The more philosophical and pragmatic view would be that no season is about the end result, but about the journey. Did we learn anything along the way? Did we have any semblance of fun or experience a bit of satisfaction and pride at any point during this long season?
Meh.
We have now played 26 seasons and I have won precisely one trophy. Barely. Which is why it's so aggravating to lose when this team is so talented. I don't mind losing when I have a mediocre team and no expectations of winning the ultimate prize. But when I put together a squad that is good enough to win 104 games, lead the entire BDBL in runs scored, and outscore our opponents by more than 200 runs, it really sucks to waste such an opportunity.
The fact that we even made it so far was hardly a given. I began the offseason by debating whether to rebuild or go for it in 2024. At the end of the 2023 MLB season, we had about half a quality lineup against both lefties and righties, but with a few glaring holes. Our starting rotation needed serious help, but our bullpen was decent enough.
At the end of my assessment last October, I was leaning toward rebuilding, as I determined that the price to compete was higher than I was willing to pay. My first order of business was placing free-agent-to-be Framber Valdez on the Selling block. I was surprised to see that an ace starting pitcher with a very cheap price tag had very little value on the trade market. Once I learned that lesson, I decided to pivot to competing in 2024.
I began the winter with only about $5 million to spend on free agents, so I my first task was to dump salary. I dumped a chunk of it by trading Ranger Suarez ($10 million), which cost me two of my favorite prospects. I did, however, manage to land throw-in Kutter Crawford in that deal. I reluctantly cut a few million more in salary by trading my two best relievers in exchange for "super prospect" Ricky Tiedemann. Tiedemann ended up throwing about three and a half pitches in 2024 before he needed to shut it down for the year.
After my third winter trade, I had managed to cut $10.2 million in salary. I planned to sit tight at that point, but I had a far bigger worry than spending money. Thanks to the season-long injuries to Shohei Ohtani and Luis Garcia, plus the free agency of Jon Gray, we had basically no pitching for the 2025 BDBL season. I needed to do something to fix that.
With that in mind, I went to work adding a couple of young arms that I felt were on the verge of a breakthrough: MacKenzie Gore and Casey Mize. Unfortunately, they cost Valdez, but that also saved me some money. Also unfortunately, both of them ended up sucking monkey nuts in MLB '24.
By the end of the winter, I had turned our payroll around. I began the winter with $5 million to spend on 15 players, and ended it with a whopping $26 million in spending money -- plus three quality young arms for the future.
I targeted three specific players in the auction, and ended up signing all three: Bryan Reynolds, Wilmer Flores, and Jon Gray. Best of all, I landed both Flores and Gray at $5 million, which prevented me from being forced to sign them for two more years beyond this one. I also managed to pick up closer Matt Strahm for another $5 million, which was a pleasant surprise.
By the time Opening Day began, I was feeling very confident about our chances to win the division -- if not the entire enchilada. But then I took a look at our competition and that confidence flew out the window. I expected the Darien Blue Wave to be our main competition. I had completely underestimated the Flagstaff Peaks until I saw what they ended up looking like on paper. And when the first chapter began and the Peaks flew out to a commanding lead, I saw the writing on the wall.
Before the first chapter had even come to an end, I decided to do a little Nic Weiss-like "arbitrage" by trading free-agent-to-be Trea Turner. Our offense was so overpowering, we really didn't need him, as odd as it sounds. In return for Turner, I got a player that I felt would be an asset to this team for at least the next four years -- at a dirt-cheap salary. Unfortunately, that player, Jung-hu Lee, decided to run into a wall shortly after that trade, and ended up missing the rest of the MLB season.
Last March, I was fortunate enough to meet up with Tony Chamra, Ian Hartner, and Joe Demski at a spring training game. During that game, Ian mentioned that he was in the market for a starting pitcher. I saw that as an opportunity to add another quality young arm for the future. I traded Jon Gray for Max Meyer, and was ecstatic to add the third-overall pick of the 2020 MLB draft to our 2025 rotation, which already included MacKenzie Gore, Casey Mize, Kutter Crawford, and Ricky Tiedemann. At that point, I figured I had set up our starting rotaton for the next four years!
Of course, the rest is history. All five of those pitchers ended up becoming useless turds. Meyer was sent packing to the bush leagues after three quality MLB starts, didn't return until the second half of the season, and then sucked monkey nuts the rest of the season. Crawford allowed more home runs than the guy who lobs them in at the Home Run Derby. Gore and Mize went from up-and-coming young aces to wastes of roster space. And Tiedemann did what he has done best throughout his career: get injured and stay injured.
A funny thing happened after that first chapter. We actually started winning. A lot. At the all-star break, we shared first place with the Flagstaff Peaks. At the end of the following chapter, we shared first place with the Darien Blue Wave. In an effort to make an effort, I made a few small trades to shore up the starting lineup and bullpen, adding lefty-mashers Garrett Cooper, Ruben Mateo, and Stone Garrett, and middle-innings arms Craig Kimbrel, Tommy Kahnle, and Brooks Raley. I didn't sacrifice much to get any of them -- with one exception. In an ill-fated, knee-jerk, trade with Matt Clemm at BDBL Weekend, I gave him Spencer Arrighetti for Kimbrel. I really wish I could have that one back.
With eight games remaining, we were dead-tied with the Peaks for the last-remaining spot in the playoffs. Flagstaff split their series with the Blue Wave. We then took three of four from Darien to take a one-game lead in the wildcard race. We needed a split in our final series against Flagstaff, and we achieved that in the first two games.
Our final series of the season, the OL Division Series against Akron, was a major let-down in every conceivable way. Our offense, which led the entire BDBL in nearly every major category all season, suddenly stopped hitting. We hit just .213/.285/.398 for the series. Bryan Reynolds (.277/.320/.273), Rafael Devers (.130/.167/.261), Wilmer Flores (.100/.269/.150), and Lane Thomas (.050/.048/.050) were completely useless the entire series. And our "lefty-killers" -- Cooper, Mateo, Nick Senzel, and Riley Adams -- went a combined 0-for-9.
Our entire pitching staff -- starters and relievers -- collapsed as well. Our four starters posted a 6.68 ERA in 33+ innings, and our bullpen combined for a 3.74 ERA in 21+ innings. Our starting pitchers allowed 20 walks in 33+ innings. Our relievers allowed 14 in 21+.
So that's it. All of that work led up to a pointless, total team, collapse in the end. The random dice rolls win yet again. It sort of makes me wonder why I bother at all.
