Let them free. If they come back, it's meant to be.
The Twin Cities River Monsters have been a team build on depth. It prides itself in having interchangeable parts and being "bullet proof" against injuries and unexpected poor performance. It's a team built less on superstars and more on filling the BBA and AAA team with solid "next man up" type players. One of the downfalls of this approach is that it leaves you prone to the Rule 5 Draft.
Much of this depth is in a quandary. They are veterans out of options pegged to spend the year in AAA until needed. If put on 40 man, they must eventually be put on waivers in spring training, where they are likely to be claimed free of rule 5 rules. Even if they happen to pass through waivers, they could demand a release before being demoted. So the River Monsters leave them exposed and hope for the best. Like a lost puppy, if they return home, it's meant to be.
Lost Puppies
Rick Clarijs, Stewart Angrove, and Sergio Tormes
I put these three puppies, and I use the term puppies loosely here as they are ages 33, 33, and 34 respectively... I put them together because they are essentially the same pitcher. Thanks OOTP 25. These guys are virtual triplets. On top of being the same age, they are rated 4/6/7, 5/6/7, and 5/5/7.
Clarjis is probably the best, having one good season in the GBC(or I think it was UMEBA at the time) like 10 years ago. His lone BBA exposure saw him rack up a .9 WAR in just 15 innings of work. He has been a stalwart for AAA Duluth the past 5 seasons though, making the all star team 3 out of the 5 years. Thank you for your service or see you in April Rick.
Angrove is a Prankster as most RP are. At 33, he has yet to sniff the BBA. That should ease my anxiety about leaving him exposed right there. Like Clarjis, he has been a mainstay in Duluth over the past 5 seasons. Due to shockingly durable nature of the Twin Cities pitching staff during that time, opportunity has been few and far between for journeyman AAA pitchers.
Tormes hurts a little because he is a team captain. Well, not really as we currently have 3 other captains on the AAA team. Remember the term bullet proof? We take that seriously, even for something a silly as team captains. Other than that, Tormes is pretty non descript. He had a semi decent-ish run as a RP with Rockville in the early 50's. Fun fact. Sergio Tormes was once traded for Aurthur Dempster AND $35 million dollars. I guess it was a post prime Dempster contract dump, but as someone who stepped away from the league at the time, that trade looks ridiculous on paper.
Esteban Flores
This one probably stings the most as Flores is one of the rare players that looks better after the conversion. In fact, with a 7 contact rating and 7/10/7/8 infield defense... he looks like a starter in the BBA. Worst case scenario... a really good utility infielder. I had thought about protecting Flores for that very reason. But..... his overall and the stats tell a different story. Rated 40 overall and having a career .214/.227/.266 didn't really match what I was seeing. Plus, he is out of options and I already have Perry, Venegas, Ramos, Castillo, bin Saleem, and Gray on the BBA roster as middle infielders while Ettan Cherukuri, William James Westwood and Ski Melillo are waiting for injuries in AAA. I could end up regretting this one. And I'm sure he will get a longer leash due to his ratings and Atlantic City not expected to be a contender. So long pup, Daddy will miss you.
Edison Williams
If this were any other team, they probably would have protected Williams. He's a decent 23 year old relief pitcher who is a sparkplug. We have plenty of room for him too. In fact, even after the rule 5 draft we sit at just 29 players on our 40 man roster. It's just organizational philosophy that we don't sweat losing a player like him. You can probably find someone like him in the free agent pool or waiver wire on any given sim.
I'm kinda glad San Antonio got him. They are piling up quite a few ex River Monsters(mostly from the Big Papi trade). So it's a fun team for me to root for in the Johnson league.
Found Puppy
Ricardo De Jesús
DeJesus was put on our list as an option in case we didn't sign Angel Gonzalez. We could play him at 1B, put Papi at DH and slide Nayer to LF. DeJesus and Felix Ramos at the top of the order was once a dream scenario. Both players have since fell off a bit, but they still hold potential to be a dominant base clogging duo if they bounce back together.
Frankly, I'm not sure how/if DeJesus fits on the team yet. Hopefully someone gets hurt in spring training and it works itself out. Randall Gray has options, but is extremely versatile and we are short on righty bats. Plus he has proven that he belongs. Maybe we opt to go with a 12 man pitching staff until we figure out a solution.
