Continued from Part 1
Jan. 10: Closer Kenley Jansen signed a 5-year, $80 million contract.
I was extremely nervous from hearing reports that the Marlins and Loria were offering Jansen NFL quarterback money. Thank goodness for Turner hanging out with the man during his wedding and our front office doing some work to secure a top 3 closer in baseball. Although our bullpen pitched spectacularly last season, Jansen will remain a key piece for us in close games, and you can’t put a price on clutchness.
Jan. 23: Second baseman Logan Forsythe was acquired from the Rays for pitcher Jose De Leon.
The most controversial move of our offseason by a good margin. In my honest opinion, this was an alright to mediocre trade. De Leon had an extremely high ceiling and some great debut games for us last year. I would not be surprised to see him do well in Tampa Bay. However, the young pitcher is still a prospect and our fans seem to fall in love with every prospect that does well in AAA. The Dodgers overvalued Forsythe a bit here because of the imperative need for a bat at second base. The Tampa Bay starter had a 0.336 wOBA and 2.8 WAR last year for the Rays. Similar production to that will make the trade worth it. It’s nice we have the team option for 8.5 million in 2018 as well. Thank the lord the guy can hit lefities slightly above average as well.
Feb. 15: Relief pitcher Sergio Romo signed a 1-year, $3 million contract.
Great signing. Down the stretch last year, Romo was the best reliever for his team. Glad to see him come to the better part of California!
Feb. 18: Second baseman Chase Utley signed a 1-year, $2 million contract.
Pay nothing for a veteran World Series Champion infielder = Nice. Although Utley ended the season with mediocre statistics, he still put up a respectable 2.0 WAR and had some clutch moments for us including smacking two homers against the Mets and Game 5 of the NLDS!
Feb. 18: Darin Ruf was sold to the Samsung Lions in Korea, with whom he signed a 1-year contract.
Welp. The Howie move was pretty much a salary dump. Have fun in Korea and eat lots of street food!
And that concludes my offseason recap! Looking forward to a great end to Spring training and a successful run with this solid roster.
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