2054.2 Yellow Springs Nine Announce First Off-Season Roster Changes

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2054.2 Yellow Springs Nine Announce First Off-Season Roster Changes

Post by Trebro » Mon Feb 13, 2023 1:23 am

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Yellow Springs Nine Announce First Off-Season Roster Changes
November 15, 2053


Yellow Springs, OH – The Yellow Springs Nine announced the following changes to their 40-man roster, effective immediately.

As previously reported, SP Carlos Valle has retired at the age of 40. The right-handed pitcher played in 3 games with the Nine, going 1-1 in his swan song with the team. He was 6-4 in 22 games (11 starts) with a 3.60 ERA, 38 strikeouts and 24 walks.

"We're so happy Carlos ended his time with us," said GM Rob McMonigal. "And unlike some of his peers, he went out still nearly as good as he ever was. Every one of those 263 wins was earned."

In a contrast to Valle, who wanted back, OF Natsume Kondo exercised his contract opt-out, deciding to test free agency for the first time. Kondo started his career with Pheonix, then was traded to the Nine in 2046. After 8 years in Yellow Springs, the left fielder decided his existing contract was less lucrative than what he could command on the market. Kondo batted .286 in 114 games, splitting time with second year player Eric Grant. He had 12 home runs (third best in his career) and 59 RBIs (second best).

"We'd have loved to have Natsume man left field again for us, and maybe we still will. The door's not closed. There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that being a part of the Nine no longer sparked joy."

Meanwhile, the Nine confirmed today that DH/1B Sosa Seki, brought over from the Global Baseball Confederation in 2053, did not have his option renewed for a little over ten million and was instead given the buyout of $2,500,000. While Seki hit right handed batters relatively well overall (.251 and 24 home runs), he was unable to hit left handed hitting at all (.169 and 4 home runs). Additionally, he battled only .191 in June and .200 in August, hurting the chances of the team in those crucial months and contributing to the team's swoon after the all-star break. He was a player of the week in May.

"I don't regret the chance we took on Seki and I wish him well as he looks for his next team. But there was just no way to keep him as a part time player at over ten million who wasn't going to see the field because of Perkins and Tahir," said McMonigal. He continued: "We struggled a lot with this decision, but in the end, it was the right move for the team. We'd be open to have him back on a lower deal." Seki ended his time (for now) with the Nine with a .237 average, 28 homers, .317 OPS and 80 runs batted in.

The Nine also oped to release the following four players instead of looking to arbitration. Two of them were rather surprising, but McMonigal had reasons for both.

C Ziad Abdul-Samad (.271/.304/.369 in 2053 with the Nine, .277 and -.9 WAR for his career)

"While we love Ziad's Bat, he simply isn't the type of player we're looking for in 2054 in terms of what he brings to the table behind the dish," said McMonigal. (Fans have reported to the Nine's front office their displeasure.)

1B/3B Banger Dan (.261/.320/.376 in 2053 with the Nine, .267 and 6.2 WAR for his career)

Dan's departure was a bit of surprise, with fans screaming as soon as the news broke. "We tried really hard to keep Banger on the team," said McMonigal, "but we couldn't agree on a workable number." While Dan, a former first found pick for the Nine in 2045, he broke out in 2049 in a rookie campaign that featured a league-leading 50 doubles in 154 games, slashing .277/.333.426. Unfortunately his numbers kept sliding and then his playing time followed, with 2050 featuring a .230 average leading to playing only 93 games in 2051, where his average bounced back to .336 and his OPS ballooned to .926. But .2052 found him back to .258 and and 2053 was just .261. His home run production dropped in half to 8 from 15 as well. 2052 and 2053 combined for just .3 WAR. "Looking at those trends and our needs elsewhere, we let Banger know he wasn't going to go to arbitration. We fully expect he'll be successful wherever he goes and look forward to seeing him on the field."

Also released was 3B Logan Bannon, who played in only 8 games for the Nine over 2052-2053, with 7 career hits in the BBA. He hit .236 with 59 home runs in 4 seasons of the AAA level.

The last release was RP Bryan Longstaff, who never graced the Yellow Springs roster for any of the three years of being on the 40-man roster. In AAA, he spent 4 years for Indianapolis as a reliever, pitching in 110 games with a 3.93 ERA and 2.1 WAR.

A series of corresponding moves adding players who will otherwise be exposed to the Rule 5 Draft are likely forthcoming.
Rob McMonigal
Yellow Springs Nine Sep 2052 - ????

London Monarchs Aug 2052 - Sep 2052

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