We Got Wood - 45.24 - Prospects Acquired From Long Beach

[7teen]

The massive build up (we can't call it a rebuild because we never achieved the build) of arms and prospects in Portland continues. Prior to the games this week, Portland and division rival Long Beach struck a deal that sent starting pitcher Ray Verhoeve from Portland to the Surfers in exchange for two prospects rated in the top-100 according to the BBA Prospects Rankings.

"We decided to capitalize on Ray's sudden ability increase and trade him" commented Assistant General Manager Kate Fiscus. "Ray was having a good start and was starting to show other teams he might be a middle of the rotation starter. In other words, he was showing some value. So we decided to take advantage of that 'new found value' in Ray and acquire some more pieces down the road."

Fiscus is referring to some of the ratings bumps that give Ray the appearance he can be a huge addition for a contending team. Scouts now project him as a 60 rated pitcher, even though the stats don't exactly line up with that. The 28 year old Ray is 32-53 for his career, a career that spans 7 big league seasons and 131 career starts. His career ERA is 5.37 and he's accumulated a total of 4.4 WAR. He's only produced more than a 1.0 WAR once in his career.

"We are pleased with our return for Verhoeve based on production" added Fiscus. "Sure, he could develop late, win a Nebraska or two. And if so, congratulations to Long Beach on the deal. They get 5 years of Ray at a low contracted price so the now is perfect for the Surfers and Ray. But, we like the deal on our end a lot more than losing Ray."

Portland acquired the number 79 ranked prospect in the BBA in the deal, starting pitcher Frank Walbourne as well as outfielder Du Wu, the 45th ranked prospect in the league. Walbourne was the 6th overall pick in the 2043 draft and could be seen in Portland around 2047 while Wu was an international free agent signing that is many years away from the big leagues. Of course, he's only 16 years of age and needs to get his drivers license and graduate high school first.

"He's a little young for my liking" added Fiscus, "but I know talent when I see it and Wu has some talent. If all goes right, we'll start to see some maturation from him in a few years."