SALEM COWTIPPERS: 2006
View from the Cellar

After seven seasons of success, the 2006 Salem Cowtippers found themselves in an unfamiliar position: at the bottom, looking up.  When the 2005 season ended, the Salem roster was decimated by free agency, including the defections of #1 starter Roger Clemens, #2 starter Curt Schilling, all-star second baseman Mark Loretta and all-star shortstop Michael Young.  Making matters worse, franchise player Lance Berkman suffered a torn ACL while playing a flag football game in the winter, and would miss over one-third of the 2006 season, and MVP-candidate Ivan Rodriguez suffered through the worst MLB season of his career in 2005, becoming a $7.5 million liability instead of the underpriced asset he had been throughout the 2005 season.

By the time the 2005 World Series ended (in typical excruciating fashion), Cowtippers fans had become resigned to the fact that their beloved team would not be nearly as competitive in 2006.  With little trade bait to offer during the winter of 2005, the Salem front office managed to work just five minor trades before the draft.  Number four outfielder Dave Roberts was traded to the Corona Confederates in exchange for top prospect Cameron Maybin.  Maybin, who had yet to play a professional inning at the time of the trade, became a top-ten prospect by the end of the year.  In his first full season, playing in one of baseball's toughest hitter's parks, in a very tough pitcher's league, the five-tool prospect hit an impressive .304/.387/.457.

Rodriguez's salary was dumped on the Los Altos Undertakers in exchange for Gabe Gross -- costing the Cowtippers prospects Jeff Fiorentino and Tim Stauffer as payment for this favor.  Salem took fliers on failed prospects Dewon Brazelton and Ryan Wagner.  And reliever Aki Otsuka was acquired at the cost of Joe Borowski and a $700,000 penalty.

The Cowtippers went into the free agent auction and draft with $44.9 million to spend (the third-highest amount of spending money in the league), but with 20 spots on the 35-man roster needed to fill.  Determining that it would be nearly impossible to field an entire team through free agency, given the record amount of bonus money awarded that year, Salem planned to accumulate players with high trade value, who could then be later exchanged for players with good value over the coming years.

The first such purchase was closer Todd Jones, who was signed by Salem in the first auction lot.  At $5 million, Jones turned out to be the only reliever signed in the auction for less than $5.5 million.  This meant that his trade value would be very high, given that there would be no commitment to Jones' contract beyond the 2006 season.  As soon as he was acquired, Jones was placed on the trading block.  And soon afterward, he was traded to the Wapakoneta Hippos in exchange for Magglio Ordonez -- a player with considerable value going forward, at a reasonable salary of $5 million, with no contractual obligation.  Ordonez hit .277/.355/.397 in limited duty (307 AB's) for the Cowtippers in 2006, and figures to play a major role on the 2007 team.

On January 6th, in the fourth auction lot, the Cowtippers signed five-time BDBL Cy Young award winner Randy Johnson to an $11 million salary ($22 million over two years, minimum contract.)  Johnson was not only an exceptional pitcher for the 2006 season, but at the time, most analysts believed that he would be a tremendous asset in 2007 as well.

A miscalculation in bidding led to the signing of second baseman Luis Castillo at $5 million.  Salem needed a second baseman at the time, but Castillo was hardly worth $5 million.  Finally, on the last day of bidding, Salem walked away with another ace starting pitcher in Kevin Millwood.  At $10.5 million, Millwood was considered to be among the best pitchers available in the draft.  However, he was also considered to be a bit of a risk, given that he had just signed a contract with the Texas Rangers in MLB.

With Johnson and Millwood at the front of the rotation, Cowtippers management believed that the team could be competitive in 2006.  But the pundits thought otherwise.  In pre-season polling, the Cowtippers were predicted to finish in last place in the Butler Division.  And in the pre-season Power Rankings, the defending Ozzie League champions were ranked 24th out of 24 teams.  It was the ultimate insult for a franchise that had taken such pride in its winning tradition for so many years.

The source of all the pessimism was the fact that Salem was heading into Opening Day without a viable solution at either catcher or shortstop.  In the free agent draft, the Cowtippers had used their first pick (in the second round) to select Kelvim Escobar -- a starter/reliever who was selected more for his upside than his present-day value.  With their next pick, in Round Six, Salem chose third baseman Corey Koskie -- a platoon player.  The team didn't pick again until the 16th round, where they made four $1 million picks.  Three of these picks (Edinson Volquez, Jeremy Accardo and Yuniesky Betancourt) were made primarily with the future in mind.  The fourth, Vinny Castilla, would be the second half of Salem's third base platoon.

