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RUMORS SWIRL AROUND POPULAR VETERAN
October 4, 2046: YELLOW SPRINGS – Ernesto Ramos came into the season with a backpack full of questions. He had lost parts of the last two years to shoulder inflammation, and some worried that his currently 31-year-old body wasn’t going to handle it well. The big Cuban proved naysayers unfounded, though, as he took the ball 32 times and poste a solid 10-6 record to go with a 4.01 ERA and an adequate 106 FIP-. His homer and walk allowed rates dropped (as did his K-rate, though that was accompanied by a league-wide whiff recession). He worked himself up the Game Score ranks to register solidly in the top 60 or 70 starting pitchers in the league—making him a solid #3 kind of pitcher.
And yet trade rumors wafted in the wind around the deadline, and now—with the team preparing to host Omaha in the Geoghegan Round of the annual post-season exhibition tournament, rumors are swirling that this still could be Ramos’s last season with the club; that the team’s front office has met to discuss the possible release of the veteran.
“Everyone knows the team is trying to squeeze a gallon of toothpaste back into the tube,” said Nine broadcaster Melissa Lester. “Ernesto is making a lot of money, so you have to take that kind of rumor seriously.”
In this case, “a lot of money” is $16M plus as many as $2M more in bonuses. With the team pushing the salary cap as well as looking at the need to resign fellow starter Carlos Pineda, one can understand the dynamics of the problem. Add in the sudden emergence of Jerry Bourque as a starter, and the fact that Roy Minty appears ready in the minors, and the equation gets clearer.
“I understand the finance officers are going over everything with a fine toothed comb right now,” Lester said.
Ramos has been a fan favorite for the past decade, and currently sits with a career record of 124-70. He won 20 games for the team in 2040 while posting a 2.74 ERA—good enough to finish third in the Nebraska voting.
