Byline: Max Offen Sichtlich
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GM Collins Forestalls Questions, Discussing Future Plans With Several Public Appearances, More Than Hints At Park Improvements
September 8, 2055
From the moment he stepped into the General Manager’s seat, newly anointed Mad Pope leader Ron Collins has not looked well. The reports of him zoning away during sessions, leaning on the support of sidekick assistant GM Carlos Camacho, responding to some queries with a series of oddly weird comments, and even simply ditching public appearances have been growing, and the most recent situation—a press conference held without either of the two—had raised some serious questions as to whether Collins was physically and mentally up for the job.
It’s all added up to a set of conspiracy theories that range from the Illuminati having harvested his brain, to the team having put him into an institution and are now operating as if he’s there simply to save face on their horrible hire.
Today, though, Collins has made not one, but five separate appearances, and in the process has discussed contractual progress on various players—all of whom are up for arbitration.
It’s enough to make one wonder if the whole thing has been orchestrated specifically to forestall further questions.
Regardless, the players in question are center fielder Kei-Thing Law, bullpen pitchers Augusto Ayala, Clint Thomas, and Dylan Wonnocot, and newly signed outfielder Curt Lehman.
Collins has not stated the deals are done, but at each stop he made a point to focus on the club’s desires to come to agreements with the player’s representatives in order to stabilize certain other discussions going on down in the nether realms of the Mad Pope executive suites.
“As most good teams do, we’re playing on the edges of the salary cap,” Collins said, seeming to be robust despite a still-haggard look and a patchy five-o’clock shadow. “obviously, our first target is to bring the championship banner of the best division in baseball back to the Basilica where it belongs, but running a team is about being able to walk and chew gum at the same time, and our fans deserve the best. So, we’ve also got an eye out for the future. It’s important that we don’t get a surprise come arbitration time.”
If those players were to be signed before the season ends, that would leave only Lee Stone, Rich Dares, and Fred Madden in the limbo-land of the arbitration process. Some have pointed to the uncertainty of Dares’ future with the team, and others have pondered the value of keeping Fred Madden on the roster, too. Of less certain assessment is the case of Stone, who literally has no position beyond Designated hitter, but whose .364/.386/.425 slash in 40 PA is said to have raised certain interests in the front offices. His career 120 OPS+ says he can hit. We’ll see if he does so for Sacramento beyond 2055.
Continued Discussion of Park Modifications
During his events, Collins also made it a point to drop thoughts about changes that could be coming to the stadium itself. “I think we could use a bit of a make-over, don’t you?” Collins said to one fan’s question while at the New Century Scrubathon for Destitute Surfer Fans, an automated flying car washing event for a charity that gives back to the less fortunate among the BBA community. “The Basilica is the best park in all of baseball, but everyone is improving, and I think we need to be nimble to keep our lead.”