Chapter Two Recap

Way, way, back in BDBL history, there was an owner named Nic Weiss. Nic was a young college kid at the time, and I believe he was studying economics. He liked to apply the theories and principles he was learning at that time toward his experience as GM in the BDBL. In particular, he enjoyed using a term called "arbitrage."

The Wikipedia definition of arbitrage is: "the practice of taking advantage of a difference in prices in two or more markets – striking a combination of matching deals to capitalise on the difference, the profit being the difference between the market prices at which the unit is traded."

I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I think I may have committed some arbitrage this past chapter.

The Florida Mulligans followed up an incredibly irritating first chapter (16-12) with an absolutely mind-blowing 20-8 record in Chapter Two. We outscored our opponents by 52 runs, which is second only to the Darien Blue Wave. The Wave went 19-9 in Chapter Two with a +60 runs differential.

Just as we did in Chapter One, we hit the crap out of the ball in Chapter Two. We hit .274/.355/.492 as a team, and ranked among the top three in pretty much every offensive category. Shohei Ohtani (.352/.452/.790, 12 HR) hit out of his mind this chapter. If he doesn't win the OL HotC award, it will be a shock. Adley Rutschman (.333/.429/.441), Jason Heyward (.320/.424/.500), Lane Thomas (.298/.333/.521), and Rafael Devers (.275/.368/.500) also raked this chapter.

Our pitching was substantially better in Chapter Two than it was in the first chapter. We posted a respectable 3.73 ERA as a team, allowed only 219 hits in 253+ innings, and yielded just 21 homers. Night and day compared to Chapter One. Our bullpen was phenomenal. Robert Stephenson, Dauri Moreta, Jesse Chavez, and Isaiah Campbell threw 38 innings combined without allowing a single earned run. Add Matt Strahm and Ian Hamilton to that mix, and we're talking 63 innings and three total runs allowed.

Ohtani (2-0, 2.52 ERA) bounced back on the mound in a big way this chapter after a brutal Chapter One. Kutter Crawford (3-0, 2.31) continues to astound as well.

Now...about that arbitrage thing.

I was berated by Jeff Paulson throughout this chapter because I decided to trade Trea Turner and Jon Gray. The GOAT believes that I should not have given up on a team that could be in contention. As it stands, the Mulligans are in second place in our division, one game ahead of the Blue Wave in the wildcard and one game behind the Flagstaff Peaks. So, he does have a point.

However...realistically, I can see the writing on the wall. We don't have the pitching to compete in this division. Flagstaff and Darien are both likely to finish with 100+ wins. We won't come close to that with this pitching staff. I saw two opportunities to put this franchise in a great position for the next 4-6 years and took it. I'd do it again if given a second chance.

When we began this past offseason, we had ZERO pitching for 2025 and beyond, other than J.P. Sears. We were set to lose Gray to free agency. Ohtani won't pitch at all in 2024. Our 2025 pitching staff was in deep, deep trouble. Today, it is looking like it could be one of the best pitching staffs I've ever assembled.

• Kutter Crawford: acquired this past winter in trade, is off to a blazing-hot start: 27 IP, 16 H, 0 HR, 11 BB, 30 K, 0.66 ERA.
• Casey Mize: also acquired last winter, is back from over a year off and seems healthy and productive: 21+ IP, 20 H, 1 HR, 6 BB, 16 K, 2.95 ERA.
• MacKenzie Gore: yet another winter pick-up, is off to a strong start: 20 IP, 21 H, 1 HR, 6 BB, 27 K, 3.60 ERA.
• Max Meyer: added in exchange for Gray: 17 IP, 11 H, 2 HR, 3 BB, 14 K, 2.12 ERA.
• JP Sears: our lone holdover from last year: 26+ IP, 18 H, 2 HR, 10 BB, 16 K, 3.38 ERA.

That's five quality starters. Then we have several more arms in the minors that should be MLB-ready within the next year or two. Spencer Arrighetti made his MLB debut earlier this year. He had a rough debut, but looked good in his second outing, and has posted a 2.16 ERA in two AAA starts. Chase Dollander (15-7-2-5-27) has looked very good in his first three professional starts. If Ricky Tiedemann can ever stay healthy for more than a day, he would be a tremendous asset. And in the very low minors, Henry Lalane is being touted as a pitcher to watch over the next few years.

(And yes, I'm well aware that I just jinxed each and every one of the pitchers mentioned above.)

I'm not sure that any of this qualifies as arbitrage, but I'm very happy with how our roster is shaping up. We have so much depth in some key areas that if I wanted to make a move to improve our '24 chances, I could do that. And I just might!