The Chicago Skyhawks

[gehrig38]

Record: 30-21
Position: t-1st
Runs Scored: 282 (2nd)
Runs Allowed: 262 (7th)
Defense: .653 (14th)
Power Ranking: 109.3 (5th)
Owner Mood: Ecstatic ; Fan Interest: 63? Dropped another point?

• Last Week (3-3): 2-1 vs Boston 1-2 vs Phoenix
• Beat Boston 5-0 on Monday. Angelo Aguayo tossed a complete game 6 hitter on just 111 pitches and punched out 4.
• Defense continues to hammer us. 2 errors allowed 4 unearned runs vs Phoenix on Friday and Antonio Sevela moved to 7-1 3.71 in a CG 8-1 win. Feldmann also threw 3 wild pitches, two with the bases loaded, and hit a batter.
• Joey Artrip went 3-3 in a 7-1 loss Friday to Phoenix. Also stole his 4th bbase and is now hitting .316.
• Antonio Almodovar ended a 3 game losing streak on Saturday going 8 strong to move to 6-3 and Nate Diaz notched his 12th save and has been slowly dropping the ERA (4.76).
• Pam Pininferino led off with his 1st career leadoff HR.
• Ian Drewes has taken the team lead in RBI's 45-42 over Ken Evans.
• Marciano Granda has moved into 3rd in the all-star voting, Ken Evans still leads all 3B. He's 60k votes in front of “Umlaut”.
• Ken Schlitt (SAC) tossed a 4-hitter vs Dallas in a 5-0 win. It was his first win of the season. He's 1-3 6.03
• This week: 3 vs Long Beach (28-23) 3 @ San Diego (25-26) 1 vs Fort Worth (21-30)

[gehrig38]

Record: 34-24
Position: 1st +1
Runs Scored: 308 (4th)
Runs Allowed: 299 (8th)
Defense: .650 (14th)
Power Ranking: 102.7 (8th)
Owner Mood: Ecstatic ; Fan Interest: 61? Down 2 pts...

• Last Week (4-2): 2-1 vs Long Beach 1-2 @ San Diego 1-0 vs Fort Worth
• Miami Sun Dogs SP Dustin Griffin tossed the seasons 1st no-hitter in beating Vegas 6-0. 3-time all-star, former 20 game-winner, and 2030 World Champion Dustin has had a rough last year and a half. Combined to go 8-20 last year after 22, 17, 13 and 14 win seasons. He's 4-5 3.97 on the year.
• Evans (14) Gonzalez (3) back to back 6th inning HR's were all that was needed in a 3-2 win over Long Beach Tuesday. Arvid Uto took POTG going 6 innings on just 1 earned run. Pen tossed 3 scoreless. Diaz saved his 13th. Ferdinando Montes lowered his ERA to 0.67.
• Sending out feelers on Aaron Maynard and all I am getting back are veterans with worse contracts than his.
• Long Beach ace Randy Ruf, who we beat earlier this year shut us down going 8 and allowing just 2 hits and an unearned run to win his 7th. Keith Feldmann gave up 6 in 5 and is sporting a 6.99 ERA after 7 starts.
• Eric Molstad got pounded on Wednesday giving up 7 runs on 8 hits with 5 of them doubles in a 10-2 loss.
• Ken Evans hammered his 15th HR in a 3-4 day, driving in 3 in a 6-5 win over San Diego. Montes gave up just his 2nd earned run of the year skyrocketing his ERA to 0.98. Nate closed it out with a perfect 9th for his 14th. Evans is at .352-15-46 on the year.
• Columbia Black Cats 1B Pedro Solorzano had 2 hits in a 3-1 loss today. The 2nd hit was his 300th career HR. The homer moves him into 21st all-time in the PBL. New York Empire 1B Travis Wiemann (who spent every day of his 16 years and 52 days in the Empire uniform) is the all-time leader with 554. And he is the only hitter in league history to hit 500+ HRs. The closest active player is Memphis' Dou-guan Li with 469.

Chicago recalls phenom.
The best prospect in the PBL is no longer a 'minor leaguer'. In a somewhat surprising move, the Skyhawks have recalled Javier Oliva and sent P Ken Feldmann to AAA Chicago.
“The drive here took 25 minutes but it feels like I'm in another world,” the starry-eyed fireballer remarked. "I've waited my whole life for this. Not a 'cup of coffee' or a 'callup' but a real shot to earn a job playing against the best players in the world. Nothing against the Iron Pigs, I love my teammates, but I don't ever want to go back.”
GM Curt Schilling remarked “We all agreed that this was the right move. Ken needs more time and we told him that, he's still very much a part of our plans moving forward. No one doubts the ceiling of Javier Oliva but we made it clear to him that we didn't need him to win 20 games in his next start. Just relax, let Marciano help guide you along. Don't look over your shoulder, don't pitch thinking “If I do bad...”, just do what you've done all your life and it will work out. I agree with him in the sense I hope he never puts on a minor league uniform again but as will be the case for anyone in this organization that will likely be 100% up to him.”
Oliva is set to start Sunday vs Fort Worth in a nationally televised game on the PBL Network.

BACKROOM CHATTER
This wasn't all that tough of a decision. His makeup is the main reason. He's not a huge emotional swing guy. He competes and wants to kick your ass but over the past 2 seasons, and especially after the tough September last year, he's shown us that he now understands the difference between throwing and pitching. I'm excited to see this play out. For me, the new guy, Javier is the centerpiece of what I want to build here. He's the kid I want the coach to hand the ball to in our 1st world series game...

• Class A New Orleans is now 7 and 43.
• Pam Pininferino went 4-4 with a homer, SB and drove in 2 and Ken Evans 16th homer of the season was a grand slam in a 9-6 win over Fort Worth. Diaz notched his 15th save and has put a nice string of appearances together. Hate to have to say it couldn't be coming at a better time...But...
• Ferdinando Montes had to leave the game in the 8th after grabbing his elbow. No word yet but this is one injury I cannot afford. On the injury front, the news wasn't any better for David Robledo. He was due off the DL Saturday but the training staff informed us he's going to need at least another week.
• Ken Evans climbed to 2nd in the overall balloting for the All-Star game with 1.053 million. Philadelphia Patriot CF Pat Parkhurst leads the overall voting with 1.062 million votes. Granda is still clinging to 3rd 330K votes behing NY Empire backstop Phil Whitley.
• This week: 2 vs Ft Worth (23-35) 3 @ New York (33-25) 1 vs Miami (33-25)
• The series in New York will be the first “big series” this franchise has seen in years. We are 34-24 to their 33-25 and 1 game up as of today.

Skyhawks Player of the Month – Ken Evans could have won again. He hit .311/.422/.623 with 8 HR's 22 RBI's but we went with Ian Drewes. Ian hit .336/.438/.579 with 6 2B 1 3B 6 HR 27 RBI's. Plus it makes me feel better about the Merz trade.

As of today
Ron Merz .305/.369/.516 OPS .885 11 2B 1 3B 9 HR 40 RBI 41 K 21 BB 0.8 WAR
Ian Drewes .319/.414/.512 OPS .925 12 2B 1 3B 9 HR 48 RBI 31 K 32 BB 2.0 WAR

Skyhawks Pitcher of the Month – Ferdinando Montes 3-0 2 SV 0.50 ERA 18 IP 8 H 10 BB 22 K .216 BABIP .138 OppAvg
Skyhawks Minor League Pitcher of the Month – Javier Oliva (AAA) 2-2 2.67 33.2 IP 33 H 40 K 8 BB .244 OppAvg all that with a BABIP of .326
Skyhawks Minor League Player of the Month – Jon Boisjolie (AAA) .379/.434/.553 8 2B 2 3B 2 HR 18 RBI 11 SB (he's the leagues 14th rated prospect and our #2. I am the only person in the room who does NOT think he should be in Chicago on the OTHER team right now. He will likely settle in center or right but he can also play some 2B and SS in an emergency. Not for nothing but he had a BABIP of, get this, .536! Never seen a month close to that high.


PBL WL Player of the Month – Ryan Keck 1B (PHI) .342 10 HR 29 RBI .430 OBP
PBL WL Pitcher of the Month – Kyle Gaynor (SF) 4-2 1.52 47.1 IP 46 K OppAvg.197
PBL EL Player of the Month – Jordan Vital SS (BRO) .407 4 HR 24 RBI 28 Runs
PBL EL Pitcher of the Month – Chris Policasatro (SAN) 4-1 1.17 46 IP 40 K
PBL WL Rookie of the Month – Izzy Martinez SP (COL) 4-2 2.36 37 K 42 IP .217 OppAvg
PBL EL Rookie of the Month – Dylan Harris 2B (SAN) .347 2 HR 9 RBI 22 R

[gehrig38]

Record: 37-27
Position: 1st +3
Runs Scored: 335 (4th)
Runs Allowed: 328 (7th)
Defense: .658 (14th) We are also sporting a team ZR of -11.2 which is 'good for” 13th.
Power Ranking: 108.2 (5th)
Owner Mood: Ecstatic; Fan Interest: 62 HEY! Up 1. Buncha frontrunners.

• Last Week (3-3): 0-2 vs Fort Worth 3-0 vs New York 0-1 vs Miami
• Week opens on something worse than a down note. Javier Oliva isn't terrible in a 12-5 loss, giving up 6 runs but only 3 earned over 5.1 innings, striking out 5 and walking 4.
• No, the worse than bad news is that Ferdinando Montes has a torn rotator cuff. The most optimistic outlook is him returning sometime after the all star break next year.
• Left hander Tyler Hendricks is recalled but that's not a long term solution. We're far enough into this thing to believe our record is our record. We have a chance to play October baseball. This is what you pay GM's to do. I'll find a solution to address the now gaping hole in the bullpen.
• To that end I placed a claim on 27 year old RH reliever Tony Martinez who is with Memphis. Got a touch of gopher ball but has room to improve and our scouts like him.
• New York OF Justin Frost stole home in Thursdays 7-2 win. Don't think I've ever had that happen in ANY game in any league. Antonio Almodovar took POTG honors with 7.1 innings of 3 hit ball giving up 2 runs 1 earned and punching out 7. 2 more errors. Evans (17) and Pininferino (10) went deep and a spur of the moment lineupo change moving Granda to the 5 hole saw him go 3-5 and drive in a run (21). Wild pitches and passed balls seem to be a thing. Not sure how to address that. Tyler Hendricks threw 1.2 scoreless in his 2040 debut.
• Chris Brown is eligible to come off the DL and he'll head to AAA to get a few rehab starts in. If everyone else stays healthy I might move Oliva to the pen and Brown back into the rotation. We'll see how it plays out.
• A waiver claim on 27 year old righty Tony Martinez went through. I am going to shake the pen up a bit. Alex Trevino (1-0 5.14 1.71 WHIP) will go from the pen to AAA to start. Martinez will be added to the roster.
• Thursday's game saw Angelo Aguayo take home POTG honors going 8 scoreless on 6 hits. He struck out 4 but walked 6. He beat two way star Aaron Ayers who gave up just 2 in 6 and went 0-4 leading off.
• Arvid Uto followed Aguayo's gem with one of his own. He took home POTG honors as well with another 8 scoreless. He allowed 5 hits, 5 walks and punched out 4 in the second 4-0 win in two days and completed a 3 game sweep of the Empire to push us into the division lead.
• Javier Oliva was solid in his 2nd start. 7 innings 3 hits 2 earned runs. Everything fell into place until a 2 out 9th inning error (by Roberto Morales!) allowed a 3-2 lead to be a tie game and also gave Nelson Diaz his 6th blown save. Morales did hit a game tying 2B in the 11th but they got to Chris Turner in the 14th for 3. Tony Martinez made his debut going 3 innings giving up a run on 1 hit. Kenny Evans was POTG “runner up” going 3-5 with a 2B (15) HR (18), scoring 2 and driving in 2 more (56). Drewes is chasing him in average (Evans .339 to .335) and RBI's (Evans 56 to 52).
• San Antonio Stallions 1B Jamie Krant got his 2000th career hit in a 2-4 win today. His career line of .264 features 2000 hits and 416 home runs (5th all time) with 1269 RBI's (12th all time).
• Keith Feldmann reported a case of “dead arm” to the AAA training staff and will head to the DL for two weeks.
• San Francisco starter Danny Perez shut out Vegas on 4 hits and punched out 12.
• Almost all my draft picks are signed. Well “All” meaning all the picks after the 1st 6. None of them have signed yet.
• This week: 2 vs Miami (35-29) 3 @ Philadelphia (33-30) 2 vs Columbia (27-37)
  
• The defense is no joke. I don't really see that as a thing that can be fixed mid season, there are no Cabrera or Mientkiewicz trades I don't think. But mark it down as a HUGE priority this off season. Bench players have to have way more versatility in a league with no DH.