As the 27th round passed, Salem still had yet to fill the gaping holes in their lineup at shortstop and catcher.  Finally, in the 28th round, Salem selected utility man Nick Punto to be their starting shortstop.  And with their final two picks of the draft -- in the 33rd and 34th rounds -- Salem filled their catching position with Chad Moeller and Pat Borders.  Because of this strategy, the once-proud Cowtippers had become the laughingstocks of the BDBL.

"Our focus in the draft was on finding the best players available, regardless of position or team need," explained GM Mike Glander.  "The shortstop and catching positions are extremely shallow offensively, and once you get past the top ten or twelve players at those positions, it really doesn't matter.  The difference between the 13th-best catcher and the 25th-best catcher is so small, it's a waste of money to pass up a much better player simply to snag that 13th-best catcher.  You're much better off taking the best players first, then grabbing that 25th-best catcher at the end of the draft.  And that's exactly what we did."

The Cowtippers headed into Opening Day with the lowest of low expectations.  And after losing the traditional Opening Day series against the New Milford Blazers three games to one, the expectations fell even lower.  However, Salem finished the chapter with a respectable 13-15 record -- far better than the pundits had expected.  If not for Millwood's performance that first chapter (2-5 with a 5.90 ERA), the Cowtippers would have played well above .500.

Throughout the first chapter, the Salem front office continued to survey the trading landscape, looking for a suitable catcher and shortstop to plug the two gaping holes in the Cowtippers lineup.  And by the end of the first chapter, those holes had been plugged through the acquisitions of Mike Piazza and Rich Aurilia.  Both players came via trade from the Bear Country Jamboree, at the cost of prospect Volquez -- Salem's 16th round pick in the draft.  So, in the end, Glander's draft strategy worked.  Rather than select the 16th-best catcher or shortstop in the 16th round, Glander was able to get both a catcher AND a shortstop for the cost of one 16th-round draft pick.  And both Piazza and Aurilia were much better than 16th-best at their positions.

While shopping for those upgrades, Glander was also busy trying to find a taker for Johnson's and Millwood's contracts.  In signing both pitchers, it was always the team's intention to trade both as soon as possible.  And before the end of the first chapter, Glander found a taker for Johnson in the Las Vegas Flamingos.  In exchange for Johnson and Otsuka, the Cowtippers received young starter Eric Bedard, along with old starter Jon Lieber and closer Scott Shields.

Bedard went just 7-13 with a 5.05 ERA for the Cowtippers in 2006, but he blossomed into one of the league's top left-handed starters in MLB '05, and promises to be a tremendous asset to Salem in 2006 at a salary of just $1.1 million.  Signed through the 2008 season, Bedard figures to be a major part of the Cowtippers rotation for years to come.

Lieber went 6-7 with a 3.75 ERA for Salem before he was later traded.  Shields posted a 2.25 ERA in 16 innings as Salem's closer before he, too, was traded.  Meanwhile, Glander's worst fears about Johnson were confirmed, and the pitcher suffered through one of the worst years of his career in MLB '06.  He figures to be several million dollars overpaid in BDBL '07.  In the end, Salem not only dodged a bullet by trading Johnson at the perfect time, but received a franchise pitcher in Bedard as well.

In Chapter Two, the Cowtippers stunned the BDBL establishment by posting a record of 15-13.  One third of the way into the season, Salem was sporting a .500 record, and sitting just two games behind in the OL wild card race.  Salem outscored their opponents by 44 runs in Chapter Two -- tops in the Ozzie League.  The pitching staff posted a 3.35 ERA, while the Salem lineup scored an OL-best 147 runs.

Among the many exciting contests in Chapter Two was a 20-inning victory over the Sylmar Padawans, capped by a walk-off home run by Mark Teixeira.  Salem swept all four games of that series, giving them a .550 winning percentage at that time.  After taking three of four in the next series, against the Ravenswood Infidels, Salem's winning percentage stood at .568 -- a season high.

Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there.  The Corona Confederates swept all four games in the following series, and the Bear Country Jamboree -- sporting the worst record in the BDBL -- capped off the chapter by taking three of four from the Cowtippers.

