It appears that the management in Spokane has finally figured out
the phone numbers for the other teams in the league, because they have
made their first trades since the beginning of last season. And it was no
small amount of trading they did.
First off they sent Bichette and Palmer to Brooklyn, along with their first
round draft pick, in exchange for Brady Anderson, catcher Mike Stanley and
Juan Guzman.
In a press release Owner Jeremey Stephens had this to say," My pitching
coach threatened to walk if we didn't get him some talent. Well he got his
talent."
Guzman only won 13 of 25 decisions in Brooklyn, but will likely get better
run support in Spokane, whose sluggers often scored ten or more runs in a
game. Not to mention his 3.21 ERA which is better than anyone on the current Paladin
rotation.
But Stephens wasn't content with just adding one star. He turned right
around and waived newly acquired Stanley under the nose of the Hartford Eagles,
who were rumored to be in the market for a power hitting catcher. After a
lengthy phone call, the deal was done and Aaron Sele and catcher Hector
Villanueva were heading to Spokane in exchange for Tim Wakefield and
Mike Stanley. Although Sele's ERA of 4.84 isn't remarkable, it was better
than Wakefield's 12+. (thats right 12!!!) And as Stephens puts it," IF its
less than five, its lower than most of my staff!"
Apparently, word that Spokane was wheeling and dealing spread, because
moments after the phone call with Hartford ended, Phoenix was calling.
within hours Spokane ended up with another big name pitcher. This one
called Jack McDowell. Spokane also received Paul Molitor, and infielder
Mark Lewis. In exchange Phoenix got Wilson Alverez, Alex Gonzalez, and
Spokane's second round draft pick in the upcoming FA draft.
When the dust had settled I got a chance to speak with Stephens, who
said," We're just ecstatic we have gained almost an entire starting staff,
without giving up too much in the way of hitting. We'll miss Bichette and Palmer,
definitely.
But we've still go McGwire, Stedronsky, and Davis. All Big Guns. And we've
got a lead-off man in Moliter, which we've never had before. Not to mention
adding names like Guzman, McDowell, and Sele to our staff."
"We lost a lot of 14-12 games last year, but with these changes I think we
will win a lot of 9-5 games"
