 2019 would be the year the Cowtippers finally revive their dominance of old and run away with the division with 115-120 wins. Odubel Herrera was leading the league with a .370 batting average. Gary Sanchez looked like the best catcher in baseball. Stephen Strasburg and Shohei Ohtani looked like dual aces. Trea Turner was hitting for the cycle every other game. Three months later, Herrera is just an average hitter, Sanchez is hitting below .200 and can't stay healthy, Strasburg and Ohtani are the most fragile pitchers in baseball and may not pitch 140 innings combined, and Turner is a below-average shortstop.

There are still some reasons for optimism, but this team no longer looks like a surefire contender on paper. We'll have a lot of work to do this off-season.

Offense:

C: Gary Sanchez: 279 PA, .188/.283/.416

1B: Mitch Moreland: 307 PA, .272/.345/.489

3B: Jose Ramirez: 458 PA, .292/.402/.612

3B: Eugenio Suarez: 389 PA, .298/.383/.574

3B: Rafael Devers: 396 PA, .245/.295/.425

SS: Trea Turner: 470 PA, .265/.337/.409

OF: Odubel Herrera: 438 PA, .275/.330/.464

OF: Andrew Benintendi: 443 PA, .300/.384/.512

OF: Max Kepler: 401 PA, .227/.317/.415

Ramirez is arguably among the top five hitters in baseball. Suarez and Benintendi are among the top fifteen in offensive WAR. The problem is that Ramirez moved from second base to third, creating a logjam at that position (which was supposed to be Devers' to lose.) This is a good problem to have. A not-so-good problem is the fact that Sanchez went from being the best catcher in baseball to the bottom of the barrel, and his backup, Travis d'Arnaud, is gone for the season with an injury. Filling that position isn't something we thought we would need to do, but it's now at the top of our priorities list.

Starting Pitching:

Stephen Strasburg: 85 IP, 77 H, 12 HR, 21 BB, 101 K, 3.90 ERA

Jose Quintana: 108 IP, 101 H, 15 HR, 52 BB, 95 K, 4.26 ERA

Jon Gray: 106 IP, 114 H, 11 HR, 32 BB, 131 K, 5.16 ERA

Sonny Gray: 101 IP, 104 H, 12 HR, 44 BB, 96 K, 5.08 ERA

Zach Eflin: 77 IP, 72 H, 10 HR, 18 BB, 72 K, 3.64 ERA

Stephen Matz: 107 IP, 95 H, 17 HR, 40 BB, 95 K, 3.79 ERA

Shohei Ohtani: 49 IP, 36 H, 5 HR, 20 BB, 61 K, 3.10 ERA

Anibal Sanchez: 78 IP, 61 H, 10 HR, 24 BB, 74 K, 3.00 ERA

Mike Montgomery: 87 IP, 89 H, 7 HR, 28 BB, 54 K, 4.03 ERA

Our starting pitching basically falls into two categories: aces who are pitching like #4 starters and #4 starters who are pitching like aces. The first group includes Strasburg, Quintana, and both Grays. In any other year, these guys would all be tremendous assets. In 2018, not so much.

The second group includes two guys -- Eflin and Sanchez -- that we plucked off of the free agent scrap heap. We would have had a third -- Clay Buchholz -- if not for Tony Chamra's meddling.

Bullpen:

Raisel Iglesias: 47 IP, 32 H, 6 HR, 15 BB, 49 K, 2.11 ERA

Richard Rodriguez: 42 IP, 37 H, 3 HR, 10 BB, 53 K, 2.76 ERA

Jonathan Holder: 43 IP, 29 H, 2 HR, 7 BB, 38 K, 2.11 ERA

Adam Cimber: 51 IP, 45 H, 2 HR, 10 BB, 51 K, 3.00 ERA

Phil Maton: 28 IP, 27 H, 1 HR, 13 BB, 28 K, 3.25 ERA

Matt Grace: 39 IP, 34 H, 4 HR, 9 BB, 33 K, 2.77 ERA

There is no real "closer" in this group, but overall it's a strong group of relievers with plenty of depth. We will more than likely use Ohtani out of the bullpen, so he will become another asset for us in the late innings.

