There have been some rather intriguing trades pulled off recently in the WPK (not involving Denver), two of which involve a team shipping off an aging star player for a package of prospects and the third saw two talented younger players switch teams.
We will start with the latter, in which the Philadelphia Mud Hens traded from a surplus- power-hitting first basemen, to fill a need in center field, while the Jacksonville Wolf Pack got a tremendously gifted 25-year old first sacker who was an All-Star last season while also clearing up space for a young star center fielder, Tim Evans, who looks ready to be an offensive force in the SJL, even if not a tremendous defensive player. Philly already had Mike Lovett, who led the league in RBI (139) in 1979 when he put up 6.6 WAR in his second season with Philly after coming over in a trade with Denver, so Paul Lewis was expendable and in Mike Florack they gain an excellent defensive center fielder who is only 25, is a fan favorite, has elite speed, and is a pretty solid hitter as well.
Upshot: good trade that makes sense for both teams. (The two other players that Jacksonville netted in the deal are not likely to develop into big league players.)
The Brooklyn Aces took another step to solidify their rotation by trading for yet another grizzled veteran who is durable and has been consistently good (even great, at times, having won the SJL Pitcher of the Year award in 1973) in Mike Stagner. By trading Stagner the Los Angeles Spinners, who have a middle of the league farm system, gained 4 prospects. Though to be honest, none of them look likely to wow anyone. Still, they all have some skill that if it develops and they add a few more tools around it could propel them to some sort of big league role, with outfielder Ryan Whited having great speed and gap power, infielder Jeff Davey being a defensive whiz (but also a disruptive influence), starting pitcher Miguel Valdez having nasty 98-100 mph stuff and a nasty screwball, and outfielder Tom Bradshaw having massive power bat potential. So maybe one of them will exceed their current projection.
And finally, the Charlotte Sting traded away long-time team captain and star outfielder Jose Gutierrez to the El Paso Dawgs, also for 4 prospects. The 30-year old Gutierrez has had a career resurgence since being moved from center field to left field and had a 6.2 season with the 3rd place Sting in 1981. In addition to his great leadership skills he is a premium contact hitter who also has a little pop, he is one of the best base stealers and base runners in the game, and he is a plus defender in left (9.1 ZR in '81) though with a weak throwing arm. For a team like the Dawgs, who just barely fell short in their effort to take the SJL West pennant, largely because of poor defense and an underperforming lineup, this is a great pick up.
As for Charlotte, likely the best player they got in this deal is starting pitcher Alex Canty, who is durable and still developing with a chance to be a decent back end of the rotation arm (his poor control will hold him back from more likely). Lefty reliever Joe Littleton has an electric arm (99-101 mph, 9 stuff with 10 potential and a 10 fastball- again on a scale of 1-10) but he also profiles as fragile and has almost no control of his pitches. Eddie Adams could be a utility infielder and David Carter is just a throw-in, though one with great makeup who should at least make his minor league teammates better. It's not a horrible trade for Charlotte with power/speed guy Eddie Evans taking over in left but it is hard to replace a guy like Gutierrez and I don't think they have even come close to doing so.
But good on the Dawgs!