December 11, 2014
John Castillo, The Baseball Bureaucracy

With the Winter Meetings just about ready to start, let’s take a look at what the Bureaucrats have been doing since the end of the 2014 season. Arlington was not the offensive juggernaut that fans had gotten accustomed to over the past couple of seasons mainly due to age and injury. GM Daniel DiVincenzo decided to cash in one of his young pitchers for a young bat, and added another potent bat in a trade with Crystal Lake.

November 1st – Trade with the Crystal Lake Sandgnats

This trade ended David Teague’s eight-year tenure with the Bureaucrats organization. Teague mostly served as a super-utility man capable of filling in at any infield position. It was his inconsistency at making contact that held him back from claiming a full-time starting role. When he did make contact though, it was exciting. He clubbed 53 home runs, 126 doubles and 24 triples. Minor leaguers Emílio Manuel and Max Jordan were also sent to Crystal Lake in the deal. Both players played in the low minors in 2014 but put up very respectable numbers.

Coming the other way in the trade is five-time All-Star Barry Murdock. While this looks like a one-sided deal for Arlington, there are several risk factors included in the deal. First of all, Murdock is owed $40+ million over the next two seasons. While this alone isn’t a huge risk, Barry has been plagued with a rash of injuries and is coming off his worst season since 2009. He’s only 28 years old, so this is definitely a “buy low” gamble for the ‘Crats. However, it’s definitely a high-reward gamble since Murdock is capable of 30+ home runs and 50+ stolen bases. This power and speed skill set is new for the Bureaucrats and will give them some additional weapons on offense.

The interesting part of this deal is where the Bureaucrats will play Murdock. Vic “The Stick” Roberts broke out at third base in 2014 and can’t really be trusted to play any other infield position. Bud Hoffmann and Jorge Velasco man the middle infield, with young António Carbezola set to play first. Murdock has been a little shaky in limited time at short, so I’m guessing he will get a majority of his playing time at second base. It will be interesting to see how manager Fernando Cunningham will fill out the lineup card and handle the overloaded infield.

November 21st – Trade with the Aurora Borealis

DiVincenzo is quoted as saying that this is the hardest trade he’s ever made, not due to difficulties negotiating or the price, but because of fondness for the player being sent to Aurora. Martín Francisco was DiVincenzo’s first draft pick after taking over the organization and has developed into a useful major league player with loads of potential. However, Aurora and Arlington matched up well for this one. Arlington was stockpiling young power arms, while the Borealis seemed to be hording talented young catchers. The deal will definitely hurt the Bureaucrats more in the short term since Francisco wasn’t exactly expendable, but something had to be done about the team’s catching situation.

For Sawmill, Arlington gets catcher Roger Bruce and pitcher Anderson Young. Bruce was definitely the main target and will hopefully become the team’s catcher for several years to come. Larry Brown was once projected to be Arlington’s catcher of the future, but injuries and ineffectiveness made it clear that he could no longer be depended on to hold down the starting gig. Bruce has gobs of pure hitting talent and provides adequate defense behind the plate. He was blocked in Aurora’s farm system, but the ‘Crats are hoping that he has enough raw talent to survive at the major league level and that he will eventually mature and reach his ceiling. If on-the-job training fails, Brown will be handed the reins again so that Bruce can log some time in AAA.

Anderson Young is an interesting left-handed pitcher in the low minors with a fastball sitting in the low nineties. His amateur success hasn’t translated to his professional career yet, but he’s still young enough (no pun intended) that he might be able to put it together and become a useful tool out of the bullpen. The true impact of this trade probably won’t be realized for several seasons, but it’s still exciting!

December 7th – The Return of Frank Helms!

The front office adds a veteran arm to the pitching staff by re-signing Frank Helms. I suppose this isn’t much of a surprise considering how often the Bureaucrats and Helms have been linked in rumors over the past couple of seasons. He’s a veteran guy who was able to get the job done in 2014, so the club will give him another shot. The price is right; at $1.2 million, he provides pitching depth but is also expendable if the situation calls for it.