Despite the hot start, the Salem front office was committed to its pre-season master plan of trading its two star pitchers as early as possible, in order to get maximum value in return.  So, when the South Carolina Sea Cats came calling with an offer for Millwood, Glander did not hesitate to pull the trigger.  Millwood (5-6, 5.38) had been an inconsistent disappointment for the Cowtippers, so his loss was hardly devastating to the team.  In exchange for Millwood, Shields and Castillo, the Cowtippers received starter Matt Clement, young pitcher Scott Baker, farm players Fernando Martinez and Jon Lester, and platoon infielders Eric Young and Deivi Cruz.

At the time, it was thought that Clement would bounce back in MLB '06 and be worthy of his $7 million contract in 2007.  However, a series of injuries and poor performance soon eroded those hopes, and the Cowtippers found themselves with a very expensive liability (though not nearly as expensive as Millwood.)  Making matters worse, Clement's BDBL performance (4-5, 6.52 ERA in 67+ innings) was nowhere near his MLB '05 performance.  As disappointing as Millwood was, Clement was even worse.  And as a result, the Cowtippers' performance in Chapter Three was equally disappointing.  Baker was considered to be the key to this deal at the time, but his MLB '06 performance was horrendous.  Young (.234/.372/.351) and Cruz (.270/.333/.475) contributed little to Salem's cause down the stretch.  Oddly enough, the best player Salem received in this trade was Martinez, who turned into one of the more interesting prospects in baseball, due to his very young age (17) and impressive performance (.333/.389/.505) at such a high level of play (full-season Low-A Sally League.)

In Chapter Three, the Cowtippers sported an 11-13 record.  But it was one game against the Southern Cal Slyme that encapsulated Salem's entire season.  After losing the first two games in the series, Salem found themselves owning a commanding 11-0 lead after three innings in Game Three.  SoCal then scored five runs in the fifth...then four runs in the sixth...then three more in the eighth to take the lead, 12-11.  Meanwhile, Salem scrambled to put its best pitchers on the mound.  Bedard started the game, but lasted just 5 1/3 innings, allowing 9 runs on 11 hits.  Clement was then used in desperation, out of the bullpen.  He allowed 3 runs in just 1 2/3 innings.  And Baker was then charged with a blown save after allowing a two-run single to Victor Martinez in the eighth inning, which turned out to be the game-winner.  In the history of the BDBL, no team had ever blown an 11-run lead.  But not only had Salem managed to do so, but they were swept in the process.

As the second half approached, the Atlanta Fire Ants posted the availability of several impact players on the trade market, including Bobby Abreu, Miguel Tejada and Ray Durham.  With the Cowtippers still in the thick of the OL wild card race, a window of opportunity appeared to be opening, which would allow the Salem franchise the ultimate accomplishment of making it to the post-season despite the greatest of odds, while at the same time knocking the hated Blazers out of the playoffs.  That opportunity was simply too delicious to pass up.

A lengthy negotiating process began between Glander and Atlanta GM Gene Patterson.  Patterson was willing to trade several impact players to the Cowtippers, including Abreu, Tejada, Durham and Coco Crisp.  These players would dramatically transform the Salem offense into a powerhouse worthy of contention.  However, there was not enough room under the newly-devised in-season VORP cap to allow this trade.

Another stumbling block to these negotiations was Patterson's insistence upon including Baker in any potential trade.  Baker was a favorite of Glander's, and was looked upon as a building block for the Salem starting rotation for many years to come.  With great reluctance, however, Glander finally agreed to include Baker.  Little did he know at the time that Allentown GM Tom DiStefano was secretly pulling the strings the entire time, and that DiStefano would end up with Baker shortly after this trade was consummated.

In the end, Glander agreed to part with not only Baker, but former top prospect Ian Stewart, future closer Chris Ray, future shortstop Betancourt, and newly-acquired shortstop Aurilia.  In exchange, the Cowtippers received Tejada, Durham, Chad Cordero and Brandon Claussen.

Glander's long-standing philosophy is that no top prospect should ever be traded for a one-year rental.  So, in order for this trade to work, Glander also worked a side deal with the Marlboro Hammerheads, in which Tejada would be swapped straight-up for Derek Jeter.  Jeter, whose contract extends through the 2009 season, hit .327/.420/.455 down the stretch for his new team -- a far cry from Nick Punto's performance.  And after enjoying one of his best seasons ever at the MLB level, Jeter is expected to be a major contributor to the 2007 team -- not to mention 2008 and 2009.

In just half a season, Salem had upgraded their shortstop from Punto to Jeter, their catching position from Moeller to Piazza, and their second baseman from Castillo to Durham.  The Salem offense was vastly improved, while the starting rotation was filled with legitimate replacements in Lieber, Clement and Bedard, where Johnson and Millwood had once stood.  Heading into the second half, the Cowtippers were poised to make another run at the post-season, and confidence was at a season high.

