Sal, the Barber Presents . . .

[Sal, The Barber]

13 April 2003
Cheyenne, WY

Paul Lyons locked horns with Topeka rookie Tomas Hampton today, and both pitchers came away winners. The ballgame, however, went to the Cowboys. John O'Flanagan's two-out triple in the 11th scored Kelly Judson with the game's only run. Cheyenne won 1-0, their sixth straight victory.

But the stars of the game were the starting pitchers. Hampton went 7 innings, giving up just 1 hit. He walked 2 and struck out 7. He threw 99 pitches.

Paul Lyons went 8 innings, giving up 3 hits. He walked 1 and struck out 6. He threw 110 pitches.

Hampton was the Owls' number one pick in last season's amateur draft; he was chosen #6. And he was masterful today, even though his club couldn't pull out the game for him. Lyons was equally impressive, although Cowboy fans have come to expect dominating performances like the one he delivered today. Lyons' ERA on the year so far is 1.93.

"Would have hated to spoil that pitching performance today," quipped Manager Terry Taylor. "Johnnie O really delivered." He did. But those fans who appreciate fine pitching received much more.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Sal, The Barber

Lyons was equally impressive, although Cowboy fans have come to expect dominating performances like the one he delivered today.

Yes, we have!

[Sal, The Barber]

16 April 2003
Omaha, NE

The Cowboys' lost their first game of the 2003 season today, 1-0. Ricardo Diaz pitched a strong game for the Cowboys, his second strong start, but Cheyenne was unable to get a runner to home plate against the Robin Hoods John Spencer and three relievers.

The Cowboys got closest to scoring in the ninth inning. Campos delivered a one-out single; Randy Johnston was hit by a pitch; and Mike Beck singled. Beck's hit was a liner to shallow left, and Campos had to stop at third. With the bases loaded and one out, Terry Taylor called on Carl Reed to pinch hit for his pitcher. Reed grounded into a double play, a rarity given Reed's speed.

It was a disappointing way to end the unbeaten streak. Cheyenne is 8-1 on the season, but only one game ahead of the Oakland Oaks in the Pacific Division of the Western League.

Cheyenne has gotten very good pitching from its starters, except for Ben Koch, to begin the year. As a result, Koch was sent down to AAA yesterday. "We need him to find his confidence," said pitching coach Vaughan Webster. "We need him to give us reason to be confident in him." To take his place in the rotation, Cheyenne called up last season's "Magic Man" John Cummings.

[Sal, The Barber]

18 April 2003
Wichita, KN

Wichita fans wanted to see their ace, Gary Romaine, go today against Cheyenne's Paul Lyons. But it was Jason Bryant's turn in the rotation, and, even though there was an off-day for the Cowboys yesterday, Terry Taylor stuck with Bryant. In the end, Bryant and the Cowboys won the game, 3-1.

Romaine pitched well; he struck out 6 in seven innings. But he wasn't unhittable; the Cowboys knocked out 9 hits against him. The big blow came in the seventh when Kelly Judson hit a home run after Mike Beck had reached on an error. Cheyenne's next hitter, Shawn Clark, followed Judson's homer with one of his own, and Cheyenne had jumped out to a 3-1 lead, a lead they would hold.

Jason Bryant wasn't bad himself, going six innings, allowing only one run. Basilio Mangoni and Frankie Howard finished up for the Cowboys. Cheyenne is now 9-1 on the season.


Miscellaneous Notes: The Oakland Oaks are second in the Pacific Division, playing better ball than they did at any time last season. Early returns on the Oaks' attempts to remake themselves are positive. One thing the Oaks did this past off-season was stockpile closers to improve the bullpen. Mark Patrick was brought over to take on the closer's role, even though he lost the job last year in Altoona. So far, Patrick has 4 saves and an ERA of 0.00. But Patrick was injured two days ago. Today we got word that he tore a muscle in his back. He's expected to be out of the lineup for 4-5 months. Oakland has other closer options, obviously; they'll go with Danny Leahy for now.

