Offseason Recap '98-'99

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In terms of numbers this was not a very active offseason for the Crusaders. The big signing, obviously, is sure fire ace Sammy Bodeen. Bodeen missed a lot of time last year but he will come in and instantly be the number one go to guy in the rotation. Management felt that this was something the rotation severly lacked. The rotation has a number of above average pitchers but was missing that one superstar. Bodeen remedies that. There has been a lot of talk on the size of the contract and there should be. It is a huge contract and only time will tell if it was worth it.

The only other major signing was the trade for Carl Tawk. Jason Grass had an abysmal year at the hot corner but provided stellar defense (won the Yogi Zimmer Diamond Glove award). Management wanted to upgrade the offensive production at 3rd without losing any defense. Tawk is that guy. Hackensack received two minor league pitchers (Reece and Gaiser) for the swap. Management wished those two the best of luck and it looks like they will have a shot at making the major league squad this year for the Bulls.

Billy Wilson's contract expired and will most likely retire. He leaves the Crusaders having set many team and league records in the power department. We wish Billy the best of luck and we hope he enjoys life after baseball. He will most certainly be in the Hall once eligible. The other key departures would be SP Dow Jones and Nick Machiavelli. Jones was bumped from the rotation mid season last year and actually thrived in a relief role. However he wanted to be a starter and has since been signed by rival Hawaii. Machiavelli is 31 years old and there was just too much young talent behind him to tender him a new deal. Machiavelli has been signed by Omaha.