December 7, 2053
Yellow Springs, OH – The Yellow Springs Nine announced today that they had signed outfielder Nazeeh Ragheb to a long-term deal this morning. The deal is set to last through 2059 and carries a total value of $29,600,000 plus incentives for making 550 plate appearances yearly, winning a Silver Slugger, and making the All Star Team. It begins in 2055, with the first year salary of $5,200,000 a significant increase over the $3,180,000 deal signed in the middle of this year to avoid arbitration.
"I really like Yellow Springs and I enjoy playing in this atmosphere with Coach Gil and all my teammates. This city is all I've known in the Brewster, and I'm happy to keep it that way for a long time. The fans really get you up and ready to perform on a nightly basis. I'm so thankful to Mac [General Manager McMonigal] for working so quickly with me and my agent to get this done. For the Nine!"
"We're extremely pleased to keep a home-grown player here with the team through his age-31 season," said McMonigal in a brief statement after the signing was made public. This team has a long tradition of keeping our best players in house for their entire careers, and we hope that Nazeeh will be yet another such player for us. Getting a player of his quality and consistency locked down to keep our winning tradition alive for the younger players still in the minors was a key consideration in the signing."
Ragheb was a scouting discovery in Iraq by Nine employees in 2044, who signed him at the tender age of 17. While extremely raw, those who watched him play the game felt he had better than average potential to make it in the Brewster and succeed, with high marks on the ability to make contact and avoid strikeouts. His defense was harder to nail down, but he's settled in to be a regular in right field, with a career fielding average there of .980. He also works periodically in left, where his career fielding is slightly better at .984. The 26 year old is a career .298 hitter with a WAR total of 9.6 so far since making his debut with the Nine in 2048. He only has 26 total home runs but 30 triples and 173 doubles, plus an ability to take walks (260 against 296 whiffs) keeps his OPS at a solid .773.
Typically in the leadoff role for the Nine, Ragheb can play against left or right handed pitching, but is best suited when used in a platoon role, hitting .309 against righties versus .232 against southpaws.
"Given he's still young, the future is bright for this young man," added owner Bo Jordan. "I look forward to watching him from my private box and continuing our tradition of high-average, fast, exciting ballplayers for many years to come."