2040 PBL Amateur Draft
One of my favorite things about OOTP is the draft. I don't usually EVER allow it to just pick players. I like to send scouts out and scout anywhere from 10-40 potential picks and try and break down the reports and see if I can snag a sleeper or hidden gem.
One thing I have made a commitment to. I will NOT draft any player who my scouts question their work ethic. I'll deal with anything else but that's a deal-breaker for me.

The first overall pick this year by San Diego was TCU outfielder and Canadian to boot, Cam Noftle. He was projected as the 1st overall pick. The bureau raves on the kid. Monster bat, 100 steal speed, gold glove in RF or CF.
Nick O'Connell and our scouts like him, but do not think he's the 5-star talent the OSA does. They have him around 3.5 stars. I was suspect for no other reason than while playing at TCU which is “good” competition, not top tier elite. He hit .297/.382/.629 18 HR 34 SB in 53 games. Great numbers and a great year. But if I am picking #1 I want a kid who was a man amongst boys. Who's stat sheet reads like a video game. That's not to say he isn't or won't, but I don't buy the 5 stars.

Here is our 2040 draft. 2 things are quickly apparent. We went for college pitching early and HS players with high ceilings and good skillsets in the 2nd half of the draft.
Our first pick was the kid mentioned last month, Clete Back. 6'5” flamethrower. If I had a gripe it would be that 2 of the top 4 picks are already 23 years old. To be honest I ordered picks the 1st five slots that went against the scouts, except for #1. Every player they were after had questionable work habits. It will be interesting to see how these 4 arms shake out.

[gehrig38]

Record: 40-31
Position: 1st +1
Runs Scored: 373 (t-5th)
Runs Allowed: 365 (7th)
Defense: .653 (14th)
Power Ranking: 93 (11th)
Owner Mood: Ecstatic ; Fan Interest: 63 +1! Two weeks in a row.

• Last Week (3-4): 2-0 vs Miami 1-2 @ Philadelphia 0-2 vs Columbia
• Tampa Pirate RF Estevan Guaman joined the 2000 hit club. At 35 he's a career .331 hitter with 235 homers, 980 RBI's. The 2029 PBL Western league Rookie of the year is a 4 time all star, 2 time silver slugger winner and was a member of the 2028 Long Beach Titans world series win. Nicknamed “Hollywood”.....
• Tied 4-4 with Miami heading into the bottom of the 8th our offense had its biggest inning of the year. Scoring 8 runs in a 12-5 win. Jon Gonzalez 3-3 3B 2 R 2 RBI and Ian Drewes 3-5 HR (12) 2 RBI (55) were the catalyst.
• RJ Borque (1st round 28th overall) and Billy Volk (2nd round 64th overall) both signed today and will head to their respective clubs.
• Antonio Almodovar and Nate Diaz “Combined” on a 13 hit shutout.... Antonio went 8 on 10 hits and punched out 9 while Diaz got his 16th save by somehow giving up 3 hits and surrendering 0 runs. Aaron Maynard went 3-4 with a 2B SB and an RBI. He's now hitting .441/.469/.538 in 93 at bats. Almodovar is now tied for the league lead in wins with 9 alongside Kyle Gaynor (SF) and Antonio Sevilla (PHX). Gaynor is after the pitching triple crown. A league leading 2.13 ERA to go with 102 K's which is 2nd to Long Beach's Randy Ruf (112)
• Angelo Aguayo went 7 strong (6H 2K) Joey Artrip had 3 hits and Ken Evans slammed his 19th home run in a 6-2 win to open the Philadelphia series.

Dear Mr Schilling,
My contract is up after the season and I have really come to like it here. My family loves the city and I do too. I would like to play here next year, and after that if possible. Can we work something out?”
Nestor Diaz

Even with a horrid April he has turned his season around. He's 2-4 with 16 saves and the 3.77 ERA would seem high if you didn't know where it was in late April. His peripherals are trending and all of these numbers are accompanied by a .378 BABIP indicating he's had some crappy luck. 28.2 IP, 29 H 12 BB 42 K's and just 1 HR allowed. All great by the factor that matters is the ask. He's making 3.16 million this year. Touching base with his agent yielded some valuable information in that he's looking for a 2-3 year deal at 3.7 per. This is a legitimate ask and I'll respond accordingly. Our scouts are all for locking him down.

Chicago proposes 4-year deal to star closer
Anticipating a bidding war for Closer Nestor Diaz the Chicago Skyhawks are trying to keep him from free agency with a 4 year 14.25 m dollar offer. Diaz is 2-4 3.77 ERA with 16 Saves (which is tied for 3rd in the WL).

I had hoped to NEVER have negotiations made public and this is something that will be addressed moving forward. The 4th year of the deal is a club option with a 750K buyout and the 3 previous years are all under what he was initially asking.

• Miami Sun Dog Eric Burchette (2B) went 2-4 to record his 2000th career hit Thursday. He's a lifetime .308 hitter with 373 2B's 80 3B's 67 HR's and 722 RBI's. He's scored 1084 runs. He's a 3 time gold glove winner at 2B, 4 time all star, won a silver slugger at SS, world champion in 2031 and WLCS MVP in 2036.

Catcher Corey Reed was the 10th overall pick in the 2036 draft by the Indianapolis Racers out of Wayne High School. He's 22 now and our scouts have him as a potential 3.5 star guy. Runs exceptionally well and is already an above average defender, thrower and game caller. He's 6'5” 210, has an exceptional work ethic, is considered very much a leader and a great teammate. He's the 71st ranked prospect in the PBL.
I mention this because in the course of poking around Racer GM Jesus Gutierrez bit. Organizational catching depth is non-existent. Kyle McDougle, our top prospect is a 2.5-star ceiling guy according to O'Connell and the scouts.
The problem? The price. In return, Gutierrez wants 25-year-old Mike Wright (Leagues 25th rated prospect) 23-year-old CF Jon Boisjolie (14th rated prospect in the PBL) and our 2041 2nd rounder (we would get their 3rd). Wright is too old to be a true prospect in my opinion and as I look ahead and think about versatility and whatnot, he's a 2B only. He was acquired in a trade with Phoenix in 2038. Boiselle was the club's 1st pick in last year's draft (3rd overall) and is a 3.5-star guy according to our scouts. He's an OF (RF and CF above avg) as well as being able to play some innings in the middle infield. He's hitting .318/.376/.500 with 6 HRs and 40 RBI's at AAA Chicago. He's a guy that can be tough to keep focused at times. I have no attachment in that he was a pick of the last GM (my assistant GM btw) but given the state of the minors and how good and stocked it is in many places do I want to trade a kid that this group had so much confidence in taking 3rd overall? He's likely ready late this year and knocking on the door for an opening day spot next spring.
FWIW Reed is hitting .333/.412/.579 in AA with 10 HR 42 RBI's and 6 SB. His 9.07 RF and +2.3 ZR combined with a 1.041 EFF and 36.7% caught stealing all point to him as a future gold glove contender behind the dish.
I'm going to sit on this for a day or two. My first instinct is no, too much.

• Dave Robledo was cleared to play. Andres Hernandez will head back to AAA. I was going to rehab but decided against it.
• The bullpen situation is going to be my bugaboo. Tyler Hendricks is the only lefty down there so I am trying to get him into situational matchups. In a 6-4 loss, he came in with a 4-3 lead to face two lefties, the 2nd of which was Pedro Solorzano. Pedro has 22 HR's which has him tied for 2nd with Umlaut. He homered on the 2nd pitch. Aaron Maynard went 2-4 and is now hitting .444 in 99 at bats.
• At the conclusion of Friday's games I had successfully signed all of the 2040 draft picks with just one negotiation being drawn out.
• Antonio Almodovar went 7 strong in the middle game vs Columbia. 5 hits, 7 k's and an earned run. A 3-1 lead evaporated in the 9th as Nestor Diaz gave up 3 runs on 4 hits and walk to blow his 7th save.

This week: 1 Columbia (32-42) OFF 3 vs Washington (40-35) All Star Break

[gehrig38]

Record: 42-33
Position: 1st (+2)
Runs Scored: 394 (t-4th)
Runs Allowed: 386 (8th)
Defense: .649 (14th)
Power Ranking: 97.8 (9th)
Owner Mood: Ecstatic; Fan Interest: 65

It's probably obvious but the bulleted lines are from the schedule, league, season. Things not bulleted are league stories or GM stuff for those not wanting to read my wordy ass posts.

• Last Week (2-2): 0-1 vs Columbia 2-1 vs Washington
• Dallas Bulls starter Rick Fike tossed a 1-hitter vs Brooklyn today to move to 7-5 3.15
• David Robledo's 22 game hitting streak ended on Sunday in a 9-7 loss. Aguayo was horrible (8 earned) and we got beaten despite Ian Drewes and Ken Evans BOTH going 3-5 with a homer and 2 runs scored.
• Ended up spending just under a million less than I had allocated to the draft.

$$$ keep superstar Diaz in Chicago.
Media analysts hailed Chicago's signing of closer Nestor Diaz, on of the PBL's brightest stars, as a pivotal move.
While the deal is certain to raise a few eyebrows, Diaz is expected to earn every bit of the 14.25 million promised to him over 4 years.
Up this point, Diaz has made 30 appearances with 16 saves in 23 opportunities. His 2-5 record and 4.55 ERA are not indicative of his normal season. He's fanned 44 in 29.2 innings.

BACKROOM CHATTER
Nestor Diaz is our most popular player as well as one of the marquee names in the PBL. He's struggling a bit right now but I expect to be able to look elsewhere and address other problems for at least the next 2 years. He's got an opt-out after 2 and a club option for the 4th (750K buyout). I think we got a steal. Fan interest jumped from 63 to 65.

