Entering the 2040 season, Palm Springs fans were hoping to see the Codgers finally turn the corner and finish above .500. Both 2038 and 2039 saw management move a significant number of assets in an effort to build a competitive young core around an outstanding young pitching staff. Despite all the player movement the Codgers were still ten games short of .500 at the end of the 2039 season.

The 2040 seasons started well enough with the team going 30-23 through the first two months but play on the field started to falter. In June when the team posted it’s only losing month of the season with a 12-14 record. Bad months happen over the course of a 162 game season but it was the end of the month heading into the All Star break that GM Rob Sullivan knew changes needed to be made if the team was to finish the season with a winning record. Sure, at the end of June the Codgers still had a winning record sitting at 42-37 but the second half of the month and the beginning of July the team was struggling having lost 17 of their last 24 games at the All Star break.

Falling short of .500 was not an option. While fans and team ownership saw a winning record as the goal, Sullivan had his heart set on the playoffs. He had already moved a significant number of prospects and draft picks to make the team competitive but he had one big card left to play. Having rebuked every offer that had included prize prospect Hisashi Takahashi, Sullivan agonized over the idea of moving the only elite hitting prospect in his system. He also knew failing to build a competitive team around his prized young pitching rotation was a fireable offense so he decided to push all his chip into the middle and struck a deal with the Shin Seiki Evas.

Sullivan sent Hisashi Takahashi,  Francisco Martinez, Lorenso Valdes, Antonio Canseco, Manuel Jimenez, Brendon Cardenas, Graviel Beauvillain along with four draft picks (2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th) to the Evas for SP Alberto Flores,  Angel Franco, MR Jordan Morgan, 1B Doug Knox, 3B Darren Kean

The trade not only brought in a quality lefthanded starting pitcher, an elite starting centerfielder, a solid lefthanded back of the bullpen pitcher and a solid, young corner infielder, it allowed Sullivan to clear a significant amount of payroll including a multi-year Jimenez contract that handcuffed the big market team with the small market budget.

The trade paid instant dividends as the team went 14-4 after the All Star break. followed by a 17-9 August. September saw them let their hold on a Wildcard spot slip but the Codgers stamped their ticket to their first playoff appearance in the Sullivan era and snapped a decade long playoff drought finishing with a 19-9 September and finishing the season with a 93-69 record. It was the first winning season in a decade.

While the team got hot there were some bumps in the road that proved costly. First the Codgers lost their big offseason acquisition  when C/DH Caludio Perez went down for seven weeks. Perez did make it back into the lineup for the stretch run only to reinjure himself right before the playoffs. To compound the problem, their All Star catcher Freddy Morales also went down the week before playoffs leaving the Codgers with a significant hole behind the plate. In the playoffs they turned to relative unknown catcher Samuel Batterham, a defensively unremarkable, light hitting catcher they had acquired the year before in hopes he could develop into a league average catcher. In addition, star centerfielder Angle Franco was dealing with a nagging injury that limited his play.

The playoff draw did them no favors as they matched up with the Toyama Wind Dancers who had dominated the league series winning 5 of their 7 games against Palm Springs. The series started well enough for the Codgers who split the first two games in Toyama and sent optimism into the fan base. Now faced with a best of three series against the Wind Dancers the Codgers turned to their win leader on the season Takashi Yamamoto who went 7 strong innings allowing only two runs but the Codgers offense was shut out. Facing elimination, now former bench coach Hayato Saski made the controversial decision to override Sullivan’s wishes and start lefthander Alberto Flores over young superstar Shigochiyo Yamaguchi and the season ended with a 6-4 loss. Saski doubled down on bad decisions by bringing struggling reliever Tim O’Slattery into a tie game where he failed to get an out and allowed two runs. Saski’s fate with the team was sealed before his decision to leave both of the Codgers stoppers, Rowilngson and Morgan on the bench in favor of O’Slattery. It is rumored that sources saw Sullivan whisper something into the ear of team fixer Arthur Fleck‘s ear before Saski was pulled off the bench and thrown to the street by Fleck. Saski was not in the clubhouse after the loss and his office was in disarray.

Despite faltering in the playoffs, the Codgers fan base, team management and ownership looks at the season as an overall success. In addition to a winning record and a playoff berth the Codgers brought a significant level of interest back to the struggling franchise and have build a solid team heading into the 2041 season that sports a young core of players to build on. The team likely will not be able to bring back a couple key pieces including the steal of free agency, Juan Carlos Ornelza but they are in a good position to compete in the 2041 and 2042 seasons.

Interestingly enough, little has been heard from the 74 year old owner Hopkins Reginald Bunner after the playoff series loss. Bunner was last seen highly intoxicated while spending his time with several relaxation therapists, cousins of Arthur Fleck, in his owners box after clinching a playoff berth and throughout the playoff series. Rumors of a rift between Sullivan and Bunner over the teams 2041 budget have been floating around but Sullivan has denied any issues between the two.