Northern League Baseball: A humorously depressing look 50 years into the future...

[Orcin]

Bad news on Moreno. Maybe your DH could play the OF?

[Nunyer]

Heh.... you were thinking along the same lines that I was Orcin...

GM Journal - Replacing Moreno

For the immediate time being, I've decided to bring up my most promising Triple A hitter, Wilson Flores. He's a 20 year old lefty and ostensibly plays 1B, but he's awful in the field... According to his ratings, I think he wets himself every time a ball is hit in his direction. He's been one of our top prospects the last two years based on his hitting ability. Coach Summers, Mothballs and I all value defense... and we never felt Flores fit into our plans with Jeffrey Young cemented as the everyday DH. We've always thought he would be the sweetener in a trade, and he still might be, but for now it's time to see if he can earn his keep at the plate with the big boys.

Flores will be picking up the DH at-bats when facing RHP. DH Young will shift to RF, Harris will play CF, Summers/Pujols will platoon in LF based on the lefty/righty matchups. I've sent 2B/3B German Campos down to make room. Campos had shown some flashes, but was only hitting .212 after 23 starts and still swings at too many bad pitches. Some time at Springfield will hopefully serve him well. We'll be keeping OF Bill Thomas up, just because he's the only legitimate backup I have that can play CF with any degree of competence. He 's also probably the best base thief we have in the organization. On most days, we're going to be slightly weaker defensively, but lately our problem has been scoring runs... and hopefully Flores can provide some pop. He'll get a couple of weeks to settle in and then we'll reevaluate the situation.

When facing LHP, we'll be starting Paul Webb at catcher and giving the DH at-bats to Rex Scott.

UPDATE: The first game of Flores' big league career just wrapped. We were downed by the Pittsburgh Hardhats, 4-3. Flores went 1-for-4 with two K's and one walk.

[Nunyer]

Pittsburgh Results

Pittsburgh 4 - Columbus 3
Pittsburgh 3 - Columbus 1
Pittsburgh 9 - Columbus 10 (12 innings)

Series Notes
It took a grand total of six pitches for Scott 'Wildcat' Thompson to blow the save in the eighth inning of the series opener. Coming into a setup situation for a tired bullpen, Thompson quicky surrendered a single and a home run to turn the tight one run lead into a disheartening one run loss. The offensive struggles continued the second game, despite banging out ten hits, we could only muster the single run. The final game looked ugly at the beginning, starter Joe Davis gives up four runs before recording an out. We did rally to score the final five runs of the game for the comeback victory. Recently promoted Wilson Flores was only 2-for-10 in the series with five strikeouts, but one of his hits was huge. With two men on in the bottom of the ninth, Flores smokes a 2-run double to the gap that sent the game into extra frames. RF Jeffrey Young drew a walk to lead off the 12th and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly from 2B Kenny Phillips.

Coming up next...

• Visiting the scenic Bronx for three games against the Zoo
• Coming home to welcome the Chicago Fire for a three game set
• All-Star Break! (and the end of this horrible month of June)

[Nunyer]

Bronx Results

Columbus 3 - Bronx 5
Columbus 5 - Bronx 1
Columbus 3 - Bronx 0

Series Notes
Former Hot Dog Lawrence Williams got the better of his old team in the first game. The pitcher who came to the Zoo as part of the Jonathan Harris trade held Columbus to two earned runs and pitched into the eighth inning. Ruben Vega continued his career year in the second game, setting the all-time Hot Dogs record by striking out 13 batters. Vega improved to 7-5 on the season and lowered his ERA to a sparkling 1.81 while giving up no earned runs in the complete game effort. Wilson Flores also hit his first career NLB home run during the 5-1 victory. Jeffrey Young's 11th home run in the first inning was all the Hot Dogs needed to wrap up the final game, as four pitchers combine to shutout the Zoo on six hits. Aurelio Garza earns his ninth win of the season in his last start before the break.

