by Valerie Davies, for the Yellow Springs World
In a sure sign that GM Rob McMonigal is acknowledging that the team is not actually ready to compete for a spot in the BBA playoffs, struggling, expensive veteran Phil Cole was traded to Heartland Division juggernaut Nashville along with SP Sergio Flores in exchange for minor league pitchers Alfredo Anaya, Pete Hulett, and Ted Neill.
It is unconfirmed as of yet, but Nashville appears to have also sent five million dollars to Yellow Springs, in a sign that the releases of Tom Rudge and Arvin Duggan hurt the team's bottom line more than the front office was willing to admit.
Five million covers for a lot of pulped t-shirts.
Cole, once a superstar in Vancouver, played well initially for the Nine, but struggled badly this year, contributing to the doomed long-shot playoff hopes of McMonigal and Nine fans everywhere. In 17 starts, he was 3-7 with a 5.01 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and ERA+ of 86, numbers not seen since when El Paso still had a franchise and he was one of their starting pitchers. Despite only being in his second year with the team, McMonigal apparently had seen enough and was ready to move on. I asked him about why he traded Cole, who is well-regarded around the league.
"If we had the Phil Cole of 2059, we're not having this conversation," he said. "Hell, even if he'd regressed to his mid-20s form, Cole would be of great value. But unfortunately, I think time may be catching up to him. Scouts aren't as high on his knuckler, and if that goes, so does he. It was a hard decision, but when Chad [Nashville's GM] came calling with an offer, we talked for weeks until I felt I'd gotten full value."
I pushed this a bit. Cole has a strong reputation and the Nine will be paying half his salary for at least 2061 and probably 2062 as well.
"I understand that and if Cole rebounds with Nashville, then this turns out to be a horrible mistake. On the other hand, if he declines any further, I have a 12.5 million dollar albatross. I took a risk trading for him, now I'm taking a risk trading him away. That's life as a general manager. After balancing out the issues, I felt it made more sense to bring in some quality pitchers from Nashville and start working on rebuilding our farm system. If you want, you can think of that 6.5 million as being IFA or draft money, but used on players with a more established record."
That's an interesting line of thinking, but McMonigal in my experience has been an interesting guy. But what about that five million in cash? Are the Nine doing that poorly, financially?
"Absolutely not," said McMonigal. "Despite the season not going as we wished, our attendance remains among the top half of the league, thanks to our family-friendly pricing. But given we may have to retain salary for two years, not just one, I wanted to ensure that some of those funds came back to us. It just made the most sense for both clubs if that money came to us now, rather than less retention overall. If Cole declines his option, it's an even better deal for us, actually."
Fair enough. Doesn't mean I won't keep checking in on the Nine's finances, which I do not think are nearly as good as McMonigal is presenting them.
So who are the three players coming back? We'll look at that in a separate column.
