While we continue to hunt for a new GM for
one the most storied franchises in the league, I invite you to review the transcripts of the
2013 PEBA Winter Meetings and the
Post-Winter Meetings round table. The Winter Meetings is the PEBA's biggest off-season event. Held in Miami, FL (and moving to Miami Beach's beautiful
Fontainebleau Hotel for 2014), The Meetings are special in that they are the only time during the year when all player-related trade restrictions are lifted. This allows recently drafted and signed players to be traded, amongst other things. Couple that with the presence of roughly 25 other GMs and you have the perfect conditions for a trading frenzy.
This year,
14 deals were consummated at the Winter Meetings (to say nothing of big announcements like
the new look for the New Jersey Hitmen). The one deal that everyone is talking about, of course, is the trading of
Markus "Fireworks" Hancock, the league's #1 pitcher, from the Tempe Knights to the Bakersfield Bears. The small-market Knights won the Planetary Extreme Championship two years ago in no small part because of Hancock's magnificence. Now feeling the financial pinch from heavy spending, they deal Fireworks to division rival Bakersfield for a package of prospects, cash and draft picks. Did they get enough? Read the post-Meetings recap to get the opinions of various PEBA beat writers on that subject and many more.
This move likely takes Tempe our of 2014 playoff contention. That opens the door for the aforementioned Crystal Lake Sandgnats to make some noise in the playoffs. Who knows? With the right GM at the helm, they may even graduate from bridesmaid to bride and win their first ever Planetary Extreme Championship. If you believe
you are the right GM,
contact us immediately and show us what you've got!