1B Michael 'No Nickname' Jackson injured his elbow early in the first game of the series. He missed the remainder of the series and will likely not be ready for the first game against Chicago. The injury is not considered serious and Jackson should be ready to play after the All-Star break at the latest. In his first five games with the team, Wilson Flores hit .278 (6-for-22), with 1 HR, 1 double and 5 RBI. After a terrible two months to open the season, Don Nixon has hit .313 in the month of June.

Next update...
Three games against Chicago, currently 3rd in the division
Which Hot Dogs made the All-Star team?

[Nunyer]

Chicago Results

Chicago 3 - Columbus 4
Chicago 4 - Columbus 0
Chicago 3 - Columbus 0

Series Notes
The offensive woes continue, getting shut out on back to the back nights. I'm starting to think that playing the field everyday isn't do any favors for Jeffrey Young. He was already having a bad month of June, but he's been hitting well under .150 since he took over the everyday spot in RF. I've been working with Mothballs to try and find a deal somewhere for some outfield help. The problem is still that we have zero dollars in the budget, so we need to send more salary then we take back. This makes bringing in a veteran almost impossible. We have All-Star weekend to look over the league again and see if anything can be done.

Down on the Farm
We've signed 28 year old SP Rich Audley to a minor league deal and put him into the rotation at Triple A Springfield. Audley is a former 20 game winner and has three rings from his time with the 2046-48 Rhode Island dynasty. He had some arm troubles in 2049 and hasn't been the same pitcher since. At his peak, he struck out 283 batters in one season. While he has regained much of his velocity, he doesn't have the movement anymore. We don't expect much out of him beyond a half season of injury insurance for the rotation of our big club.

Editor's Note - All-Star game and divisional realignment
It appears as if I threw the game for a loop when I went to a three division, one league format. The game picked nobody for the All-Star game. The game didn't even appear on my schedule, the "Manually choose all-stars" showing up on the ticker along the top.... but the game is referred to as the "2052 All-Star Game" when we are in the year 2053. It's goofy... I have no idea if it can be fixed... something I'll have to look into. I was able to simulate past the ghost all-star game without any massive crashes, so that's a plus I suppose.

But if I had done manual voting, these Hot Dogs would have been All-Stars:
SP Ruben 'Big Stud' Vega : 7-5, 1.81 ERA, 15 starts, 4CG, 2SHO, 98K
SP Aurelio Garza: 9-3, 2.06 ERA, 15 starts, 1CG, 1SHO, 79K
CF Jonathan Harris: .323 AVG, .389 OBP, 5HR, 34RBI, 15SB
C Rex Scott: .314 AVG, .377 OBP, 20HR, 65RBI

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Nunyer

It appears as if I threw the game for a loop when I went to a three division, one league format. The game picked nobody for the All-Star game. The game didn't even appear on my schedule.

I am thinking that it needs two leagues to play each other. Just a guess. I'm glad it didn't crash your season.

[Nunyer]

Yea, it's probably some reliance on even numbers to logically divide the rosters... either two leagues or an even number of divisions. It worked fine last year, when it was one league but two divisions.

It's been spring cleaning weekend around the Nunyer house, so haven't had much time to goof around in front of the laptop.... but I'm probably going to back up the game, then launch the backup and figure something out.

If the easiest "fix" is to realign again, then that's likely what I'll do... Add a couple of teams to the mix, then split the thing into East/West sub-leagues, four total divisions with five teams each.. Worse case, it gives me an excuse to write more fake Old Man Selig stories.... Maybe have Buffalo play with the East and add St.Louis and Milwaukee as Western expansion teams or something...

[Nunyer]

Editor's Notes - Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads...

Ok, to investigate my ghost all-star game issue, I've ran four separate simulations from backup. Thanks to some help from forum member craftdr on the general discussions board, I was able to find the check box I was overlooking. It doesn't appear as if the All-Star game is possible under the 3 divisions / six teams each configuration. So, I guess that means another realignment and/or expansion is happening next year.

As far as the results of the simulations... I just couldn't help but look at how my Hot Dogs did in each time through the season with the CPU at the controls...

