Decision time in the Black Forest.

[Coop]

Black Forest leftfielder Vicente Moya is an established star.

He's the best base-stealer in the WBA.  From 2132 through 2135 he stole 345 bases, an average of more than 86 stolen bases per year, and in 2136 he's on pace to steal well over 100 bases.  His career batting average is .310.  He's an outstanding defensive outfielder. 

Moya's contract is up at the end of the season, and one would expect that the Foxes would do anything to keep him from leaving the organization for free agency.

But maybe not.

Vicente Moya has flaws.  He has no power.  He doesn't hit lefthanded pitchers very well, so he plays only against righties.  Worst of all, he's 30 years old and showing signs of decline.  This season both his Contact rating and his Eye rating went down.  It seems unlikely that those ratings will bounce back now that he's no longer in his twenties.

Moya was recently approached about a contract extension.  He demanded more than $7 million a year for three years, and refused to budge on those numbers.  That's a lot of money for an aging leftfielder who doesn't hit home runs and can't hit lefthanded pitchers.

As it happens, the Foxes have two outfielders in Triple-A, Jose Reyna and Pedro Cardenas, who bat lefthanded and who can hit righthanded pitchers about as well as Moya.  Here's a comparison of their ratings:

Moya, age 30.        Contact vs RHPs is 8, Power is 2, Eye is 6, Avoid Ks is 10.
Cardenas, age 26.  Contact vs RHPs is 8, Power is 2, Eye is 5, Avoid Ks is 9.
Reyna, age 31.       Contact vs RHPs is 7, Power is 6, Eye is 5, Avoid Ks is 9.

Moya is the best hitter of the three, but only by a small margin.  He is by far a better fielder and base-stealer than Reyna and Cardenas, but on the other hand, those guys will play for a small fraction of the salary Moya is demanding.  And Moya is declining.  Is it worth paying him $7 million a year when the team can replace him with a younger guy like Cardenas who hits about as well and whose salary is $200,000?

So what should the Foxes do?  Letting go of a big star like Vicente Moya isn't easy.  The fans would be furious.  It's a tough decision.

What do the other GMs in the league think?