3 Up, 3 Down: Harper Injury Leaves Future with Devils in Doubt

87 Days remain until the 2023 Roger Dorn Baseball League Draft as off-season coverage is getting set to ramp up. MLB activity has been fast and furious over the last few weeks, leading to many value changes across the RDBL.

Here are some of those changes as clubs evaluate their options for 2023 Keeper Rosters.

'Crats Catchers

The ultimate winner of the 3-Team trade headlined by Sean Murphy last week was the Las Vegas Aristocrats as both of their activation-ready catchers took considerable leaps in value. William Contreras exits a crowded backstop position in Atlanta and joins a Milwaukee Brewers where he can be set for 140+ games of action across DH and catcher. With Murphy out the door, Shea Langeliers steps into the starting role in Oakland a full slate of games ahead of him in 2023. A catching duo for a combined $2 that could produce 600+ points next season is not a bad start to building a roster for the 'Crats Front Office trio.

OF Estuery Ruiz (2FA/$5), Asti Grape Stompers

Part of the package the Brewers received from San Diego in the Josh Hader trade at the deadline and then flipped again to Oakland this offseason, Esteury Ruiz had an eye-popping statistical season between Double-A and Triple-A. He hit .332/.447/.526 with 16 home runs and 85 steals on 99 attempts in 114 games while hitting .171 with one steal on three attempts in 36 MLB plate appearances. It was a post-hype breakout for the 23-year-old outfielder, who was a top-100 fantasy prospect back in 2018 before an unimpressive 2019 and 2021 in the middle levels of the minors. His elite speed could make him a fantasy standout, even if he is less valuable in real life. He doesn't have debilitating swing-and-miss issues, but he makes too much weak contact against premium pitching. While Ruiz has three double-digit homer campaigns under his belt in the minors, he shouldn't be expected to showcase double-digit homer power as a rookie in the big leagues.

Having now been flipped to the rebuilding A's in the three-team trade that sent Sean Murphy to Atlanta, Ruiz should have a chance to start Opening Day in Oakland with even a mediocre Spring Training and could emerge as a legitimate Keeper option for Grapes GM Terry Shelley who is currently short on offense.

Jokers Options

The St. Joseph Jokers already own the keys to the 2023 Off-Season and have even more options available following Gabriel Moreno's trade to the Arizona Diamondbacks. GM Rick Steen now has three strong activation options behind the plate with Moreno, Joey Bart and MJ Melendez, making one a viable trade option with a very thin Free Agent group at catcher.

OF Bryce Harper (2/$62), Mt. Diablo Devils

The Devils did an exceptional job locking up Jose Ramirez and Bryce Harper for a combined $109 in the 2022 Auction Draft. While both looked certain to return, Harper's exploratory elbow surgery this off-season resulted in Tommy John surgery with Phillies manager Rob Thompson indicating the plan is for an All-Star Break return to a DH role with a hopeful return to the outfield later in the year.

Missing half of the season and over 65% of the RDBL Regular Season makes a $62 contract difficult to swallow, especially for GM Jason Watson who is looking to reach the Playoffs for the first time since 2017 with young assets Wander Franco, Bo Bichette and Cal Quantrill inching closer to Free Agency.

C Travis d'Arnaud (2/$7), Lunatic Fringe

D’Arnaud was a first-time All-Star in his age-33 season in 2022, producing a career-high 18 homers, .791 OPS and 119 OPS+ in 107 games, including 99 starts at catcher and expected to return on his 2/$7 option for Fringe GM Tony Guglielmi. With Sean Murphy now the lead dog in Atlanta, could that push d'Arnaud into RDBL Free Agency? It is certainly possible the Braves now shop d'Arnaud to fill another hole, but with Manny Pina and William Contreras out the door, the more likely scenario is a limited share of the catching duties for 2023.

