2126-27 WBA Offseason Grades

[Dembe Kihiga]

MELBOURNE, Australia: With Spring Training beginning tonight, the long offseason is officially over. We've decided to take a look at each IBL team's most significant moves, whether positive or negative. The grades attached are, of course, the opinion of this reporter, and shouldn't be taken too seriously. They tried to take into account a team's direction (a rebuilding team would get a better grade for trading a player for futures, while that might hurt the grade of a team trying to compete this season). In alphabetical order:

The Black Forest Foxes didn't do much this offseason. They lost pitcher Oliviero Gómez, who compiled a 2.08 ERA in 86.1 innings, to free agency, as well as some mostly irrelevant minor league pieces. Their only addition was 2B/SS Christopher Grotefend, who will likely platoon at shortstop and could also play backup at 2B. Grotefend hit .339 in a brief stint with Cairo last season, and at just $850,000 for one season, is a low risk, high reward signing. This is a "wait and see" season for the Foxes, who won the WBA Championship Series in 2125 and then failed to make the playoffs in 2126 with essentially the same roster. They didn't need to make many changes, and it's hard to criticize the Grotefend signing. Overall grade: B

The Cairo Pharaohs, defending Afro-European Division champions, had a rather confusing offseason. They're clearly trying to compete this year, but traded 3B Bill Brown (who had a .341 average in a platoon role last year), SP Adelmo Wagner (who was 16-7 with a 3.21 ERA), and last year's Pitcher of the Year, Shigenaga Matsuo (18-5, 2.53 ERA) for picks and prospects. The return wasn't bad - Cairo got a lot of picks, including a 1st and 2nd rounder - and they did find a solid free agent, SP Lloyd Young, who had a 4.23 ERA but accumulated 2.3 WAR in Mumbai's notorious hitters park. But any team who's still trying to win shouldn't be trading the defending Pitcher of the Year. Overall grade: D

The Karachi Falcons had a productive offseason. They only lost one important player - RP Bartolomeo Nieto, who put up an 0.93 ERA in 19.1 pro innings last year - and made some valuable acquisitions through trade and free agency. The Falcons signed OF Arturo Bramante, who hit .263 but slugged .442 last year with Northwest, and traded for SP Alfonso Vásquez, who was 8-12 with a 3.52 ERA in Melbourne. Giving up a 2nd rounder for Vásquez is a reasonable price, and the Falcons look set to be better this year than they were last year. Overall grade: B+

The Ljubljana Dragons didn't do a whole lot. Their only major loss was 1B Pepe Alonso, who signed as a free agent in... Ljubljana. But the Dragons didn't really add anyone significant either, unless you count OF José Perea, who plays plus defense in the corners but hit just .240 last year. But in fairness, Ljubljana has a lot of young, talented prospects who could make the jump to the majors this year, and they weren't all that far from the playoffs - they didn't really need to do much. Overall grade: B-

The Manila Folders had several important pieces leave. Most prominent were 3B Dustin Russell, who slugged .373 and put up 3.3 WAR, and 2B Jacques Segura, who hit .295 and had 3.2 WAR in 125 games. Replacing them will be free agent pickups John Butler at 3B, who had 3.3 WAR in Puerto Rico last season, and Marco Stinzi, who hit .280 and slugged .412 in Rio. These replacements seem more than adequate, but Manila didn't really improve by much this offseason - and led by a tandem of aging pitchers, it might not be enough. Overall grade: C+

The Melbourne Meteors, unsurprisingly, had by far the busiest offseason. They traded OF Mitch Qiao, SPs Alfonso Vásquez and Diego Rangel, and RP Gary Chalcott, and paid a draft pick to lose Guda Baloch's salary. But they added OF Nelson Ackland, SP Boboy Espina, and RP Jilenko Belgica, and gained a lot of picks and seven pretty good prospects - all via trade. For a team trying to win now, it wasn't the greatest series of moves, but Ackland will certainly provide a nice improvement, and they have plenty of pitching depth. Overall grade: B-

The Mumbai Cobras didn't have the money to make a move, and, predictably, didn't make a move. Lloyd Young left for free agency, and nobody else of relevance joined or departed the team. The Cobras are the defending IBL champs, of course, and are seemingly not finding a need to make changes (justifiably). Overall grade: C+

The Paris Fleur-de-Lis are in the middle of a long rebuild. They lost 2B Du Chin, who hit .281 and put up 3.3 WAR. But on a team trying to tank for draft picks, losing Chin isn't really a negative. The Fleur-de-Lis also obtained several decent draft picks in exchange for taking on the contracts of Guda Baloch and Claude Barbier. For a rebuilding team, this offseason went perfectly according to plan. Overall grade: B+

The Rome Generals lost nobody of any significance, and added a group of pitchers relatively cheaply. SP Ronman Sanahon (12-5 with a 3.89 ERA for Northwest) and Juan Valadez (13-13 with a 4.12 ERA for Santo Domingo) joined the Generals as free agents, while they traded for SP Tusya Alabyan, who was 9-12 with a 3.94 ERA but had 2.9 WAR in Santo Domingo last year. Rome also had the most significant free agent signing in the IBL this offseason, acquiring C Du-sung Lee, who hit .313, led the ABL in doubles, and posted 4.6 WAR for Mexico City last season. Of course, the payroll went up correspondingly, but the Generals improved a lot without giving up too many assets. Overall grade: A

