Philosophy, Science, Theology, Ancient Secrets
California Crusader Trades of 2040
- Saturday, April 7th, 2040 -- Traded 29-year-old center fielder Bryan Robson and $5,200,000 in cash to the Wichita Aviators, getting 20-year-old minor league left fielder Alberto Solís in return.
- Saturday, May 26th, 2040 -- Traded 18-year-old minor league right fielder Arvin Duggan to the Yellow Springs Nine, getting 20-year-old catcher Kazuki Saito in return.
- Saturday, July 28th, 2040 -- Traded 19-year-old minor league reliever Matt Wilson to the Las Vegas Hustlers, getting 29-year-old left fielder Carlos Camacho in return.
- Saturday, August 25th, 2040 -- Traded 31-year-old starting pitcher Jaime Mercado, 21-year-old minor league starting pitcher Johnny Hale and 18-year-old minor league second baseman Greg Jones to the Las Vegas Hustlers, getting 25-year-old first baseman Quant Kouros, 27-year-old starting pitcher Hao Kun and 32-year-old shortstop Mark Wareham in return.
The California Crusaders entered the 2040 campaign coming off a 2nd place finish in the Pacific Division and a 3-1 first round playoff loss to the Hawaii Tropics. Expectations on the new year were tempered, but the consensus within the organization believed the Crusaders to be a playoff team due to their high end pitching rotation and despite their lack of offensive prowess. The incredible rookie season from corner outfielder, David Simpson, in 2039 also raised expectations.
Bryan Robson was dealt due to a glut of strong lefty platoon outfielders who were potentially better offensively. Losing Robson was difficult as his defensive abilities in the outfield and utility as a backup infielder still held much value to the team, but Robson was unwilling to be demoted to the minors and was, therefor, expendable. GM Shoeless found a willing trading partner in Wichita, who had inquired about Robson the season before. California also sent $5.2 million in cash to cover Robson's salary for the year and, in return, received outfield lottery ticket, Alberto Solis, who was a bump or two away from being a solid BBA contributor.
Catcher, Kazuki Saito, was acquired from Yellow Springs due to a complete lack of catching depth throughout the entire Crusader organization. The BBA Crusaders were attempting a platoon of Chip Saunders and Neil Bruce, but the duo, albeit great on defense due to Saunders, was just plain horrific at the plate. Saito was attractive as an option to move straight to the big club as he was nearly developed and fit well with his high gap ratings into the new Crusader ballpark dimensions. Lost in the trade was Arvin Duggan. At the time of the trade, GM Shoeless hated losing such a promising prospect, but the overwhelming need of an all-around contributing catcher outweighed the future contributions from Duggan. The hope was Saito becomes an every day catcher for the Crusaders for the foreseeable future.
Carlos Camacho was obtained from Las Vegas as a last ditch effort to find anyone willing to contribute anything against left-hand pitchers from the outfield positions. Camacho was having an off year but had shown success in the past. Losing a lumping minor league prospect was worth giving Camacho a chance. Camacho did not work out and was soon released from the team under mysterious circumstances.
The acquisition of Kouros, Kun, and Wareham was part of an ongoing discussion with Las Vegas. GM Shoeless loved the style of play Kouros brought to the ballpark day in and day out. In addition, his skills match perfectly with the new ballpark design, which favors gap hitters, strong pitching, and solid baserunning/stealing. Las Vegas inquired about Mercado many times throughout the season, but most talks fizzled quickly as GM Shoeless insisted Kouros be part of any Marcado deal. Finally, just prior to the trade deadline, Las Vegas reached out with a Mercado deal including Kouros and a couple viable replacement options in the starting rotation, but they required a decent level pitching prospect as part of the deal. Hale was agreed upon by both sides as acceptable. Kun was finalized as the Crusaders choice for the replacement for Mercado in the starting rotation. Wareham was a last minute throw in on the deal as California could make room financially for him and he was an upgrade in the middle infield for struggling Claudio Defazio. Jones, a lottery ticket prospect, was thrown in from California's side to appease Vegas.
GM Shoeless made the Mercado deal as he believed adding a prototypical lead-off man and defensive wizard at first base with Kouros, along with a viable rotation replacement in Kun, and a middle infield upgrade in Wareham would help with a playoff push in 2040 and help with sustained success moving forward, very much dependent on extending Kouros to a longer term deal. The loss of Mercado and a solid prospect in Hale was difficult, but Kun eases the pain in the BBA and stronger starting pitcher prospects, Dani Garcia and Eustace Tilley eased the burden in the minors.