[Sal, The Barber]

19 April 2003
Wichita, KN

After two incredibly strong starts, Paul Lyons pitched a clunker today, and Cheyenne took one on the chin. Lyons' ERA jumped up to 3.60, and trouble started in the first inning.

We're not writing to be critical of Lyons; he can't be perfect every time out, nor does he need to be. And Wichita has a tough lineup, especially at the top of it. RF Aaron Duncan, C Eddie Wilson, LF Arthur Beeler, 1B Jesus Ortiz, 3B Jack Cole are all 4 or 5 star players. And then comes SS Roger Purchase, who is a better than average player. These Linemen can wear a pitcher out.

Duncan and Wilson led off today's game with singles. Beeler deposited one in the seats, and Lyons had given up 3 runs before getting 1 out.

Cheyenne's best players, Judson, O'Flanagan, and Soto, produced 3 runs for Lyons in the third, but Lyons gave up another HR in the bottom of the inning to Duncan. Cheyenne wouldn't get back into the game. The final score was 9-3, Linemen. Miguel Flores had a disastrous second inning of relief in the eighth when he gave up 4 runs, allowing Wichita to put the game out of reach.

Cheyenne is now 9-2 on the season.

[Sal, The Barber]

27 April 2003
Cheyenne, WY

The losing streak hit seven games today. Kansas City swept the 3-game series, winning today's game 4-2. KC got their runs on a grand slam home run from Jake Carr. Cheyenne committed two more errors.

The losing streak started in Wichita. Cheyenne lost game two of their series 9-3, but it was the next game that seemed to alter the beginning of the Cowboys' season. Cheyenne lost that ballgame 1-0. They outhit Wichita and left more runners on base.

The Cowboys then went to Oakland to pay the Oaks. Oakland was half a game ahead of Cheyenne in the standings when they hooked up. John Cummings made his first start of the season in place of Ben Koch who had just been sent down to AAA. Cummings was again magic, going six innings, allowing just one run. He left the ballgame ahead 3-1. Javier Gomez gave up 4 runs in the 7th; Kevin Funk gave up 4 more in the 8th. A well-pitched ballgame went quickly down the toilet, and Cheyenne's fortunes had clearly gone awry.

Oakland beat them the next day, too. Ricardo Diaz battled without his best stuff. But the defense made two errors, giving the Oaks three runs. Cheyenne lost 4-3.

Then to Kansas City where Cheyenne has now lost all three. 3-2 in game one; 10-4 in game two when the Cowboys gave up 6 runs in the 10th! Then today's 4-2 loss.

Yesterday, the Cowboys tried a players' only meeting. Today, the coaches huddled on the flight to Sacramento. GM Boo Bentley has tried brooding and not speaking to the press.

To turn things around, they'll have to stop making errors. Still, the only part of the club that's really playing well is the starting pitching. The highest ERA among the five starters is 3.00. The bullpen hasn't been nearly as good. Lee Martin's and Kevin Funk's ERAs are above 6.00; Javier Gomez's is above 8.00. Kelly Judson has 6 errors; of course, he's hitting .324. Pedro Ibarra isn't hitting. Jesus Soto has been cold after a strong start. And John O'Flanagan is hurt again. He was the Cowboy going the best. He's just day-to-day with a strained rib cage, but no O'Flanagan injury can be taken lightly; there are just too many of them. All of this is to say, of course, that Cheyenne has their work cut out for them. Who knew they'd reach a crossroads so early in the season. But this streak is bad, and it feels worse.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Sal, The Barber

GM Boo Bentley has tried brooding and not speaking to the press.

Dang, this always worked for me. The other thing that works for me is waiting and hoping for a stroke of luck to turn it around.

[Sal, The Barber]

28 April 2003
Sacramento, CA

Filling in for John O'Flanagan, Jesus Rivera knocked out 3 hits today, knocked in 2 runs, and stole another base. Rivera and the Magic Man John Cummings led Cheyenne, snapping their losing streak in style, 10-1 over Sacramento.