• Detroit Dragon 1B John Bertolone slammed his 400th career home run on Sunday. He's a career .296 hitter as well as a 7-time all-star, 2 time MVP ('32 and last year), 2032 Rookie of the year as well, he was the 2034 WLDS and WLCS MVP.
• David Robledo tied it with a single and two batters later Aaron Maynard won it with a single in a 4-3 come from behind win. Arvid Udo gave up 2 in 6 and Nestor Diaz got the win (3-5) with a scoreless 9th.
• Heath Hirsch could not be colder and despite the loathing from the owner's box on Aaron Maynard he's raking. Now hitting .444 in over 100 at-bats. Sell high? Still no real takers other than teams wanting to swap bad contracts. If he keeps playing like he is he's underpaid...
• Javier Oliva got his first PBL win beating Washington on the final day before the all-star break. Gave up 10 hits 4 runs, just 2 earned, over 6.1 innings. Struck out 8 to 1 walk. Kenny Evans celebrated his all-star selection going 3-4 with 2 2B's 2 R and 2 RBI and heads into the break at .340-20-62 as well as being named the starting 3B for the Western League. Roberto Morales hit a 1st inning grand slam to get the ball rolling in a 10-8 win. Washington stud LF Adam Allen was 4-5 hitting his 14th HR and driving in 3 (55) as he too heads to the all-star game. Word has it that they both pitched in for a chartered plane to take all the guys that were headed to the game.
• Memphis' Joe Miller fired a 1-hitter and struck out 7 Diablos in a 10-0 win. He's 8-3 3.21.
• Ferdinando Montes (4th), Nestor Diaz (1st), Ian Drewes (3rd) and Ken Evans (7th) were named to the WL All-Star team. San Francisco Ace Mike Garcia (10-5 2.38) will start for the western league and San Antonio's Chris Policastro (10-3 2.61) will start for the eastern league.
• On a side note league scouts selected Clete Black, our #1 pick this year, 2B Mike Wright and OF Jon Boisjolie to the Futures Game. Both of the latter two are currently included in the potential trade I was thinking about for catching prospect Corey Reed. Corey Reed was selected to start for the Eastern League in that same game.
• Washington SS Israel Aquino hit 5 singles in a 10-7 loss today. Our bullpen surrendered 5 runs over the games final 3 innings.
• Houston Apollos 1B Kyle Case took home the futures game MVP.
• San Francisco 2B Bill O'Hare beat San Antonio RF Roberto Albanez 25-23 in the 2040 PBL HR Derby
• San Francisco also announced the signing of 28-year-old SP Jason Dibacco to a 5 year 23.68 million dollar extension. The base salary goes from 3.8 next year (making 2.9 this year) to 5.3 in each of the final 2 years. He was their 1st pick (4th overall) in 2033. His career numbers 64-42 4.29 947.2 IP 938 H 777 K 379 BB 1.39 WHIP with a career BABIP of .306. He helped San Francisco to their 2037 World Championship.

BACKROOM CHATTER
As a new GM, one of the things I am trying to get a handle around is the salary tiers for talent. This kid is clearly good and likely to get better. His off the field stuff is ALL off the charts. That makes me feel like there is a very low-risk side to this other than the obvious fragility with pitching in general. I don't feel like I have an arm this good in the big leagues. On a side note? First and only player in the PBL who grew up in Israel. Where was he born you ask? Chicago, Illinois.....


Heading into the break 2040 HR Derby Champion Bill O'Hare has 31 homers. He's on a 67 HR pace. Here are the 20 best single-season totals.



2040 ALL-STAR GAME
Houston Apollos catcher Jason Lee went 2-2 homered and drove in 4 as the Eastern League destroyed the West 14-6. In hometown news both Ian Drewes and Kenny Evans homered. Nelson Diaz threw a scoreless inning striking out the side.
This week: 3 @ San Francisco (43-32) 3 vs Las Vegas (30-45)

[gehrig38]

Record: 46-35
Position: 1st +3
Runs Scored: 432 (2nd)
Runs Allowed: 423 (10th)
Defense: .648 (14th)
Power Ranking: 111.2 (2nd)
Owner Mood: Ecstatic ; Fan Interest: 65

• Last Week (4-2): 1-2 @ San Francisco 3-0 vs Las Vegas
• I have called my counterpart in Indianapolis and told him I am no longer interested in the deal. Apologized for the delay and he wasn't miffed, said he totally understood. I'd love that kid behind the dish for the next decade and who knows how this will go but I do know Wright is likely my future 2B (future being end of this year and opening day next) and Boisjolie (Boys-jOLEE) is a top of the order bat who will absolutely be an everyday players sooner rather than later. His slash line of .324/.389/.498 to me indicates he's going to be at least as good as my director says, if not better. Asst GM also told me he'd cut my arm off if I moved the kid....
• 2nd half opens up with a litmus test of sorts. San Francisco has made the post season 5 straight years and 6 of the last 7 including a 2037 title. Bill O'Hare paces the offense at .292-31-66 while the staff features the leagues only 10 game winners in Mike Garcia (10-5 2.38) and Kyle Ganor (10-3 2.57). We actually miss BOTH of these guys this series. They rank 1st in HR, RA, SP ERA, FIP, Pitching WAR and are 2nd in SB Bullpen ERA and K's. They trail Phoenix by 3 games in the West Division of the Western league.
• Kenny Evans went 3-5 in the opener to back Almodovar's 6.1 strong innings (8 H 7 K 0 BB 1 ER). Diaz got the final 4 outs for his 18th save.
• Tony Hernandez hit a 2nd inning grand slam and Dave Robertson homered for the 2nd straight day while SS Jason Peters was 4-5. Ian Drewes was 2-4 with a 2B (15) HR (14) and 3 RBI's (60). After being down 2-0 our offense poured in 6 in the 2nd and a bad Aguayo start (3 IP 7 ER) was followed by a bullpen line of 6 IP 8 H 5 ER and Nelson Diaz's 8th blown save. A trainwreck of a 9th inning saw him go .1 IP surrender 3 hits a walk and 2 runs. Final score SF 12 CHI 10.
• Is it me or is Diaz feast (1 IP 3 K's) or famine (.1 IP 263 runs)?
• Absolutely NOTHING harder on a team than blowing a lead and losing late.
• San Francisco is skipping their #5 and starting Gaynor in the series final game.
• Arvid Udo tossed in another steaming pile of crap. Giving up 6 H 4 BB and 8 ER in just an inning and a third. O'Hare hammered his 32nd and drove in 3. Not sure any of that mattered as Gaynor won his 11th with a CG 7 hitter, punching out 13 and walking 0. He's 11-3 2.53.
• Denver Grizzlies OF Patrick Arnold hit his 300th career HR in an 11-2 win over Baltimore. The 36-year-old is a career .269 hitter, 4-time all-star and 2-time silver slugger.
• Pam Pininferino hit 2 HR's and Ian Drewes went 4-5 in a 6-2 win over Las Vegas. Javier Oliva needed 104 pitches to labor through 5.2 innings and get the win. Beu Crowder came up big with 3 scoreless.
• Baltimore's Cesar Lopez moves to 12-1 2.66 after a CG 4-hitter win which he punched out 13. He currently leads the EL in wins and is second in ERA.
• Keeping in the pitching theme Miami Sun Dogs veteran Dustin Griffin tossed a CG 6-hitter to notch his 200th career win. In his 14-year PBL career he is 200-174 with a 3.93 ERA. He's thrown 3244.1 innings with 2519 K's and a career WHIP of 1.33. He's had quite the up and down ride as he's led the league in wins twice ('32 and '35) losses 3 times ('27, '28 and last year in which he lost 20) GS 6 times. He's a 3-time all-star and was on the Detroit club that won the 2030 World Series. The 200 wins tie him with retired Tampa star Juan Mateos and put him 1 behind Hall of Famer Luis Sanchez. He's just the leagues 4th 200 game-winner. The 3244 innings are 2nd all-time and the 2519 K's are 4th all-time.
• The PBL's reports on top prospects and minor league systems came out on Friday. We remain the top-ranked system with 5 of the top 33 (#1 Oliva, #12 Diamond, #14 Boisjolie, #30 Mike Wright and #33 Clete Black). Very excited to see our scouts 'get it right' again in taking Black as our 1st choice. He's in AA and has made 1 start to date. Tucson, SF, LV and Tampa round out the top 5. Memphis ranks dead last.
• Eric Molstad tossed 8 strong (8 H 3 ER 7 K) and Nate Diaz pitched a perfect 9th for his 19th save while Aaron Maynard remained scorching hot. He went 2-4 2B (9) HR (3) and drove in 4 (16). His slash line through 119 at-bats: .437/.460/.588! There's a conversation to be had and it's not with him. I am going to move him into the lineup for Heath Hirsch for a few days and see how that plays out.
• I had to move and tweak at AAA with player(s) coming off the IL and the roster is full. I was going to just release a few aging veterans who are fillers there. Two of them I thought I'd take a shot at shopping. One was an OF with monster pop but a .200 hitter, the other an IF with the same offensive characteristics. Lo' and behold I end up making 2 deals and getting 3 players, all with options and all with enough talent to be comfortable putting them on the 40-man and also feeling like all 3 might be big leaguers someday soon if need be. That puts me at 39/40 on my 40 man roster.
• Aaron Maynard went 3-5 hitting a 10th inning walk-off HR in a 6-5 win of the series finale against Vegas. He scored twice drove in two (18) and is hitting .444.

This week: 3 @ Nashville 3 (34-46) vs Boston (35-46) OFF DAY

[gehrig38]

Mr. Segura asked me to fly to the All-Star game with him on his private jet. Not one to offend, I obliged.

“Curt I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am with this team. The city is bustling with Skyhawk fever and I am too. It's been so long since I sat and watched meaningful games in Chicago in July but here we are. Clearly you've exceeded my expectations and I wanted to put that out there.”
“Well, Mr. Segura I appreciate all of that but this is just the beginning. There are so many things that need to be done to get where I want to be as a team and an organization.”
“Like what?” he asked, and it was a question asked that seemed to expect a detailed answer...
“First off I think our minor league talent beyond our top prospects is trash. I think we had a great draft this year but there doesn't appear to be much focus behind those 8-10 guys.”
He seemed taken aback, and offended?
“What are you talking about?! We have the #1 ranked system in the game!” he declared, and not in a nice tone.
“Sir excuse me if what I said was taken out of context. I absolutely acknowledge our minor league system is #1. I honestly believe we have 4-5 future all-stars in the mix right now, today. But if Marciano Granda breaks his hand tomorrow where are we?”
He didn't answer, instead looking like he wanted to but nothing came out.
“That's what I mean sir, that question needs to have an immediate answer. No one player can be the hinge on which the season rests, ever. Yes, we would be devastated if Kenny went down or Pam or Ian, but anyone would be. How many teams have a spot that contains just 1 player, and if that player is not on the field they are significantly worse off?”
I could see he was, I think, getting my point.
“Sir I couldn't be more excited with the top prospects we have, the top prospects I inherited, honestly! But a truly dominant and good minor league system has answers for every single question and problem the major league club could put on them. We don't have near enough starting pitching at AAA, we have exactly no catchers anywhere above AA. Yes, Steve Buchanan could come up and take the job, he's a fantastic game caller, thrower, catcher. But his bat is just a tad more potent than mine today. Marciano is on the cusp of being an all-star at the plate and behind it. To be honest, and I wasn't going to say anything but in full disclosure, I was minutes away from dealing Mike Wright and another top prospect to Indy for their top catching prospect”
“What?? How on earth can you trade Michael? He's supposed to take over for Aaron the minute you trade him.”
“Well sir that was actually the next thing I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Ok talk...” I could tell he was actually getting a bit heated now.
“Sir you asked me to come here and make this team, this organization, like the thing Mr. Kraft built in New England. You want a 'dynasty” am I right?”
“Absolutely”
“Ok then. And I apologize if this offends you but you asked me to make the team on the field and off as good or better than everyone else correct?”
“Yes”
“Well, sir to do that I need to do it. I mean I need to do it. Not you, not my coaches, not anyone else.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Sir you hired me pretty much to run the baseball operation right?”
“I did”
“Well to that end you must understand this one very important thing. There is not a single player, not a single roster spot at any level that should be occupied by a player we don't believe can, is or will help us. Sir that means Aaron Maynard too.”
“Curt that's not nego....”
“Sir wait. I apologize for interrupting but let me finish my point please”
“Go ahead...”
“Well, sir I view every single spot on our 40 man roster as invaluable. Every draft pick as a potential opportunity to draft a hall of fame talent. Every young player at our complex should and does have access to everything they need to nurture their talents and make the most of them. Sir none of these things are mutually exclusive. I understand there is clearly an immense dislike on your part for Aaron, I won't ask why...”
“Stop, let me tell you”
“Ok”
“Aaron Maynard, one of my PI's informed me, was in the room at a 'party' in which a young lady was assaulted”
I sat there, stunned. I leaned forward, put my head in my hands and breathed a heavy sigh.....
“Sir I wish I had known this, this changes everything”
“I had not said anything to ANYONE to date. You are the third person on the planet outside the people there, that know. Aaron paid for her silence, that I know as well. I want him gone because situations like these absolutely never stay quiet. To date not a peep from anyone, but that will change and when it does I want him wearing someone else's uniform. And please don't think this is about bad PR or anything like that. He's a man I cannot and will not ever respect and I don't want him on my team or in my organization.”
“Sir I was going to finish my chat by telling you none of the things I mentioned above are exclusive. All must be in order for this to work how you and I want it to. This clearly is a game changer Mr Segura, I have daughters. Can I ask your permission to bring this to his attention? Can I sit down and talk, one on one with him to find out his 'story'?”
“If that's what you want then yes, feel free. But I will tell you right now I want him gone, I don't care what he says”.
“Sir what if he wasn't involved? What if he left or what if there is more to the story?”
“Curt, this is a deal breaker. The young lady was my granddaughter.”