RHP Chris Bassitt (2/$27), Lake Merced Goutfish

The Lake Merced Goutfish have a number of difficult decisions to make on their 2023 Keeper Roster, but Chris Bassitt's move to the American League East might have forced GM Ryan Atkinson's hand at $27. Bassitt, acquired from the Cloverdale Clovers last season, posted a 3.42 ERA and 1.14 WHIP over 181.2 innings spanning a career-high 30 starts. Bassitt is not the type of pitcher that typically wows you with his stuff, but he does a good job keeping hitters off balance and limiting hard contact with his diverse pitch arsenal (sinker, cutter, slider, curveball, four-seam, changeup). He also rarely shoots himself in the foot with walks. While he lacks the dominance of a frontline fantasy arm, there is a lot to like here with the late bloomer. New York liked what it saw enough to extend Bassitt the $19.65 million qualifying offer for 2023, which he wisely declined. He ended up getting three years and $63 million from Toronto, where he slots in as the No. 3 starter. He could have a trade market with two years of control remaining.

Three New RDBL Rules Approved

The Roger Dorn Baseball League Commissioner's Office announced the approval of three new rules for the 2023 Season that were approved over the weekend.

RDBL Trade Deadline Pushed Up

The RDBL Trade Deadline has been pushed up two weeks, better aligning with the structure of the RDBL Regular Season.

• The RDBL Trade Deadline will be exactly 14 days prior to MLB Trade Deadline annually. Traditionally the deadline has been around Period 19 which is now moved up to Period 17. The exact date will be announced when Commissioner Manfred announces the 2023 MLB Trade Deadline date.

• The RDBL Keeper Deadline will be pushed back one week to the start of Period 20 (8/7 in the 2023 Season). This will represent the final Monday teams can claim players that are eligible to be kept for the following season. The final two periods of the RDBL Regular Season (Periods 21 and 22) will mark Waiver processes where claims are not eligible to be kept.

Holds Awarded 1.0 Points in Value

Beginning this season, relievers will be awarded 1.0 points for a Hold.

A hold occurs when a relief pitcher enters the game in a save situation and maintains his team's lead for the next relief pitcher, while recording at least one out. One of two conditions must be met for a pitcher to record a hold: 1) He enters with a lead of three runs or less and maintains that lead while recording at least one out. 2) He enters the game with the tying run on-deck, at the plate or on the bases, and records an out.

A pitcher cannot receive a win or a save in a game in which he records a hold. However, more than one relief pitcher can record a hold in a single game. It is also possible for a pitcher to receive a hold and a loss in the same game should he exit with the lead, only to see the runners he left on base score the tying and go-ahead runs.

Free Agent Waiver Process Overhauled

The RDBL has agreed to overhaul their process for claiming Free Agents, moving from a manual process to an automated one. Weekly during the season, teams can submit claims through the CBS Sports site, attaching a dollar value to each claim from a $100 Team Free Agent Budget. Each Sunday night, Free Agents will be awarded to the team with the highest bid.

• Claims can be made for $0

• Ties will be awarded to the team that is currently lower in the standings

• Free Agent Budget can not be traded.

• Teams that missed out on claims can "clean up" their roster on Monday mornings with the remainder of the Free Agent Pool. Those moves would be for $0.

• In previous seasons, teams were limited to one add/drop per week. This is now open to unlimited add/drops weekly.

Jokers Hold Keys to RDBL Off-Season

The St. Joseph Jokers are fresh off a last place finish while producing the worst offense and the fourth worst pitching staff in League History. Despite the disastrous season, GM Rick Steen holds the keys to the Roger Dorn Baseball League off-season thanks to a bevy of Draft picks that could make them the most active Front Office before Draft Day.

Steen's choices this off-season will tell a great deal about the future plans of the Franchise. The club holds the top overall pick in the 2023 Reserve Draft, the first of six selections in the top 29 and nine selections in the Top 44 along with as many as eight players under Minor League contracts that are knocking on the door for Opening Day activations. That group is led by Gunnar Henderson, one of the top hitting prospects in all of baseball who will a building block for the next three seasons.

Given those assets, things are certainly looking up for Steen and the Jokers, but their patience will be tested. The club could leveraging that bounty of selections and/or young assets to improve a Keeper Roster that could use some additional force, but the 2023 Free Agent Class is also the strongest in RDBL History, offering plenty of talent in its own right.

Additionally, the consensus on the top available talent in the Reserve Draft is outfielder Jackson Chourio, a stellar talent but one that had just six at-bats in 2022 above High-A and carries a 2023 Activation date in an absolute best case scenario. Could Steen conceivably move back in the 1st Round for someone that potentially values Chourio higher while aiming for more immediate help at the big league level? The options appear to be endless given their situation.

