Louisville Legen 1.04 - Van Winkle Traded, Fire Sale Next?

[robster49]

A sad day for hard luck Louisville fans today as the franchise announced a trade sending star infielder and fan favorite Rob Van Winkle to Las Vegas for a trio of minor leaguers. Also shipped to Las Vegas was reliever Bob Fife and recent free agent addition outfielder Jay Burns. In return, Louisville receives starting pitcher Mike Sims, shortstop Marcos Romero and reliever Alex Wolfe. Rookie General Manager Rob Starke continued his practice of not taking questions from the media and instead read a short prepared statement.

"I stood up here when I was hired less than a year ago and told the fans of Louisville that I was not going to "blow things up". I felt it was reasonable with the talent on our roster, with guys like Rob Van Winkle, that we could compete. We went out and added some talent to the team and gave it a shot. It's no secret that we find ourselves in last place yet again and therefore some difficult, and I realize unpopular decisions had to be made. And as much as I felt it was reasonable to compete, I feel more strongly that the fans of this franchise are owed a winning team.

We are parting ways with a great player and true class act in Rob Van Winkle and I am glad that he and the other guys get to go to a contender at this stage in their careers. I am excited however to bring in some fresh young talent. It may take some time but championships aren't won in a day or a single season, and I realize, not in a single move."

In a scene from the bizarre, or possibly the norm around Louisville, several fans attempted to interrupt Starke's statement with chants of "FIRE STARKE!" while wearing t-shirts reading the same. "The Ice Man" was in Louisville for over 7 seasons and has 2,051 hits, 1,137 runs, 565 steals, and a .313 career average along his 12 year career. And at 33 he was still hitting as though it was his prime. The decision to trade Van Winkle was questionable enough, however many fans and critics have questioned the haul received for the long time Slugger.

Sims, 21 was drafted 17th overall a year ago by Las Vegas. He has favorable reports from scouts and features a plus fastball however a lack of control, stamina, and secondary pitches limits his upside from being an ace. Sims has been ranked as high as 24th on prospect lists coming into the season but has gone 1-7 with a 7.35 ERA for Single A this season. Louisville has to hope that a change of scenery helps the centerpiece of the trade.

Romero is a 25 year old shortstop and second baseman that has yet to rise above AA ball in parts of 4 professional seasons. Known for his glovework, he may be pressed into duty in Louisville to fill the gaping hole at short. He has some contact potential with the bat but has never hit over .271 in the minors so the team should expect a huge loss offensively. Wolfe is a career minor leaguer at 27 but has posted strong numbers with unspectacular talent in the minors.

This does seem to signal a further firesale with several of the teams core players over 30 and also with expiring contracts at the end of the season. Rumors had been circulating that starting pitcher John Doherty was being traded to Birmingham for prospects and that several other teams were contacted by the team shopping players. Starke would not address any questions at the conference, thus only the coming weeks will show where this franchise is headed.

[Al-Hoot]

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[robster49]

If we played Hawaii every game, we'd be fine. Kidding.

Seriously though, it was a tough call but I gave it a run with the existing roster. Going to have to really rebuild and not dance around it, which is going to be a LONG road but should be a fun challenge. Seems like Hawaii has the same situation so maybe we meet in the postseason in 5 years.