We finally traded Umali's boy Seshadri. We got a couple of good prospects:
Dale Olds, a 26 year old catcher
Necdet Ecevit, a 23 year old middle infielder
I was a bit sorry to let Seshadri go, even though he wasn't producing for us at the BBA. Seshadri had become a pet project for our general manager. He was his first draft pick ever. That was 2058. And then he spent all those resources sending him to Dev Lab. After three summers over at Northwestern, even Ert was kind of shaking his head, and he's as indefatigable as anybody. He had tried to add a pitch to his arsenal a couple of summers and failed.
Dhrtatman ranked as high as #65 in the BBN, and he had a promising cup of coffee in 2059, going 2-1 over 3 starts. The plan, if you remember, was for him to stick in the rotation this year, but he lost 3 of his 4 starts this year and when Marcos Echevarria went down, the plan for the season began to really unravel.
But rest assured, our overall plan is still in effect. We've continued with our slower approach with Orlando Rubio (our first rounder from 2059). He learned a cutter at Dev Lab last offseason and is holding his own in AA Peoria (4-5, 2.99 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 1.9 BB/9, 8.5 K.9. We're taking an even slower approach with Tolya Shiller, whom we also got in 2058. He's still in Short A down in the DR with Tony Cochran. Reports are is that he's loving it. Winning will do that to you.
So, we got Dale Olds. He's been catching about a third of the games for San Fernando since '58. You know he's a liability at the plate. But his .227 / .279 / .345 over 933 PAs in 4 years is better than Gordon Hancock. Plus, he's a better catcher. Craig Bass (bench coach) will be working with him and assessing his fit.
Necdet Ecevit is excellent defensively but is another liability at the plate. The records show he also spent the last three years at San Fernando's Dev Lab --- all unsuccessful unfortunately. But he's showing improvement and our hitting coach in AA Peoria should be able to help him out.
I'll send you news about the Ayyad Faisal trade after I return from Valencia.
AA