Chapter Three Review

As I type, the Salem Cowtippers have moved into sole possession of first place in the McGowan Division. We own a slim one game lead, and the second place Joplin Miners still have four games left to play (against South Carolina), so that lead may not last long. Still, it's good to be able to type "first-place Salem Cowtippers" again.

We managed this feat despite going a rather ordinary 14-10 in Chapter Three. We blew numerous opportunities to win games last chapter, and struggled offensively -- especially against right-handed pitching. We lost or split a couple of critical series against sub-.500 teams, but our chapter was saved by two surprising series wins against Niagara (a sweep) and St. Louis (3-1).

Off the field, we managed to solve our usage problems for the stretch run. We deliberately ran Jon Gray's usage into the ground throughout the first half, and he is now done for the season. To replace him in our rotation, we acquired Sonny Gray from the brand-new management of the Granite State Lightning franchise. We also picked up a shortstop, Eric Sogard, to fill in the innings we will lose from having maxed-out Deven Marrero in the first half.

We announced a new strategy at the end of the 2015 season. We stockpiled young talent throughout the 2016 season. At the end of that season, we identified a core foundation of young talent that we vowed to never trade: Stephen Strasburg, Jon Gray, Shohei Ohtani, Trea Turner, Gary Sanchez, and Andrew Benintendi. Two years later, we have stuck with that strategy -- a rarity for our franchise.

My goal this year was to flesh out the roster through trades without dealing two more prospects that I believe may eventually join that core group: Nick Madrigal and Yusei Kikuchi. Although we were greatly tempted to trade both of them this past chapter, we managed not to give in to temptation.

With less than 15 VORP points remaining under our cap, this is most likely the roster we will carry throughout the second half of the season. We like this cast of characters, but it would be nice if they would all put it together at some point this season and reach their full potential. There is plenty of time for that to happen.

The Good

The highlight of our chapter was our interleague series against the Niagara Locks. In my twenty-year BDBL career, I have never witnessed a series like that one. Our pitchers managed to hold the Locks to just one run (a sacrifice fly) in four games. We won those games by scores of 6-0, 9-0, 2-1, and 3-0. And all of that happened despite losing our MVP, Jose Ramirez, for the entirety of the series, in the first inning of the first game!

To say that Jon Gray went out on a high note would be an understatement! In his final six starts, Gray went 4-0 with a 0.86 ERA. He allowed only 28 hits and 6 walks in 41+ innings, with 43 K's. As one of our two franchise pitchers, he wrapped up the 2018 season with a career-best 2.86 ERA. We hope his next start will be in the OL Division Series.

Our bullpen really came together in Chapter Three. Tommy Hunter and Mike Grace combined for nine innings of relief without allowing an earned run. (Even Ichiro Suzuki, believe it or not, tossed 1.2 innings of shutout relief.) Raisel Iglesias (1.42 ERA in 12+ IP) and newbie Brad Brach (1.59 in 11+) also gave stellar performances.

Jose Ramirez (.371/.385/.697 for the chapter) continued his stellar season in Chapter Three. He whacked 14 doubles in just 21 games. Matt Joyce (.328/.438/.803) FINALLY turned his season around last chapter, and led the team with eight home runs. Gary Sanchez (.299/.349/.481) and Jayson Werth (.278/.458/.667) also enjoyed productive chapters at the plate.

The Bad

Listing Eugenio Suarez in the "Bad" section is actually an upgrade. He managed to hit .250/.301/.456 in Chapter Three, which is 71 points below his MLB OPS -- and yet that was a stellar performance compared to prior chapters. He actually hit four home runs in the chapter, which doubled his total from the prior two chapters. At least he's trending in the right direction now.

Andrew Benintendi remains in a mysterious slump. He hit .259/.338/.379 for the chapter, which actually raised his season's numbers to .232/.312/.333. The lack of power is especially mysterious, given that Fenway's LH HR factor is 19 points lower than Salem's. He's on pace to hit 10 home runs this year -- half of his MLB total.

Yoenis Cespedes (.244/.256/.366) is yet another mysterious under-performer. His slugging percentage against righties is a whopping 217 points below his MLB number. Again, the RH HR factor in Salem is six points higher than it is in Citi Field. What gives??

Jose Quintana was practically brilliant throughout the first two chapters, but went just 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA in five Chapter Three starts. Ol' Reliable Mike Leake (1-3, 5.88 ERA) was less-than-reliable last chapter as well. 

