The St. Joseph Jokers would like a mulligan, a feeling they have experience every fifth day for much of the last two full big league seasons. That feeling crept up again Wednesday night as GM Rick Steen watched Walker Buehler dominate the San Francisco Giants for seven innings, leaving the club wondering what could have been.
The Jokers finished 2016 with the league's worst pitching staff, posting a league-high 4.71 ERA putting pressure on Steen to find some answers. As the Jokers often have, the club turned their attention to veteran health and engaged with the Asti Grape Stompers on right-hander Adam Wainwright.
Wainwright was fresh off a disastrous 2016 campaign, posting 4.62 ERA. While betting on a bounceback was reasonable, Wainwright's $33 contract was far from it. He was a virtual lock to be released and available in the 2017 Auction Draft at a significant discount.
Anticipating interest across the league and with plenty of cap space to spare, the Jokers took a shot on Wainwright and traded catcher Tyler Flowers and a right-handed pitching prospect by the name of Walker Buehler.
Wainwright would go on to post a 5.11 ERA, the worst of his big league career before being cut later that season by Steen and the Jokers.
Buehler on the other hand has emerged as one of the RDBL's best overall values. The ace has posted 945.0 points in under two seasons since being activated by the Grapes in 2019. His 34.0 point outing Wednesday has him on pace for over 700 points this season with 10 periods remaining.
There certainly have been plenty of deals GMs across the league regret, but this deal might take the cake.
Comments