2016 Free Agency Recap (through Jan. 27)
January 27, 2016
by Trent Steffes
by Trent Steffes
DragonsManager: Devin Nelson
Cored With: Jay Zimmerman Free Agent Acquisitions: Zach Bussmann and Ethan Fabel (Core-2) and Ryley Nelson Spin: Once the Core-2 Rule was officially put into place, Devin Nelson had little hesitation on who'd he core with, and chose his veteran teammate and fellow MNWA North Star and Champion, Jay Zimmerman. The Core-2 rule allows each manager to carry over one player from his team from last year without that player being subjected to free agency. 2015 Big B's Manager Zach Bussmann was still slated to manage a team when this rule was in place, and opted to core with his longtime teammate Zach Bussmann. After that, the two managers decided to forgo the early part of the free agency and combine teams, abolishing the Big B's, under the Dragons moniker. After the allotted waiting time, the Dragons then went out and signed 2015 MNWA Champion Ryley Nelson, reuniting the trio that went the distance at the 2015 Final Tournament. Bad CompanyManager: Trent Steffes
Cored With: Matt Newell Free Agent Acquisitions: Zack "Dr. Seuss" Eustis, Andrew Lindor, Sam Essen Spin: Note: I will be writing in a third person perspective for this article. After a mildly disappointing 2015 campaign that started out with high expectations and ended with being on the wrong end of an instant classic, manager Trent Steffes made the most noise early on in free agency. Once it opened, he inked North Stars teammate and Dangerfield Championship winning pitcher Andrew Lindor and his close personal friend and 2015 MN Pitcher of the Year Zack "Dr. Seuss" Eustis from the HRL. A few weeks later, he signed SFWL and HRL rookie Sam Essen. Trent cored with Matt Newell is a move that really surprised no one, considering Matt Newell is just as much a founder of the Bad Company franchise as Steffes was. |
BuxtonsManager: Ben Kapsner
Cored With: Jordan Johnson Free Agent Acquisitions: Peter Monsrud, Kevin Knutson Spin: Since the mere mention of Core-2 and free agency procedures, the Buxtons made it abundantly clear that their core three from last year wasn't going to be splitting up anytime soon. So officially, Manager Ben Kapsner's core pairing was his elite pitcher, Jordan Johnson. And as soon as free agency opened up, he inked his other unofficial core member Peter Monsrud. After that, however, the Buxtons stayed quiet until the week leading up to Winter Wiffs, earlier this month. Although several names were connected to the Buxtons, interestingly enough, both those names ended up on the Elites, there was really only one person that fit the bill, in Ben Kapsner's eyes. Kevin Knutson agreed to join the franchise that was originally of his creation, and became the Buxtons fourth and final member, for the time being. ElitesManager: Auston Steffes
Cored With: Garrett Grage Free Agent Acquisitions: Andrew Johnson, Ryan Makela, John Cronin Spin: Out of all the MNWA managers, it seem Auston Steffes was put at the greatest disadvantage. He was awarded the vacant spot in MNWA when the Big B's dissolved ,and he resurrected his 2014 MNWA Championship winning franchise, the Elites. So per the rules, Auston was free top core with anyone not already cored with, and he chose former Bad Company pitcher Garrett Grage. Keeping with the Bad Company theme, he went out and signed hitter Andrew Johnson after Matt Newell was chosen for the Bad Co core, and he was subjected to free agency. Auston then went out and was able to sign 2015 Most Improved Player and clutch hitting sensation Ryan Makela. Between himself and Garrett Grage, Auston could've stopped right there and been fine iwth the pitching staff he had. But he opted to make his rotation even deeper, arguably the deepest in MNWA when he signed SFWL Cy Young, John Cronin. |