[gehrig38]

Record: 49-38
Position: 1st (+1)
Runs Scored: 459 (5th)
Runs Allowed: 472 (11th)
Defense: .648 (14th)
Power Ranking: 99.2 (6th)
Owner Mood: ; Fan Interest:

Last Week: (3-3) 2-1 W Nashville 1-2 vs Boston

On July 1st, exactly 81 games in, we find ourselves 3 games up on Washington and in 1st place in the WL Eastern Division. I was hoping to be Philly (41-39) or New York (41-40) but didn't think to be 11 games over. And to be honest I don't think we've scratched the ceiling for this team. I think our pitching has been average (at best!) and our defense sucks. Love our offense and what the top half of the lineup are doing but this is a team with loads of opportunities to get better. We head into the 2nd half buyers right now. I am absolutely expecting a playoff berth and anything short of that, unless we get crushed with injuries, will be a disappointment. My biggest concern is our depth. It doesn't actually exist. I am one key player injury away from an all out scramble. In the mindset I'm in right now that would make me move a prospect to fill a hole and that's not where I want to be. Our minor leagues are absolutely something that needs almost total focus on into the winter. AAA Chicago is ok at 36-38 but after that it gets nasty. AA San Bernadino is 23-51, Class A New Orleans is 13-61. Short Season Atlantic City has started 1-11 and on a brighter note rookie league Minneapolis is 7-5. The short season roster is mainly made up of last years rookie league survivors and the rookie league team is mainly complex kids that have been promoted and almost all of this years draft.
Trade deadline is 30 days away. Put a gun to my head and ask me what I am thinking I'd tell you I would love a veteran backup IF that hits LH and can plug the middle infield as well as a left handed arm in the pen. I won't back away if someone out of it tries to move a big contract if the price and player are a fit. Every move is being made with a glaring eye on off the field things like work ethic and leadership.

• In the series opener at Nashville Ken Evans went 2-5 hitting a 3 run homer and a game winning 2B in the top of the 9th of an 8-7 win.
• SS Roberto Morales went down after being HBP and word is out that he's headed to the DL with a deep bone bruise for at least 2-3 weeks.
• I am going to have to add 28 old infielder Bobby Sullivan to the 40 man and call him up. He's the only AAA IF that can at least pass as a shortstop. His bat though, a .377/.431/.500 slash line in 42 games and 154 at bats will work nicely.
• Arvid Udo out-dueled Nashville's Alex Gonzales giving up 1 earned over 7. Nate Diaz could not finish the 9th but Ricky Cueva came on and forced a double play on one pitch to end the 4-2 win. Jon Gonzalez was 3-4 HR (4) and drove in 2 (16)
• El Paso 1B Antonio Ortiz hit his 300th career HR in a 5-2 Diablo win over Indy.

International free agent signing period begins.
The PBL allows each team 1.38 million in International FA money. I put all my eggs in one basket this year as I offered 6'2” 16 year old CF Alex Irizarry 1.3 million within minutes of the opening.Our scouts love this kid. They believe he's a potential 40/40 guy who could win a batting title and Gold Glove. He's the 1st amateur I've seen our scouts rank as a 5 start prospect.

• Ken Schlitt (SAC) tossed an 8-hit shutout over Houston today. He's 4-5 4.53 in 16 starts.
• Fort Worth 2B John McKenzie went 3-5 in a 5-1 win over San Francisco to get his 2000th career hit. He is a surefire hall of famer with a career .356 average 394 2B 32 3B 15 HR and 671 RBI's. He's a 3 time all star and 2 time silver slugger award winner. He hits FA after this season too.
• Javier Oliva got pounded Tuesday in a 12-6 loss to Nashville. Surrendering 7 H 2 BB 2 HR for 7 earned in just 3.2 IP. Evans (22) Gonzalez (5) and Drewes (16) homered and Dave Robledo went 3-5.
• Eric Molstad tossed a 3-hit SHO to open the Boston series. He struck out 7 and walked 4 in the 115 pitch efffort.
• To top off the day 16 year old Alex Irizarry signed a 1.3 million dollar offer sheet to join the organization.
• Antonio Almodovar gave up 7 over 6 innings in a 10-0 pounding by Boston. He punched out 9 and gave up 9 hits. It was a combined 3-hitter for the Bombers. Jonathan Cook and Tristan Watts both went 3-5, Cook drove in 4 (58).
• Chris Brown is set to come off rehab on Saturday. The initial move will be to put rookie Javier Oliva into the bullpen and send Tony Martinez back to AAA. With Brown taking Javier's spot in the rotation.
• Boston destroys us again 10-0. 2 errors by Maynard 1 by Drewes open the floodgates once more. Boston's Ryan Miller went the distance surrendering 7 hits striking out 3 and needing only 107 pitches to finish it.

Next Week: 3 @ Phoenix 3 @ Long Beach 1 vs San Diego

JUNE AWARD WINNERS

• Skyhawks Player of the month: Aaron Maynard .465/.467/.791 3 HR 15 RBI
• Skyhawks Pitcher of the month: Antonio Almodovar 3-0 2.06 35 IP 35 K 1.11 WHIP
• Skyhawks minor league player of the month: Sean Wallace (SA) .344/.512/.688 3 HR 5 RBI 6 K 20 BB
• Skyhawks minor league pitcher of the month: Tyler Dotson (A) 2-1 1 SV 1.98 13.2 IP 12 H 8 K 1.10 WHIP

• WL POTM: Ricky Martinez (PHI) .374 6 HR 23 RBI .427 OBP
• EL POTM: Floriano Sullivan (MEM) .361 10 HR 29 RBI .481 OBP
• WL PiOTM: Antonio Sevilla (PHX) 5-0 1.50 42 IP 53 K
• EL PiOTM: Joe Miller (MEM) 5-0 1.47 43 IP 33 K
• WL ROTM: Juan Saenz (LB) .408 2 HR 8 RBI
• EL ROTM: Gustavo De La Torre (DEN) .396 6 HR 22 RBI

[gehrig38]

Record: 52-42
Position: 1st (+1)
Runs Scored: 487 (4th)
Runs Allowed: 494 (10th)
Defense: .652 (14th)
Power Ranking: 93.5 (12th)
Owner Mood: Ecstatic; Fan Interest: 65

• Last Week (3-4): 1-2 @ Phoenix 1-2 @ Long Beach 1-0 vs San Diego
• Arvid Udo got pounced on again. Going just 4.2 IP and giving up 6 earned. Ian Drewes went 3-4 with his 17th HR and drove in 2 (65) in the 8-5 series opening loss.
• Luis Alvardo is off the DL so I am sending Bobby Sullivan back to AAA. Bobby hit .318/.375/.364 in 22 AB's over his 6 games. Luis is a far superior defender and that's the focus for the rest of the year at that position.
• Washington's Israel Aquino went 6-6 in a 9 inning 8-7 win over Philadelphia.
• Chris Brown off the DL, 2 innings in off the field. Blisters popped up and he had to come out. Bullpen managed to hold off Phoenix and Nelson Diaz notched his 20th save in a 5-3 win. Aaron Maynard committed his 9th error and Neil Horton his 1st.
• Jeff Davis went 2-4 and hit his 6th, driving in 3 but 4 Skyhawk errors (Horton 2, Davis and Evans 1 apiece) cost us the game. Eric Molstad fell to 7-7 4.79 but went 7 on 6 hits 2 k's and 2 earned runs.
• 5 shutouts on Wednesday.
• Tie game into the 8th, Javier Oliva escapes a dicey bottom half and we score 1 in the top half of 9. Nestor Diaz then blows his 9th save of the year walking 2 and giving up 2 hits in a 2-1 loss. The winning run crosses the plate on a passed ball. Ken Evans was 1-4 and left 7 on base.
• Clete Black, our top overall pick this year is complaining of 'dead arm'. He'll hit the 7 day DL and we'll limit his pitch count the rest of the year.
• Angelo Aguayo and Ken Evans split POTG honors in an 8-1 win over Long Beach. Aguayo got to within 2 outs of a CG, yielding just 3 hits and 1 earned run while Ken went 4-5 with HR #23 and RBI #72. Marciano Granda snapped out of a mini slump with a 4-5 day as well.

Chicago, Portland trade Sullivan for Santiago.
Earlier today, officials from the Chicago Skyhawks and Portland Pioneers announced they had finalized negotiations between the two teams. The deal sends 28 year old IF Bobby Sullivan to Portland in exchange for 25 year old minor league SS Juan Santiago and the Pioneers 2041 2nd round draft choice.

BACKROOM CHATTER
Bobby Sullivan was taken in the 2nd round of the 2035 draft out of Arizona State and our scouts love him. Hard worker, high baseball IQ and all the other things you want in a player. He's a .300+ hitter, 30ish 2B and does not punch out much. Not much power to speak of. In 129 AAA games he's hitting .408/.457/.516 with 19 2B 1 3B 8 HR 72 RBI 40 K and 35 BB and is 23-33 in stolen bases. Problem is that's spread out over 3 seasons. He's also has his share of injuries but not to the point you could complain. His weakness? His best position is 2B and he's a below average defender there. Can play SS and 3B as well but not in any way that would net him an everyday job.
I would have done this trade without the 2nd round pick but clubs around the league LOVE Bobby so I pushed on this one. Juan Santiago might be the best glove at SS in the entirety of the PBL, minors and majors. He was signed out of Nicarauga as a 16 year old in 2031. His defensive tools are ALL off the charts. He can hit a little bit too. Little bit more power than Sullivan but not enough to get excited about. Very good contact bat but cannot and will not walk. The contact is a big thing because our scouts have him as a 20 runner too. In AAA this year he has 4 walks in 337 PA and 41 punchouts. Already netted some minor league awards for defense. But at 25 this is my #8 hitter and starting SS for the next decade if I can help it. The ONLY red flag? He's been on and off the DL more than I would like. But it is a chance worth taking in my opinion. Which leads to...