Perhaps the blow-out will wake the Cowboys back up and keep them winning. Ricardo Diaz and Jason Bryant pitch the final two games of the series with the Solons.

[Sal, The Barber]

1 May 2003
Lincoln, NE

The Cheyenne Cowboys announced today that they have traded first baseman Jim Thompson and AAA outfield Carlos Concepcion to Western League rival Kansas City. In return, the Cowboys get first baseman Tim Bowen.

Bowen is a 24 year old lefthanded hitting first baseman. Bowen is a contact hitter but is expected to develop as a power guy as he matures. He is not the defensive first baseman that Thompson is, but he is an adequate fielder.
Bowen isn't expected to unseat Pedro Ibarra at first base this season, but he does appear to be the future of the position in Cheyenne.

Bowen surprisingly made an appearance in the starting lineup today. The Cowboys celebrated by scoring 14 runs. Bowen went 2-5 and had 1 RBI. Jesus Rivera was the offensive star of the game, going 4-6 with 6 RBI. 4 of those came on a grand slam in the second inning.

Paul Lyons started for the Cowboys and allowed 4 runs over five innings. Good enough for all the offensive support the Cowboys provided today.

[Sal, The Barber]

5 May 2003
Seattle, WA

Cheyenne is 5-0 in the month of May. They have won six straight games and are now tied with Oakland for the Pacific Division lead. John O'Flanagan is hitting .407, and that average is leading the Western League by 37 points!

Not to be outdone, Jesus Soto is second in the league in RBI with 29. And Carlos Campos is tied for the league in hits and first in the league in doubles. The pitching has not been bad either. The Cowboys' starters' ERA is first in the league, and Jason Bryant is 4-1 with a 1.36 ERA.

These are good things and should be celebrated. But today I write to raise some questions about the Cowboys and about their GM Boo Bentley. One has to ask why the club did not believe in John Cummings after the year he gave them in 2002. They started the "Magic Man" at AAA this year and found themselves calling him up after only two unspectacular Ben Koch starts. In the meantime, Cummings has 3 starts, is 2-0, has pitched 17.2 innings. His ERA is 2.04, and he's struck out more than he's walked. Walks were his bugaboo last season, even though he was the Cowboys' third best pitcher last year. Cummings doesn't go deep into games, we grant you that, but currently his WHIP is down to 1.19. Why didn't Bentley and his staff believe in Cummings from the beginning of the season? We wonder if this was the right choice.

We also wonder about the club's over-reliance on Paul Lyons. Lyons has many of the markings of a staff ace. He gives you innings--over a season and in every game he pitches. He dominates at times and has remarkable strike out numbers. But he also has a good number of games where he goes six innings and gives up nine hits and 4 runs. He's good, but how good is he? Is Bentley waiting, counting on Roy Horton to take over the number one starter role by force? Does he really believe in Lyons? Lyons was awfully good in the post-season, but maybe he's not hall-of-fame material. Does that matter? Is Bailey trying to sell us a Paul Lyons that isn't who Paul Lyons really is?

And what do we make of Kelly Judson's less-than-stellar play at third base this season? When they traded for Judson, he was a little better than adequate in the field. Now, he's clearly deficient. His seven errors lead the league. His batting average, too, has dipped to .294. If Judson doesn't hit, he can't stay in the lineup. We were promised a guy who'd hit over .300 for 10 years when they acquired Judson. Has that outlook changed already?

And what to do about Mike Beck? The shortstop remains reliable in the field, but his bat is working even less than it did last season? Is there no other option for shortstop? How long can we stick with a no-hit shortstop?

Perhaps we just got ahead of ourselves last year? Maybe this is where we should be--a few games over .500 with signs that things are getting better. This season wouldn't be so difficult to make sense of if we hadn't gone to the World Series last year. Heck, we didn't expect to make the post-season last year. Now, we expect to make it. Maybe it's us. Maybe our expectations are unreasonable.

