Hold My Log - 51.5 - Alomar Traded to Twin Cities

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Building a championship caliber team from scratch may not be too difficult. Acquiring top 5 draft pick after top 5 draft pick for nearly a decade allows a team to stockpile good young talent in an effort to one day built a title contender. However, keeping a championship team together may be a whole other story. Today, due to salary cap restraints and a roster with more holes to fill than a certain assistant general manager, Portland was forced to cut ties with their great left fielder Wilson Alomar. The Lumberjacks sent Alomar to Twin Cities along with $10 million in cash in exchange for platoon outfielder Hadji Ufanisi.

"This was not an easy move to make" spoke General Manager Chris Wilson at today's press conference announcing the trade. "Alomar was a staple in this clubhouse for the last 4 seasons and a key part in our winning the Frick League pennant in 2049 and then winning the division this season. Unfortunately, we needed some flexibility with our salary cap and felt Alomar was the guy we could most afford to lose. Considering the mess we are in currently with our roster, especially on the offensive side of things, I'm not so sure we can afford to lose Alomar either. But it is what it is."

Alomar joined the Lumberjacks in a 2047 trade with the Rockville Pikemen. Since joining the Lumberjacks, Alomar had accumulated 10.8 WAR over 4 seasons while hitting 93 homeruns and driving in 332 RBI. Despite playing somewhat flawed defense and sometimes being viewed as a platoon outifielder, Alomar did his job and did it consistently and well. In the opening round of the 2049 playoffs, he performed so well that he was named the Geoghegan Series MVP in Portland's 5 game series win over Yellow Springs. However, he was due to make $12 million in 2051 and the front office felt that money was needed elsewhere.

"We only had about $10 million in cap space with Alomar on the roster with needs at about 3-4 positions" added AGM Kate Fiscus. "We are hoping Jiao-long Ma can fill the space in the outfield for the league minimum and the extra $12 million saved with the trade, giving us around $22 million total, can help us fill the spots we currently have open via free agency. And we have a lot of spots."

The move, though needed by the front office, was not met with open arms by Alomar's former teammates. With the team on break for the winter, many players were not available for contact about the trade. Ernest McBride was caught at his hometown in Minnesota and stated this about the trade:

"I'm going to miss Wilson. I'm going to miss the protection he offered me in the lineup. He was a dedicated player and as consistent a teammate as I've ever played with. I understand the business side of things and the front office is doing what they feel is best under the salary constraints of the league, but that doesn't mean we won't miss Wilson both on and off the field. I wish him the best."