[illeracula]

Players had to say quick good-byes to their teammates this morning after learning that Norfolk had traded 30-year-old center fielder Kent Davis, 27-year-old catcher Ed Duke, 31-year-old third baseman Cody Johnson, 25-year-old starting pitcher Arturo Ramírez and 32-year-old reliever Rick Kelly to Barons for 26-year-old starting pitcher Tommy Rutledge, 35-year-old first baseman Pedro Morín, 25-year-old minor league starting pitcher Domingo Cardoza, 25-year-old reliever Gabriel Santos and a 2nd round draft pick. Club officials for both teams told reporters the major swap was finalized over the past two days after a week of negotiations.

Presently Ramírez has a 6-3 mark in 18 starts with a 3.69 ERA. He has given up 99 hits in 112.1 innings, struck out 88 and issued 31 walks. Opposing clubs have compiled a .233 batting average against him.

This year Rutledge has gone 9-3 with an ERA of 2.15 and has 146 strikeouts in 129.2 innings.

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My Thoughts:
Well I pulled it off for the better of the team, at least that is what I am telling myself. Rutledge will be on the hill tonight against Annapolis and we will be anxiously awaiting how he does. He will be throwing on short rest, but he says he is ready and anxious...

This was a tough deal for me to make, but in the financial interest of this team and the long term stability it just made sense. Yes it would of made more sense in the off-season, but I didn't know if this was going to be around this off season. Its not often when a first place team trades away 3 positional starters, a bullpen man and a starter in mid-season, but it needed to be done.

One reason I pulled off this deal is I have Mark Botlon, my #1 pick from 2019, moving up the minor league chain and almost ready to make the active roster. Bolton was moved up to AAA in hopes to get some more development in. Bolton will be the Catcher of the future, most likely with John O'Donegan. They will make a nice Righty/Lefty platoon (Botlon hits lefty).

I really didn't want to trade Arturo Ramirez, but in the end his poor development over the past 2-years, made me move him, instead of Vaughan Griffith, not to mention he is on his arbitration season.

The fans in Norfolk aren't happy with the loss of 3 of their favorites and the fan interest dropped, but hopefully we can earn their hearts back as we continue to win (hopefully) the rest of this season...

Roster Moves:
With 5 players coming off the 25-man roster (Kent Davis, Ed Duke, Cody Johnson, Arturo Ramirez and Rick Kelly) and only 3 players, from the trade, coming on to the 25-man (Gabriel Santos, Tommy Rutledge and Jose Morin) I had to make a couple of moves. John Phillips got the call and will now be the #2 catcher, and Bryan O'Neil was recalled for the first time this season. He will be around about 5 days until Javier Janchez comes off the DL.

Interesting Things:
Kent Davis was drafted in the 11th round of the Inaugural draft by the Baltimore Barons. He reached the bigs in 2014 with the Barons and played there till 2016 when the Cavaliers acquired him. On the other end of that deal was, at the time the #14th prospect in the DBL, Gabriel Santos. Gabriel was the #1 pick overall in the 2014 draft. Once thought to be a top starter in the game, Santos has turned himself into an elite relief pitching prospect.

Things to follow up on at the end of the season:
Current Record: 72-24 .750 WPct
Runs/Game: 5.47 (525 Total - 2nd in league)
Runs Allowed/Game: 3.27 (314 Total - 1st in league)