The Spokane Pirates, who traded away half their team
to secure good pitching this off-season, are a little slow
out of the gates. Thus far they are 14-17 on the year, good
enough for third place and 10 games back in the Picard
Division. They have lowered their Team ERA from an
ABYSMAL 7.51 to a "just really bad" 4.82.
"Thats a good improvement, but we were looking for
it to be a little lower." Said Manager Jeremey Stephens.
"I have had some long talks with pitching coach Seth
McMullen, and we agree that most of our guys aren't
playing up to their potential yet. Once the Starters settle
down, we will win some games."
"But lack of pitching, and a great offence didn't stop
The Pirates from going out and adding another Franchise
Player to their team. Earlier today the paperwork was signed
that sent Eric Davis and struggling relief pitcher Rick Aguilera
to Deadwood in exchange for power hitter Extraordinare, Gary
Sheffield.
"Eric Davis,[ hitting .271 with 7HR's,] has been a valuable
contributor to the Pirate Offence this year. But Aggie hasnt
been helping us too much. We were going to send him to AAA,
at least this way he will have a chance to play." Stephens
continues,"I wasnt really looking for a trade that involved
another slugger. We already have McGwire and Anderson.
Those two alone have accounted for more offence than a lot
of TEAMS in the league. But I couldn't pass this up. I guess
if we cant bring our ERA down, well have to score more runs!"
Now the only question is who hits clean-up? Jeremey has
some tough decisions to make concerning his batting order,
but I think that just about any manager would love that to
be their toughest problem of the day.