[Jabez54]

Originally Posted by Sal, The Barber

And what to do about Mike Beck? The shortstop remains reliable in the field, but his bat is working even less than it did last season? Is there no other option for shortstop? How long can we stick with a no-hit shortstop?

For a split second there, I thought you were talking about Jose Iglesias ... The same scenario the RS are experiencing ... At best, if he's the best you've got and the team is sporting a solid record ... don't change anything ... unless you have a Xander in the minors ... it's a sad plight of seeing good defenders with a nice mate attitude, but yet can't hit, will not win ballgames ...

[Sal, The Barber]

11 May 2003
Cheyenne, WY

After a 5-0 start to the month of May, Cheyenne has reversed its fortunes and lost 5 straight. They lost two to Seattle after beating the Rainiers in the first game of their three-game series. Then, Cheyenne was swept by Boise, the club now leading the Pacific Division.

The culprit? Who or what is responsible for the recent skid? Look no further than the Cheyenne offense. O'Flanagan's over .400 average has fallen to .350. Will Byrd is hitting .257. Mike Beck has generated very little offense in the number eight spot in the order; Beck is hitting .198. Beck has been so bad that the Cowboys brought up utility infielder Cy Sanders and immediately put him in the lineup. Before he could get a plate appearance, however, Sanders bruised his foot. He's day-to-day. But we'll have to slog through a few more days of Beck's bat or lack thereof.

Still you can't only blame the offense. Lee Martin gave away the ballgame today in the ninth. Martin is 0-3. Kevin Funk was sent down to AAA, and Miguel Flores is also struggling. So the bullpen has yet to find its stride. And then there's the starters. John Cummings got beat up by Boise in game one of the series. Ricardo Diaz is struggling. And Roy Horton's ERA is over 4.00.

Boo Bentley is still brooding and sharing few words with the press. When asked to characterize his club's performance so far, Bentley offered only this: "Streaky." When asked to elaborate, he simply shrugged his shoulders and walked away. We don't know what to make of that either. Hopefully, the Cowboys do.

[Sal, The Barber]

16 May 2003
Omaha, NE

The losing streak is now 9 games. Frustration levels are at an all-time high. The starting pitching has abandoned them. They still can't plate a runner in scoring position with less than two outs. And the errors in the field continue to pile up.

Yet, I think it's fair to say, they aren't this bad. Maybe it's just bad luck; after all, this has been a strange, strange season so far. To wit: it's the middle of May, and Cheyenne has had streaks of 8 wins, 7 losses, 6 wins, and 9 losses. That's a season's worth. You just can't play a whole season like that, right? Things have to even out.

And let's start with the pitching. Look at the starting pitchers' lines for the last 4 games:

Horton 2IP 7H 4ER
Bryant 2.1IP 4H 6ER
Cummings 3IP 11H 12ER
Diaz 7IP 5H 4ER

Can't get any worse, can it? So it has got to get better. So few innings from starters has taxed the bullpen. Then Javier Gomez tweaked a hamstring and had to sit for 3 days. Stan Hogan came up from AAA and injured his hamstring. He's on the DL. Cy Sanders is still day to day, and Kelly Judson now has the flu. These one, two day injuries simply take players off the Cheyenne bench at a time when they can least afford it.

Finally, at some point, some of these guys will start to turn their seasons around. Mike Beck and Will Byrd have been terrible. And Pedro Ibarra and Kelly Judson aren't having the years they had last year. This has to sort itself out. And if, it turns out, all of them are having career worst seasons, we'll chalk it up to bad luck and see what next season brings. We've got to think like that. Otherwise, we'd be looking for an expedient way to kill ourselves.

Pacific Division Standings
Boise 23-12
Sacramento 19-15
Oakland 18-17
Seattle 17-19
Cheyenne 16-18
Hollywood 14-22

[Sal, The Barber]

18 May 2003
Omaha, NE

Cheyenne won today 7-2. The win put a stop to a 10-game losing streak. Sighs of relief were heard back in Wyoming.