1st sim: Won division by 1 game, win Championship in seven games vs Philly
2nd sim: Lose division by 3 games, win Wild Card, lose in 1st round
3rd sim: Lose division by 7 games, miss wild card by 3 games.
4th sim: Lose division by 2 games, win Wild Card, lose in 1st round

So what does this tell us about peering into the future? Not a damn thing apparently. I shoulda known this contraption wasn't worth the money....

[Nunyer]

...and right back at after the.. uhh.. brief four day blank spot in the schedule where no exhibition game was played...

Hartford Results

Columbus 5 - Hartford 3
Columbus 0 - Hartford 4
Columbus 5 - Hartford 1

Current record: 47-31 (.603), 2nd place in division, 4GB

Series Notes
Big Stud Vega continued his unfortunate run of pitching great, but not factoring into the decision. Pitching against an almost exclusively right handed lineup, the big lefty battles for 5.2 innings and only surrenders two solo home runs. The Hot Dogs scratched out one run in each of the last three innings to take the game. The second game saw the continuing decline for the NLB career of Scott 'Wildcat Thompson. The 25 year old righty gives up three hits, two walks and four earned in under an inning of work and takes the loss. Hartford starter and seven time all-star Jonathan 'Huge' Small had to leave the game in the 5th inning with what could be a serious arm injury. Two Hartford relievers combined to blank Columbus the rest of the way. Joe Davis breaks out of his slump and evens his record to 6-6 in the final match of the series. Davis throws seven strong, allowing no runs while scattering eight hits and striking out three.

GM Journal
I've put Wildcat Thompson on the market. He's out of option years and I'm starting to think he just isn't that good. He had a pretty significant arm injury in the spring, but he faltered badly down the stretch last season when healthy. He's only 25 years old and will remain under team control getting paid peanuts for the next two seasons. With the budget situation what it is, I'll probably have to roll him over for a middling prospect or two. However, with the team struggling to score runs, I can't have a gas can in the bullpen. Especially with Cleveland playing so well... They came out after the break with a sweep of Richmond and have opened a four game lead in the division.

Up next...
Visiting Kentucky for three against the Bluegrass (42-36 overall)

[Nunyer]

Kentucky Fried Results... they're finger lickin good!

Columbus 13 - Kentucky 4
Columbus 4 - Kentucky 2 (10 innings)
Columbus 2 - Kentucky 5

Overall: 49-32 (.605), 4 GB

Series Notes
The Columbus bats help improve Jose Mendez's record to 7-6 on the year. The Hot Dogs smash 16 hits as Mendez pitches six innings giving up two earned runs. In the second game, Jonathan Harris draws a lead-off walk and then Jeffrey Young drives him home with a triple in the bottom of the 10th inning for the win. Timmy Hendricks picks up the win in relief and Jesus Vazquez earns his 14th save. Those two relievers have not allowed an earned run in a combined 36.1 innings of work! The third game was a bit rough, with Kentucky starter Jack 'Don' Sutton striking out 11 in eight strong innings. Ruben Vega had one bad inning, giving up three runs in the 2nd, to drop to 7-6 on the year and push his ERA over the 2.00 mark.

GM Journal
I'm in pretty serious talks with Buffalo in regards to sending them Scott Thompson. The piece we would be getting back is OF Ed Rogers. He's a 20 year old who can play all three positions in the outfield, although he is primarily suited for the corners. He is a former first round pick of the Soldiers and he's hitting just under .300 in limited playing time. He has little home run power, a problem for an every day corner OF, but he's probably the best we can hope for with the current situation. Buffalo has veteran OF Steve Ford coming off the DL in a few days and already have a log jam of talented outfielders in Triple A. I've tried to ask for a switch-hitting prospect they have down there, but they won't even consider moving him without another legit NLB player added to the mix from our end.

They could part with Rogers and could use Thompson to at least add talent to a pretty ugly pitching staff. Rogers bats left-handed and we already have plenty of lefty bats... But his splits are pretty respectable and his numbers against lefties are not bad. The only sticking point at this time is the sweetener that Buffalo wants to complete the deal. I'm strongly leaning towards pulling the trigger on this one. If he works out, it should allow me to trade Francisco Pujols in the off season or perhaps even by the deadline. He will likely be making three or four times more money next year after his first arbitration payday... I'm not sure if we'll be able to afford that for a platoon/backup player.

