[illeracula]

Chadds Ford Cannons, Colonials Agree to Trade: A trade between Chadds Ford and New Castle was made official this morning. The Cannons have sent 23-year-old minor league CF Juan Torres, 25-year-old minor league 2B Teddy Hopkins, 20-year-old minor league CF Rafael Franco and a 5th round draft pick to the Colonials in exchange for 24-year-old RHP Ben Alexander and 22-year-old minor league RHP Ben Johnson.

New Castle will retain a portion of Alexander's remaining contract.

Alexander has taken the mound for 7 relief appearances this season, nailing down no saves while notching a 0-0 record with a 4.26 ERA. The Chadds Ford reliever has limited opposing batters to a .292 batting average.

GM NOTES:
Juan Torres may turn out to be an all-star, but he wore out his welcome here in Chadds Ford. He was deemed a 'trouble maker' and at that point I figured it was best to look for a replacement. Last year he hit .118-0-2 in 17 AB's with us, and he never developed as I expected... so at 23 I decided to risk it and move him.

The prize for me in this deal is Ben Alexander. He is a 5* prospect by both our scout and OSA with big ratings and a bright future. His stuff is rated 16/16, movement 14/14, and control 12/13, with 3 plus pitches. He hasn't broken out of his shell yet in the bigs having mediocre success over the past 3 seasons in New Castle. But at 24, his future shines bright, and he is under team control for 3 more years. Not to mention New Castle is paying all of his salary this season (what a deal!).

Ben Johnson is a 5* prospect who will be sent to AA to help out the Jackrabbits. He was 2-5 5.10 so far this season, but that didn't scare me away. Once, and it better, his control develops he can turn into an ace!

I am excited about this deal, now I have to figure out of Alexander will be in the rotation or not for the upcoming week.