Shake up in Louisville
As Saturday morning arrived there were fans all over Kentucky choking on their breakfast cereal. The Headline of the sports pages read “Sluggers Trade Two”. Beneath it were the pictures of Mario Villarreal and Fernando Cruz. Two regular members of the 25-man squad had been shipped out as the trade deadline approached.
Villarreal & Cruz have left the building
The Mario Villarreal trade had been a rare BBA three-way trade. Des Moines had come calling enquiring about him but within hours Yellow Springs had called offering a three-way deal. Louisville had several other enquires but none were willing to commit to a deal that the front office liked more than the YS9/DM offer. So in the end it boiled down to John Ginn (who Kernels had originally offered to Louisville) going to the Nine while Villarreal went to Des Moines. Louisville ended up with two young arms in exchange, 22-yr-old Brendan Carr (Kernels #3 prospect) and 20-yr-old Douglas Wils from Yellow Springs.
Fernando Cruz also had several suitors for his services, the front office wasn’t overly convinced by the need or advantage of dealing the first baseman who had just picked up the JL Player of the Week Award for the final week in July. In the end Laverick overruled them, convinced that the franchise had players in the minors that would prove equal (Eventually) to him and he was the most expendable player that would bring in a return. There was a lot of dark rumblings and requests to note their objections so when it all blew up in their faces they couldn’t be blamed for this transgression. So it was that Cruz headed for Brooklyn in exchange for three minor leaguers, pitchers 20-yr-old Sean Gardner & 21-yr-old Manuel Ramirez plus catcher Sifal Smerdon.
Our reporters have been out & about the Louisville Waterfront Park getting a few quotes from passing fans :
“Villarreal was on a crap run, something had to be done”
“W’anchor (or something like that I think)”
“Cruz was just heating up, I’ve been out to toss my season ticket into the lake”
“I only go when Kevin Morales pitches, we have a drinking game – everytime he strikes a batter out we shout “More Ales !!” and down another pint. I’m glad he’s not as good as last year, my cop brother had to get me out of 10 DUI’s lol”
“I blame it all on The Genius running out on us”
“Cruz was a waste at First, only ever hit homers and missed ground balls. Never thanked me for any of the Hotel Keycards I sent him attached to condoms”
And finally a quote from former GM Stu Hopkins
“How to ruin a perennial power house in five short months, the Nigel Laverick story”