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The SB Nation Winter Meetings Simulation in a nutshell: All rosters were reset to the day the World Series ended, and each simulated general manager was responsible for all decisions pertaining to his or her team's 25-man roster. You can read the full rules of the simulation and monitor all official transactions — posted by RoyalsRetro — at Royals Review.
The SB Nation simulated offseason will soon come to a close, which meant Thursday night was all about filling out the 25-man roster. Playing the role of Sandy Alderson, it's been a week full of transactions for me.
On Monday, I sent Daniel Murphy to the Brewers for John Axford and snagged Denard Span from the Twins for Jeurys Familia and Rafael Montero, extended David Wright for seven years, $122 million, negotiated Jason Bay's release, and non-tendered Andres Torres, Mike Pelfrey, and Manny Acosta.
Things were a little quiet on Tuesday, but I was able to ink R.A. Dickey to a two-year, $24 million extension, which immediately took him off the trade block. Scott Hairston then signed for two years, $9 million.
Wednesday was a day of free-agent signings: Kelly Shoppach, Kelly Johnson, Randy Choate, and Jeff Baker were brought on board. Manny Acosta also rejoined the club on a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.
And that brings us to Thursday night. With most of the 25-man roster penciled in, my top priority was making sure Jeremy Hefner and Elvin Ramirez would begin the year in the minors, not in the Mets' bullpen.
Free-Agent Signings
To take Hefner's spot as the long-man and spot starter out of the bullpen, I inked Jeff Francis to a one-year deal at $1.5 million with a maximum salary of $2.5 million via incentives for innings pitched: $500k for 50 IP, $500k for 100 IP. He's been a decent left-handed starter for the Rockies for quite a while now, but I'm hoping he'll turn into the Mets' version of 2012 Tom Gorzelanny, excelling in one-to-three inning stints out of the bullpen when necessary. If a member of the rotation goes down to injury and Zack Wheeler isn't ready, Francis will step in to fill the void.
Taking Elvin's spot on the 25-man roster is Jason Frasor, a 35-year-old right-handed pitcher formerly of the Blue Jays, on a two-year, $4.5 million deal. He's a high-strikeout pitcher who throws heat and struggles a bit with control, but he has not been overworked over his years in the big leagues. He's also been able to pitch to left-handed hitters nearly as well as right-handed hitters, which means Josh Edgin or Randy Choate won't have to be warming up every time there's a left-handed hitter on deck for Frasor.
Here, then, is the updated — and possibly final — simulated roster:
| Player | 2013 Salary | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Josh Thole | $1,200,000 | C |
| Ike Davis | $2,800,000 | 1B |
| Kelly Johnson | $5,000,000 | 2B |
| David Wright | $16,000,000 | 3B |
| Ruben Tejada | $500,000 | SS |
| Scott Hairston | $4,500,000 | LF |
| Denard Span | $4,750,000 | CF |
| Mike Baxter | $500,000 | RF |
| Kelly Shoppach | $2,000,000 | Bench |
| Jeff Baker | $1,500,000 | Bench |
| Lucas Duda | $490,000 | Bench |
| Justin Turner | $500,000 | Bench |
| Kirk Nieuwenhuis | $490,000 | Bench |
| Johan Santana | $25,500,000 | SP |
| R.A. Dickey | $5,000,000 | SP |
| Jon Niese | $3,050,000 | SP |
| Matt Harvey | $490,000 | SP |
| Dillon Gee | $490,000 | SP |
| John Axford | $5,100,000 | RP |
| Frank Francisco | $6,500,000 | RP |
| Bobby Parnell | $1,500,000 | RP |
| Randy Choate | $2,000,000 | RP |
| Jason Frasor | $490,000 | RP |
| Josh Edgin | $490,000 | RP |
| Jeff Francis | $1,500,000 | RP |
| Jason Bay | $6,000,000 | Released |
| Total | $98,340,000 |