Are We Seeing the Last of the Nine?

[RonCo]

We all know Lucas McNeill and Lawrence Columbus LaLoosh have opt outs on their contracts. And Angel De Castillo is strongly considering entering free agency rather than sign an extension.

Yes, much has been written about that status (or not) of the contracts of these Yellow Springs players, and yet nowhere has the full picture been looked at from afar. And nowhere have the other sides of the contractual Rubik’s cube that the YS9 front office is playing with been fully explored—the fact that center fielder Carlos Garcia has a mutual option at the end of this year, or that stellar relive Jose Souza is also looking at entering free agency and is rumored to want closer money, that back-up catcher Nate Wood’s arbitration recommendation ($4.8M) seems so absurd that the club might well let him go fishing, too. Add to this the fact that stalwart ace Jose Chavez is showing signs of decline, and you’ve got a whole lot of the heart and soul of the Yellow Springs Nine that seems to be rolling toward November with question marks beside their names.

Then we come to the bench staff, a collection that includes 67-year-old manager Bret Richards (with one year left on his contract), and legendary pitching coach Robert LaLoosh who’s been silently putting out hints that he may not want to be with the team in 2037—a comment that supports rumors that Crash LaLoosh will be exercising that option. Hitting coach William Campbell has been rumored to be standing on banana peels ever since Victor Guerra was dealt.

At the end of the day, then, a forward-looking fan has to ask the question: After a run of historic portions (at least with regard to this franchise), are we seeing the end of the rainbow? Is 2036 the last gasp of this franchise—the last time around the bend—the last shot at pulling down the big Landis ring?

This is a club that’s been to the playoffs nine of the past ten years, and appears ready to stretch their string of 95+ win seasons to six in a row. It’s a team that’s taken the Heartland Division title four of the last six years, and has aspirations to make it five of seven. A club that’s been to the Landis twice and come up empty-handed, once coming to within two innings of that elusive championship. It’s also a team that has been swept from the playoffs in the first round each of the past two seasons.

So you can’t really blame fans for looking the other way when they’re confronted with the idea that this era could be winding its way to the last, coarse dregs at the bottom of the cup. You can’t blame them for wanting to hold onto the idea that this could go on—that Lucas and Crash will make a blood pact to come back together, and that Angel will realize that Yellow Springs is everything it’s cut out to be. You can see why they daydream that the clock would be turned back, just a little, that Landis lightning might strike this time and that the wave of goodwill brought on by hardware of the highest type might get these guys to forsake the gaudy green buck and stay to continue the dynasty.

But the facts are the facts, and we all know that Little Jackie Paper grows up and leaves Puff behind to slide quietly back into his cave.

Time moves on.

And while it’s possible this team could come back pretty much intact, the cold gaze of reality says that there’s much more of a chance that this month of September is the last glory run at a Heartland Pennant for this collection of ballplayers that have been the pride of Ohio for the past decade, and that this October (and maybe even a little of November) will be its last time in the post season chase for this same brotherhood.

It should be noted that the players are all focused like that may be true.

Lucas McNeill is in line to win his first batting title of all time, and is putting up numbers that have him in the chase for his second Sawyer Silk award. LaLoosh would be a front-runner for his fourth Nebraska if it weren’t for a horrific pair of early outings. De Castillo is posting a career year, as is Carlos Garcia. Souza, too, has found his groove and has had periods where he’s been unhittable. Who’s to say he won’t get closer money? And Wood, for all the gnashing of teeth about his arbitration number, has been quietly reprising his role as one of the better backup catchers in the league for a couple seasons.

Even Jose Chavez, who has signed, but is fading, has been reaching back for that extra to etch performances in the sky.

So, yes, it’s a strange moment in time in Yellow Springs. Even if LaLoosh and McNeill decide to stay, financially it will be hard to keep the whole gang together. As the team laces them up and prepares to face the Hawks in a critical series, the fans feel it, the coaches feel it, and the players feel it.

There’s 31 games to go. Then, hopefully, a few more series to end the year. Will this team grab the moment? Will it dash the hearts of their faithful followers one more time? Who knows, right?

All was can say for sure is that, yes verily, time it does move on.

Enjoy it while you can.

[ae37jr]

In what could be the storyline of the century. Wichita has $50 million coming off the books this Winter. Wouldn't it be something if Stu put the final nail in the nine coffin by signing LaLoosh and McNeil away?

[RonCo]

They probably wouldn't take Stu's money.

[GoldenOne]

The Goats are only at around $51M for next season (once we release Tremblett soon since it seems nobody wants him) with some holes to fill......

[udlb58]

We have almost $40m to play with now, but Noboru is going to eat up a huge chuck of that.

It would be ironic if McNeil and Laloosh both leave and YS wins the Landis at some point during the rest of their careers.