The relocation of the Gloucester Fishermen franchise in the 2021 off-season was the first stage in rebuilding the franchise. The management signed off on an unsustainable payroll in 2022 to put on a show for the first season in the South of France. That worked for a while before the Fishermen ran out of steam, winning just 19 of their final 47 games, to finish the season 73-87. Unfortunately the cost of the extra wins was a $23 million loss bringing the Fishermen’s losses to over $35 million in the last three years. In this off season the remit had been to reduce the losses through cutting the payroll and promoting youth into the 25-man squad.

Nine players were released from the Fishermen’s roster and over $50 million was saved off the payroll. It was now GM Laverick’s task to replenish the roster. November saw the addition of Tomás Alomar, David Castro and Anastasio Valéncia all claimed off waivers. 29-yr-old first baseman Tomás was claimed from Palm Springs, he had made 221 PEBA appearances for them hitting 85 homers and an average of .254 while 24-yr-old outfielder Anastasio came from Kentucky, he had over 300 appearances for their Triple-A outfit and had made his first 82 major league outings in 2021. 28-yr-old reliever David came from West Virginia, in a six year career in the majors he has 169 appearances, 43 starts and a 16-19 record with a career ERA of 5.35. The first free agent signing was 30-yr-old reliever Manny Montoya who agreed a three-year $10.5 million contract. In five years in the PEBA he has already played for four franchises making 200 appearances, 80 of them starts, and posted a record of 30-32 with a 4.64 ERA.

December brought the Rule 5 draft and the Fishermen were pleased to add three more players in this. 28-yr-old infielder Cipriano Hernández was selected from Havana, he had made 92 PEBA appearances over the last two seasons. 25-yr-old outfielder Pedro Guzmán arrived from Manchester where he had made 39 appearances over 2021-22. whilst 30-yr-old catcher José Gonzáles was picked from Niihama-shi. He has had a 13 year pro career but only four times has he played more than 60 games in a season and only once more than 100, he will compete in spring camp for his first ever PEBA job. 28-yr-old third baseman Guy Pratt was the month’s fourth arrival when he was claimed off waivers from Florida where in four seasons he had made 399 big league appearances.

As the month wore on three free agents were signed. 33-yr-old catcher Richard Wymer signed a one-year deal, he has spent seven years accumulating close to 500 appearances with Bakersfield & Tempe but last played in the majors in 2020. 27-yr-old pitcher Dennis Ready agreed to a one-year $1.4 million contract, after four years in Canton he had split 2022 between Rio Grande & Niihama-shi making 31 appearances with 23 starts posting a 7-7, 4.32 ERA record. The final signee was 28-yr-old pitcher Mark Boyd who signed on for four years on a deal worth $16.2 million. He was a supplemental first round pick of Florida way back in 2014 but only made the breakthrough at major league last year making 14 starts for Kawaguchi in the LRS going 8-3 as well as two relief outings for Rio Grande.

As we entered 2023 the Fishermen had just one more arrival, 31-yr-old infielder Tomás Acevedo agreed to a one-year $1.2 million contract. A sixth round pick of Arlington in 2012 he debuted in the PEBA for them in 2017 before being claimed off waivers by Charleston for whom he made over 270 appearances with a PEBA career triple slash of .254/.301/.366.

So as we approach Spring training the Marseilles fans will have 12 new arrivals to replace the nine departures

and compete with the likes of Kevin McDonald and Clarence Carpenter for 2023 roster slots. Prospects such as Vern Duncan and John Story are slated for Beantown this year but will be in camp too seeking to stick with the major league roster making some interesting position battles everywhere. A lot of the new boys might be re-treads and more than a bit dog-eared but they will be keen to show they still have something left to give the PEBA.