After hearing rumors tonight that they would be losing Marty Cordova to free
agency, Punxatawney GM Dan Shapiro immediately did two things. First, he
called Marty and let him know of the news. Cordova was far from happy, but
he understands that its out of Shapiro's control.
"I was hoping to play for many years here, but I guess I'll be outta here
soon enough. Rumor has it I'm heading north of the border to Calgary and
playing with the Cowboys. Just hoping I can get them into the playoffs
because I'm pretty pissed about missing this year's playoffs due to injury.
No hard feelings against my Hog teammates either--it'll be hard to leave
some of these guys behind," Cordova said.
The loss of Cordova will leave Punxatawney a bit short in the outfield
department. They still have leadoff man Dave Martinez to start in center,
but with an aging Roberto Kelly in right and a large question mark named
Robin Jennings in left, or the sluggish Ryan Klesko, Shapiro would like to
go out and get another outfielder to fill in the gap.
They do have a number of players capable of giving it a shot. Other than
Jennings, who hit .224 with limited power in his rookie year, they also have
veteran backup John Cangelosi and little-used Billy Ashley. Cangelosi hit
.272 with 18 steals off the bench and as a backup while Billy Ashley was an
impressive 10-24 (.417) when he was used at the end of the year.
"Not to say Robin, Billy, and John couldn't share the job and do it well,
but we'd rather get an established outfielder to do the job," said Shapiro.
Punxatawney is hoping to acquire a speedy outfielder with a solid bat. Of
course, so would everyone. Preferably, they'd like to get someone with at
least 60 contact, 40 power, and 65 speed, and under the age of 30. In
return for such a player, the Hogs are offering a slew of pitchers.
Scott Aldred, a true underachiever who has yet to pitch to his ratings but
has 70+ in AS, EN, and CO.
Sean Bergman, coming off a great year, with 89 CO, 3 solid pitches,
acceptable AS and EN, and only 25. He can start or be a great reliever.
Mike Hampton, a massive prospect. Low on the AS (49) but solid everywhere
else and only 23.
Ken Hill, a great balanced veteran pitcher. He has 94 EN with good AS and
CO, as well as 4 pitches.
Curly Karkovice, another prospect. 86 EN, 59 CO and AS, pitches are a
little average, but he's only 22.
Bobby Thomas, a strikeout guru. 92 control, a 91 fastball, and only 28.
He's been solid in both years.
All the minor league pitchers are also available, including Dustin
Hermanson, Jim Burright, and Henry Neale.
Also, some of those LF'ers mentioned earlier could be traded, including
Jennings or Ashley, both with many good years ahead.
If you have any desire to acquire any of these pitchers or players, let me
know. Again, Punxatawney is mainly looking for an outfielder here to help
us out!