The series before this current one with Omaha--a quick two-gamer at Hollywood--was a disaster. Hollywood is a bad team, and the Stars took both games from Cheyenne, bashing out 10 runs in each ballgame. After these games, Boo Bentley, it turns out, went home. The rest of the club went on to Omaha.

Cheyenne management has been tight-lipped about this circumstance. Bentley refuses to talk about it. We have been reassured, however, that Bentley was suffering from no health-related issues. The decision was made by the management team. We wondered if Bentley was working on a blockbuster trade, but there are no rumors with teeth, and that story hasn't gotten legs.

The only clue we got came from bench coach Antonio Martinez who noted that Bentley is wound a little tight, and that he makes players anxious at times. We surmise that Manage Terry Taylor simply asked Bentley to put some distance between himself and the club. Or maybe it was Martinez who asked. And maybe no body asked. Maybe there was a blood-curdling shouting match. Probably not, but no one can be sure.

We are sure that the losing streak stopped today and that Terry Taylor has shown an ability to calm things down and refocus his club in the past. The Cowboys need that. It surely has been a high tide/low tide season. If any season begs for a leveling out, this one is it.

[Jabez54]

OUCH !!! ... sheesh, doesn't this Game humble us real quick!!!

[Sal, The Barber]

4 June 2003
Cheyenne, WY

10-5. 10-5 since the big win in Omaha that broke the 10-game losing streak. That's pretty much the pace we expected these Cowboys to play at much of the season.

They took 2 of 3 versus Oakland, 3 of 4 versus Sioux City, swept KC (who are leading the Cornhusker Division), 2 of 3 from Lincoln, and then lost 2 straight against Hollywood. Now they settle in for four games against Boise, in Boise. Boise is leading the Pacific Division and has gotten the best of Cheyenne this season, winning all 3 games they've played.

Ewan van der Knaap, the Braves' Aruban centerfielder--that's right, Aruban!--has led the offense and stirred some ire in Cowboys' pitchers. van der Knaap went 5-5 one day and 3-4 the next. He spent the third day dodging bean balls; he proved awfully good at it as Cheyenne pitchers never did plunk him. They did, however, keep him off base.

And the Braves' pitching is led by Victor "No Trump" Reyes, who won the Outstanding Pitcher Award last year in the Western League. The Cowboys haven't faced "No Trump" yet this season but are looking forward to the challenge. "No Trump" is having another good year at least as far as ERA is concerned; he's just under 2.75. His win/loss record, however, sits just above .500.

Cheyenne is 5 games back of Boise and currently has 27 wins, 24 losses.

[Sal, The Barber]

15 June 2003
Sioux City, IA

Cheyenne beat back Boise, winning 3 of 4 games. The Braves' Ewan van der Knaap went 3-5 in game one, but Cheyenne outscored the Braves 11-8. Shawn Clark had 3 hits, 2 RBI; Jesus Soto went 1 for 2 with 3 walks and 3 RBI. In game two, the Cowboys beat "No Trump" Reyes, 9-3, although they scored 6 runs in the 8th inning off of a series of Boise relief pitchers. Soto again led the offense. Game three was a Paul Lyons-led 6-5 win. The Cowboys lost game four, 6-1. van der Knaap was kept in check after game one, and Cheyenne certainly sent a message with the 3 big wins.

Cheyenne then went on to split a 4 game series with Seattle, and they just completed a 3 gamer with Sioux City, losing 2 of 3.

The Cowboys are 33-29 and sit third in the Pacific Division. Currently, Cheyenne is 3.5 games behind Boise. Sacramento is only .5 games back.

[Sal, The Barber]

15 June 2003
Sioux City, IA

As this season has evolved, there have been a number of changes in the Cowboy lineup. We will discuss those changes below.

