Trade between KAL and CL

[Cole]

KAL receives:
SP -Javier 'Random' Jiménez (AAA)
CF Carlos Becerra (ML)

CL receives:
1st round draft pick (6th overall, from CST)
RF - John Martin

And thus completes the Kalamazoo Offseason Pitching Rotation Makeover, as we acquire CL's top pitching prospect, a 23-year-old potential stud.

What has been a big weakness for this team since I have taken over in 2016 I feel is now a strength, or at least, has the potential to be down the road. I've given up a lot to get there, but I feel much better about my team's chances to turn the corner now with a rotation that includes Seu Tong, 'Luigi' Arcimboldo, 'Random' Jimenez and also my top-rated pitching prospect waiting in the wings, Simon 'The Beast' Jones. I have a potential rotation of all guys under the age of 27 who are cost controllable and should have my rotation set for the forseeable future. Throw in guys I already had there like Phil Anderson, Pat Green, and some other arms and you could very well be seeing a trade block with some KAL pitchers on it shortly.

From what I could gather (I know it's pretty early to tell), the 2020 draft pool didn't look like it had any huge impact players that I'd prefer to have over Jimenez, hence me pulling the trigger on this one.

Trading away the 6th overall pick and the 10th overall pick could really come to bite me in the butt down the road, but for now I am ecstatic with my team's off-season.

Thanks Brian for being patient with me as I hounded you for the better part of a week and a half to try to pry this player off you. As a division rival, I hope you'll be having a lot of 'Random' occurrences in the future. Best of luck with it, thanks for the trade!

[Apollos]

KAL receives:
SP -Javier 'Random' Jiménez (AAA)
CF Carlos Becerra (ML)

CL receives:
1st round draft pick (6th overall, from CST)
RF - John Martin

Boy, this was a tough one to swallow - and as Cole mentioned, I did some serious hemming and hawing over it. I got lots of good offers, so thanks to all who came to the table with ideas. Jimenez had a special place in CL as our first ever draft pick. Between that and the fact that he was one of the few guys (it feels like) who's actually stood out, I hate to move him now. Given that both of us are lamenting our losses here, that probably means it was a fair trade.

I hope he does work out in K-Zoo, to a degree anyway , and that we don't run up against him in too many outings over the coming years.

This trade also addresses what was our most glaring offensive need by adding a capable CF to fill the hole vacated by the now-departed Michael Demers. Probably a better spot for this, but I was quite confident going into the off season that we could non-tender Demers and get him back at something approximating half of his $10mil/yr asking price. So much for that theory as the bidding has landed squarely in that range, barely a month into FA. There's a serious dearth of CF talent in the universe right now.

[Matt]

This trade is official and has been processed.