Pennant Race Trades Reviewed

The Avengers have represented the National League in the Brassball World Series for the last four years. In each of those years, the club's front office has been aggressive at the trade deadline, being willing to trade draft picks and prospects for players who could help them play for and win a title. Let's take a look at those trades and how they worked out.

2012
1. $100,000 to Florence for David Herndon.
This was a smaller trade, and Herndon got only limited work in the playoffs. He was supposed to lock-down opposing right-handed hitters, but he gave up six hits in 3 1/3 innings and had a 10.80 ERA.
Grade: D

2. Jed Lowrie to Parkland for Kenley Jansen.

Lowrie was a good, but not great, infielder and the Avengers traded him for a shut-down reliever. Jansen was a weapon for three Avenger playoff rosters and helped them win two World Series rings. He totaled 47 2/3 IP with a 2.27 ERA in the 2012, 2013, and 2014 playoffs.
Grade: A-

3. David Carpenter to Boston for Jeremy Affeldt
Affeldt was a LOOGY and did his job well. He pitched just 6 2/3 innings, but didn't allow an earned run and picked up one win along the way.
Grade: B

4. Miguel Sano, Anthony Rendon, Matt Adams, Chris Resop, 2013 #1 draft pick to Butte County for RA Dickey and Craig Kimbrel
Wow. This was the blockbuster. The Avengers gave up a ton of future value, but got two stars in return. Dickey went 5-1 in the 2013 postseason with a 3.89 ERA in seven starts and 39 2/3 IP. Metropolis expected Kimbrel to be nothing short of unhittable and he delivered the goods. He's pitched in 37 playoff games and totaled 61 2/3 innings while allowing a minuscule 0.29 ERA. He struck out 79 batters and allowed just 28 hits and 27 walks. Metropolis leveraged Kimbrel to the extreme and it worked better than anyone could have expected.
Grade: A- (docked for the tremendous value traded away)

2013
1. Carter Capps, Rubby de la Rosa, Adalberto Mondesi, Corey Seager, Zach Stewart, 2014 #2 draft pick to Springfield for Kris Medlen
Another blockbuster. The Avengers traded away four top prospects for Medlen, who they expected to be their ace for the next couple years. Medlen was certainly their ace in the playoffs. He started four games in 2013 and pitched 29 1/3 innings with a 1.53 ERA. He went just 1-1 in those starts, but it's hard to blame him. That said, the team failed to defend their championship that year and then Medlen got hurt. The World Series loss and injury knock this grade down quite a bit, and that's before considering all the talent traded away.
Grade: C

2. $50,000 to Springfield for Randy Choate
The quintessential aging lefty, Choate got into just one game for the Avengers that October. He pitched one inning and gave up an earned run on two hits.
Grade: C

3. $600,000 to West Hills for Carlos Ruiz
Ruiz stepped right in as the starter and hit near the top of the order. In 17 games and 72 at bats, Ruiz hit .293/.329/.520 while tying for the team lead with four homers. You can't ask for much more than that, particularly when the cost was just $600,000.
Grade: A

2014
1. #8 draft pick to Latrobe for Nick Vincent
Vincent was asked to retire tough right-handed hitters and he did just that. He appeared in seven games and pitched 9 2/3 innings with a 1.86 ERA. He wasn't the most critical pitcher in the bullpen, but he got the job done when called on.
Grade: B

2. Jesus Guzman and $125,000 to Sacramento for Josh Satin
Satin was added to serve as the right-handed part of a first base platoon with Chris Davis. He didn't do much, hitting just .176/.263/.412 in the postseason.
Grade: F

3. Mike Fiers, Freddy Garcia, Michael Blazek, $500,000, and Bonus Pick to Tinley for Justin Masterson
Masterson was a late addition to an already strong rotation. He was only called on to start one game in each series, but he won all three games he started and put up a solid 3.44 ERA.
Grade: A-

4. Andrew Romine, Luis Jimenz, $250,000 to West Hills for Ramiro Pena.
Pena was acquired to be a pinch hitter off the bench. He appeared in just one game and went 0-1, but he did get a World Series ring.
Grade: D

2015
1. Kenta Maeda, Amed Rosario, Corey Knebel, Timberlake #3 draft pick for Anibal Sanchez, Ronald Belisario, $5,750,000 
Sanchez did what was asked of him - he was a good fourth starter. He only won a single game, but gave the Avengers a 2.87 ERA in his three starts. Metropolis gave up a lot of value to get those 15 innings, and that has to affect the trade's grade. Kenta Maeda is exactly the type of player the Avengers could use, and now he's on a league rival.
Grade: C

2. Freddy Galvis and Franklin Barreto to Sacramento for Steve Pearce
Pearce came in to play 1B against righties, but he forgot to bring his bat with him to Metropolis. Pearce hit just .210/.279/.306 with a one homer and two runs batted in. The Avengers likely would have been better letting Jose Bautista play every day. They couldn't have been worse.