Then, in the first series of Chapter Four, the Ravenswood Infidels swept four games from the Cowtippers in humiliating fashion.  Newest "closer," Chad Cordero, blew two games in the series, and the "new-and-improved" Salem offense failed to score runs against two Ravenswood pitchers with 6.00+ ERA's.  The Salem pitching staff managed to hold the mediocre Infidels lineup to fewer than 8 runs just twice in the series.  And Salem lost one game thanks to the ever-indefensible safety squeeze bunt in extra innings.  It was a devastating loss on so many levels, and it instantly threw the franchise back into look-ahead mode.

The Salem front office immediately began feeling out the trade market by placing several players on the trading block, including Greg Maddux, Bruce Chen, Jay Payton, Clement and Lieber.  Meanwhile, the team took three of four from both the Jamboree and the Silicon Valley CyberSox to creep back to .500 on the season.  But a four-game sweep at the hands of their ancient rivals, the Los Altos Undertakers, followed by a four-game sweep by the Marlboro Hammerheads, put two more nails in Salem's coffin.  The Cowtippers posted an 8-16 record in Chapter Four, and found themselves with a 47-57 record overall -- 12 games out of the wild card race.  Instead of improving themselves, Salem found themselves going in the opposite direction.

With the fate of the 2006 season evidently pre-determined by the Baseball Gods, regardless of what improvements the front office made to the team, the decision was made to gut the 2006 team and salvage as much as possible for 2007.  This meant not only acquiring good players for the future, but dumping bad contracts as well.  Bruce Chen (8-6, 4.25 ERA in 146 IP) had performed admirably for Salem for many years.  But after his career took an inexplicable and completely unexpected nosedive under the watchful eye of Hall-of-Fame-bound pitching coach Leo Mazzone, Chen had become a $2.1 million liability.  So, prior to the year-end trading deadline, Chen was traded along with Cordero, to the Corona Confederates, in exchange for Austin Kearns, Eric Milton and Ian Snell.

The acquisition of Kearns was bittersweet, given the circumstances that landed him on the Confederates roster in the first place.  Milton was performing well in MLB at the time of the trade, but soon proved to be as useless a waste of roster space as he has ever been.  And Snell was just another young pitcher with considerable upside and a cheap contract to add to the Salem rotation.

The pain of Cordero's departure from the 2007 Salem bullpen was alleviated with the re-acquisition of Otsuka from the Flamigos.  In exchange, Salem bid good-bye, once again, to the original Cowtipper, Greg Maddux (9-12, 3.91 ERA in 168 IP.)  Salem found a taker for Jay Payton in the Manchester Irish Rebels, who offered prospect Eric Campbell.  The Cowtippers and Irish Rebels then hooked up once again, with top prospect Carlos Quentin heading back to Manchester in exchange for young pitcher Jeff Francis.  Salem also received pitcher Brad Radke in that trade, who stepped right into the void left by Maddux.  And Clement's 2007 salary was exchanged for Rodrigo Lopez's.  Lopez was then shuttled off to Ravenswood, along with Brandon Phillips, in exchange for Tom Glavine.  And finally, Salem acquired starter Esteban Loaiza from the Allentown Ridgebacks in exchange for Lieber and reliever Russ Springer.

With a starting rotation of Glavine, Radke, Loaiza, Bedard and Francis, the Salem front office felt they had improved the starting rotation a great deal since Opening Day.  Not only had the starting rotation improved, but the lineup and bullpen had improved a great deal as well.  With that, confidence was very high that the Cowtippers could reach 80 wins on the season and secure a $2 million bonus.  To do so, Salem would have to go 34-26 (a .567 winning percentage) over the final 60 games of the season.  But given the team's new make-up, they felt that goal could be achieved.

Then...in the very first series of Chapter Five...Salem's confidence was once again shattered into tiny little pieces, thanks to a four game sweep at the hands of the Flamingos.  Once again, confidence returned to an all-time low.  Once again, Salem was forced to re-evaluate their strategy down the stretch.  Salem finished with an 11-17 record in Chapter Five, which basically eliminated any chance they had of finishing the season with 80 wins.  In fact, reaching 70 wins, and avoiding a $2 million penalty, had become the team's new goal.  And as it turned out, reaching that goal would become a source of tremendous stress, right down to the final series of the season.

