Though the off-season is winding down, the Yellow Springs Nine are still tweaking their roster. Today they announced the acquisition of Travis Lara from the Las Vegas Hustlers in return for a minor leaguer. Lara (25) has played parts of three seasons with the Hustlers in a utility role, mostly in the outfield. He's got a little pop from the right side of the plate, posting a career slash of .260/.305/.483 to go with 14 homers in 315 PA.
He projects to taking at bats against left-handers, but a YS9 spokesman said that the team sees his versatility in the field as a true advantage, meaning he could play the infield against lefties, too, and he’s a capable base runner off the bench for those critical late-game moments.
The Nine’s front office has been forthcoming in its need to searching around during the spring to sort out its full rotation of players at every position, and with the acquisition of LHB Jorge Rodriguez to play left field much of the time, it’s hoped that Lara’s usage would be somewhat limited.
CLOOTS GOES TO VEGAS
The Nine gave up outfielder Ines Cloots, a guy the team has been excited about as he’s made his way through the organization, but who seems to have been drafted over in the past few seasons. He was behind both George Robertson and Pat Allen in the prospect depth charts, and unless he finds an extra gear that lets him excel in center field, it’s likely he’s a fourth outfielder.
Cloots was upbeat about the move. "If a deal is the best way to get me to the show, I'm all for a deal."
Lara will report directly to the team’s spring training facility.