Hold My Log - 57.07 - Badger's Starts, Bustamante Homers Dominate Sim 1

[7teen]

Expectations were fairly low in Portland heading into the 2057 season. This is no longer the team built around a starting rotation stable that could lead a team to the Landis Series. Instead, your modern day Lumberjacks roster is filled with 1 year temporary fill-ins that mirror an expansion franchise trying to fill spots moreso than a team that is just 6 years removed from a trip to the Landis Series.

But with that said, Portland jumped out to a solid 3-3 start to the 2057 season with all 6 games being played on the road away from the Trail in Multnomah. The team split a pair of games with Hawaii before splitting a 4-game series with Madison that saw Portland take the final 2 of the series.

Franklin Badger, an apparent 1-year rental the Lumberjacks picked up in free agency this off-season, shined on the mound in his 2 starts. He picked up the win in the team's season over in Hawaii, going 5.1 scoreless innings while allowing a pair of hits and a pair of walks while striking out 6. In his follow up start in Madison, Badger picked up a no-decision but it wasn't any wrong doing on his part. He allowed a run on 5 hits in 7.2 innings of work that saw him strike out 5 Wolves. Portland won the game on the late heroics by Mike Walker.

"We're excited to have Badger with us" GM Chris Wilson said. "He's not been great the last few years, but hey, he was a 20 game winner just 4 years ago so maybe he finds some of that magic here in Portland."

While Badger stole the show on the mound, Pedro Bustamante led the surge offensively. Many expect this to be a contract year for Pedro who has a player option at the end of the season so many expect a resurgence from Pedro in 2057. In Portland's first 6 games, Pedro belted a pair of homeruns and drove in 7 RBI to lead the team in both categories. His 3 run homerun Friday night jump started the Portland offense to an early 5-1 lead against Madison in a game Portland won 5-3 and handed the Wolves their first loss of the season.

"I don't know what's to come at the end of the season" said Pedro after the final game of the sim. A sim that saw him record a hit in the final 5 games. "I'm going to go out and play the best baseball I can and see where the chips fall at season's end."

Bustamante has a $5 million player option for 2058 and a team option of $15 million in 2059. For a player currently making $12 million in 2057, many expect Bustamante to decline his player option and turn down the remaining salary considering most would assume Portland does not pick up his $15 million option in 2059 and buy him out at a discounted $3 million.

[trmmilwwi]

Poor Busta. Declined his Outlaw option for 3.1 Portland WAR's over the last 3+ years.

[7teen]

Poor Busta. Declined his Outlaw option for 3.1 Portland WAR's over the last 3+ years.

Yeah he's not been too good in Portland. But at least he got paid!

Could really be the motto of most guys I sign to be honest....