Cairo signed its first major league level free agent hitter. The team inked outfielder 33-year-old outfielder Manchu Li to a two-year deal. Here are some excerpts from the GM's blog:
I offer pretty much everybody two-year contracts. That way I won't have so much work to do next year. I was attracted to Li's defense, speed and decent hitting. Right now he is set to start in right field, at least that's where our personnel have him. That pushes 2058 league rookie-of-the-year Bannon Thomas to designated hitter and backup right field duties. He's not ranked at center or left. LI is rated highly at every outfield spot. He had 116 OPD+ last year at Triple A Milwaukee (LV). He is currently chosen to bat second in the order, behind Blair Peyton, which gives us two speed demons up front.
Ticket price has jumped to $13.75, up 75% from last year's $7.80 price. I let my assistant GM set that, and apparently it's not changeable at this point. Season ticket sales are down 19%, and attendance per game is projected to be down 16%. So much for adding 10,000 seats. Well, they'll come in handy during the pennant drive and the postseason, when we avenge our loss against those London bastards. Despite the projected decline in ticket sales, revenue per game is expected to be up 43%. According to the accountants, the Pharaohs are expected to clear $7.5M, up $2M from last year. I think that means we have $7 million to waste, because we can't keep any of it.
In Development Lab news, we still have three excelling. Four are now "on track", including Peyton, in his secret training. We've got two frustrated and one struggling. That surprises me, because I thought infielder Dima Rozinov was a shoe-in to increase his gap power.
Gary 'Iron Man' Powers, who could be the team's closer, has a week or two left on improving his defense. We'll probably keep assigning players to the program until spring training ends.