PVBL: Washington Sea Dogs
Washington Trades Cal Ripken, Announces 1997 Plans
Febuary 10, 1998

(AP) WASHINGTON--Cal Ripken, Washington Sea Dog team captain and powerhitting shortstop, has been traded tonight along with second baseman Carlos Garcia and a prospect to the New Diggens Budweiser Frogs for powerhitting catcher Terry Steinbach and star defensive shortstop Jay Bell.

Washington Sea Dogs manager Aaron Weiner was distraught over the loss of his captain and eldest veteran, but understood that this move was helpful to the ballclub.

"There's sort of an empty place inside where Cal used to be," Weiner said in the a press conference where the trade was announced. "But there's not much question in my mind that this helps the ballclub as a whole."

Ripken was sad to leave the Sea Dogs, but he understood the nature of the trade.

"I sort of saw the writing on the wall when the Sea Dogs got Barry Larkin," Ripken said. "I mean, I was out with an injury for four months last year, but I produced when I was in there. I suppose it's the nature of the business though."

Terry Steinbach was happy to hear the news.

"Well, they told me I'd get to work a lot with the young pitchers," Steinbach said, "but probably not a whole lot during games, since Charles Johnson is the best defender at catcher I've ever seen. It'll be nice not having to play 130 games behind the plate on this team."


WASHINGTON'S PROJECTED LINEUP

Washington's high-powered attack:
LF Johnny Damon      27 steals last year
3B Bill Mueller      hit .350 in September
2B Chuck Knoblauch  .332, 19 homers
SS Barry Larkin	    15 homers in 114 games
DH Terry Steinbach  13 homers in 102 games
1B Matt Stairs      21 homers last year
RF Derek Bell       Poor year, might rebound
CF Ernie Young      good power rating in CF
C  Charles Johnson  best defensive C in PVBL

Weiner announced the roles of the new arrivals.

"Terry Steinbach is now our full-time DH," Weiner said. "He'll probably bat fifth just about every day, and play a little catcher against lefties to give CJ a breather. Charles Johnson, however, is still our starter at catcher; we intend to have that so for the rest of his Sea Dog career.

"Jay Bell probably won't start for us, as we don't really have room for him in the lineup. However, he'll provide valuable depth, as he can play at almost any position on the field as well as any of our starters."

Weiner said that this trade went far beyond just improving the Sea Dogs' hitting.

"We're planning to try and take this season on pitching and defense," Weiner said. "We've got, by far, the best defense in the PVBL. Just up the middle, we have Charles Johnson, Chuck Knoblauch, Barry Larkin and Ernie Young, which is just tremendous."

Washington already had the lowest error total in the Defiant last year, second to only Galena in the PVBL, but the acquisitions of Larkin and Derek Bell make what was a good defensive team spectacular. Most reports say that Ripken had lost a step in defense.

"This is a great trade for us," Weiner said. "If we can put runs on the scoreboard this year, we feel we can take the division outright."

Weiner announced that the Sea Dogs have only one more need now.

"We'd like another lefty bat," Weiner said, "since most of ours just aren't ready to take starting roles yet. We're willing to trade Rico Brogna (83 power potential, 60 power at age 25) along with a lot of different bullpen members to acquire one. We'd like the guy to hit for power, but if he's high contact, that would do also."

Besides this, Washington announced, they were standing pat.

"We're relying a lot on our rotation this year," Weiner said. "And there are going to be a few changes.

"First, we're bringing up our young phenom Mackenzee Leefenhaufenhauz from AA Wheeling, having him bypass AAA, and he's going to step right into our rotation," Weiner said. "Secondly, we feel that Shawn Estes has progressed to the point where it would be folly to keep him out of the rotation, and thus he'll be in it too."


WASHINGTON'S ROTATION

Washington's pitching ranked #6 in '96.
LHP Chuck Finley
RHP Todd Stottlemyre
RHP Chad Ogea
LHP Shawn Estes
RHP Mackenzee Leefenhaufenhauz

Estes and Leefenhaufenhauz replace Michael Mimbs and Shawn Boskie as the team's fourth and fifth starters. Both Mimbs (4.45 ERA in 27 starts) and Boskie (5.57 ERA, 79 control) are reportedly on the trading block as well.

Weiner was very excited about the bullpen as well.

"Well, we've got a whole bunch of people fighting for the last two or three spots in our bullpen," Weiner said. "But several of the spots are pretty obvious."

Washington's pen will feature mid-season acquisition Nigel Fernandez as their closer. Fernandez saved 11 games and had 10 holds in attaining the second-best overall relief ERA in the Defiant.

Setting up for him will be Bobby Ayala and relief rock Fred Smith, and Heinie Phillips will be in middle relief. Afterward, things aren't so certain.

WASHINGTON'S PROJECTED PEN

Ayala-to-Fernandez is most potent in PVBL.
Closer:  LHP Nigel Fernandez
Setup:   RHP Ayala, LHP Smith
Middle:  RHP Simas, RHP Phillips
Long:    LHP Michael Mimbs

"Mimbs definitely has the edge for the long man spot, with the low ERA he posted last year," Weiner said. "We might have two, with Boskie taking the other. Bill Simas looks like he has the inside track at the #2 middle relief spot right now, because he improved a lot this offseason."

Other candidates for the bullpen include veteran righties Taffy Colbert and Joe Richardson, young lefty Andre Hacker and young righties Brian Bevil and Hank Gill.

"Basically," Weiner said, "we're looking good for the season. We'd like another lefty hitter, and I wouldn't put it past our GM to deal anyone for a lefty, including Jason Kendall. But for now, I can say we're just about ready to play ball."


Notes and Quotes:

Washington GM Aaron Weiner is looking forward to the draft.

"Well, we're not super high-up," Weiner said, "but we're confident that we're going to get a major player in this draft. The worst-case scenario that we can envision at #15 is picking up Joe Hetrick or Dan Consedine, which would make our bullpen the best in the PVBL."

When asked who he'd most want to have in the draft, Weiner's answer was simple.

"Though Kerry Wood is clearly the best prospect there," Weiner said, "and will be justifiably the #1 overall pick, we'd most want Paul Konerko among the players. He's going to be a fantastic ballplayer."

--written by Aaron Weiner