Grade: D

Flags Fly Forever

It's hard to argue with four World Series appearances and two titles, but the Avengers have traded away enough talent to form the core of another playoff team. In fact, you can build most of a good lineup with the players dealt away:

1B - Matt Adams

2B - Jed Lowrie

3B - Anthony Rendon

SS - Corey Seager

LF - Miguel Sano

While that club may be missing a few positions, it can fill in with talented young shortsops Raul Mondesi, Amed Rosario, and Franklin Barreto.

The Avengers also traded away pitchers Kenta Maeda, Rubby De La Rosa, Carter Capps, Michael Blazek, and Corey Knebel, so they paid the price on both sides of the ball.

Of course, trading away players like that brings a lot in return. Most of the Avenger trades were for pitching, and the pitchers acquired in the trades above were instrumental in the club's postseason success. When combined, those pitchers put up a line that looks like this:

101 Games

17 Games Started

232 2/3 Innings Pitched

2.13 ERA

21 Wins

6 Losses

13 Saves

154 Hits

247 Strikeouts

94 Walks

Losing players like Seager, Rendon, Sano, and Maeda hurts, but doing so helped Metropolis win two World Series titles, and they're still looking for more. That's a trade (or trades, to be accurate) the team would make every time.

Brassball Free Agent Preview - Restricted Free Agents

While the playoffs are underway, most of the Brassball teams have already turned their attention to 2017 and building a club which will help them play deep into the postseason a year from now. The quickest way to improve a club is through free agency, but some of the biggest names on the market are restricted free agents, meaning their own teams have the option to match any offer and retain the player. Here's a quick look at the restricted free agents and some educated guesses as to whether or not their teams will retain their services.

Pitchers

Clayton Kershaw - Simi Valley
You need an ace? This is your guy. Kershaw is a stud and everyone knows it. Not everyone can afford him, however. He's the Cy Young favorite every year and he came through for the Vikings with a 23-7 record and 2.59 ERA. They'll certainly try to retain Kershaw, but other teams are going to come with blank checks Simi Valley can't match. Prediction - leaves as a free agent for 7 years and $58,000,000

Madison Bumgarner - Santa Barbara
Bumgarner has been one of the best pitchers in Brassball and the anchor of the Outlaw pitching staff for several years. He was 20-7 with a 2.68 ERA on the season and it seems highly unlikely the Outlaws would let him move to another club. Prediction - Resigns for 7 years and $50,000,000.

Yovani Gallardo - California
Gallardo was only 8-5 on the year, but he had a solid 3.41 ERA in 187 innings. Those aren't Bumgarner or Kershaw numbers, but nearly every team would be happy to have Gallardo in their rotation. Unfortunately for California, they may not have the payroll flexibility to keep him. Prediction - leaves as a free agent for 3 years and $7,000,000

Derek Holland - Florence
A couple of years ago Holland looked like a budding ace. Unfortunately, injuries have taken their toll. He was able to make just six starts on the year and pitched 40 innings for the River Bats. Florence has the payroll space to retain him, but do they want to? Prediction - leaves as a free agent for 2 years $800,000

Travis Wood - Sacramento
Wood was a disappointing 2-7. He had a good, but not great, 3.04 ERA. But, he did so in ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR INNINGS AS A RELIEF PITCHER. Think about that. Of course, that means he's likely headed for a surgeon's table. Prediction - resigns for 4 years and $5,500,000.

Batters

Evan Longoria - Tinley
A gold-glove third baseman who plays every day and hits .300 with 20+ homers. Everyone's interested in Longoria, even if they already have a third baseman. There will be a lot of suitors, but Tinley will do everything they can to resign their star. Prediction - resigns for 6 years and $32,000,000.

Jay Bruce - Brooklyn
Bruce couldn't have picked a worse time to have his worst year. He played nearly every day and hit just .172/.261/.368. Only gold glove shortstops can hope to keep playing while "hitting" so poorly. Bruce still has the talent that made him a star, but he may need a new team and hitting coach to help bring it out. Prediction - leaves as a free agent for 5 years and $10,000,000.

Pedro Alvarez - Tinley
Alvares still has power, but that's about all he has. He hit just .233 with a .288 on base percentage on the year. That's tough to accept if you hit 30 home runs, and Alvarez didn't even hit 20. Tinley has some money to spend, but will likely look to upgrade rather than bringing Alvarez back. Prediction - leaves as a free agent for 3 years and $6,500,000.

Brandon Moss - Tinley
Another low-average slugger who didn't slug enough for the Redbirds. Moss hit .211/.282/.409 on the year. He's supposed to crush right-handed pitchers, but his OPS against them was just .699. Prediction - leaves as a free agent for 3 years and $4,500,000.