September 1, 2043
by Banjo Jackson
Nashville, TN
It looked as though Nashville was going to have an uneventful trade deadline, but the Bluebirds struck an eleventh hour deal Omaha Cyclones to shed some unwanted salary. The Bluebirds sent OF William Wood and IF Jérôme Delage along with minor leaguers Juan Ruiz and Orlando Lopez to the rebuilding Cyclones, getting left-handed OF Jaime Geerdinkck in return.
Jaime Geerdinkck
“When I arrived in Nashville, there were a few unwanted contracts that were restricting us from our vision. While we will miss Wood’s leadership, we just weren’t able to afford the salary we committed to him. Jaime has a much friendlier contract that will allow us flexibility over the next several seasons,” said trigger man, GM Chad Nason. “We expect Ruiz and Lopez to be future impact players in the Heartland division, but hope they don’t hold it against us in the future.”
Ruiz was ranked as the #18 prospect in the BBA coming into the 2043 season. In 16 games with Nashville this season, he proved to still be unpolished and was sent back to AAA Orlando Oranges after posting a 6.54 ERA and giving up nearly 3 long balls per 9 IP. He was much more effective in Orlando with a 2.52 ERA over the past two seasons. Lopez has yet to dazzle at the plate, but has shown promise with the glove at shortstop with good speed. His left-handed bat may serve better as a platoon type player if he fails to develop his bat any further.
Juan Ruiz
Despite losing two veteran players, Nashville is still very much in the hunt for October. The Bluebirds are currently tied with Hawaii Tropics for the final wildcard spot as we enter the final month of the season. To help their case, the Birds finished last week with a 4-2 record. LHP Chin Kim pitched splendidly to split the 4 game set with Madison Wolves. The Nashville bullpen allowed just 1 ER in 10.2 IP to help take two out of three against hosts, Vancouver Mounties. 3B Tony Frost played hero with a 10th inning blast in Sacramento to begin a 3 game set versus the Mad Popes. The Bluebirds’ bats were silenced in the second game, but look to revive in Tuesday’s rubber match.
