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GM Journal
After lunch had my second meeting with Mothballs... Now I get the nickname. No idea what the guy eats for lunch... but damn... it makes your eyes water a little bit before the actual smell registers with the brain. It's completely unsettling... and I think I momentarily starting hallucinating for a minute there... It was a nice spring day here in Columbus, so I wisely moved the meeting outside to the balcony overlooking the field. I'm not sure if Mothballs picked up on the reasoning, I think everybody else around here has developed a resistance. Anyways, he's much more exited about our bullpen....
MR Jose Aurillo / 27 years old
Under contract for 1 year @ $430k
We acquired him from Grand Rapids a few years back when our outfield got crowded and we didn't want to pay any more arbitration raises than we had to. Jose has been great for us the last two seasons, solid setup man. He doesn't recover fast enough to really eat up a lot of innings, but he is a very effective leftie when on the mound. Can approach the upper 90s with his sinking fastball, and throws two wicked breaking balls. His ERA is consistently below 2.50 with a FIP under 3.00... strikes out over 10 batter per 9IP. He can likely walk when the year is over.... we need to think long and hard about his future in Columbus.
MR Eric Braun / 32 years old
Under contract for 2 years @ $820k per year (player opt for 3rd year @ $820k)
Saved 33 games for the Champion Philly Felons last year. I didn't understand the need to sign him, but Lerma loved the guy... "We don't need starters, we need another closer!"... He didn't pitch particularly well in the spring, but I fully expect him to be closing games for us this season. A straight up fastball/slider righty, Braun can be unhittable when on his game.
MR Garland Schneider / 32 years old
Under contract for 1 year @ $189k, arbitration eligible (est. $207k)
A fairly pedestrian middle / long reliever. Spent most of his career in the minors, logging only 67 appearances over parts of six NLB seasons. Hard throwing righty who is well liked in the clubhouse and is better than anything we have in Triple A.
MR Scott "Wildcat" Thompson / 24 years old
Under team control @ $120k per season. 83 total days of NLB service time
Somehow those fools running the Richmond Riptide thought they could sneak this guy through waivers at the end of spring training. Only appeared in 15 games over two seasons, but the kid was a former 1st rounder who has saved over 100 minor league games since he started pro ball at the age of 17. Another hard throwing righty, he needs to brush up on his command a little bit, still see too many walks... But when he properly locates his fastball and slider, it's just not fair to the batters.
MR Silas "Pep" Wright / 28 years old
Under contract for 1 year @ $360k, pending extension offer for 2 years @ $380k
Local kid, former first rounder out of Ohio State University... or "THE" Ohio State University like those dolts say on the pro football games... what's that all about? Anybody confusing them for the Ohio University Nobodycares?!? Anyways, Wright is a serviceable lefty matchup guy... He hasn't been terribly consistent over his career and never lived up to the promise of future closer after notching 32 saves in 2047. Worth keeping around for the right price and I didn't argue with Freddie offering him that extension before he got canned.
CL Timothy Hendricks / 27 years old
Under contract for 3 years @ $600
Long time setup man, won the closer job in spring training. I have to think that Foster was planning on trading Timmy away after signing the Championship closer in Eric Braun... but then he got fired... and burned all his files and smashed his corporate laptop on the way out... and then spray painted various curse words all over the stadium. Hendricks can hit triple digit heat and has had an effective career as an 8th inning specialist... But it's starting to look like this pitching staff has one too many closers and four too few starters.
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