Montreal (AP)--The core of the Royals team has just left town. He wasn't here for very long, only two months, but every Montreal Royals fan could swear that Roger "The Rocket" Clemens was a life-long friend. Clemens was traded to division rivals, the Deadwood Outlaws, a questionable deal that was finalised last night by the Royals' GM. In return, the Royals will have Pete Harnisch to replace Clemens and Jose Mesa to solidify the bullpen.
From April to July, Jose Mesa was 2-3 with a 3.42 ERA for the Deadwood Outlaws. He had 24 strikeouts in 26 1/2 innings pitched, and recorded 16 saves in 31 appearances. The only sour point is that Jose Mesa has allowed batters to hit .305 against him. Pete Harnisch, meanwhile, went 8-6 with a 4.31 ERA in 18 starts.
Roger Clemens was quitely racking up strikeouts and posting wins for the Montreal Royals. He had 12 by the end of July, 1 behind the league lead, held by Greg Maddux. Roger Clemens was 12-5 with a 2.42 ERA for a team that had the second-worse batting average in the league. Roger Clemens' numbers aren't impressive in any one category, but he has what it takes to win every night.
If there was a captain on the team, he would fit the bill. But at 32 years old, there were concerned that he was not the player to keep for a rebuilding franchise.
The Royals' GM has been taking a lot of heat from both the press and the fans, but he defended the move, saying that he believed that it was a trade in the right direction.
"Jose Mesa knows how to get saves and he will provide the leadership in the bullpen, something we really lack right know. Alex Speaker and Mark Acre have stepped up to the job, but on a whole we don't have the consistency we need. Pete Harnisch meanwhile gets better with every pitch. I believe he will be one of the team leaders on this staff in the near future."
The Royals' GM so far deserves a C mark on his report card. The move for Kirk Rueter was hailed as a smart move, although at the time fans were very angry by the move. At the present, fans hold similar sentiments--and hopin' that they're wrong again. --written by Peter Carbonetto