Chicago sends SS Alvarado to Indy.
The Chicago Skyhawks have dealt starting SS Luis Alvarado to the Indianapolis Racers in exchange for veteran LH reliever Austin MacLennan. The deal is expected to be completed upon physicals. Alvarado is just off the disabled list and will likely slot in as the Racers everyday SS while Chicago is hoping MacLennan, a superb LH specialist, will help a beleaguered bullpen that seems to be leaking water right now.

BACKROOM CHATTER
I wasn't eager to move Luis but I absolutely need a LH in the pen that can get me LH outs. Austin is a 6'8” lefty who is very much a LOOGY in the traditional sense. I won't ask him for more than that as long as he can get big outs late. He's a FA after the season so the cash (he's making 360K) wasn't an issue. At 30 he's a guy we'd likely have looked at this winter but now we can give him a 'try out' before that. Both guys are placed on the 25 man roster.

• Chris Brown cannot get through the 3rd before coming out again. Not sure what this time. Ricky Cueva and Franklin Velez go 5 hitless innings striking out 7. Juan Santiago drilled a 2 out 5th inning double to drive in 2 runs. Those runs were the decisive ones in a 6-2 win.

This week: 2 vs San Diego 3 @ Fort Worth OFF 1 vs New York

[gehrig38]

Record: 54-46
Position: 1st (+2)
Runs Scored: 514 (6th)
Runs Allowed: 546 (11th)
Defense: .648 (14th)
Power Ranking: 100 (6th)
Owner Mood: Ecstatic ; Fan Interest: 65

• Last Week (2-4): 0-2 vs San Diego 1-2 @ Ft Worth 1-0 vs New York
• Where to start. Javier Oliva had his 1st nightmare outing. 1 out and 5 runs. We lost 10-9 after leading 9-4. Chris Turner came out of the game and MRI's revealed bone chips which will require surgery and that means 3 or more months.
• I can sum up the final game of the San Diego series in one line. San Diego leadoff hitter Armando Rodriguez set the WL single-game record for runs scored, with 7. Yes, he literally scored a touchdown. 22-2 final. Newest bullpen member Ryosuke Ohira was welcomed in 2 innings of relief with 6 hits a HR and 7 runs, 4 earned. Did I mention 3 errors for the club? Almodovar threw 64 pitches to get 4 outs. 4 hits, a HR, 5 walks and 7 earned. The staff walked 12. It was 14-2 in the 4th. SD starter Jamie Dyke (7-9 5.37) tossed a complete game, 9 hits 9 K's 3 BB's and 2 ER.

To date, we are 6-9 in July. But that's not getting under the surface. In 15 starts the rotation has gone a grand total of 77.2 IP for an average of about 5 innings a start. A .326 BABIP certainly indicates some bad luck but not a staff ERA of 6.21 worth. 102 K 61 BB sucks. Second worst OPS in the league (.828) 3rd worst OBP (.368) 2nd worst OppAvg at .290 and a dreadful 152 hits in just 130.1 IP.
I am going to keep this in my office, but I am shifting my horizon. I am going to bust ass to help this team make the post-season but this is not a world series contender, not by a longshot. So any deal going forward will be for the future unless of course, someone gets stupid. I feel like I am beginning to solve the defensive issue and we will see over the last few months if it does in fact improve. But honestly, I feel like I need an almost entirely new pitching staff.

Las Vegas is the only team in the Western League, other than us, with ticket prices below 10 bucks. We are far and away the lowest at 6.90. Philly at 14.50 and San Francisco at 14.10 lead the way. I mention that because with 2.5 months to go we are 116k fans short of MATCHING last year's attendance. We also have the 2nd lowest budget in the entire league. I understand that to a degree because we're dealing with a perennial loser, and that's fine as long as this year changes all that.

Chicago stuns, sends Maynard packing.
The Chicago Skyhawks have dealt 34-year-old 2B, Aaron Maynard, to the Philadelphia Patriots for 30 year of RP Ryosuke Ohira. There was some buzz around the league when this deal was announced.
One GM who asked to remain anonymous stated “Wow, just wow. This one caught me off guard. I almost expected Aaron to get a 2-3 year extension given how incredible he has been coming off the bench to pick up that offense. Certainly didn't think the contract was onerous either. I had heard rumors he wasn't happy in a part-time role and I heard some other off the field stuff but that crap happens all the time and 101% of the time it's crap.”
Philadelphia will take Maynard 2 years and 6.96 million as well as pay 100% of the remainder of Ohira's contract this season. He will be arbitration-eligible after the year.

BACKROOM CHATTER
I had approached Aaron days after my conversation with Mr. Segura and had asked him for some time to chat when he thought he could get free. The chat happened early last week after he'd had another great game. He came into my office in his dirty uniform and shower shoes, pretty big smile too.
When he saw me I notice a shift in his demeanor and I assume that was because he could tell this wasn't going to be the meeting he was thinking.
I asked him to allow me to give him my entire side of the story, no interruptions, and I would allow him to do the same.
He let me speak uninterrupted.
When we got to the meat of the story and the reason for the meeting I saw the blood drain from his face. He didn't stop me, but sort of leaned into his palm on the left side of his face.
After about 20 minutes and all the physical evidence was presented. He looked at every piece as if he wasn't surprised once we were into the story. That took me a bit off guard.
When I was done I stated “Ok, there it is. I hope you understand that I am the middle man here, but, if this entire story is true I'll tell you right up front I am 100% on Mr. Segura's side on this one”
He simply replied “I understand. Can I meet with you tomorrow early? Like noon?”
I was stunned, shocked I think. “Um, sure, but Aaron you understand what Mr. Segura wants right? And you understand no matter how it works out he is ultimately my boss.”
“Just give me until tomorrow noon, and when I am done you can do whatever it is you need to and feel however you think you should”.
Ok.....

He arrived around noon, accompanied by, as my secretary Lisa stated “A portly well-dressed man”.
“Sir this is one of my attorney's Salvatore Lawyrsuck.”
I shook their hands and we all took our seats. I asked them to hold on a minute.
I rang Lisa and had her call our in house council.
“Guys I want someone from our legal team in on this, given the new dynamic”
They both said no problem.
Council showed up, and we began.
Aaron started by opening a manila folder and dropped a picture on my desk.
It was a mugshot, of him, taken 4 years ago......
“Um, ok. I am unsure how to react here”
He asked me “What do you see?”
“You, in a mugshot” I replied.
“You think you do, but you don't”
“Explain” I replied.
He laid a second document, actually two, on top of the mugshot.
“Please read both very carefully.”
The first one was his birth certificate, with his photo paper-clipped to it.
I read over it, name, date of birth, all that jazz and compared it to his file we kept.
All the data was perfect.
I then took to the 2nd document.
Another birth certificate, same date, same everything....
Right up to the point of the SS number....
It was one digit higher...
“So you have two birth certificates but one has a fake SS number?”
“Look again...”
“What? I loo....”
And then I saw it.
Document #2 was exactly like Document #1 except for the SS # and one other detail
#1 was the birth certificate for Aaron Douglas Maynard
#2 was the birth certificate for Erin Douglas Maynard
“Son of a bitch” I muttered handing both documents to council.
“What is this Aaron?”
“That sir is my birth certificate, and the 2nd document is the birth certificate of my brother, my identical twin brother Eric....”
“Holy ****” I uttered.
“I don't even know where to begin Aaron”
“Let me stop you and help you right there”
“My “little brother” is a bad bad guy. I love him like a brother, like a twin brother, but he's a bad guy who has made bad choices all throughout his life. He was a better athlete than me, a better baseball player than me, all of it. But he lost all that in high school and for the most part, we lost each other then too.”
“OK' I replied, “ this thing could go about 15000 different ways right now???”
“Yes it could but I won't make you guess 14999 times before figuring it out”
“First things first. I had no idea the young lady at the party was related to Mr. Segura, if I had I would have gone straight to his home to tell him the minute I found out about all of this.”
“Ok but that doesn't explain.”
“Wait, let me finish. Yes, the picture is real, but the person isn't me, it's him. I found out only because he and many others were arrested the next day and he called me. I bailed him out and took him to my place to sort this all out. When all was said and done I called Mr. Lawyrsuck immediately”.
His lawyer nodded...
“And I, on my own volition, reached out to this young lady and made the payment you have a photocopy in your hand of”
I had a photocopy of a 500Kdollar check written to the lady involved.
“Aaron if what you said is true how on earth did you think you wouldn't be caught up in this?”
“I didn't care honestly, my brother had made another horrid choice and he had nowhere to turn. But before we go any further you have the witness statements and you know he had absolutely nothing to do with any of this, and in fact, was restrained from leaving the room while these assholes did this crap right?”
“To be honest that was the argument I was headed back to Mr. Segura's office to make, that this report completely exonerated you.”
“Don't please, I want to do it in person, I don't think it should be any other way”
“You know he may not take the meeting right?”
“I do, and if he won't then I'll trust you to tell him”
“Why don't you let me call him and set up the meeting and if it is ok with you I would like to be in the room, as well as the PI that created all of the documentation, and your lawyer as well as our council”
“Sir I'd like it to be private but I understand the need for the others'
“Before we do that Aaron let's talk about conclusions. I mean how should we proceed given what Mr Segura has made clear he wants to happen?”
“I want out”
I was taken aback at how quickly he replied.
“And not because of any one thing. It's weighed on me since day 1, and I think I need a fresh start and a clean slate with someone else. I know I can still play every day and contribute and I would like a chance to do that. In a dream scenario, I'd go home to Philly to finish my career honestly.”
“Promise me this Aaron, no matter how the meeting goes let's sit down together after and talk that through”
“Sure thing.....”
The meeting ended...

Chicago-Miami deal: Hirsch for Montoya
In what appears to be the wind down to a whirlwind 2 weeks in Chicago the Skyhawks and Sun Dogs announced a trade. Chicago is sending 29 year old 2B Heath Hirsch and 31-year-old backup catcher Luis Robles to Miami in exchange for 29-year-old Catcher Sergio Montoya and the Sun Dogs 2041 2nd round pick.

BACKROOM CHATTER
Hirsch was superfluous now and at 29 he's the player I think he always will be. Not a starter on this team and with very little in the way of versatility I shopped him and Luis. Miami wants to unload Montoya and the remainder of his salary this year (3.8m salary this year) as well as the final year of his 5-year deal next year at the same 3.8 million. He's perfect for what I need. He's a switch hitter who hammers RHP which means he and Marciano can platoon. He can't hit LHP but Granda can and he can hammer some RHP. Career he is a .277/.370/.420 hitter vs RHP in 1518 AB's with 38 HR and 233 RBI's. He's punched out 256 times to 215 walks. He's an above-average defender and an elite game caller. His arm isn't the strongest but his defensive metrics are outstanding and he's managed almost 30% CS over his career. I took on salary but in looking at next year I have my catching position filled with a R/L split and two very good defenders. Montoya also brings a veteran presence and is a hard worker.

