Aloha Ka Punahou 2004.03
Gosselaar traded to windy city
Winona absconds with team books
Trade brings Hawaii to 22nd in player payroll
Tropics Minor League system now ranked 1st
When team spokesperson Stitch Lilo said that the Tropics would release treasurer Winona
Ryder from her contract should husband Mark Paul Gosselaar be dealt this winter, he did not
mean that she could take the team financial records with her.
"But apparently she has," Lilo says. "Just when we were looking into more irregularities in her
[system of] bookkeeping.
Gosselaar and Ryder married at a home plate ceremony in the first week of season play last
April. The outfielder and team treasurer then went AWOL for 4 months. "Officially we listed
it as an injury, but the only injury involved was to Gosselaar's ring finger," Lilo said, referring to
the apparent struggle that Ryder had in attaching the ring to the outfielder's finger.
Hawaii has made most of its finances public in the absence of its books. The team shed another
$5.5m with the trade of Gosselaar. Which is equal to the figure saved in the November trade of
SP Dave Walter to Greenville.
In return for the Gosse, Hawaii receives 24-year-old P José Baca. 19-year-old SP Tim Jones
was received for Walter.
The payroll has fallen to $57.18m (22nd in the MBBA), the lowest since Al Hoot assumed GM
responsibilities. Hoot has stressed fiscal responsibility and has at times contributed money
from his import-export business, such as $5m last season.
Hoot has raised the organization's Minor League System to Number 1. This includes last
month's Rule 5 draft picks, which we will examine in an upcoming pre-season issue.
Last, the team uniforms designed last year have finally been issued. Federal investigation into
alleged use of Vietnamese boat people to assemble the uniforms proved fruitless and the
charges baseless.