[Nunyer]

Washington Results

Washington 3 - Columbus 11
Washington 3 - Columbus 5
Washington 5 - Columbus 2

Series Notes
A wise, slightly chubby man once sang that two out of three ain't bad. That seems to be our motto lately, as we've taken two out of three in every one of the last three series. The first game showed how explosive our offense can be when it clicks. Francisco Pujols ties the Hot Dog single game record with a perfect 5-for-5 performance. Jeffrey Young blasts two home runs and goes for six RBI. Aurelio Garza becomes our first 10 game winner with a complete game effort. In the final game of the series, Jose Mendez set his own all-time Hot Dog record by issuing nine walks in only four innings of work. He takes the loss and drops to 7-7 on the season. We remain four games back, as the Comrades also win two-of-three... they ain't bad either.

GM Journal - Mothballs takes another Buffalo road trip
It looks like our opinion of Ed Rogers has been slightly reduced. Mothballs thinks his early NLB success in Buffalo isn't going to be sustained in the near term. We still like him... but not if he can't give the big club an immediate boost. Thompson is likely off the market for the immediate time being and we'll try to use him mainly in mop up duty. He might gain some value in the next three weeks leading up to the deadline.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Nunyer

GM Journal - Mothballs takes another Buffalo road trip
It looks like our opinion of Ed Rogers has been slightly reduced. Mothballs thinks his early NLB success in Buffalo isn't going to be sustained in the near term. We still like him... but not if he can't give the big club an immediate boost. Thompson is likely off the market for the immediate time being and we'll try to use him mainly in mop up duty. He might gain some value in the next three weeks leading up to the deadline.

Good call to get an updated scouting report on a young player before a trade. I often overlook this and it can save you a big mistake.

[Nunyer]

Yea, it's something I usually won't do with a veteran when I can look at 4-5 seasons worth of ML stats... but for a guy with less than 20 games of experience, I'm tossing the keys to Lerma's car over to my scouting director.

I still really like Ed Rogers, and Mothballs didn't ding his potential at all, just his current ability. With no further development, he'd be a decent 4th OF... and to give myself more flexibility to move bullpen arms with options back and forth at my fancy would be a nice luxury to have...

One of those seemingly little, insignificant decisions that eat up your thinking time. The big time bats and arms with the big time contracts... those guys are pretty much maintenance free for the most part. Even if they are slumping, chances are it will all balance out by the end... It's these bench guys, the potential future starters, the guys you need to deliver once every fourth or fifth game, the ones you can acquire for a no-name prospect and an underachieving reliever... those are the ones that keep you up at night... Or in my case, thinking about it during my commute to and from the office.

[Nunyer]

Richmond Results

Columbus 6 - Richmond 7
Columbus 0 - Richmond 3
Columbus 7 - Richmond 8

Series Notes
When we do hit, our bullpen blows the game. When pitch well, we can't score a run. We've been shut out six times since the beginning of our cold streak at the start of June. Cleveland is now seven games up in the division. Things are not looking good. I'm hoping that we will snap out of this funk soon... and that the first two months of the season weren't just a mirage of good luck. We get no favors from the schedule, as we face Philadelphia and Cleveland in two of the next three series. Any hopes of winning our division could be all but gone if we fail to perform in these critical games.

[Nunyer]

Philly Results
Philly 0 - Columbus 4
Philly 7 - Columbus 6
Philly 5 - Columbus 10
Series Notes
Can't complain with taking two of three from the League Champs. Joe Davis put in a stellar performance in the first game, holding the Felons to only two hits over seven innings. Two critical booted groundballs killed us in the second game, allowing the three go-ahead unearned runs in the 7th inning. In the final we manage four triples, two by Condor Summers to lead the charge.