• Angelo Aguayo went 7, gave up 2 earned (2 solo Hrs) on 7 hits and 5 K's in winning his 7th game. Mike Wright homered in his 1st start and Ken Evans was 3-5 2B (25) 2 RBI's (75)
• Chris Brown is on the DL again. This time with a rotator cuff strain. Alex Trevino will be recalled to take the rotation spot. Javier Oliva will head back to AAA to get into the rotation and a few weeks ago as I was making roster moves on some veteran players I made a little trade with Vegas. Sending a veteran AAAA OF'er to the Rollers and getting a 24-year-old reliever named Dylan Stubblefield. They are 20 some games under .500, going nowhere and apparently so loaded with bullpen arms they could afford to deal this kid. He was the 32nd overall pick in 2036 out of UCLA and a member of the 2038 futures game. Great work ethic. Works mid to upper 90's with a devastating FB and a slider that looks as if it develops it will be of the wipeout variety. He'll take Oliva's spot in the pen. (In AAA he had tossed 2.2 innings with 2 hits and 5 punchouts.
• Roberto Morales is eligible to come off the DL but I have some things in the works and will send him out for a few days of rehab and see how the rest of this week plays out.
• Down 5-1 early the offense (minus Ken Evans for a maintenance day) plugged away to knot it up at 6-6 heading into the 8th where the bullpen once again imploded. Final score 12-6.
• 3-7 over the last 10 playing as bad as we have all year. The only reason we are still in 1st is because the Eagles are 4-6 and on a 4 game losing streak. Our run differential (-33) is far more indicative of what I think this team is right now. Our Pythagorean Record is 47-52 making us +6, the largest positive differential in the game. Did I mention we're 23-25 at home?
• 30-21 record away, 5-4 in extras and 16-8 in 1 run games. Every single number including our record would lead one to believe we are really good. But digging into the numbers always reveals a true teams potential and realistic assessment of who they are, regardless of the W-L
• 0-0 game into the 10th before Umlaut homers off Nate Diaz. NY starter Mike Vasquez went 8.1 scoreless innings allowing just 2 hits and Eric Molstad went 6 scoreless himself. Bottom of the 10th Jon Gonzalez 2 out RBI single tied the game and Ian Drewes won it with a single of his own. Great win.
• That series-opening win moves us 2 up on Washington and 3 on New York.
• This week: 2 vs New York (51-49) 3 @ Miami (53-47) 2 vs Philadelphia (49-50)

[gehrig38]

Record: 58-49
Position: 1st (+1)
Runs Scored: 555 (6th)
Runs Allowed: 581 (12th)
Defense: .649 (14th)
Power Ranking: 101.3 (6th)
Owner Mood: Ecstatic ; Fan Interest: 65

• Last Week: (4-3) 2-0 vs New York 1-2 @ Miami 1-1 vs Philadelphia
• Antonio Almodovar goes 8, strikes out 10 and gives up 2 earned in a 7-2 win over New York. Ian Drewes went 4-4 2B(22) 3B (2) scoring twice and driving in a run (70). Ken Evans was 2-3 with an RBI (77)
• The top of the lineup is lethal. Closing out the NY series with a 13-6 win the top 4 hitters combined to go 12-17 4 BB 11 R 7 RBI 3 2B and a HR. Ken Evans was 4-4 2B twice and driving in 2. Pam Pininferino was 4-5 hitting his 16th HR and scoring 3 as well. Score was 12-3 after 5.
• That win put us 3 up on Washington and 5 up on New York.

Evans Foundation opens
Chicago Skyhawk star 3B Ken Evans today announced the opening of the Evans Foundation which will work out of Chicago as its headquarters.
“My family has experienced the pain and suffering of neurological illness through ALS more than once and I have wanted for years to do something to make a difference.”
He announced that he and his wife Penny would be donating 2 million dollars to begin the foundations operations. Skyhawks owner Rudolfo Segura 'crashed' the press conference to announce that he would personally match Ken's donation, a gesture that left both the superstar and his wife speechless.

• Arvid Uto's last 4 starts 0-4 9.61 19.2 IP 31 H 21 ER 12 K 10 BB 6 HR and his ERA has gone from 4.59 to 5.43. 9 hits and 4 earned today in a 4-3 loss to Miami. Pam Pininferino and Ian Drewes each went 3-4 and scored a run.
• Nashville's OF Juan Lopez and Fort Worth's Seth bin Ali both hit their 300th career homeruns on Wednesday. Here's a side by side comparison of two of the games bigger superstars.
• Seth bin Ali (FW) 32 years old 1st overall pick 2029 out of Southern Illinois. 16 POTW awards, 6 Hitter of the month, 2 time rookie of the month, Gold Glove winner (LF), 3 time silver slugger and 9 time all star to go with 2 MVP's (2033 and 2034)
• .326/.405/.578 1747 H 319 2B 64 3B 300 HR 1067 RBI 250-338 SB
• Juan Lopez (NAS) 33 years old Signed out of an independent league in 2031. Gold glove and 2 all star appearances.
• .254/.362/.490 1321 H 275 2B 24 3B 301 HR 936 RBI 96-127 SB

Bombers toss in the towel.
The Boston Bombers announced a deal today with the New York Empire. Boston sent two way superstar Aaron Ayers and OF prospect Nate Jimmerson to the Empire in exchange for 30 year old OF Tristan Watts. Contract discussions had apparently broken off with Ayers set to hit free agency this winter and the Bombers wanted to try and grab some talent before then. Watts is hitting .324 1 HR 29 RBI in 213 at bats while Ayers is 7-6 4.36 in 15 starts on the mound and hitting .276/.333/.359 in 217 at bats with 2 HR 19 RBI and is 18-22 in SB.

• Another dismal effort in a 12-4 loss to Miami as Alex Trevino gave up 8 in 6.
• In the finale Ken Evans 3 run homer in the 8th turned a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 win. Eric Molstad threw 7 strong innings (7 H 2 ER) and Nate Diaz notched his 21st save (his 1st save in 17 days)
• 6 runs and 16 hits and a come from behind 6-5 win made the sting of 4 more errors disappear. Pininferino led off the 9th with a game tying solo HR (2-4 R 2 RBI (53)) and Dave Robinson went 3-5 with the game winning walk off single.
• Washington 1B Jim Cruz (.352-14-50) went 1-4 to extend his hitting streak to 30 games. The longest streak in the PBL this year.
• Tuesday is the trading deadline
• Pamphile Pininferino took home our first POTW honors this season. He went 14-26 (.538) 2 HR 4 RBI and is at .315-17-54 on the year.

Next week: 1 vs Philadelphia 3 @ Columbia OFF 2 @ Washington

[gehrig38]

Record: 63-50
Position: 1st (+2)
Runs Scored: 592 (5th)
Runs Allowed: 602 (10th)
Defense: .652 (14th)
Power Ranking: 109.1 (3rd)
Owner Mood: Ecstatic ; Fan Interest: 64 (Down 1!! This team lost 92 games last year!)

• Last Week: (4-3) 2-0 vs New York 1-2 @ Miami 0-1 vs Philadelphia
• Udo opens the week going 7 strong on 3 earned and 7 K's. Ohira tossed 2 scoreless to end it. Pininferino and Drewes had 3 hit days combining to go 6-9 2 R 3 RBI 2B and a SB.
• New SS Juan Santiago through 19 games: .358/.404/.434 but more importantly to me he's been rock solid on defense.
  
• So it's Tuesday and the trade deadline is tomorrow. Obviously I am in to listen to anyone about almost anything. What has surprised me is that I've fielded 5 offers in two days all for the same player. Lefty Keith Feldmann continues to be the apple of many OTHER GM's eye. 3rd rounder (65th overall) out of Ohio State in 2036. Our scouts really like him but they are all pretty much in agreement on a 2.5 star ceiling or near that. The bureau has him at 3+ stars. Either way he's a 25 year old 6'5” lefty who works mid-90's and appears to be a potential 3 or 4. In 11 AAA starts he's tossed 74.2 IP 62 H 72 K 12 BB 0.99 WHIP and 2.77 ERA. You know, now that I type those numbers out, no chance I deal him...

Instinct can be a funny thing. Jon Gonzalez has been in a slump, a prolonged slump. So when I saw skippers lineup for tonight I wanted to chat. I tried to convince him to adjust and let Gonzalez sit a few days. He made it clear to me that he certainly appreciated the input but that Jon was not that type of player. He needed, and the club needed him, to hit his way out of this slump. I acquiesced.

• A comeback 8-5 win saw Jon Gonzalez go 3-5 with a 2B (5) and a 2 out 2 strike tie breaking 3 run homer in the 9th. Pininferino was 3-4 with a 2B (18) as well. Newcomer Dylan Stubblefield got the win (1-0) and Nelson Diaz notched his 22nd save with a perfect 9th.
• 37-year-old lefty Herb Juhan went 8 innings in a 7-5 win over San Antonio to notch his 200th career victory.
• Juhan was the EL pitcher of the year in 2032 and 2033, he's a 10 time all-star, 5-time silver slugger winner and the 2031 ELDS MVP. He is the 2nd of two two way players in the PBL. He plays across the outfield when he's not on the mound. In 4054 career at-bats, get this, he's a .318/.363/.410 hitter with 227 2B 36 3B 25 HR 432 RBI 546 R and is 208-269 career in stolen bases. Proving once again pitchers are in fact the game's best athletes.
• Jeff Davis went 4-4 with 2 2B an HR (7) and drove in a run back Eric Molstads CG 7 hitter. Kenny Evans hit his 25th.
• Top pick Clete Black tossed a CG 3-hit shutout in AA on Friday. He struck out 11. He's 4-2 2.89 with 39 H and 44 K in 46.2 IP. He is also ranked the leagues 33rd best prospect in the latest rankings.
• In the series opener with Washington Jeremy Womack (14-5 3.64) and Angelo Aguayo hooked up in an old fashion pitchers duel. Both threw CG but Womack didn't give away anything striking out 6 in the 5-hitter. Aguayo fanned 7, walked none and allowed just 5 hits.
• On Friday Las Vegas Rollers pitcher Rodrigo Rodrigues tossed the 2nd no-hitter of the season in a 4-0 win over Boston. He struck out 3 and walked just 1. He's 6-2 3.69 on the year.
• Ian Drewes went 3-4 2B (30) and drove in a run (77) in the 2nd game of the Washington series.
• Next week: 1 @ Washington (61-52) 3 vs San Francisco (67-46) 3 @ Las Vegas (45-68)

[gehrig38]

JULY AWARD WINNERS
Skyhawks Player of the month: Ian Drewes .364/.444/.570 14 2B 3B 2 HR 15 RBI 25 R
Skyhawks Pitcher of the month: Eric Molstad 3-1 2.09 43 IP 27 K 1.21 WHIP .236 OppAvg
Skyhawks minor league player of the month: Ian Blankenship LF (AA) .323/.429/.723 5 2B 7 HR 15 RBI 4 SB
Skyhawks minor league pitcher of the month: Larry Vida (AA) 3-2 2.68 40.1 IP 25 H 39 K 14 BB 1.21 WHIP .179 OppAvg

WL POTM: Phil Wiley 3B (NAS) .316 11 HR 28 RBI 23 R
EL POTM: Will Young 1B (HOU) .402 10 HR 27 RBI 20 R .453 OBP
WL PiOTM: Esteban Collazos (MIA) 5-1 1.31 41.1 IP 44 K
EL PiOTM: Joe Shrewsbury (IND) 5-1 2.49 43.1 IP 22 K
WL ROTM: Joe Avalos SP (BOS) 4-0 2.55 24.2 IP 20 K .211 OppAvg
EL ROTM: Andres Alviar CF (TUC) .381 5 HR 17 RBI 27 R

A peek at the races on August 1st.

