Scottish Beat Writer
The Edinburgh News
Somewhere in Central Indiana – The hour is late, both literally and figuratively.
The hour hand on the analog clock atop the fireplace mantel in the general manager’s office hovers somewhere between 2 and 3 a.m., and the pages of his desktop calendar show spring training has long since started.
But the free agent signings that have been a signature of Claymores General Manager Vic Caleca’s tenure during this off-season have been … well, trivial is too kind a word.
Although he works remotely from an office separated by half a continent and a full ocean from his team in Edinburgh, Caleca is fully aware of the angst running through the Scottish fan base.
And he’s read the columns questioning his strategy in the local and international sports media.
“No one’s happy,” Caleca said, leaning back in his desk chair and rubbing the weariness from his bloodshot eyes. “I’m not happy. But the fact is, we need to keep an eye on our bottom line. We lost money last season and the projections for this year look razor thin, so we couldn’t go wading into free agency the way we did after 2028.”
The consequence of that? Scotland dropped out of the bidding on its top free agent target, starting pitcher Paul Norris, who ultimately signed with Hartford.
“Once his contract demands topped $14 million a year, we didn’t feel good about continuing our pursuit,” Caleca said. “Yes, we need pitching, but not at the cost of the financial health of the franchise.”
The Scottish dropped out of bidding on a couple of other pitchers, too.
“They were … well, let’s say lesser talents, but they wanted major talent money,” Caleca said. “I consulted with (Claymores owner) Brad (Kern), and we decided that wasn’t something we wanted to do, either.”
So, they’ve been nibbling around the edges, instead.
They picked up three arms via the Rule 5 draft: SP Todd Gustafson, from the Toyama minor league system; SP Manuel Sánchez, from the Reno system; and RP Keizo Arai, from London.
Gustafson is a 4th or 5th starter prospect, at best; Sánchez shows undeniable promise, but he’s likely a ways off from realizing it; and Arai is a crapshoot, pure and simple.
“All three of them seemed worth a look, but it’s unlikely they’ll all stick,” Caleca said. “Sánchez is the one we’re most intrigued by, but who knows? Maybe someone will surprise us.”
And a surprise would be most welcome at this point.
Starter Clark Snow – one of last season’s heralded free agent signings – is still recovering from a torn rotator cuff suffered during last year's disastrous playoff appearance. He's still at least 8 weeks away from coming off the injured list.
Adding to the team's woes: injury-prone Allen Guthrie, an effective starter when he’s healthy, is out again - this time for 4-5 weeks with shoulder tendinitis.
“The only word that fits the Scottish rotation at this point is ‘mess,’” wrote Malcolm Wilkes in a recent column for PEBA Weekly. “And the team doesn’t seem to be any closer to cleaning it up.”
Which is why Caleca sits in the dark, combing the free agent market and waiver wire deep into the night – looking for answers, looking for help.
And looking for a way out of the off-season of the Claymores’ discontent.