The Ugly

I really wish someone could explain why Mitch Moreland is SO awful. His BDBL numbers (.155/.212/.283 vs. RH) aren't in the same universe as his MLB numbers (.246/.324/.460). Overall, he is hitting 78 points below his MLB batting average, and 237 points below his MLB OPS. He has hit roughly as well as Jon Gray (.231/.231/.231) and Jose Quintana (.200/.200/.200). Most depressing of all, he has been very consistent throughout the season. He hit .210/.253/.358 in Chapter One, and .139/.213/.278 in Chapter Two. We have moved him to the #9 spot in the lineup, and yet it still isn't low enough.

Likewise, what the hell is up with Pedro Strop? Why does this game hate him so much? He was perfectly fine in Chapter One (3.15 ERA, 2 saves, in 20 IP), but then completely fell apart in Chapter Two (8.25 ERA in 12 IP), and continued his shittiness in Chapter Three (6.30 ERA in 10 IP). This is a guy who posted a nice and tidy 2.83 ERA in a tough pitchers park. C'mon, man!

Chapter Two Review

We wrapped up Chapter Two with a respectable, yet underwhelming, 16-12 record. Thanks to the even more underwhelming 15-13 chapter by the Joplin Miners (matching Granite State's record for the chapter), we managed to cut our deficit in the division to two games. One-run games continue to be our Achilles Heel. For the second chapter in a row, we finished with a losing record (3-5) in those tight games. For the season, we are now 6-12 in one-run games.

One of those tight games was lost when our bullpen blew a 3-0 lead in the eighth inning against the despicable Los Altos Undertakers. Our newest "closer", Tommy Hunter, who was supposed to help us with this one-run loss problem, only added to our misery by serving up a two-out, grand-slam, home run to Wilmer Flores.

We lost another one-run game against Kansas City when Robinson Cano hit a walk-off home run off Mike Leake in extra innings. That heroic event was only made possible because our bullpen blew a 5-2 lead in the eighth inning.

Our third one-run loss came against the Granite State Lightning, of all teams. We scored six runs against a team that is among the lowest-scoring teams in the BDBL, and yet it wasn't enough. We lost 7-6 thanks to another sub-par effort from our bullpen.

As we head into the third chapter, we face several usage issues that will need to be addressed sooner rather than later. We made several inquiries on the trading market this past chapter, and will continue to have those discussions as we head into the all-star break. We managed to add yet another bullpen arm this past chapter, and hope that Brad Brach can continue to pitch as well for us as he had been for the Western Kansas Buffaloes.

The question, as always, is: how much do we want to sacrifice for this season? With the Flagstaff Outlaws on pace to win 117 games, the playoffs promise to be an uphill battle (again.) Although winning the division would be sweet, sacrificing the future of this franchise for yet another postseason failure isn't a very tempting prospect. After years and years of trading our most talented young players away for no reward in the end, we intend to stick to our strategy of building around our foundation of young players. Trading one of those core players for an outside chance of upsetting the Outlaws in the playoffs is a fool's game. We've been foolish long enough.

The Good

Although we only hit .240/.310/.398 as a team in Chapter Two, we saw some stellar performances from Gary Sanchez (.338/.410/.622), Jose Ramirez (.319/.396/.574), Rafael Devers (.269/.345/.462), and, oddly enough, Deven Marrero (.333/.417/.905).

On the pitching side, Matt Grace has been an unexpected asset out of our bullpen. In ten innings, he didn't allow a single run, with only eight batters reaching base against him. We got another unexpected boost from Aaron Loup, who also didn't allow a run in his five-plus innings of work.

Mike Montgomery continues to shine as both a starter and reliever. He posted a 2.41 ERA in Chapter Two, and led the team with 41 innings. Unfortunately, we will need to cut back on those innings going forward.

Jose Quintana (4-1, 2.45 ERA in 40+ IP) was our best starting pitcher, and Mike Leake (4-2, 2.67 in 33+) continues to be a solid inning-eater. Even Stephen Strasburg (2-1, 2.91) and Jon Gray (1-2, 3.12) were useful in Chapter Two. And Stras only allowed one home run! If only we had any hitting whatsoever, we could have easily won twenty or more games.