[gehrig38]

Record: 67-53
Position: 1st (+2)
Runs Scored: 627 (4th)
Runs Allowed: 638 (10th)
Defense: .654 (4th)
Power Ranking: 107.2 (3rd)
Owner Mood: Ecstatic; Fan Interest: 63... I need to dive into this. Our ticket prices couldn't be lower, we're winning for the 1st time in this franchises history really, and we have some amazing talent.

• Ken Evans and Alex Trevino ganged up to beat Washington in the series finale and take 2 of 3. Evans went 3-4 hitting his 26th, driving in 2 (87) while Trevino tossed a CG 7-hitter striking out 4 in the 5-2 win. Trevino also went 2-4 at the plate with an RBI.
• San Francisco in for a 3 game series. We are 3 up on 2nd place Washington now and New York has hit a major rough patch falling 5 games below .500, tied with Philadelphia at 54-59, 9.5 games out.
• Kyle Gaynor went the distance allowing 9 hits and striking out 8 in a 10-3 win to open the series. Gaynor moves to 13-5 3.19 on the year. The Prospectors hit 4 home runs including Bill O'Hare's league leading 43rd and Travis Warford was 3-3 with 2 HR (10) and scored and drove in 3.
• P prospect Keith Feldmann had to come out of his start in AAA on Wednesday, no diagnosis yet. That would hurt, a kid everyone wanted, I held on to, for him to sustain some sort of significant injury would suck.
• Chris Brown has suffered a setback in his rehab and word is he'll need about 2-3 more weeks. This injury thing with him isn't a one off I don't think.
• San Francisco took game 2 4-2 and Bill O'Hare drilled #44. His pace has slowed a bit (now on a pace for 61) but lots of time left. Needs 21 more to tie, which actually seems like a lot in 7 weeks.
• Series will conclude with Aguayo getting 40 year old, 2 time Pitcher of the Year and 15 time all star Mike Garcia (14-6 2.59)
• Ian Drewes went 4-5 hitting a a game tying 2 run homer in the 7th. The tie held up until the 11th when Prospectors 2B Dave Robertson drilled his 25th HR off Nate Diaz to win it.
• The sweep drops us to 64-53 and now just a 1 game lead on Washington.
• I signed 31 year old veteran LH Austin MaClennan to a 3 year 1.7m dollar extension. Base of 450, 550 and 700. A deal that gives me some, not much but some, comfort with a lefty down there at a price that will be imminently tradeable should that need arise.
• Heading to sin city to face a struggling Las Vegas team (46-71).
• Las Vegas' Alex Jaramillo congratulates Austin MaClennan on his new deal by hitting a 3 run homer in the 7th off of him to turn a 4-2 lead into a 5-4 deficit. The offense comes up huge with a 3 run top of the 9th rally and Nate Diaz gets his 23rd save with a clean 9th.
• Sergio Montoya has had a miserable time at the plate since being acquired. But that's starting to change. His 3rd inning grand slam propelled us to an 8-5 but more importantly it was his 3rd HR in his last 3 starts. The 8-5 win wasn't an easy one as Ken Evans (2) David Robledo and Dave Robinson combined for 4 errors to allow 3 unearned runs. Evans now leads the WL with 15 errors. Molstad won (6-5-3-1-3-1) to move to 10-8 4.39 and Austin MaClennan got the last 6 outs for his 1st save.
• Next week: 3 vs Nashville (55-64) OFF DAY 3 @ Boston (57-63)

[gehrig38]

Record: 72-54
Position: 1st (+6)
Runs Scored: 662 (3rd)
Runs Allowed: 658 (10th)
Defense: .658 (13th!!! First time we have not been dead lasts all year)
Power Ranking: 107.4 (4th)
Owner Mood: Ecstatic ; Fan Interest: 64 (+1)

• Last Week: (5-1) 2-1 vs Nashville 3-0 @ Boston

• Antonio Almodovar struck out 10 in 7 strong innings and Dave Robledo went 3-4 2B scored 4 times and drove in 3 in a 12-4 series opening win over Nashville.
• Ian Drewes went 2-3 and drove in 2. He and Kenny Evans are fighting it out (.338 Drewes to .337 Evans) and (88 RBI's Evans to 84 for Drewes).
• Ian Drewes went 2-3 HR (20) and 2 RBI (86) in the series finale vs Nashville for the 5-4 win. Nate Diaz tossed a perfect 9th for his 24th save and Arvid Udo gave up 4 in 7 to move to 13-8.
• Ian Drewes went 2-3 hitting HR #21 and Alex Trevino went 7.1 on 6 H 3 K 0 BB 1 ER. Nate Diaz pitched a perfect 9th for save #25.

Meeting:
Roberto Morales has had a rough year to date. An early season injury followed by a dismal time at the plate. His slash line of .183/.283/.283 is hard to type much less look at. All that being said he has asked to sit down and talk about an extension. I don't lie or sugarcoat things and told him if he wanted to chat I was free.
“Mr Schilling I appreciate you taking your time to meet with me. I love it here in Chicago, I think what you've done so far is awesome and I love the mix of guys and all the young talent. I've been here going on8 years now and this is the first time I've ever felt like this team could actually win. I want to be part of this going forward. I would like to talk about a contract extension”
“Roberto thanks for coming in and I appreciate you doing this with just us and no agents. Let me lay it out for you. I don't have to tell you about the offense, I know you wear that every day coming and going. I am proud that you have not allowed that to impact you in the field. That being said if we were to even broach talks about an extension it would have to be at an enormous discount from the 4.2 million you now make.”
The expression on his face told me that wasn't the response he was hoping for.
“Hitting 260'ish with 30+ doubles and 10-15 HR's with your glove? That's absolutely worth that money. You haven't come close to that since the '37 season and I can't justify to Mr Segura paying you that amount of money for a season of hitting .200 with no power and someone who does not and hasn't ever shown much plate discipline. I am sorry if that's too raw but I will not sugar coat or lie to you about my thoughts on something this important.”
“Well what does that mean? I mean if you were to offer me a deal what would that look like?”
“Ok well let's see. I don't think it's a surprise that Juan is getting, and likely going to get the lions share of at bats at SS from here on out.”
“I get that, and I agree. His ceiling is insane and he's a great kid”
“Let me add a sincere thank you as well, the work you've done with him daily, and how it's clear he looks up to you and you have taken that mentor role has been huge and everyone has noticed. So with Juan getting the lions share of the work, and Dave being the only true “utility” infielder we are carrying. With Mike at second and likely to be the guy over there, you tell me where you would fit in? I mean you play SS at an elite level but you've made it clear you do not feel comfortable anywhere else in the infield.”
“I would be willing to play anywhere around the infield, 1st base even, if it meant I could stay here.”
“Ok then, the deal I'd offer you would likely do nothing but piss you off given your career”
“Try me”
“I'd give you a 2 year deal at 750 a year with incentives that could make it reach 3 million if you were to somehow be put in a position to play every day through injury or performance”
“Ok, thank you”
He got up, shook my hand, and left. No response, no reply, nothing. I don't know what that means?
I am going to go ahead and fax an offer to his agents at IMG. I failed to mention to him that he is a compensation eligible free agent. Problem is I now think he would accept the qualifying offer.

• Dave Robinson went 3-4 2B (9) HR (2) and drove in 2 in a 6-2 win over Boston Friday. Ian Drewes homered in his 3rd straight game. Eric Molstad went 7 giving up 4 hits 2 earned and striking out 5 to move to 11-8 4.31. Franklin Velez went 2 perfect innings striking out 3 for his 1st save of the year. Ken Evans committed his 16th error.
• In the series finale Antonio Almodovar came within an out of a complete game giving up 5 hits striking out 5 while allowing a run in a 7-1 win to complete the sweep. He's now 14-6 4.39.
• Next Week: 3 vs Phoenix (69-57) 3 vs Long Beach (64-62) 1 @ San Diego (62-64)

Some week ending notes

• 1. The sweep has allowed us to open a 6 game lead on Washington. Our 8-2 in the last 10 was met with their 4-6.
• 2. Ian Drewes .339/.432/.561 35 2B 22 HR 89 RBI 66 K 73 BB 5.3 WAR is now potentially in the MVP discussion. The 2039 World Series MVP has been beyond expectations.
• 3. The decision to select and keep Joey Altrip in the Rule 5 appears to have been the right one. In 85 games he's hitting .310/.378/.491 with 13 2B 9 HR 26 RBI and is 6-10 in SB. He's a .332/.400/.533 hitter vs RHP and given he's a LH bat and plays both corners well above average he's definitely a keeper.
• 4. Top prospect Javier Oliva is 7-5 2.81 in AAA with 99.1 IP 97 K and 79 H to 30 BB.
• 5. 2040 1st pick Clete Black is 4-2 2.79 in 9 starts with 57 K 11 BB in 58 innings. The control is far better than even our scouts expected this early. He's also the #27 ranked prospect in the latest league rankings.
• 6. Our top offensive prospect Jon Boisjolie (#10 in the PBL rankings) is hitting .325/.394/.575 in 98 AAA games with 29 2B 5 3B 18 HR 78 RBI and is 32-49 SB.
• 7. Our #2 pitching prospect (and PBL's #8 ranked) Matt Diamond tore his labrum 6 innings into the AAA season. Latest reports are that he's still at least a year away. Fingers crossed the 1st overall selection in 2038 heals quicker and stronger.
• 8. AAA Chicago is 67-52 and 1 game up, AA San Bernadino (42-77) Single A New Orleans (24-95) short season Atlantic City (18-37) are just trying to cross the finish line. Rookie league Minneapolis has hit a little rough patch to fall to 24-31 after being a .500 team for the first month and a half.
• 9. Prospector 3B Bill O'Hare is at 47 home runs. Still a 60 pace but just barely. Umlaut has vaulted up with an insane couple weeks to 44.
• 10. Tampa's Marco Delgado is at 244 k's and is trying to become the 1st pitcher in PBL history to strike out 300 batters in a single season.