Roster Breakdown

The Jokers roster construction starts with some easy decisions at the top with shortstop Trea Turner (3/$49) set to return along with the activations of right-hander Kyle Wright (452.0 points in 2022) and Gunnar Henderson. The production of Jose Abreu (3/$37) certainly backs up the contract after producing 446.5 points while moving to the hitter-friendly Minute Maid Park in 2023 while MJ Melendez's production last season and catcher eligibility make him a lock for activation.

Rounding out the easy choices for Steen would be the retention of right-hander Ross Stripling (2FA/$5) who produced 373.0 points and is in line for a substantial Free Agent deal over the coming weeks, possibly heading to San Francisco.

This is where the easy choices end and the endless possibilities begin. Joey Bart (Minors) is the next safest bet to be on the Opening Day roster, filling both catcher spots for just $2 combined and allowing Steen to focus his spending power elsewhere. But eyes will remain on the catching situation in Toronto as Gabriel Moreno (Minors) is the best of the catching trio under contract with the Jokers and stable playing time for him could make Bart a potential trade candidate.

Matt Chapman (2/$14) likely did enough in 2022 with 330.5 points of production and 21 home runs to earn a spot back for next season, though he would likely sit at a similar contract if he returns to the Auction.

Nick Madrigal (2R/$3) is penciled in as the starting second baseman in Chicago, but has been limited to just 142 games over three seasons thus far in his career while slugging .355.

Gregory Soto (2/$4) produced a 225.0 points in the reliever slot and currently projects to return though a potential addition of holds to scoring in the RDBL could diminish his value a tad.

Spring Training will be a critical time for player evaluation internally for the Jokers as Trevor Larnach, JJ Bleday and DL Hall try and play their way into early season roles as well.

The Options

The Jokers are in prime position for off-season activity as several rosters including the Lunatic Fringe, Maltese Falcons, Lake Merced Goutfish, Burlingame Blue Ducks, Cloverdale Clovers and Alamo Short Stacks are bloated with Keeper options and likely looking for Reserve Draft capital or upper-Minors prospects in return.

While the Jokers core three of Turner, Henderson and Wright are off limits, the club would likely be open to discussions on any additional assets. While they could go with a full rebuild strategy and position themselves for a run in 2024, that's never been Steen's M.O. and is unlikely.

The more likely scenario is to hit the trade market and shop some of their early picks with an eye on not taking on too much salary given the commitments to Turner and Abreu already on the roster.

That makes the surplus of outfield options on the Falcons a logical fit as GM Gary Falzon and Assistant GM Erik Nielsen hold the rights to Andrew Benintendi (2/$10), Mitch Haniger (3/$11), Teoscar Hernandez (3/$10) and Ian Happ (2/$13) while Anthony Rizzo (2/$17) could be a logical swap out for Matt Chapman's $14 option.

The Clovers, Goutfish and Fringe boast an overflowing amount of pitching talent on reasonable deals including Jesus Luzardo (3R/$5), Lucas Giolito (3R/$5), Taijuan Walker (2D/$5) and Blake Snell (2/$10) all names that project to be available before Draft Day. The Fringe are especially overloaded with options, making prospects Josiah Gray (Minors) and Reid Detmers (Minors) potential targets that could immediately be activated and slotted in at the back-end of the rotation.

If Steen was open to adding substantial contracts this off-season and not waiting for the talented Free Agent Class, Goutfish first baseman Matt Olson (2/$46) could be a fit though he overlaps in contract commitment and position with Abreu. Josh Bell (3/$27) could also fit into that mold though his loss of outfield eligibility for 2023 hurts his value.

Summary

Steen has limitless options this Winter and could easily bank on their young assets and a deep Free Agent Class to rebuild. But with so many assets in the Reserve Draft, expect some of those second and third round picks to bring back some immediate help under reasonable contracts, giving Steen the options he prefers to chase down in Auction. The Jokers best season in Franchise History featured the league's top pitching staff, so a focus on the rotation behind Wright and Stripling could be the main area Steen targets this Winter.