A month ago, Randy Johnston apparently expressed some displeasure with not being in a starting lineup. Johnston was catching against lefties and/or playing every third day to spell Will Byrd. We can't be sure if GM Boo Bentley explored trading Johnston. Bentley has spoken highly of Johnston's value. He takes walks, hits the occasional home run, and keeps a lid on opponents' running games with a strong arm. Before this situation could blow up, Will Byrd began slumping so badly that management granted Johnston his wish. Byrd now plays every 3rd game, spelling Johnston. Johnston is hitting .322 with 4 HRs and 21 RBI. He has a .412 OBP.

Cy Sanders has taken over shortstop from Mike Beck. Beck's .205 average opened the door for Sanders. Sanders is hitting .263, but he started hotter and has recently cooled. Sanders, though, is having trouble staying healthy. He just strained an oblique muscle and went on the DL. Beck will have to step back in. Beck is a glue-guy, and he's done what's been asked of him so far. He's still reliable in the field. Sanders is just as good with the glove, so the balance of the playing time will go to the guy with the better bat or the one who is healthy. We won't be surprised if Beck seizes his second chance and makes the most of it. But Sanders appears to be the short-term solution at short for the Cowboys.

John O'Flanagan is having a strong season, hitting .319. But O'Flanagan just ended up on the DL for the first time this season. It looked like O'Flanagan just might avoid the DL this season, but that, I guess, was wishful thinking. O'Flanagan's injury is a sprained ankle, a bad one. He's expected to be out for 5-6 weeks!

But the real shuffling in the Cheyenne lineup has taken place on the hill. Ricardo Diaz was signed over the off-season, giving the Cowboys 6 starting pitching candidates. Ben Koch started the season in the rotation (with Lyons, Horton, Diaz, and Bryant) but was sent to AAA after two starts. John Cummings was brought up. Cummings has made 7 starts, and his ERA is 6.51. He's been sent back down to AAA. In the rotation now is Julio Garcia, a reliever Bentley picked up last season from Wichita for a journeyman first baseman. Garcia was tried as a starter at AAA and has pitched well there. He came up to the big club for two starts earlier in the year but went only 4 innings each time. His major league WHIP was 2.00. So Garcia went back down. Now he's back up for another chance. The real question is, Will anyone step up and seize this fifth starter spot? And while we're at it, we should note that Roy Horton, our supposed #2, is 4-7 with a 4.76 ERA. Maybe Bentley ought to look for two starters not one.

We're actually not recommending a trade, but you can bet Bentley is exploring the market.

One reason we're not recommending a trade is because there's such optimism in the air in relation to Cheyenne's prospects. The amateur draft was today, and Cheyenne is just starting to collect some prospects in their minor league system with real potential.

Here's a rundown of Cheyenne's top picks:
Round 1, outfielder Jim Anderson
Round 2, catcher Frank Hankins
Round 3, pitcher Cisco Guzman
Round 4, third baseman Javier Ramirez
(We traded our 5th pick)
Round 6, outfielder Lester Forbes
Round 7, pitcher Jeff "Sourface" Racine

It already appears that Racine will not sign with Cheyenne. He's a projected #1 with a bulldog mentality. But he's insisting on more money than Cheyenne owner Matt Ellis will let Bentley spend. Which is too bad because the guy has the best nickname in the game--"Sourface."

Lester Forbes is a speed guy, a contact hitter and plus defender. Projects to hit .300 and perhaps 20 HRs tops. And he's British of all things! From Liverpool.

Javier Ramirez could be a star. A big hitter--up to .350 average, big power. A very patient approach that will wear down pitchers and above average speed. Solid defensively as well.

The "Cisco Kid" specializes in breaking bats and has great control. He's projected to be a top line starter and big strike out pitcher. On the mound, he's aggressive; in the clubhouse, he's quiet and keeps to himself.

Frank Hankins is a good hitter with big, big power. He's got above .300 potential and a very patient approach. He's just an average catcher, so his bat will be his calling card.

