2054.09 Yellow Springs Nine Announce Signings of Sharp and Gertrudes

GM: Rob McMonigal

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2054.09 Yellow Springs Nine Announce Signings of Sharp and Gertrudes

Post by Trebro » Sat Mar 11, 2023 1:05 pm

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December 17, 2053
Yellow Springs, OH – The Yellow Springs Nine today announced the signings of two players designed to fill holes in the 2054 team line up, grabbing veteran shortstop Russell Sharp on a one year deal and anchoring their rotation for the next six years with starting pitcher Takehide Gertrudes.

"I looked around the league and couldn't think of a better opportunity than I'd have with the Nine," said Sharp at the signing ceremony. "If you had told me a week ago I'd be forming a double-play team with a future Hall of Famer like Dong-Po Thum, I'd have said you were crazy. Now, it's reality. I can't wait!"

"One of the things we had to do for 2054 is improve in the field," said GM Rob McMonigal. "While we appreciate what Cordova did for us before the trade and what Rich has done for us there in an interim basis, the fact of the matter is, we had a negative fifteen point four at short last year. It led to pitchers losing games because of balls getting hit to the left side of the infield. Hunter (Thum) was our best player at short, and we can't afford to lose him at second base. That's robbing Peter to pay Paul. So I looked and got the best defender we could find that can still hit the ball out of the infield.

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The Nine are hoping that's what Sharp does. His career record is spotty, with just a career average of
.224 across 10 seasons, starting in 2041 with a cup of coffee in the BBA, and stretching over 2 years in the GBC. Sharp hit .274 for Buenas Aires in 2053, but GBC totals are notoriously unreliable when translating into the BBA. The Nine had issues with designated hitter Sosa Seki, who hit .272 with 43 home runs for Athens, but just .237 and 28 round-trippers in Yellow Springs. But Sharp isn't being paid for his offense, and his 41.8 career zone rating at short (including 16.1 in 2053) is why he's on the team.

Starting pitcher Takehide Gertrudes is a different story. One of several top free agent starting pitchers available, the Nine zeroed in on their man quickly and agreed to the six year, $58,000,000 deal while other big names were still out there, including top free agent Bill Constable, whom many thought GM McMonigal might be targeting when he mentioned strengthening the starting pitching.

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Considered a premiere talent, fans raved about the signing, which many saw as McMonigal acknowledging the need to rely less on the young pitchers drafted by former GM Ron Collins, many of whom have flaws in their mechanics leading to issues with giving up home runs to power teams.

"I was impressed by how McMonigal talked to me about why he wasn't looking to me as a backup option but because he wanted me to help lead the team back to an even record and serve as a mentor to the rest of the staff. He liked my numbers, my consistency, and my willingness to negotiate (laughs)." I liked the fact that I was going to be on a team with such an amazing history and a chance to play with Dong-Po until the end of his career. And since I wouldn't mind sticking around the BBA as a coach after my playing days are over, starting my mentoring now appealed to me."

"Have you seen the way Takehide takes the mound?" asked McMonigal. He practically runs out there, each and every time. He doesn't care if it's the first inning or the ninth. If it's April or August. The man likes to play baseball. No, he loves to play baseball! That's the man I want out there, game in and game out.

Another player whose primary start in the BBA began in 2044, Gertrudes has a track record of success and consistency. He's started at least 30 games every year since 2046, save 2050, when Jacksonville used him as reliever and spot starter. He's logged over 170 innings pitched each of those years (again, except 2050), with an ERA for his career of 4.73 and a WAR total now at 17. His career WHIP is 1.41 and he won a career high 16 games when returning to a starting role in 2051, still with Jacksonville. His k/9 has never been higher than 6.7 but his BABIP is a steady .312. He can be reliably pencilled in every 5th day and give the team a chance to win, something the team lacked in 2053. With 91 victories, reaching his milestone 100th win with the Nine in 2054 is entirely likely.

"We feel confident that with Gertrudes, Girard, a return to form for Lee, and our other young starters like Alejandro (Morin) and Reece (Newsome), that the starting pitching can go from a net negative to a net positive in 2054, helping us to return to our winning ways," said owner Bo Jordan. "I was happy to sign off on his contract."

With the signing of these two players, the Nine still need to look for extra help at catcher, a right-handed outfielder, and perhaps a power bat for the designated hitter role.

"We're not done yet," said McMonigal, but the cap does mean our remaining signings will be with value in mind. "I really like the players we have so far and would be happy to go into the season with them."
Rob McMonigal
Yellow Springs Nine Sep 2052 - ????

London Monarchs Aug 2052 - Sep 2052

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