Buffalo Results
Columbus 2 - Buffalo 3
Columbus 10 - Buffalo 6
Columbus 3 - Buffalo 2 (16 innings)
Series Notes
Just what I need before a critical series against the division leaders... a 16 inning game where we had to burn through seven pitchers. Thank goodness that at least we came away with the win and took two of three in the series.

Up Next...
Looks like I have some trades in the hopper... as the phones and emails have been buzzing the last three days. I can tell we're less than two weeks until the deadline...

[Nunyer]

GM Journal - House cleaning trade bonanza!
The phones have been ringing off the hook around here... and I haven't been answering them because I'm on phone calls of my own. I can clearly tell the deadline is less than two weeks away... The entire time the team was on the road in Buffalo, I was looking to deal. Doesn't look like we're going to make any huge moves, but we have a bunch of stuff in the hopper...

Paul Webb has finally had enough with getting sparse playing time as a platoon C/1B and wants out. With the team struggling for the last 6-7 weeks, I don't need any malcontents on the bench. The problem is that nobody is really interested in giving me back a decent catcher in return for Webb... so I'm going to need to make a couple of deals here.

Columbus sends:
SS Jose Garcia
2B Robin Taylor (AA)
Buffalo sends:
C Jose Barajas

Garcia has been my defensive wizard, able to capably play all four IF positions and swipe the occasional base. But he's not very good at the plate and is out of options. I want utility infielder German Campos back with the big club and Garcia was the odd-man out. Barajas will become my backup catcher. Not as good defensively as Webb, and unfortunately also a left handed bat like Rex Scott, but Barajas should be an improvement in regards to getting on base.

Columbus sends:
C/1B Paul Webb
Kentucky sends:
MR Emilio Garcia (AAA)
MR Kevin Laudner (AAA)

Two middle of the road pitching prospects from Kentucky were much better than anything I could get from anywhere else. Garcia is a lefty and could be an emergency starter at the NLB level, but will likely never be much more than a 3-star player. Laudner is a wild thrower, but has electrifying stuff. He will be in the in mix with the big club, along with a number of other hard throwing RHP that we have down in our Springfield bullpen.

Columbus sends:
MR Scott 'Wildcat' Thompson
MR Gordon Ward (AAA)
Cincinnati sends:
1B Bob Davis (AA)

Thompson was out of options and I had plenty of other guys to shuffle back and forth between the Springfield and Columbus bullpens. Gordon Ward is a borderline starter and a decent enough pitcher, Cincy will immediately have him in the rotation at their triple A affiliate. I probably overpaid, sending two NLB ready pitchers for a prospect... but he is a pretty decent prospect. Davis can play all four IF positions and could play corner OF in a pinch. I was after him as potential replacement for Mike "No Nickname" Jackson in the next year or two. Jackson has been highly paid the last two seasons and has not consistently produced. He might be gone this off season. I will be assigning Davis to Triple A for the rest of the season.

This all looks more impressive then it is... At the end of today, I've just shuffled around some bench, bullpen and minor league guys.... and as far as NLB ability for this season, I gave away more than I got in return... But it makes me feel like I'm doing something to help the team.. .even though I'm probably not... and least not in any significant near term kind of way.

[Nunyer]

Cleveland Results

Cleveland 3 - Columbus 7
Cleveland 6 - Columbus 9
Cleveland 6 - Columbus 7

Transaction Notes: prior to the series
Prior to this series, we had a grueling 16 inning marathon against Buffalo. The bullpen was gassed, so we sent down Pedro Campos and Earl Barnes to Springfield to take some rest. We sent up Kevin Ladner, Kevin Pierce and Dave Robinson. We also promoted German Campos to take the place of the departed Jose Garcia.

Series Notes
A three game sweep at home! Gets us right back into the discussion, now trailing the Comrades by only three games. Newly acquired backup catcher Jose Barajas committed two throwing errors, but managed to reach base three times with a walk, HBP and a two-run single. Tricky Nixon hits what ended up being the game winning solo home run in the 6th inning. Another new acquisition, Kevin Ladner gives up five hits over three innings, but gets his second career NLB save.

