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The Half-Billion Dollar Off-Season Part 1: The Disconcerting and Unexpected Quiet Before the Storm
By Jojo Franks
Jacksonville -- Going into the offseason, there were very few moves expected from our team. Save for a few free agency signings, many in the baseball pundit circles expected much activity from the erstwhile aging club.
With the inevitable introductions of Luppe van Dam, Juan Acosta, and Jose Villareal into Featherhead maroon, we expected the team to be better than it was last year but perhaps not very invigorated. With the extensions doled out to team captain and fan favorite Danny Burton and longest-tenured Featherhead Forrest Major, many expected a “steady as she goes” approach.
Boy, were we wrong.
The first round of the off-season saw many of the moves we expected: the departure of rentals Paul Norris, Orlando Reyes and Michael Manley. For even the most unrealistic of F-Head fans, the loss of these players was expected, if not downright lauded. While Paul Norris looked revivified in the F-cap, Orlando Reyes and Michael Manley both performed below their season levels upon arriving in Jacksonville. That’s not to say they performed poorly, but the drop-off was noticeable. Manley, who had batted .343/.385/.434 in Okanawa, finished his last 32 games with a .270/.308/.320 line. Reyes was a much more respectable .266/.311/.456 in Crystal Lake, following that up with a .269/.317/.430 with Florida.
For many, the first hint that things were in flux was the letting go of five-year Florida backstop, Jack Hudson. This was a surprising move and not one you may expect from a team looking to keep things steady. Hudson was, through five years, a commendable piece of the team – shouldering most of the time behind the dish while playing ahead of a plethora of support piece. Hitting a respectable if not terribly inspiring, .261/.305/.375 line which was good enough for 10.4 wins and a CERA of 3.03, Hudson was a solid contributor, but with free agency looming, and an ever-increasing price tag, the F-Heads balked at what was rumored to be over a 9-million-dollar final arb number and instead opted to cut him loose to greener pastures. While there were rumors that he was courted by his former club, he ultimately ended up in Amsterdam gold for a two-year deal, with a total 2-year contract equaling almost what he would have gotten in the last year of his arbitration.
To the outside observer, this was simply the beginning of a new, budget conscious Florida Featherheads. We had gotten the message from the brass long ago that, starting this off-season, we may start to see a slowing down of free agent signings that had largely defined the Featherheads brand for the past decade, so when there were no rumors circulating about Mercer, Gonzales, Turton, or Barry, we were unmoved. For one thing, we didn’t need staring pitching – Gonzales or Turton would be nice, but a mere luxury. Similarly, Mercer and Barry were left-handed corner bats with no home in a lineup featuring Burton and Hinojosa. On the other hand, had we not recently gone out and signed contracts to Bill Gallagher and Iwane Sato? What’s another “Florida 20” between friends anyway?
Then came the Winter Meetings…
To be continued...