The Bad

Trea Turner (.253/.298/.304) cooled down considerably from his hot start to the season. So did Travis d'Arnaud (.206/.308/.294.) And so did Odubel Herrera (.204/.268/.350). All three batters went from red-hot to ice cold.

Then there is Matt Joyce (.200/.273/.383), who has been ice cold all season. His OPS against right-handers is 142 points below his MLB OPS. He hit 24 homers against righties in MLB. He's currently on pace to hit 17 in the BDBL.

The Ugly

Man, what the fuck is up with Eugenio Suarez? Seriously. Enough already with this guy. He hit .194/.299/.388 for the chapter, and is now hitting .209/.305/.359 for the season. He's hitting ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FOUR POINTS below his MLB OPS. I'm now batting him seventh in the lineup, and yet I still can't hide his bat. He has been absolutely useless. I get it. He posted his MLB numbers in Cincinnati, which is a big-time hitter's park. But 164 F'ing points?? C'mon, man!

Then there is Andrew Benintendi, our leadoff hitter. Here is what Benny did hitting out of the leadoff spot for us all chapter, setting the table: .163/.277/.186. He's batting 155 points below his MLB OPS for the season. Is there something in Salem's water supply that is causing all of these good hitters to become completely useless? Maybe it's the Curse of the Salem Jumbotron. Next year, I'll put Doyle's picture out there in center field and see what happens.

Let's talk about Mitch Moreland. We got him for his glove and his bat against right-handers. So far,  the glove has been great. The bat? Not so much. Here's what he has hit against right-handers this season: .174/.223/.326. Here are his MLB numbers: .246/.324/.460. I mean...seriously. This isn't even the same guy! It's like DMB switched his player card with Tyler Saladino's!

On the pitching side, I present to you our ugliest performance of the chapter. Pedro Strop: 12 IP, 14 H, 11 R, 11 ER, 10 BB, 13 K. He sported an 8.25 ERA for the chapter and was responsible for two of our losses. His ERA is now nearly two and a quarter runs higher than his MLB ERA. His OPS allowed against lefties is -- get this -- 269 POINTS above his MLB OPS. Keep in mind that his main purpose for existing is getting left-handed batters out. Instead, he's allowed over 40% of them to reach base!

Chapter One Review

The word "disappointing" has been used so many times in Salem franchise history, it has become synonymous with the name "Cowtippers." Here's another word that is used far too often to describe the team from Salem: under-performing. Chapter One of the 2018 season was nothing more than the continuation of a 20-year trend of disappointment and under-performance.

Going into the season, we knew our bullpen would be a problem. We underestimated just how much of a problem it would be. We managed to post a shit-tastic record of 3-7 in one-run games last chapter, thanks in no small part to our bullpen. Let's take a look at all the wins our bullpen cost us this season (so far):

April 2: We handed a tied game over to Raisel Iglesias (allegedly one of our two best relievers) in the fifth inning in a game against Joplin. He proceeded to allow FOUR hits in a single inning, allowing two runs to score, and putting the game out of reach. Matt Grace and Pedro Strop poured salt on the wound by allowing three more runs.

April 17: We held a tenuous 3-1 lead over the Jamboree heading into the bottom of the eighth inning. Stephen Strasburg had pitched a phenomenal game, and we needed our bullpen to step up and do its job. Instead, Iglesias (again) allowed FOUR hits in a single inning of work. He and Mike Montgomery (allegedly our other decent reliever) coughed up three runs in their 1.1 innings combined.

April 20: We carried a 1-1 tie into the final game of that series against Bear Country, needing a win to give us a split of the series, which would allow us a share of first place for another day. Instead, Jonathan Holder (a right-hander who only faces righties) allowed back-to-back singles to the first two batters he faced (both right-handers.) Montgomery was then called upon to put out the fire. Instead, he shit the bed, giving up a base hit to lefty Jon Jay, and then a two-run single to Luis Aguilar. That was four singles in a row.

April 22: Jose Quintana pitched a gem, but we had to pull him after six innings with the score tied at 1-1. We handed the ball to Montgomery, who proceeded to allow a base hit to Mike Zunino and an RBI double to Starlin Castro. Game over. Another one-run loss.