The second game saw Big Stud Vega battling against an all righty lineup. He survives for seven innings, giving up four earned with four strikeouts for his 9th win of the season. German Campos made his presence felt in his first game back with the big club, hitting a double and a triple while collecting two RBI. Rex Scott hits a three run shot, his 24th on year. Jeffrey Young hyper-extended his left knee sliding into third on a triple. He left the game and was placed on the DL the following morning. The initial diagnosis will have him missing 2-3 weeks. Floyd Stephens, a 25 year old switch hitter has been recalled from Springfield. Stephens hasn't seen an at-bat in the NLB since 2051, when he went 2-for-10 in a brief three game call-up. He was hitting .277 with 11 HR for the Isotopes.

The final game in the series went down to the wire. After reliever Jose Aurillo gave up a two-run home run to the first batter he faced, things looked grim. But the Hot Dog offense got some help from Cleveland. In the 8th inning, an error and two walks helped push two runs across to tie the game. Then in the bottom of the ninth, Armando Castilho delivered the walk-off solo shot to conclude the home sweep.

Transaction Notes: after the series
Ladner will stay with the big club for now, keeping the spot vacated when Scott Thompson was traded. Robinson and Pierce were sent back down and Campos and Barnes were recalled.

GM Journal
Wow... we are all very happy here at the Hot Dogs complex... Saw Lerma for the first time in weeks... Apparently he is very serious about this Yak Dairy that he's running about 40 miles out of town... He gave me a nice high-five right as Castilho's game winner cleared the left center fence.

While it is a bummer about Young, thank goodness it was only a strain. That knee bent all kinds of ways that are just wrong and unnatural. I thought for sure he was finished for the year. Floyd Stephens has had an up and down career in the minors, killing it one year only to look lost the next. I don't see him being a star in this league, but he is a very good defensive corner outfielder and hits left handed pitching fairly well. Hopefully he can give us some good at-bats over the next three weeks.

Speaking of good at-bats... Bill Thomas has shown that he wants the 4th outfielder job. I was so hellbent on bringing in some OF help after the Moreno injury, I totally overlooked Thomas and his .385 tear during the month of July. Since my last round of trades to clean up the bench... I think I am riding this team to the end. Got no money to bring in much outside help anyways.... Let's go Hot Dogs!

Up next...
An update that is likely far less long-winded... and a three game set against the Brooklyn Biohazard.

[Nunyer]

Brooklyn Results
Columbus 5 - Brooklyn 9
Columbus 0 - Brooklyn 6
Columbus 1 - Brooklyn 3

Cincinnati Results
Cincinnati 4 - Columbus 2
Cincinnati 1 - Columbus 0
Cincinnati 5 - Columbus 11

60-42 (.588), 2nd place, 7 GB

Series Notes
It's one step forward and two steps back. All the momentum we gained in the sweep of Cleveland has been lost and then some. They have ripped off six in a row since our little speed bump of a series and opened up a seven game lead in the division. In our last four losses we score a total of three runs and were shut out twice. We faced a couple of good pitchers in the mix, but we have to at least score something against good pitchers if we expect to go anywhere. We still hold a four game lead in the wild card race... We visit beautiful Detroit for a three game set against the Machine... then it's the trade deadline.

[Nunyer]

Detroit Results
Columbus 5 - Detroit 3 (13 innings)
Columbus 12 - Detroit 1
Columbus 1 - Detroit 3

Series Notes
Jesus Vazquez blew his 3rd save of the season in the first game. He's been let down by his fielding however, in all three blown saves this year Vazquez has not allowed an earned run. In the top of the 13th, DH Wilson Flores brings home the go-ahead runs with a 2-run double. The second game had me wishing I could bottle the mojo from these 12 run outbursts and more evenly distribute the runs. Columbus bangs out three doubles and three home runs in the win. The final game, the offense pulled it's disappearing act, managing only six hits. Ruben 'Hard Luck' Vega drops to 9-9, once again getting next to nothing in run support. He goes the distance in the loss, giving up three runs and seven hits while striking out eight.

