One of, if not the, biggest moves this off-season was the Portland Lumberjacks' signing of superstar shortstop Sammy McNeill. The guaranteed 6 year deal raised eyebrows as the often injured middle infielder has shown a decline in performance in large part due to his inability to play a full season. Some of those who raised eyebrows may be saying I told you so after McNeill's first 21 games of the season see the all-star hitting just .169 with a .507 OPS.
"Yeah, no way we'd have done that deal" said one GM discussing the 6 year, $13.7 million deal for McNeill. "He'd shown signs of decline already. I think this first month of the season is showing that at 32 years of age, things are just going to progressively get worse for McNeill in terms of production. Portland has made a huge blunder."
Currently, McNeill's .169 average, .242 on-base percentage, and .265 slugging percentage currently rank as the worst on the Portland squad among it's 9 starting batters. They rank lower than even Matt Pruitt who has been thrust into the lineup due to the injury to Alvin Conley. His poor hitting numbers have even caused grumblings from the stands to start the season. Spattering of boos could be heard in Sunday's 1-0 win over San Fernando when McNeill went 0-4 in the game against the Bears that included a pair of groundouts. It capped off a homestand in which McNeill went 5 for 31.
While some fans and other GMs seem to think the signing is a poor one, the Portland front office sees things in an entirely different light. "We wouldn't be sitting in 1st place right now if it weren't for the signing of McNeill and other guys" commented AGM Sandy Mounds. "While his offensive numbers aren't up to his normal levels, he's doing other things to help this club win. He's sured up the middle infield defense and is part of one of the top defensive units in the league right now. Our pitching staff wouldn't rank 5th overall in the league right now without McNeill patrolling the position on defense. He also leads the team in stolen bases and is an overall team leader. There will be a lot of crow eating once the law of averages kicks in and he starts hitting."
"I'm a believer in the back of the baseball card approach" chimed in manager Mons Raider. "Sammy's a career .282 hitter. At some point, he's going to start hitting and those numbers are going to balance out to what he's done his entire career. I like to think that the rest of the league is going to be in a lot of trouble one he does start hitting. If this team has 16 wins right now and atop the division with him struggling at the plate right now, it means it could only get worse for the rest of the Pacific once he does start hitting."
During the homestand that saw McNeill go 5-31, the Lumberjacks squad went 7-2 with a slumping McNeill in the lineup.
"Enjoy the Ride" - Sandy "Paige" Mounds
