[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Welcome into 2103!
Season 100 is here!

First things first. A congratulations to our long time rival Lake Monsters after seeing them win IHOF Bowl XCIX.

Second order of business, a couple of players retired.

Linebacker Brandon Brady said goodbye to IHOF after 13 seasons. In 2090 our 19th overall selection, we picked him to become our new leader of the defense. He started on our defense from day one, proving to be a tackle machine, capable as a run stopper and pass defender. The best of it came in 2091 and 2092 as we reached the conference semifinals both seasons. His position was never undisputed, talks over contract demands were always tough, but we kept him around for 11 seasons, even after bringing in replacements that we eventually felt not enough of an improvement to sit Brady, or at the very least keep him in a lot of packages. He still was a key figure on the team that allowed the least points in the league in 2099. But following the 2100 season we let him walk as a free agent and ended up not matching the one-year deal he was offered by the Williamsburg Colonials. In his last two seasons in the league, he made a surprisingly good switch to defensive end and although he flirted with such a role in his final season with us, he kind of rediscovered himself as a part-timer in a pass rusher role in Williamsburg and hung around there in 2102 for a final season.

Tight end Clarence Gore was our 5th round pick in 2091 and as a rookie already made a good impression making 75 receptions for 863 yards and 7 touchdowns. He played exceptionally well in the playoffs that season and followed up with a similar performance in 2092. But as the struggles of the Merchantmen offense began, Gore's role got smaller and smaller. One could argue that his lack of targets was part of the problem, but the counter argument we used was his lack of run blocking skills, at which he was lacking. Still, the tight end getting more targets (Clay Gaynor) never reached the efficiency levels of the young Gore. In 2100 we inactivated Gore, until reinstalling him in the last 3 games. He found a new home in 2101 in Colorado and surprisingly returned to Maassluis for the second half of last season to mentor the young players on roster.

It may come as no surprise that both Brady and Gore were part of the Merchantmen 100 club.

A less spectacular retirement came from tackle Junior Karr, initially signed last season to mentor the two starting rookie tackles, but in the last 6 games he was put on the line after all to give the running game a boost. It helped as Ken Torphy played his least underwhelming football in those games. Before this last stint, Karr was an important run blocker for the Capital City Blues for 10 seasons and after losing his starting role there, was picked up by the division rival Texas Sharks in 2101 for a season. His last action came in Maassluis, with 2 key run blocks and no sacks allowed in a close game against the Gothenburg Giants.

So, with that, our 2103 off-season began. Without a lot to do at first. We're looking at a positive cap figure of $119M with 40 players signed, which means there's plenty of room to go out there and have some fun on the open market. But will we? The draft class will officially be revealed tomorrow, so, at the moment, we just have to do with staff hiring decision. It turns out that at every position, we have the best suitable candidate already hired, ignoring potential staff members that get sacked by the teams that draft in front of us. We'll see how things go there, biggest question probably being: will we stick with Clarence Byrd as our offensive coordinator?