Madison, Wisconsin / November 28th 2033
Offseason
Depending on how you view daily life will vary how you feel about the Malts going into the offseason. The ones that typically have a glass half full outlook will be much more optimistic about the team's direction going forward. How could you not be optimistic with a rotation fronted by a true ace with a solid option behind him? The lineup will be feared by teams as the youngsters continue to grow and look poised to break out and finally end the much-discussed playoff drought. There's also the aspect of money! Oh, the money that the team has available to plug the holes in the bullpen and bench.
Now if you take a much more pessimistic look at life you'll point to some glaring issues that cloud the outlook. The most glaring issue is that in reality, the team was only marginally better than the previous season. The 2 games over .500 finish inflated by a magical run in September that saw the team finish the month going 20-8, but 5-5 in its last 10 games.
September saw Torres finally have the production we wanted when he signed the 5-year contract back in 2030. The .376 OBP for September was the best of the team during that stretch for qualified batters and 5th among all PEBA shortstops. He took that month of production and opted out of the rest of the contract. Even with the bullpen being an obvious place the team will look to improve, are you comfortable paying Lopez $15m to continue being your shutdown reliever after failing to stick in the rotation?
Of course, the move we have to talk about of course is the departure of General Manager Michael Czosnyka. A change at the top isn't the worst thing for a franchise that is looking to take the next step. Sometimes having a change in perspective at the top is just what a team needs to finally breakthrough.
- Les Gibson
