[Raven]

The Baltimore franchise gets a new owner.
The San Francisco franchise gets a new owner.


Back to my roster...
Some of these guys are obvious cuts, others are more difficult decisions.

12/17/14
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To Cardinals: CF Dexter Fowler, 7th round pick
To Seattle: 2nd round pick
I make my 1st move of the offseason, deciding to acquire CF Dexter Fowler.

Fowler batted .276 with 8 HRs and 21 dobules, and 11 SBs. He is also a 3 in CF, which I am not thrilled with, but his OBP is very good, and extremly steady.
His OBP for 2014 is .375, and is consistently 80-100 points over his average for his career. I am also not sold on Bourn as my starter going forward, so I give up the 2 to get Fowler.


1/5/14
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KC receives: David Freese, 10th round pick
StL receives: 5th round pick

Freese hits lefties very well, but dos not hit righties. His defense is also terrible at third, so he was going to be a cut for me. I'm happy to get a 5 in return. (Unfortunately I gave up a 3 to get him).

1/5/15
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Houston receives: Alex Avila, 2016 10th round pick
StL receives: 2016 3rd round pick

Avila and Salty are pretty similar statistically this year. Salty had a down year, but was injured all year. I think he can bounce back and be productive power hitter, whearas I think Avila has defined exactly what he is to this point. Avila is better defensively, but he was expendable.



Early January
After analyzing my roster, I don't think I can keep Marco Gonazales. While scouting reports say he is a finess pitcher, with a dominant changeup and potential to be a #2 or #3, he is also a lefty.

I also like Kolten Wong at 2B. He has speed, power, and can play defense. But I have Rendon and Carpenter at 2B/3B, which makes Wong a trade chip.

I inquire with Baltimore about Kevin Gausman. Being an O's fan, I am stoked about Gausman and think he will break out this year. I also believe Wacha and Gausman would be a dominant 1-2 at the top of my rotation, if I can pull it off. Gausman doesn't have a great card this year, but Wacha is again limited on innings. If I pull this off, I'll be committing to a rebuild this year.

After chatting about the potential deal, I decide not to haggle with Baltimore and just make him an offer:
Gausman and a 6 and 7 next year, for Wong, Gonzales, and my 1 and 2 next year.

I don't hear back from Baltimore for a few days, so I basically send the same deal to Oakland for Sonny Gray. I think Gray and Wacha sounds just as great as Gausman and Wacha. Oakland declines, saying they want more players and less picks. I just don't think I have the pieces to deal with them. A week passes and no news from Baltimore. The new owner is active pulling off other deals, so I assume he is not interested.

I finally hear back from Baltimore, and he has decided he will do the deal, but he wants my #1. I had been targeting Matt Shoemaker with my #1 pick and am not sure I want to do the deal. If I do the deal, I will only have a single 3rd round pick in the top 4 rounds this year.

I give it a little thought and finally decide to do the deal. I think Gausman is better than Shoemaker, and don't want to miss out on him.

1/15/15
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Baltimore receives: Kolten Wong, Marco Gonzales, 1st round pick, 2016 2nd round pick.
St Louis receives: Kevin Gausman, 6th round pick, 2016 7th round pick.


This is a very deep 1st round of the draft this year, and I am struggling with the idea of not having a #1 pick. Finally KC contacts me and says they are interested in Jimmy Rollins and Justin Ruggiano. Both are expendable to me. He offers Drew Smyly and his 1st rounder, as we try and work out details to even things out. We go back and forth for awhile. As the deal grows, he starts asking about Emilio Bonifacio, and I start asking about Kurt Suzuki. Suzuki has a good hitting card at Catcher this year, and there aren't a lot there.

Eventually we agree on a deal.

1/18/15
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KC receives: Santiago Casilla, Emilio Bonifacio, Jimmy Rollins, 3rd round pick
StL receives: Drew Smyly, Alejandro De Aza, 1st round pick (#14 of 15)


Batter (19)
C - Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Wil Nieves
1B - Michael Cuddyer, Matt Adams
2B - Anthony Rendon
SS - Jhonny Peralta
3B - Matt Carpenter
LF - Nate McLouth, Justin Ruggiano, Alejando De Aza
CF - Michael Bourn, Dexter Fowler
RF - Yasiel Puig, Avisail Garcia, Oscar Taveras, Randal Grichuk
DH - Adam Dunn, Oswaldo Arcia, Raul Ibanez

Pitcher (20)
SP - Joe Kelly
SP - Henderson Alvarez
SP - Jose Quintana
SP - Dan Straily
SP - Jacob Turner
SP - Shelby Miller
SP - Ubaldo Jimenez
SP - Kevin Gausman
SP - Michael Wacha
SP/RP - Josh Collmenter
SP/RP - Hector Santiago
SP/RP - Carlos Martinez
SP/RP - Drew Smyly
RP - Kevin Siegrist
RP - Tommy Hunter
RP - Tom Wilhelmson
RP - Sam Freeman
RP - Nick Greenwood
RP - David Carpenter
CL - Trevor Rosenthal
CL - David Robertson