Hold My Log - 49.67 - Ma Makes Debut

[7teen]

Figuring he was already on the payroll making the league minimum, and in need of another bench bat with the injury to Fernando Castillo recently, the Lumberjacks opted to call up prospect Jiao-long Ma for a cup of coffee in the big leagues. Ma, the Lumberjacks top rated prospect in a pretty bare cupboard, was having a solid season in Triple-A Quincy with a 1.8 WAR before the call-up.

"It basically boiled down to us needing a bat and salary considerations" commented Fiscus. "Ma isn't really ready, but he's on the roster making the league minimum so we figured we'd bring him up and get a taste of big league life. Maybe it would help improve some of his ability which seems to have stalled of late."

Ma entered the 2049 season as the 89th rated prospect in the BBA and jumped up to 50th during the mid-season re-evaluation of the BBA's prospects. Ma projects to be a platoon type corner outfielder in the BBA assuming he develops his ratings against right handed pitching. Fiscus eluded to the fact that Ma's ability seems to have stalled some this season. In fact, reports show that Ma hasn't really progressed much this season. Despite the 1.8 WAR, he's only hitting .228/.328/.436 in Triple-A at the moment. He does have a minor league career best 15 homeruns however. Fiscus and the front office hope a little taste of big league life will help reinvigorate Ma and perhaps lead to some growth that could see him earn a big league roster spot in 2050.

While he's not expected to make any starts during his time in Portland over the next 6 weeks, Ma did see 3 plate appearances this past week. He went 0-2 in wins against Hawaii. He also notched his first career RBI courtesy of a bases loaded walk with 2 outs in the 9th against Vancouver. A game Portland lost 7-6 that led to an eventual tirade from GM Chris Wilson. More on that to come soon....

[Fat Nige]

My problem is that nearly everyone I want to bring up as injury replacements is on minor league deals. And with the Red Crescents salary commitments “touching the cloth” (English euthanism *) of the salary cap we can’t go handing out minimum salary deals willy nilly .


*think rushing to the toilet VERY quickly

[7teen]

My problem is that nearly everyone I want to bring up as injury replacements is on minor league deals. And with the Red Crescents salary commitments “touching the cloth” (English euthanism *) of the salary cap we can’t go handing out minimum salary deals willy nilly .


*think rushing to the toilet VERY quickly

I wouldn’t have brought Ma up had he not already been making the minimum. He had to be put on the roster or be rule 5 eligible.