Following a trade with Spokane late Monday evening, the Larimer Knights
enter the 1998 season with a virtual wall around the infield, with 1B Jose
Offerman (60 FA), 2B Mark Lewis (61 FA), SS Miguel Friantague (65 FA) and
3B Jim Edmonds (87 FA), and they also have Mark McLemore, Howie Paulette,
Steve Buechele, Lenny Dykstra, and Orlando Merced poised to fill infield
positions should one of the starters be injured.
The acquisition of Lewis from Spokane comes at some cost, namely lefty
setup man Nick Blair, a midseason free-agent pickup who compiled a 2-4
record while racking up 12 saves last season. Manager Don Baylor summoned
starter Steve North from Fort Morgan and inserted him as the team's long
reliever, with pitcher Jose Lima taking over Blair's setup role.
Baylor said that he hopes this arrangement will be temporary. "Obviously,
it is extremely important for us to have a solid defense, and we now have
quite possibly one of the strongest infields in the league. Much as I like
Mark McLemore, Lewis is definitely an improvement. He's younger, a little
quicker, and has a rocket launcher for an arm. He also committed just 8
errors in 161 games last season."
"My concern now is, now that we drafted one of the premier closers in the
league the other night, we just traded a solid setup man."
Word from the front office is that Dybala and company have already begun
making inquiries concerning a short reliever, and possibly about shoring
up the defense behind the plate, and are offering McLemore, a utilityman
who can play 1B, 2B, and the outfield, as well as Paul Sorrento and Chris
Hoiles, as trade bait.