Toward the end of the season, Salem's only pride and joy came with their role as spoilers in the Ozzie League's pennant races.  And nothing brought the team more joy than beating the New Milford Blazers and making their run toward their first playoff appearance as stressful as possible.  In Chapter Five, the two teams met for the first time since April.  In Game One, the Cowtippers knocked New Milford's $19.5 million ace, Roger Clemens, out of the game for the third time this season, and eventually won by a score of 8-3.  In Game Two, New Milford took a 6-0 lead into the top of the fifth, but Salem rallied back to tie the game.  They eventually took the lead in the seventh, but then watched as the bullpen once again pissed away a lead.  Just one out away from winning that game, Otsuka surrendered a base hit to Ken Griffey, Jr., which tied the game.  Greg Zaun then plated a go-ahead run on a single.  Salem once again fought from behind to take Game Three by a score of 8-7.  And New Milford took the final game by a score of 5-3 to earn the split.

In the final series of the season between these two long-time rivals, New Milford finally got a $19.5 million-worthy performance out of Clemens in Game One (a 3-0 New Milford win.)  But the Cowtippers then took the final three games of the series to knock the Blazers back into a virtual tie for the wild card lead.  After losing the 2005 World Series thanks in part to New Milford's careless trade with the Allentown Ridgebacks, this was sweet redemption indeed.  Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, as the Blazers eventually won the wild card while the Flamingos rolled over down the stretch.

The Cowtippers headed into the final series of the season with a record of 68-88.  After losing three of four games to the New Hope Badgers (who were starting their second string throughout the series), the Cowtippers needed to win two out of four against the Bear Country Jamboree.  And while the Jamboree owned the worst record in the BDBL at the time, they also owned the Cowtippers throughout the season.  But for the first time all season, the Salem players came through in the clutch, winning the first two games of the series to clinch 70 wins and avoid a 2007 penalty.  They then won Game Three, just for good measure, with a lineup that included the likes of Sean Burroughs, Josh Phelps, Chad Moeller, Chip Ambres, Gabe Gross and Nick Punto.

The highlight of the series came in Game Four, when former team captain John Olerud drew a walk in his final BDBL at-bat.  He was immediately removed from the game for a pinch runner, allowing the hometown crowd at Sam Adams Stadium to give their hero a proper send-off.  A capacity crowd, on hand to celebrate "John Olerud Day," gave Olerud an extended standing ovation, and the Helmeted One returned their affection with a wave of his helmet.  After the game, Salem announced that Olerud would take over as first base coach of the team in 2007.

The 2006 season was a very difficult season to endure, from beginning to end.  The team faced impossible odds at the beginning of the season, losing almost every decent player on the roster to either free agency, injury or ineffectiveness.  With no players of any trade value, a 24th draft pick in every round of the draft, record inflation in the free agent auction, the worst free agent draft class in league history, and 20 holes to fill on the 35-man roster, the odds against a successful 2006 campaign for the Cowtippers were insurmountable.  Every pundit in the BDBL media predicted a last-place finish for the Cowtippers, and among the 24 teams in the pre-season Power Ranking, Salem was ranked #24.

And yet, despite those overwhelming odds, the 2006 Salem Cowtippers fielded a respectable team, winning 72 games on the season, and riding into the all-star break with a .500 record.  Throughout the course of the season, a very strong team was built for 2007.  The 2007 team now features a full starting rotation of Eric Bedard, Kelvim Escobar, Jeff Francis and Ian Snell.  The starting lineup is completely filled from one-to-eight, with all-stars such as Derek Jeter, Lance Berkman, Kenji Johjima, Mike Piazza, Mark Teixeira and Magglio Ordonez.  The bullpen is set, with dual closers Aki Otsuka and Rafael Soriano, along with several capable setup men.  And even the bench is populated with several quality hitters, including Bernie Williams, Scott Spiezio and Gabe Gross.

Throughout the year, the Salem farm system was also rebuilt from top to bottom.  Several top prospects were added in 2006, including Cameron Maybin, Jay Bruce, Fernando Martinez, Dexter Fowler, Eric Campbell and Jeff Fiorentino.  And over $38.5 million in unwanted contracts and penalties were removed from our 2007 salary cap through trading.

In that sense, the 2006 season can be called an overwhelming success.  Despite the team's sub-.500 performance on the field, the 2006 season allowed the Cowtippers organization to regroup, refocus, and concentrate on rebuilding another long-term dynasty worthy of pride and admiration.