[gehrig38]

Record: 75-58
Position: 1st (+6)
Runs Scored: 690 (3rd)
Runs Allowed: 682 (10th)
Defense: .658 (13th)
Power Ranking: 99.7 (8th)
Owner Mood: Ecstatic ; Fan Interest: 65 (+1)

• Last Week: (1-5) 1-1 San Diego, 0-3 Ft Worth 0-1 New York
  
  The team is playing like absolute crap. No facet of the game is easy. Could not come at a worse time. I went a bit too far I think as I stormed into the clubhouse after the loss to NY and slammed a bat on the clubhouse stereo.
  "If you don't want to win, if winning isn't consuming you right now my office door is open and I'll help you pack"
  
  
• Must be something in the water. Agents for Eric Molstad and Alex Trevino have reached out and both of their clients would like to stay here. Both would like to talk extension. Molstad is looking for 3 years 8.4 (AAV of 2.8) and Trevino wants 4 years with an AAV of around 1.25. I think Trevino would be the only serious discussion I would entertain and then only if I think he can be my 5th starter. I don't want either of these guys to be in the top half of my rotation due to necessity. I need to evaluate where my younger arms are. I would like to hunt a true ace this winter.
• Udo goes 9, 6 hits 9 K's 1 earned. Problem is their guy does it to. 1-1 into the 10th when Nate Diaz has a 'famine” inning. He got 2 outs, but in doing so he walked 1 and gave up 5 hits and 4 earned runs in a 5-1 loss.
• Alex Trevino scattered 9 hits struck out just 1 with no walks in a CG shutout and 10-0 win over Phoenix to close out the series. He's 5-1 4.91. SS Juan Santiago hit a bases loaded double and a solo HR going 2-4 with 4 RBI's to bring his average to .322 since coming over. He also committed 2 errors...
• I've made an offer to Alex Trevino's agent. 4 years 5m total, with the 4th season at 1.5m and a club option with a 150k buyout. Seemed amenable to it.
• Long Beach ace Randy Ruf outpitched Antonio Almodovar in a 3-2 loss to the Titans. Ruf (14-7 3.09) went 8 on 3 hits a run and 4 k's while Almodovar went 8 on 8 hits 2 earned runs and 6 k's. He is also 14-7 with a 4.29 ERA. Jose Santiago was 1-3 and is hitting .323 but he coimmitted his 6th error.
• Pam Pininferino went 3-5 including a bottom of the 9th inning walk off grand slam in a 5-2 win over Long Beach. The HR was his 20th.
• A 6 run 7th inning turned a 6-2 deficit into what would end up an 8-6 win over San Diego in the 3 game series opener. 2 more Chicago errors (including Santiago's 7th!). Arvid Udo gave up just 2 earned in 5 and Nate Diaz got the final 3 outs for his 26th save. Ricky Cueva stayed hot to get his 4th win (4-0 2.73).
• Ian Drewes remains scorching hot going 3-5 and upping his average to .343. League leader Matt Robinson (BOS) is hitting .359.
• Bill O'Hare hit home runs 50 and 51. That puts him back up to a 62 pace.
  
• Next week: 2 @ San Diego (65-68) OFF DAY 3 vs Fort Worth (60-73) 1 @ New York (65-67)

[gehrig38]

Record: 76-63
Position: 1st (+5)
Runs Scored: 716 (4th)
Runs Allowed: 723 (10th)
Defense: .658 (13th)
Power Ranking: 88.7 (14th) Honestly this is exactly where I think this club slots, at best right now.
Owner Mood: Ecstatic; Fan Interest: 64

• Last Week:
• San Francisco ace Kyle Gaynor went 6 innings giving up 1 hit and punching out 9 to record his 200th career win. 7 time all star, 2 time best pitcher and 2 time world champion his career line: 200-132 3.63 3161 IP 2782 H 2939 K's 963 BB 1.18 WHIP 72.8 WAR
• Eric Molstad won his 12th going 8 on 5 hits striking out 6 and giving up 2 runs while Nestor Diaz rode a high wire act through the 9th striking out Catcher Jason Miller with the bases load for the games final out for his 27th save.
• Nashville pitcher Kyle Ashley punched out a season high 15 Miami Sun Dogs in the Hounds 2-1 victory. He's 7-12 5.00 on the season.
• Fort Worth starts ace Salvador Rapalo (15-9 2.65) in the series opener Wednesday.
• Down 4-1 entering the 6th the offense gets to Rapalo for 4 runs to take a 5-4 lead. Almodovar ends the day going 6 laborious innings allowing 6 hits striking out 5 and allowing 3 earned. A mixture of bad pitching and bad defense over the final 3 as the pen gives up 7 hits and 6 runs in a 10-6 loss.
• The 6-3 loss in 10 innings was the day's good news. Starter Angelo Aguayo came out in the 2nd inning and will hit the 15 day DL with an oblique strain. Then closer Nestor Diaz complained of some soreness post-game. An MRI revealed bone chips and he will miss the next 5-6 weeks.
• I'll recall reliever Nick Tornero and OF Neil Horton since rosters expand tomorrow and I won't need the SP slot for at least 4 more days.
• Tornero was a deadline acquisition from Sacramento in a swap of minor leaguers and he's a 27-year-old hard-throwing lefty with spotty control.
• Our friend Pal Rasmussen (also known as Umlaut) went 2-4 hitting his 46th and 47 HR and driving in 3 (111) in a 7-6 loss to open the New York series. Pam Pininferino was 3-5 2B (21) 2 R and 2 RBI (70)
• Alex Trevino gave up 6 on 10 hits in 6 IP.
• Rookie league Minneapolis season ended at 28-40. Most of that roster was last year's (R) roster. Players were promoted and released this morning. The promoted players will get a couple of weeks in Atlantic City and some experience at that level.
  
• Next week: 2 @ New York (68-70) 3 vs Miami 2 (76-62) @ Philadelphia (67-72)

[gehrig38]

AUGUST RECAP
Skyhawks Player of the Month: Ian Drewes .346/.441/.596 11 2B 5 HR 18 RBI 12 K 14 BB 18 R
Skyhawks Pitcher of the Month: Alex Trevino 4-1 2.58 38.1 IP 39 H 11 K 5 BB 1.15 WHIP
Skyhawks Minor League Player of the Month: Ian Blankenship AA .336/.393/.682 9 HR 24 RBI 9 SB
Skyhawks Minor League Pitcher of the Month: Javier Oliva AAA 5-1 1.50 42 IP 24 H 48 K 12 BB 0.86 WHIP

WL Player of the Month: Tony Hernandez CF (SF) .477 6 HR 32 RBI 25 R
EL Player of the Month: Michael Valentine 3B (SAN) .320 8 HR 20 RBI 26 R
WL Pitcher of the Month: Jeremy Womack (WAS) 5-1 0.80 ERA 45 IP 24 K
EL Pitcher of the Month: Jesus Brito (SAN) 5-1 2.88 40.2 IP 32 K
WL Rookie of the Month: Dave Robledo (CHI) .317 2 HR 16 RBI
EL Rookie of the Month: Michael Valentine 3B (SAN) .320 8 HR 20 RBI 26 R

Standings and leaders on September 1st.
Miami, San Francisco, Chicago are going to win their divisions in my opinion. Phoenix and I think Washington will take the Wild Cards
The EL is even more clear. Baltimore, Dallas and San Antonio win their divisions, El Paso and Tampa in the WC game.
Miami 6 WS appearances 1 win
San Francisco 1 WS appearance 1 win
Chicago 0 WS appearances
Phoenix 0 WS appearances
Washington 2 WS appearances 1 win
Baltimore 4 WS appearances 3 WS wins (PBL record)
Dallas 4 WS appearances 3 WS wins (defending champions this year)
San Antonio 1 WS appearance 0 wins
El Paso 1 WS appearance 1 WS win
Tampa 1 WS appearance 0 WS wins



Here is a look at the Skyhawk roster heading into September.

[gehrig38]

RP- Rich Alba (acquired in a minor league deal with Portland in June) 4-1 2 Sv 3.62 27.1 IP 29 K 6 BB AAA
SP- Javier Oliva 10-5 2.65 119 IP 125 K 38 BB AAA
C- Steve Buchanan added to the 40 man and recalled. I want a 3rd catcher all month .254-13-50 .354 OBP AAA
OF- Ed Guerra (acquired in minor league deal with Sacramento in June) .275/.362/.388 22 2B 6 HR 49 RBI 92 G 403 PA AAA
OF- Andres Hernandez AAA
AAA Chicago is 2 games up with 13 to play. I want them to have chance so I won't strip the roster but for what I think I have to have today. After their season ends I'll likely call up Feldmann, Chris Ross and maybe 1-2 other relievers

[gehrig38]

Record: 81-65
Position: 1st (+3)
Runs Scored: 760 (4th)
Runs Allowed: 746 (10th)
Defense: .661 (12th!)
Power Ranking: 108.4 (6th)
Owner Mood: Ecstatic ; Fan Interest: 63?

• The week starts off with New York beating Molstad 9-5. He gave up 9 runs, 2 earned, in 5.2 IP. Defense is absolutely killing us.
• Our old friend “Umlaut” hit 2 more HR's in the 2nd game of the series to give him 49. In the 1st 2 games he's 5-8 4 HR 8 RBI's
• On the same day San Antonio clinches a post-season berth, it's September 3rd.
• Antonio Almodovar drops to 14-8 4.35 tossing a CG allowing 10 hits and 5 earned in 8. Catcher Sergio Montoya goes 3-4 hitting his 4th HR in the loss.
• The sweep by New York brings Washington to within 3 games and the Empire is now at .500 and just 5.5 behind.
• Chris Brown came back from what feels like a season on the DL toss 6 innings of 2 hit ball against Miami to open the series. Nick Horton doubled, scored twice and Ian Drewes tripled driving in a run (99) while Kenny Evans hit his 27th homer in the 7-1 win.

PBL Legend becomes the 1st.
21 player of the week awards, 15 times you win hitter of the month, 3 time MVP, Rookie of the year, 6 time silver slugger, world champion, 9 time all star and 6 time silver slugger. When that's your resume what's left? For New York's Travis Wiemann it was 3000 career hits. The 3rd overall selection in the 2020 PBL entry draft went 3-5 with a 2B HR and drove in 4 in New York's 17-14 win over San Diego to become the 1st player in PBL history to record 3000 hits. His 1st inning single off Panther starter Chris McDonald stopped the game and a classy San Diego crowd of 21,019, including his wife, 7 kids and parents gave him a standing ovation.
Having another fantastic season (.324-26-83) the man widely recognized as the games best player ever has a career stat line that reads like he's from another planet.
All time ranks in ()
2625 Games (1)
11491 PA (1)
1768 Runs (1)
3001 Hits (1)
528 2B (4)
34 3B
572 HR (1)
1900 RBI (2)
1511 BB (2)
1369 K (11)
.309/.407 (17)/.548 (8) OPS .954 (7) and a career WAR of 96.2 (1)

• Pam Pininferino went 2-4 2B (24) HR (24) and drove in 3 (74) and Joel Artrip went 3-4 2B (18) and drove in a run. Pininferino has now scored a run in 11 straight games. Arvid Uto gave up 2 runs in 7 innings with 7 K's and a walk but left tied 2-2. A 6 run explosion in the 8th propelled Chicago to a 8-3 win.
• For just the 4th time in PBL history Ft Worth Cowboys slugger Seth bin Ali slammed 4 home runs in a single game. The day was capped with a bottom of the 9th 3 run walk off home run in the Cowboys 8-7 win.
• Dave Robledo doubled twice (30) and drove in 3 (61) to back 8 dominant innings from rookie Javier Oliva. Oliva went 8, striking out 9 on 8 hits a walk and 2 earned runs to move to 3-4 on the year. A Jeff Davis grand slam in the 8th put the game away.
• Beating Dustin Griffin (14-12 4.37) on Thursday completed a 3 game sweep of 1st place Miami and put the Skyhawks 3 games up on the Washington Eagles.
• San Antonio clinched the EL Western Division title for the 6th time in club history and the 5th time in the last 8 years.
• Pam Pininferino hit a solo HR (25) in the top of the 8th that proved the game winner in a 2-1 win over Philadelphia. Eric Molstad moved to 13-10 with 7 innings of 2 hit 1 run ball. Ken Evans committed his 19th error.
• Antonio Almodovar struck out 11 over 7 to win his 15th and Ken Evans went 3-5 2B (36) and drove in 3 (98). Dave Robledo 2B (31) in a 3-5 day as Chicago pummeled Philadelphia in game 2 of the series 10-2.
• Next week: 1 @ Philadelphia (67-79) OFF DAY 3 vs Columbia (57-89) 2 vs Washington (78-68)