The Tokyo Shogun did almost nothing. They lost OF Tony Haward (hit .273 and had 2.2 WAR) to free agency, and acquired nobody. As a rebuilding team, they didn't need to do anything, but Paris showed that there were plenty of opportunities for a rebuilding team to acquire futures, and it's hard to believe Tokyo couldn't have done the same. Overall grade: C-

Best acquisition (free agency): Du-sung Lee, Rome Generals
Best acquisition (trade): Nelson Ackland, Melbourne Meteors
Biggest loss (free agency): Jacques Segura, Manila Folders
Biggest loss (trade): Shigenaga Matsuo, Cairo Pharaohs

[Dembe Kihiga]

Well, some people requested I grade the offseasons of some minor league teams. So, by popular request: ABL offseason grades! Again, these grades are one reporter's opinion and are not to be taken too seriously. In alphabetical order:

The Edmonton Trappers, first on the list alphabetically, also had the most intriguing offseason in the ABL. This seemingly rebuilding team has all of a sudden decided to go for it, and made a lot of moves. Their only major loss was CF Sebastian Hurley, who was traded to Phoenix for CL Daniel Hernández, who will anchor the Edmonton bullpen. Hurley is a good player, but replaceable on the Trappers roster. Edmonton further strengthened the bullpen with the free agent signings of Shang-de Foong and Bartolomeo Nieto. They also added 3B Bill Brown, who hit .341 in a platoon role in Cairo last season, signed 4-WAR SP Ángel Sandoval to a 3-year contract, and, to top it off, traded for star SP Alfredo Cavazos. The only thing preventing this offseason from being a complete success was the Claude Barbier saga, involving Edmonton trading for Barbier and then paying picks to lose him just a few months later. Still, all things considered, Edmonton made big strides towards the playoffs without giving up many of their futures. Overall grade: A-

The Havana Dolphins had a quiet offseason. They lost two veterans to free agency, Shang-de Foong and C , who didn't get much playing time anyway. The Dolphins didn't need to add anyone, and they didn't add anyone. Pretty simple. Overall grade: C+

The Los Angeles Stars also didn't do much. They lost Ángel Sandoval to free agency, and signed RF Mark Hughes to a two-year contract. But it's a little harder to justify a lack of action from the Stars, who are coming off a down year and don't have a ton of youth ready to rejuvenate the team. It seems like LA missed an opportunity to either begin the rebuild or try to gain some weapons and try for the playoffs. Overall grade: D+

The Mexico City Aztecs lost two major free agents, C Du-sung Lee and RF Stephano Ragusa, who combined for 8.2 WAR last year. Their only major acquisition was OF Mitch Qiao, acquired by trade from Melbourne. The Aztecs lost assets for nothing, gave up futures for a replacement, and still got worse. It might be time to start the teardown. Overall grade: D

The Northwest Emeralds lost SP Ronman Leyretana (12-5, 3.89 ERA) and LF Arturo Bramante (3.5 WAR) to free agency. The Emeralds understandably don't have a lot of budget room at the moment, and have no reason to make changes to a roster that just won the WBA title, so a lack of acquisitions is more than justified. Overall grade: C+

The Phoenix Burros, similar to Edmonton, began to acquire major-league talent and try to compete. They signed free agent SS Tarif Yushua and RPs Gilberto Arenos and Kashyap Subas. They also traded for SP Adelmo Wagner and CL Gary Chalcott. But despite these improvements, Phoenix is still a pretty bad team who should be in contention for the worst record in the IBL. It's hard to justify trading futures for players on the wrong side of 30 when your team is still so far from contention. Overall grade: C+

The Puerto Rico Coqui had one major loss - 3B John Butler, who hit .260 and put up 3.3 WAR. They added 2B Jacques Segura, who had almost exactly the same WAR (3.2). Oh, and the Coqui traded for the reigning IBL Pitcher of the Year, Shigenaga Matsuo. For a team that's perpetually decent, it was time to decide one way or the other, and it seems they did that. Overall grade: A-

The Rio de Janeiro Jaguars lost Tarif Yushua to free agency, and traded RF Nelson Ackland (who was going to become a free agent) for almost nothing. In free agency, they signed 1B Thibaut Desjarinds and 2B Dustin Russell, both to rather expensive contracts. It doesn't seem like ideal asset management for a team that's good but aging quickly to get more expensive, plus trading a perpetual fan-favorite like Ackland nearly always causes a curse. Overall grade: C+

The Santo Domingo Palmchats lost a lot of pitching. They traded SPs Boboy Espina and Tusya Alabyan, and lost SP Juan Valadez and RP Fei-hsien Lau. The addition of power bat Stephano Ragusa will certainly help make the Palmchat lineup even more formidable, but the pitching staff has taken a major step back. Overall grade: C-

The São Paulo Toucans lost several important pieces, most notably Alfredo Cavazos and Thibaut Desjarinds. They acquired SP Diego Rangel from Melbourne, but made no major free agent signings. But the Toucans lineup and pitching rotation are still formidable, and they're certain to compete for another division title. Overall grade: C+

Best acquisition (free agency): Thibaut Desjarinds, Rio de Janeiro Jaguars
Best acquisition (trade): Shigenaga Matsuo, Puerto Rico Coqui
Biggest loss (free agency): Du-sung Lee, Mexico City Aztecs
Biggest loss (trade): Alfredo Cavazos, São Paulo Toucans