WELCOME TO CHICAGO
With the off-season underway and Spring Training nearing, the Black Sox introduced the city to new faces and departed with familiar ones. GM Ryan Collins, after reporting the loss of superstar Richard Wasson assured the city of Chicago that deals were being worked out. Though nothing could possibly replace the impact that Richard Wasson had on this city, there surely needed to be some recovery from losing one of the biggest relief arms in the MBBA. Today, GM Ryan Collins held a press conference to welcome new members of the Black Sox organization and to update the city on potential signings in the future.
"Today, I want to take the time to welcome new faces to our organization. After parting ways with Wasson, our main focus was to improve the bullpen and make sure that we are able to compete defensively. With the offensive impact players that we have, we know we can hit the ball. What the Black Sox needed was a bullpen, and Wasson leaving did not help. Today, we introduce two new arms in the bullpen:
Sean Bergman
"Sean has seen his ups and he's definitely seen his downs. Last season was a difficult year for him as he only pitched a total of 15.3 innings. With his stint in California, he had an ERA of 11.57. However, we see a lot of upside in Bergman as a middle reliever. He is clearly capable of eating up a lot of innings in case it is needed. Bergman will definitely improve upon last years showing. He will be placed in a position where he is going to pitch and he is going to get his innings. I have full confidence in Norogumi Chikuda (Pitching Coach) that Bergman's best years are to come and they will be with the Black Sox."
George Fagg
"I am pleased to announce that the Black Sox have just agreed to terms with George Fagg. George is just what we needed. With "Dicky" taking over the closer role, we needed a confident arm in the bullpen that could either serve as a set-up role or an arm we feel can help get us out of a bind. George has also shown in the past that he is capable of being thrown into a rotation as he pitched 187 innings in 1996 with Greenville. Once again, George is just what we needed and we are excited to put him to work this upcoming Spring Training and we see him as a valuable arm for the next two years.
This is not the end. The Black Sox organization hopes to add one more missing piece to this puzzle. This team has had a tremendous amount of success in the past and we want to carry on the winning tradition that this city holds. We are confident that the men we have signed and the men we are negotiating with will get us to the Landis once again. This is an exciting year and the city of Chicago should be excited. Get your season tickets, buy merchandise...the Black Sox are going to bring the Landis back home to the Windy City!"
