55.08 London Trades for Ace

[Bob Breum]

In a hastily arranged press conference today, the London Monarchs introduced their new staff ace, Jerry Bourque, whom they obtained in an 8-player blockbuster deal with the Jerusalem Hebrew Hammers. Bourque is expected to front their rotation, which has not been as dominant this season. Erik Breum, the organization's co-GM for pitching, observed that "you can never have too much starting pitching. Two members of our rotation have dealt with injury issues in the past, and we are very pleased to add to the depth of our rotation."


Jerry Bourque
Also arriving in the swap are young catcher Izz al Din bin Najeeb, who is already a veteran at age 24, and starting pitcher Steven Callahan. All three players are expected to join the big league club. Jerusalem is reportedly retaining a significant portion of the contracts of all three.

A classic prospects for veterans trade by the two clubs, London sent three ranked prospects from their #1 ranked farm system to the Hammers. Headed to the Jerusalem farm system are BNN's #24 prospect, starting pitcher Denzel Loxton, the #36 second base prospect Tariel Bogolyubski and the #75 starting pitcher prospect Zak Kitchener.

Jerusalem also receives two veterans, starting pitcher Jorge Martínez, and center fielder Tyler Pavey.