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END OF FREE AGENT PERIOD
Received a couple of trade offers as the free agent period came to a close. New Orleans offered me CF Gabino Menedez for reliever Dustin Landreth. My scout calls Menedez an average ballplayer but his stats are not very impressive. A second round pick back in 1940, he has played just 257 major league games. Last season, he batted .183 in 88 games for the Pelicans....no wonder they are trying to unload him. Landreth is a solid reliever and as much as I could use an upgrade at centerfield, I do not think Menedez is the guy to provide it.
The second offer really has me thinking. San Francisco is trying to get number 2 starter Adrian Martinez from me. The 33 year old Martinez is a good fit on my roster. He is cheap, making just $300,000 although he is arbitration eligible next season, and despite a 6-18 record a year ago my scout thinks he can be a decent pitcher. The Seals are offering a nice package for him. 32 year old RF William Broussard, who hit .294 with 9 homers in 132 games last year and minor league prospect Richard Dorsey. The 23 year old Dorsey has 46 saves in two seasons of Class A ball and is rated the 57th best prospect in the league. My scout feels he will be a dominant closer in the future. The drawback is I was just feeling pretty good about my rotation and this will definately hurt it a bit. However, Broussard is a big upgrade on present RF Bobby Blecha and Dorsey would give me a star closer in the system. I wavered back and forth a fair bit but in the end I decided to call San Francisco back and take the deal. Hopefully one of my mediocre starting pitchers can step up to replace Martinez - although at 6-18 a year ago it really isn't a lot to replace.
I am going to put Martinez in my player tracker and see what he does in the PCL. I am also going to shop Blecha around and see if I can get a middle of the road prospect for him.
Now it is time to prepare for the draft.
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