Sun Reacquires Tatis, Cirillo's Fate Uncertain
May 19, 2001
San Jose CA (AP) - The SolarCats pulled off another big trade late last week,
sending #1 starter Mike Bottenfield and shortstop Mark Grudzielanek to
Atlanta in exchange for former Abomination draftee Fernando Tatis and
second baseman Delino DeShields. "With the acquistion of Mariano, that made one
of our starters available. Bottenfield was going to fetch us a fair price,
so we decided to shop him." said president and manager Nick Tulach.
The deal, which was completed after hours of negotiations, has raised a
number of questions about the SolarCats' current third baseman, Jeff Cirillo.
Cirillo, who was part of one of the most controversial deals in the history
of the PVBL, has been marked untouchable in the past, but with Tatis aboard,
its hard to say for sure what is going to happen. "We are keeping our ears
open about Jeff. We think there may be a number of teams interested in him."
said Tulach.
The trade also brought up questions about both Miguel Cairo and the short
stop position. "I assure that Miguel will remain a SolarCat for the remainder
of hs career. We are not even listening to offers regarding him. I've said
it before, and I'll say it again, we will NEVER trade him." said Sun GM
"the Man". Manager Nick Tulach commented on his plans for shortstop at present,
"I'm going to move Cairo there, I think he'll fit well. Delino will start
at second for us and DiSarcina will continue to backup both positions."
As for the current jam at third, Tulach said, "Well, Jeff will remain out
there as the starter. We will definately need to find a way to get Tatis
out there, though. He has developed nicely."
SolarCats Release Payroll
San Jose CA (AP) - The SolarCats announced their 2001 payroll on Sunday, after
the trade involving Bottenfield had unfolded. Sun has a total payroll of
$71,580,000 for 2001. That comes to an average salary of $2,863,200 and a
median of $1,100,000. "We have just one high-profile, high-priced player.
The rest, in my opinion, are relative bargains." said Tulach.
