Sheffield Packs His Bags and Heads to Spokane May 12, 1998
Pending league approval, Deadwood has traded RF Gary Sheffield to Spokane
for CF Eric Davis and RHP Rick Aguleria. According to Deadwood GM, Phil
Raisor, the trade was made for a couple of reasons: "This gives us some
more pitching depth, Aguleria has been struggling, but we still feel that
he can contribute. Davis had a great season last year, and was actually
more consistent then Sheffield. He's also a natural center fielder,
something we didn't have in the orginization."
To make room for Aguleria on the 40-man roster, LHP Bruce Ruffin was
released (for the second time in his Deadwood career) and LHP Mark W.
Clark, who just made his major league debut this week, was sent to AAA
Dodge City.
Earlier in the week, Deadwood sent it's 2nd round pick in the Amateur draft
to Cincinnati for LHP Jimmy Key. Key has passed his physical, and has
reported to AAA Dodge City. He is expected to take over the 5th starter
role, after a few starts for Dodge.
With the addition of Eric Davis, the Outlaw's line up now looks like this:
1. Al Martin LF
2. Robby Alomar 2b
3. Ken Caminiti 3b
4. Tino Martinez 1b
5. Eric Davis CF
6. Javier Lopez C/DH
7. Moises Alou RF
8. Terry Steinbach DH/C
9. John Valentin SS
DOWN ON THE FARM
RHP Ramon Martinez made his first start for Dodge City on Thursday, and
pitched seven strong innings of 5 hit ball. Deadwood manager, Don Slaught
is hopefull that Martinez can work out his location problems and return to
the Outlaw rotation in a couple of weeks.
RF Rob Deer continues to impress Dodge City fans with his towering
homeruns. In a recent game, Deer hit a 535 foot shot.
