2032/6 There's a New Guy at SS

[nerfHerder]

The Hawaii Tropics made a rare trade to upgrade a position in need. Pitching prospect Mei-shan Ngui (6/6/7 Ratings) was sent to the Sugar Kings of Havana for 25 year old SS/3B Baltasar Fronteiro (6/6/7/5/6 Ratings). Ngui is a hard throwing guy who may benefit from a conversion to RP, but either way was hard to give up. GM Mike Bieschke, "we really liked Mei-Shan and his triple digit fastball, to go with a changeup that falls off the table. We fell we are pretty deep there though". Ngui has spent four years in the Tropic's minor league system, finally having sort of a breakout year last season. In 26 starts for Single A Medford, he went 9-10, but his 3.46 ERA showed that he may be figuring this thing out. "To get a guy in Fronteiro that will be an instant upgrade at SS for us, it was a no brainer. No offense to Adam Johnson (5/5/2/6/6 Ratings)", Bieschke said.

Fronteiro comes to the Tropics with his rookie status still intact. He has average offensive ability across the board, with the exception of power, where he grades out as slightly above average. He will be a dynamo in the field though. "Now we have the ability to move Adam Johnson (5/5/2/6/6 Ratings) and his superior glove into a utility role", Bieschke said. "We wouldn't make a move unless Adam's replacement had a glove almost as good or better than his. We feel we may have found that in Baltasar". Fronteiro was given a cup of coffee in Havana a season ago and hit .246/.295/.390 with 3 HR and 16 RBI in 118 AB. In 31 games in the field, he committed five errors at SS, with a ZR of +1.6. In AAA Brooks, that ZR was +20.4. The team is excited to see what he can do in the BBA. Fronteiro was unavailable for comment.