[ayaghmour2]

Not sure this is the answer for shortstop, but he's at least way better then what we have now. We reached an agreement to send our 3rd Round Pick and CF Cy Bryant to the Pittsburgh Miners for SS Pete Asher.

Asher is someone I've been interested in for a while, dating way back to when the Foresters selected him in the 1926 Rule-5 Draft. He was a part of a 1929 trade to the Miners after just appearing in the majors for the Foresters in the 1927 season. He's been an everyday player since 1930 and in 3,138 trips to the plate he owns a .278/.333/.360 (91 OPS+) batting line. He won't hit many homers or steal many bases, but he's hit 30 or more doubles in each of his full seasons and is generally a strong defender at short. The soon to be 28-year-old.is much better then what we currently have at shortstop and this will allow us to use Bill Ashbaugh and Russ Combs at second to keep them both healthy.

This gives Tom Taylor sole possession of center field as we shipped out the 28-year-old Bryant. He had a decent season, batting .296/.372/.371 (88 OPS+) with a homer, 5 steals, and 51 RBI's across 458 plate appearances. In his FABL career, he's made 2,437 at bats with a .289/.348/.388 (97 OPS+) batting line, but his true value is his glove. He's elite in center with a career +88.5 zone rating and 1.055 efficiency.

The big thing this trade does is at least gives me an idea of what our positional alignment will be. Mike Taylor will catch, and left to right in the infield will be John Kincaid, Pete Asher, Bill Ashbaugh/Russ Combs, Joe Masters and the outfield will be Doc Love, Tom Taylor, Lou Kelly. The defense won't be great, but the offense should be really good. Masters will see some time at third too, Ashbaugh and Kelly at first, and Combs at short. The bench is really open and I have a lot of pieces that I can potentially add from the minors or through trade and the Rule-5 draft. There is also the waiver wire, which I can be rather active on. I've already cut two players, infielders Arnold Bower and Lee Sparks.

EDIT:

I made another trade! We sent 2B Tom Spitzer to the Gothams for 25-year-old lefty Hank Spencer. The Gothams rotation is filled with talent and there is no obvious spot in their rotation for the former 14th Round Pick. My scout is a fan, intrigued by his 94-96 mile per hour fastball. He locates his curve and change well, but hasn't had much success in the minors the past two seasons. Still, I think he could end up as a decent big leaguer and we are desperate for arms. With Dave Rankin, Dick Lyons, and Dick Leudtke all guaranteed spots, Spencer will get to fight for the 4th or 5th spot. This may be my last trade of the offseason, but it won't be for lack of trying.