It's Been Awhile!

It has been a while since the blog was updated. In fact, the blog was last updated shortly after the First-Year Player Draft in Season 9, and now we are approaching Roster Expansion in Season 10!

We finished Season 9 81-81 just a few games back of the playoffs. We hoped to build on that in Season 10. We didn't have much money to spend on free agency. The most significant move we made in the off-season was to call up 3B prospect Mark Baines.

Let's just say that Season 10 has not lived up to expectations. We are currently 58-72, way out of everything. We've traded several key players and we're hoping for better things next season.

We've made three key trades this season.

In the first, we moved IF Aramis Maduro to Toronto in exchange for SP prospect Enrique Juarez. This trade has worked out for both sides. Maduro is getting some playing time with playoff-bound Toronto, while Juarez is coming out of the bullpen for our Triple-A team. He will probably spend all of next season in Triple-A before possibly joining the big league team in Season 12.

In the next trade, we sent IF Skeeter Wilkinson to Minnesota in exchange for RP Diego Canseco. This trade looks good for both sides as well. Wilkinson is playing better than he ever did in Augusta, while Canseco is pitching extremely well for our Double-A team. We plan to pitch him in Triple-A next season before possibly joining the big club in Season 12. Canseco is probably the best short-relief prospect that we've got.

Finally, we moved SP Billy Ray Sewell in exchange for SPs Brian Hennessey and Eduardo Bournigal and LF Johnny Davis. Sewell is pitching well for Pittsburgh as they gear up for the playoffs. On our side, Hennessey is pitching well for our Double-A squad, slated for a Season 12 Big League arrival, while Bournigal is currently with the Triple-A team also slated for a Season 12 promotion. That is four pitchers all slated to hit the big league team in Season 12. Davis has not played since the trade, and was included mostly for salary reasons. His salary comes off the books next season and he doesn't figure much into our plans. Essentially, we've added four young pitchers through trades.

We did not get much help from the draft this year. The overall quality of this year's draft was weak, and we didn't select until 20th. We ended up with 2B Trevor Salazar. He's got a ton of power, but poor splits and weak eye, so whether he makes much of an impact at all is very much up in the air. In the second round we selected SP Galahad Mulder. He looks like a fair SP, however, his split against RHs and control are concerning. Other than that, not much came out of this draft.

So we will play out this season and hope for the best next season. With lots of salary coming off of the books, we'll look to add a catcher. Not much else will be available through free agency. Hopefully Baines will pan out at 3B and Tony Leary at CF (we've given up on Kevin Aldred there). We're also likely to get a pick in the top half of the draft who can help us down the line, along with other players who will be coming up between now and then.