Jim Anderson is another high average outfielder with not a lot of power. Good speed, good defense. He's a smart baserunner and should be consistently among the stolen base leaders. Another hitter with a very patient approach; he won't be an easy out ever.

The fifth pick was traded a couple of weeks ago with second base prospect Terry Whitfield for outfield prospect Arturo Garcia. In last year's draft, Bentley drafted three second basemen. Eric Kelham is the top-rated prospect. Ray Barraclough was rated at about the same level as Whitfield. Bentley also signed Clancy Wilson, another second baseman rated right there with Barraclough and Whitfield, in the off-season. So there's no doubt Cheyenne had a glut of second base prospects. Garcia is now ranked third among Cheyenne prospects--behind Kelham and shortstop Dave Burton. Garcia is another guy who wears pitchers out. He's not a power hitter, but his approach at the plate is exemplary. He's a little bit better than average fielder and a really smart guy.

Bentley told us he worked on this trade for a while. He felt that Cheyenne really had a dearth of outfield prospects but was reluctant to give up the draft pick in addition to Whitfield. In the end, he agreed to let go of his fifth pick to secure Garcia.

In today's draft, Bentley clearly targeted more outfielders--he drafted five of them. He picked up only two middle infielders. Bentley said he also tried to added corner infielders, but besides Javier Ramirez Cheyenne didn't add much--a couple of fringe first basemen. And he found only one catching prospect worth drafting. The rest of his picks were pitchers. Still, there are more promising players in the minors than there have ever been. There's no guarantee that they guys will turn out to be as good as we all think they'll be now, but, at the moment, the future looks as bright as it ever has.

[Orcin]

I just don't know what to make of the starting rotation. Cummings is a real negative surprise.

The injury to O'Flanagan is a tough loss.

I'm glad to see that Boo survived the 10-game losing streak. The heart is such a delicate organ. It can go quickly with little provocation.

[Sal, The Barber]

19 June 2003

INTERNAL MEMO

To: Terry Taylor, Vaughan Webster, Antonio Martinez, Jose Sosa
From: Boo Bentley
RE: Trade Market

Coaches:

We could make a deal today to send SP Ben Koch to Manchester for SP Mike Pearce. Here's how the 2 stack up according to Rucker. Both pitchers are leftys:

Koch 27 yrs old; 47 stf / 73 mvt / 41 con / 3.5 stars / 4.0 pot
Pearce 29 yrs old; 61 stf / 36 mvt / 59 con / 3.5 stars / 3.5 pot

We could get Manchester to sweeten the pot a bit with a draft pick--about a 10th rounder. Pearce's record this year is horrible; his ERA is currently over 10.00. Historically, he posts ERAs around 4-4.25, though.


Flint also has a young third baseman they'd be willing to deal for the right price. They're interested in Koch, but they'll take 3B Judson, outfield prospect Hodges, and a 5th round draft pick. The 3B is Brian Gustin, and he's better defensively than Judson, although he's not a great defender.

Gustin 23 yrs old; 56 con / 16 pwr / 39 eye / 74 spd / 2.5 stars / 4.5 pot
Judson 26 yrs old; 61 con / 16 pwr / 56 eye/ 75 spd / 3.0 stars / 3.0 pot

These two are similarly rated, and Gustin could probably take over the leadoff spot in the batting order. Hodges is rated at 2 star potential by Rucker. Remember, we'd get a 10th round pick back in the deal for Koch. Perhaps I can try to move that pick up closer to the 5th we'd have to give for Gustin.

I think we're still in the division; the move for Pearce would signal that we're trying to win this year, athough we'd be betting that he could turn around his season with a change of scenery. Giving up on Koch may be a mistake. Moving Judson improves our defense; we might take a slight hit offensively this year, but Gustin is younger. Hodges doesn't matter, I don't think.

Please weigh in with your opinion of these potential deals. And destroy this memo once you've read it.