Free Agency continued......
As tempted as I wanted to be and "spend the cash", I understoon that a good GM needs to follow his owner's advice, well most of the time. Ed Bane, our Manager, and the scouts feel that we have a lot of potential on the Aces, and just wanted me to make a few "tweaks" here and there, if the opportunity came along. So, I decided that if we could get Alvarado for the vacant pen spot, I would just go after some AAA players, that will help fill out our roster in Emmaus, and possibly help us down the road. Two we did sign to minor league contracts.
Will Macsween - Macsween pitched in Utica's farm system last year, at the AA and AAA level. He was in a total of 14 games, and actually started three at the AA level. We immediately sent him to AAA Emmaus.
Armando Archuleta - Archuleta didn't pitch in our league last year, as he bounced around some California amateur leagues. He had made it as far as AA in that other league(MLB), back when he was only 21, but arm injuries kept him from going any further. At 27, he wants one last shot at pro ball, and my scouts liked him at our team tryouts!
Hubert Marks - Marks is favoring our offer, which is for one year, at $16,500. He will battle for a catching spot with Roberto Colon and John Thomas. If he can't beat out either one of them, we'll move him to AAA, and will be some insurance for us at that position.
November 16th - Winter Meetings Start
Lots of shaking hands, seminars, talking to officials and agents, sending Kirsten, God forbid, to a promotion seminar. And the usual trade talk amongst the various teams. We're sitting pat, and since mostly all the teams know that, I shouldn't have but a few inquiries! Another good thing is, this year, it's being held in King of Prussia, PA, which is only about 20 minutes from home.