That's right ladies and gentlemen! The Portland front office is not asleep at the wheel. Their most recent moves prove they're not in a winter slumber. They may do little to give fans much hope, but hey, the front office is awake and making some moves, bitches!
As has been indicated on a few occassions already this off-season, Portland needed pitching. And not necessarily of quality. While most focus on quality over quantity, the Portland front-office has realized it needs bodies. If they're warm bodies then ok. But we need bodies. And we've signed some bodies!
The highest priced body is in the form of Byron Ratcliffe. He signs a 3 year, $9.72 million deal to be in a relievers role in Portland. Over a career mainly spent in the Heartland spanning 9 seasons, Ratcliffe has acculated 5.7 career WAR but only 0.5 of that coming over the last 4 seasons. He did have a 3.51 ERA and 1.26 WHIP last season in 74.1 innings pitched last season with Chicago, so those numbers will look like brightly lit stars in Portland.
Luis Equivel also signed a 3 year deal at a slightly less $9.4 million price tag. The 35 year old they call "Dumbo" has had a 16 year career that has saw him tally 4.8 career WAR. He's coming off a -0.2 WAR last season with Louisville but a 3.73 ERA over 89.1 innings won't look too bad in our pen this season. He had a couple solid years earlier in his career in Long Beach, so perhaps coming back to the Pacific will cure what ails him.
Scott Bugbie has signed a 1 year deal, paying him $1.2 million next season. He had some good seasons in his 8 seasons with Nashville, which included back to back 1.1 and 1.3 WAR seasons. Those make up a majority of his 4.3 WAR in 9 seasons. He leaves behind a season in Atlantic City where he bottomed out to a career low. He threw just 17.2 innings and have an ERA over 6.00.
Finally this week the team signed 27 year old Jacob Cruz. Cruz signed a lowkey 1 year deal for $900,000. He, like Ratcliffe and Bugbie, are popular players the front office hopes will generate some early season excitement, sell some season tickets and get some butts in the seats. Cruz's 2.1 WAR last season would look awesome had it not been in AAA. The -0.1 WAR last year, combined with the -0.7 WAR in 2056, probably makes him a perfect fit for the rotation in Portland in 2058.
Stay tuned to see what other burning piles of dog shit on a porch Portland comes up with next to sign!