April 26: Game One against the daunting Flagstaff Outlaws. We somehow managed to hold that ridiculous offense to only one run over the first eight innings, but their pitcher (Zack Greinke) was just as tough. We carried a 1-1 tie into the ninth, and entrusted Iglesias to hold them at bay for one more turn at bat, to give us a fighting chance to win. Instead, he coughed up a home run to Kris Davis. Game over. Another one-run loss.

April 28: Final game of the series against Flagstaff, and once again, we managed to carry a tied score into the ninth. This time, the game went into extra innings. In the 11th inning, Aaron Judge finally did to his old team what we expected him to do throughout the series, clubbing a two-run bomb to put Flagstaff ahead. Want to guess who was pitching? Yes, that's right: Iglesias. We ended up scoring a run in the bottom half of that inning, for not other reason than to give us one more one-run loss.

Those six game epitomize the 2018 season so far. All six of those games were easily winnable, and yet we managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory each and every time. Had we won just one of those games, we would have finished the chapter above .500. Had we won all six, we'd be looking at a VERY comfortable lead in our division. Instead, we're looking up at the Joplin Miners.

The Good

Mike Leake (2-2, 3.70 ERA in 7 games) has been everything we thought and hoped he would be. He has been a steady and reliable inning-eater, who has kept us in almost every game he has pitched. Jose Quintana (1-1, 3.25) has also been a steady contributor. Despite all of his failures listed above, Mike Montgomery (3-1, 2.52 ERA in 25 IP) was arguably our best pitcher in Chapter One.

Our catching duo of Gary Sanchez (.256/.306/.578 with a team-leading 8 HR and 18 RBI's) and Travis d'Arnaud (.409/.519/.773) has been absolutely insane at the plate. Miguel Cabrera (.348/.500/.435), Odubel Herrera (.315/.364/.435), Trea Turner (.307/.360/.533), and Andrew Benintendi (.280/.330/.441) have also been very good.

The Bad

Yoenes Cespedes was supposed to be a highly-productive part-time player for us this year. Instead, he has hit .239/.311/.418, with 22 strikeouts in only 67 at-bats. Matt Joyce (.242/.329/.468) was supposed to be a beast against right-handers, but has been largely useless this season. Jose Ramirez (.277/.344/.411) was supposed to be an MVP-candidate, but cooled down substantially after a hot start to the season.

Jon Gray may be the only player in BDBL history who is completely unaffected by park factors. He actually pitches WORSE in a pitcher's park than he does in Coors Field. So far this season, he has given up an inexplicable number of hits and home runs, and already has four losses on the season. We've been using him every fourth turn in the rotation despite his half-season of usage, hoping that it would help us get off to a hot start. Boy, did that backfire!

Stephen Strasburg continues his career-long pattern of allowing an inexplicable number of home runs. He has already allowed seven in just 42+ innings, after having allowed only 11 in 175+ innings in MLB. His BDBL home run rate is DOUBLED compared to his MLB rate -- and he pitches in a much friendlier BDBL home ballpark!

The Ugly

Jonathan Holder managed to post a 3.89 ERA in an extremely tough home ballpark of Yankee Stadium in 2017. He is an extreme-splits right-handed specialist, which is why he has only faced four left-handed batters in the BDBL so far. He held right-handers to a .260/.295/.415 batting line in MLB, but that line in the BDBL has been .391/.500/.609. It doesn't make sense on any level, and yet that's our reality. Because of his atrocious performance, we've had to rely on Montgomery, Iglesias, and Strop more than we would have liked. Two of the three are now drastically overused as a result.

Deven Marrero is not a good hitter. We know that. But he did somehow manage to post a .291/.344/.600 line in 55 at-bats against lefties. His batting line against lefties in the BDBL? .056/.105/.111. The dude is 1-for-18. He's managed ONE hit in eighteen at-bats against lefties. You'd think that he'd have two hits simply by random luck!

We made a last-minute trade for Mitch Moreland, both for his bat and his glove. So far, he's only brought his glove to the game. His bat has produced a .210/.253/.358 batting line, with 22 strikeouts and only five walks in 81 at-bats.

When we traded Elvis Andrus for Eugenio Suarez, we thought that their bats would be a wash. We knew Suarez's power numbers would suffer in Salem, but we hoped that he'd still be capable of hitting a few doubles -- or even a few singles. Instead, he's hit all of .221/.309/.337, with ONE stinkin' home run and a team-leading 27 K's. This is a guy who hit 26 homers in MLB. Adjusting for park factors, you'd expect maybe 22 homers in Salem. Instead he's on pace for SIX. (Yeah, I know, small sample.)