Just when I thought we were done with making roster moves...
Condor Summers injured himself tracking down a line drive to the gap in the final game of the series. The official diagnosis is not yet in, but it doesn't look good. With only a few hours until midnight, I'm madly making calls looking for a replacement. I don't trust anybody we have playing outfield in the minors. We are going all in to win this year, the gloves are off, any prospect is on the table. I can't take on any significant salary, so that means I will be shipping out considerable amounts of promising youth to bring in a younger player. Hope I can get something done... and hope if and when I do, the move pays off. I will likely be mortgaging a chunk of the future... I guess that's why they pay me...

[Nunyer]

GM Journal - Decisions, decisions...

As I type this, I have about two hours left to pull the trigger on an outfielder. I need a guy making the minimum, I can't take on any salary. The guys that are on the radar that fit our needs all play for teams that also can't take any significant salary in return. I will be shipping out talent from the minors to make this happen, multiple pieces as well. There are a number of guys out there, but the two most attractive are...

If I want to go all-in, with no regards to the future of the farm system... the true prize is:
Gerardo Medina - 22 years old - Bats R - Washington Colonials
Gerardo is the real deal in terms of raw talent. A former first overall pick, he's a legit 4.5 tool player if he puts it all together, with only his base running speed being average. That said, he's only hit .244/.308/.412 across 144 NLB games and he strikes out at a pretty consistent clip. If he continues to develop, he's going to be a LF that we can build around for the next 5-6 seasons. If he doesn't work out, then I'm in trouble, as the asking price is going to decimate the farm system.
Asking price: SP Josh Gross (AA), SP Francisco Colomo (AAA), MR Kevin Pierce (AAA), 2B Raul Romo (SA). If you are keeping score at home, and I am, that's three of our top 10 prospects. Pierce would clearly be in that mix as well, but he has too much NLB service time to be considered a prospect anymore. That's our top two SP prospects, a middle reliever that has already had NLB success in limited call-ups, and our most promising low-A infielder. It's a kings random, but a perfectly understandable asking price, Medina could become the type of player you only see once or twice a decade. "could become" being the key part of that last sentence.

If I decide I'm going to wussy out and protect my top-tier prospects...
Paul McWhirter - 23 years old - Bats: R - Cincy Cockroaches
McWhirter is not as heralded, has a lower ceiling and less raw talent. Better on the bases and slightly better defensively than Medina, he doesn't have the deep ball power or the potential to be a perennial all-star. His NLB numbers are similar to Medina's overall... McWhirter enjoying a better average, but lower slugging and roughly identical OBP numbers.
Asking Price: SP Jason Lemessurier (AAA), CF Paul Cowart (AAA), 2B Raul Romo (SA). We don't believe Lemessurier has the control to ever be more than a back-of-the-rotation guy at the NLB level, that said, he is considered the 10th best prospect in our system. Cowart has raw ability to burn, but we have doubts he'll ever develop into an NLB hitter. We gave him an extended look last season and he only hit .198 in 34 games... and he's only hitting .256 this year in Springfield. That said, he has legit Gold Glove ability at any OF position, works hard as anyone and could probably steal 50+ bases a year if given the green light. Cowart was considered our 4th best prospect last season, but now has too much NLB service time to be ranked anymore. As stated earlier, Romo is our best infielder prospect in lower A and is currently our 7th highest ranked prospect.


and the winner is...

Paul McWhirter

I just couldn't part with the asking price for Medina... especially since he hasn't shown much at this level. I am still counting on Colomo and Gross to pitch meaningful innings for the big club before the end of next season. Pierce has pitched meaningful innings this season and will likely get more chances.

With the McWhirter deal, I part with two talented players in Cowart and Lemessurier, but guys that didn't seem to have a fit with the big club and who likely would not have helped us this season. Romo could be something special, but he's 2-3 years out anyways.

It's 11:51pm and I'm not sure that Destiny knows how to work the fax machine... Fax Machines?!? What is this, 1983!?! Damn crumbling world economy forcing us to use this outdated technology... Let's hope the league gets this in time.