With just two shopping days left until Christmas, you're pretty much out of luck if you still have some shopping to do.
But, if you're still shopping for the 2022 JLB season, you have plenty of time.
That said, those who haven't made any deals have to be feeling a bit anxious seeing the little flurry of action over the last week.
The 2022 offseason officially opened on Dec. 1, and it took until Dec. 17 for the first deal to go through.
In that time, the Slammers and Nutz have been very busy.
Fairly easy to see where my focus is the offseason.
Flaherty went home to Crox, but it cost him a pair of top closers and a second round pick. That now gives me five second-round picks and a total of nine selections in the first 40 picks. Together with the Gamblers, the two basement dwellers make 18 of the first 45 picks.
The other pitchers acquired came from two separate deals with Nutz.
"The Nutz-Slam pitcher-bat pipeline has been strong this offseason!" Cheese Steaks said. "I'm a Musgrove guy, I really liked that pickup for the Commish. And if E-Rod can finally pitch to his potential, that could be a steal."
Charleston had one of the best pitching staffs in 2021, a surprise group when it comes to pitching, and in two deals with me, he shipped out three starters from a year ago. He still has a wealth of SP keepers — including Shohei Ohtani who he gets to keep at DH, so he should still be in good shape for 2022.
He also managed to bring back Lance Lynn in a deal with the Cheese Steaks, but that deal was costly as he had to send Teoscar Hernandez, who broke out in a huge way in 2021 with a .296 average, 32 homers and 116 RBIs. That's a lot of offense to replace and Schwarber and Bryant aren't going to do it. Unless he's looking at Hernandez as a one-hit wonder.
Hernandez joins an OF that includes reigning MVP Bryce Harper and another breakout star in Cedric Mullins.
We all know Harper is going to take care of business, but if the other two breakout stars can't duplicate their 2021 seasons, the Steaks could be in a bit of trouble.
"Teoscar and Ced don't have long track records, but I feel pretty good about their staying power," JV said. "Teoscar's raw power is legit, and in that lineup I think he's a safe bet to go 30/100 every year. And Ced’s power/speed combo gives him a high floor even if the depressing reality of playing in Baltimore results in some regression."
The Cheese also made a deal with the newest JLB member, The Stantonians, send Yu Darvish and Jonathan Loaisiga for Taylor Rogers and Ranger Suarez.
It's the annual JV trade where he acquires a starting pitcher who has RP eligibility. He does it every year.
It didn't work out too well last year with A.J. Puk and Jesus Luzardo. Maybe if this doesn't work, he'll start to keep good relievers like Jordan Romano.
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