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May 24, 2001
I am not satisfied with the production at third base. Juan Aponte has struggled in May (.203/.276/.203) and might have hit the rookie wall. I haven’t lost confidence in Aponte; after all, he was rookie of the month for April. I just think it might be good to give him a few days out of the lineup. The problem is that I do not have a productive player to put in the lineup in his place.
Backup infielder Lou Gordon (.183/.219/.217) has been terrible all season. Ray Conley (.234/.329/.328) hasn’t been much better and certainly doesn’t provide enough offense to justify a starting corner infield spot. No AAA player has inspired me to promote them.
I made a contract offer to former Colonels infielder Julian Mejia for one year at $750K. Mejia was Louisville’s regular second baseman from 1996-1998 before Rodney Wright arrived. He split time between third and second last year, and did not perform up to his salary. He wanted a $5M contract and I opted to let him go free agent instead.
Now that he has come around to a reasonable contract demand, I am offering him a shot at the third base job where he would be excellent defensively (8/10 with a 10 arm). He has good speed and can steal a base. His stat line for 1999-2000 is .240/.292/.373, which is not good but better than the three guys shown above. Mejia is just a three-star player, but there are no five-stars waiting around to sign one-year contracts in late May.
Mejia will replace backup infielder Lou Gordon on the roster, if and when he signs a contract. Gordon is out of options and must clear waivers to be assigned to AAA.
Otto Orcin
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