Winter, 2018

Ken "The Shark" Kaminski once coined the phrase "compete while rebuilding." That phrase could accurately describe what we are attempting to do this season. Coming off yet another disappointing postseason, the 2018 Cowtippers neither appeared good enough to compete nor bad enough to rebuild. So, we're doing both.

What Went Right This Winter

We acquired several players this winter with that goal of "competing while rebuilding" in mind. Our two auction acquisitions, Jose Quintana and Yoenis Cespedes, will not only contribute to our efforts to compete this year, but should be even greater assets in 2019 and 2020. We acquired several players in trade, such as Ichiro Suzuki, Matt Joyce, and Mike Leake, who are free agents at the end of this season. They will help us to compete this year, and then we shed $10 million in salary to spend on next year's free agent class.

In the draft, we mixed and matched players who can temporarily help us this year (Pedro Strop, Jayson Werth, Deven Marrero) with players who may help us next year (Andrew Toles, Tanner Scott, Dillon Maples.)

For the most part, we're happy with the players we were able to acquire this winter, and we believe they will help us compete in 2018 and beyond.

What Went Wrong This Winter

We severely misread the market for relief pitching. When we traded our closer, Blake Parker, very early in the winter, our assumption was that we could easily replace him in trade. Our most valuable trade bait, Elvis Andrus, proved to be unusually difficult to trade. With his Ex glove, power bat, even platoon splits, and reasonable salary, we wrongly assumed that he would have a great deal of trade value. Our franchise player, Trea Turner, is already manning the shortstop position, so we felt that Andrus was expendable, and that he would fetch a pair of quality relievers at minimum. We were wrong. Boy, were we wrong.

With our first pick in the farm draft, we selected a flamethrowing left-handed pitcher who is considered to be the second-best pitcher in Japan, and who is all-but-guaranteed to come to the US at the end of the 2018 season (or 2019 in the worst-case scenario.) Again, we completely misjudged the trade value of such a prospect. We made several offers for several relievers and were rejected at every turn.

We went into the draft with one nuclear option remaining: we could have spent $5 million on one player in the third round of the draft, and then filled in the rest of our roster with ten $100,000 picks. We had so many holes left to fill, that wasn't an appetizing option at all. However, we felt that if Brandon McCarthy or Tyler Chatwood fell to us then we could move Mike Montgomery to the bullpen and he would become our closer. Naturally, McCarthy and Chatwood were the first two picks of the draft.

So, Where Does That Leave Us?

Our bullpen is a mess. Raisel Iglesias, Jonathan Holder, and Phil Maton can't get lefties out if their lives depended on it. We need Montgomery's innings in the rotation. Strop is a right-handed lefty specialist. Matt Grace can't get right-handers out. In this day and age where bullpens have become so important, we don't have much of one.

Our starting rotation is actually not bad, but we don't have enough innings to survive an entire season unless we max-out Luis Perdomo (which would not be good.) I'll match Stephen Strasburg, Jose Quintana, Jon Gray, and Mike Montgomery against any four starters that any other team can throw against us. The problem is that Gray is limited to half a season and Montgomery is going to have to be a swing man.

Offensively, we don't have any problems at all. Jose Ramirez and Gary Sanchez are elite, all-star-caliber, players. Suarez and Odubel Herrera should be solid. Andrew Benintendi, Joyce, Ichiro, Mitch Moreland, and Turner are good platoon bats. Cespedes and Rafael Devers will be great when they play (which won't be often.) I expect this team to score somewhere near the 846 runs we scored a year ago.

This doesn't look like a division-winning team, but there are plenty of examples of teams in recent history that won their divisions despite not looking like a division-winner on paper. With Jim Doyle now leading the old Blazers franchise, and with Granite State and Western Kansas looking as though they're in the process of rebuilding, we could have a shot. Stranger things have happened.

The plan is to "go for it" early in the season, and then reassess our standing after a couple of chapters. If we're in the race, then maybe we'll trade away some of our future to win that division title. If we're out of the hunt, then we'll kick it into full-on rebuilding mode. "Compete while rebuilding." Sharky was a genius.