The Offseason Report (So Far)
Were you living under a rock for the past few days? Discord moving too fast for you to keep up? Who all was traded? Does Nashville have anyone other than Ohtani left? Have no fear! We here at SBaSABR are here to bring you up to speed on all the trades and moves that have happened so far!
Nashville and Denver Make a Deal
The Nashville Gators send a pair of players to Denver in exchange for rookie sensation Corbin Carroll. Although Carroll waited an extra season to fulfill his rookie eligibility in MLB, he was a fully carded rookie in SBa in Season 8. He did not appear on the Rookie of the Year Ballot in Season 8, but will still be eligible to win the award in Season 9. Nashville was looking for future players, and they get an absolute stud in Carroll who should bolster their lineup for many seasons moving forward. In the move, they send over a pair of outfield studs, Kyle Tucker and Trayce Thompson. Tucker is a great pickup for Denver, he's only 26 (3 years older than Carroll) and has been a solid player for each of his full seasons in SBa and projects to get even better as he enters into his prime years. Thompson was a stud in Season 8 for the Gators with a .347 OBP over 259 PA.
Some Honeybee Named Randy
Before moving out of Germany, the Honeybees made a trade, sending infielder Luis Guillorme over to Kampala in exchange for Randy Arozarena. Arozarena has been a fan favorite everywhere he's been. He's in the 100-HR club and has only had one season where he OPS was under .800. Guillorme got on base a ton for the bees, which he'll look to continue doing with the Storks.
Phantoms move on from Nestor Cortes Jr.
In a move that was as much sWAR dumping as anything, the Phantoms send LHP Nestor Cortes Jr to Nashville in exchange for DH Triston Casas. The Phantoms project Casas to be a longterm keeper, while Nashville will try to squeeze every bit of juice out of Nestor this season before he inevitably turns into a pumpkin again for Season 10. Either way, look for things to get a little #NastyinNashville this season.
Massive 5-Player Swap Between Nashville and Dallas
It's no secret that Nashville GM Reed likes to trade and he was the most active in the early hour of the trade deadline, but this huge move between the Gators and the Drillers had the whole league trying to figure out what to think. Headlining the deal is SS Dansby Swanson, moving to Dallas and 3B Jose Ramirez heading back to Nashville. Despite prolonged success in MLB, Swanson has had difficulties catching on in SBa (Season 8 was his first season with 200+ ABs). But he looks to be a long term stud for Dallas who also sent over their phenom shortstop Wander Franco. Franco won't play after Season 11 (we assume), but until then, he'll be anything but a minor piece of the offense for Nashville (rumors have been flying that Franco was lost in transit and has been replaced by Jon Dowd Jr, but we here at SBaSABR cannot confirm this). Also moving from Nashville to Dallas are SP Freddy Peralta and 0-sWAR King Jason Vosler.
Oh, we forgot to talk about Jose Ramirez who has had so many residences in his SBa career that we can't even count. He's a reliable switch-hitting bat who is also very fast on the basepaths and is no slouch with the glove at the hot corner. He's the best player to play on so many teams, you've heard it here first. The only real question is, where will JRam play next?
I Can't Believe They Traded Sandy
Sandy Alcantara led all pitchers in SBa with 107.1 innings pitched and was 8th in the league with 106 strikeouts. He was overshadowed by rookie phenom Spencer Strider as the Kampala Shoebill Storks had one of the best 1-2 punches among league starters. Sandy will be taking his talents to Denver in a blockbuster trade.
The return, though, includes two monster players heading to Bless the Rains in Africa. Nolan Arenado and Cedric Mullins head across the Atlantic as the newest members of the Shoebills. Mullins and Arenado will instantly spark the KSS offense.
Vatican Heartthrob Joe Ryan On The Move
Joe Ryan spent multiple seasons with VA but he's on his way to... VA? With the Honeybees recent move to Virginia, Ryan and Tyler Anderson will both be moving around the world but staying in VA. Ryan will anchor the Bees rotation alongside Blake Snell. Hampton saves some sWAR by sending Tyler Anderson to Vatican where he will be a starter with Hayden Wesneski and Connor Overton.
Mike Trout for Zack Wheeler
That's it. That's the whole trade. We wrote a whole article about it here.
Hamburg Adds Two Young Stars
Vladimir Guerrero Jr and Gunnar Henderson, fresh off their league championship are heading to the Honeybees. Guerrero hit 18 HR for Chicago, Henderson is a very young player who should be a long term superstar for the Bees. In exchange for the two young studs, the defending champs get Brandon Nimmo who is coming off one of the worst seasons of his SBa career, but she be a keeper for a while.
Waikiki Parts With a Team Legend
Yu Darvish is leaving Waikiki (again). He initially left as the team villain, he leaves this time as a team legend. This time, Darvish and his 3.34 ERA is headed to West Virginia with his battery-mate Sean Murphy (.246/.330/..377). In exchange, the Whale Sharks get Max Fried who started 14 games for the Black Bears and finished the season with a 4.10 ERA.
Keepers Galore!
At the time of printing this article, the keeper situation looks like this:
The Draft Lottery
#8 - Columbus Macho Men
#7 - Dallas Drillers
#6 - Vatican Angels
#5 - Shanghai Wu Xia
#4 - Milwaukee Bovines
#3 - Kampala Shoebill Storks
#2 - Hampton Honeybees
#1 - Big Sky Snow Geese