The Hawaii Tropics sign 9 arbitration eligible players to one-year extensions.
Hawaii signed starting pitchers Manny Ortiz, John Moore to one-year deals with Ortiz receiving $855,001 and Moore inking his for $940,501. Relievers Bill Phillips ($1,786,001), Juan Martinez ($1,672,001), Chih Kuang ($2,508,001), Utkan Gocek ($1,596,001) and Luis Perez (2,584,001) also signed one-year deals.
Hawaii also inked 3B Mitch Wareham to a $3,952,001 deal and RF Carlos Sanchez to $1,881,001 contract.
Fans were excited to see extensions for favorites Perez, Wareham and Sanchez with the Tropics Analytics Team reporting many positive reactions on their cubes. "Our mythical fan interest has picked up a few points", said an anonymous source.
The Trops appear to be headed to arb with several players who haven’t agreed to any deals. GM Jim Walker said, “We have Bill Ritz, Phil Thompson, Vincente Mendez and Russ McHaney holding out on us for more money and they’re all represented by Scott ‘Scotty’ Boras IV.”
The Tropics signed 3B Coach Juan Rodriguez to a 4-year deal worth $425,00 per season. He will also be tasked with teaching the infielders at the major league level and take some pressure off 1B Coach Scott Hoover. Rodriguez is the former manager of the Saskatchewan Monarchs in the Edmonton Organization compiling a 589-391 record, making 4 straight playoff appearances and losing two Final Judgements.
“I’m excited to be in Hawaii!”, exclaimed Rodriguez.
The search for a hitting coach in AA Carson City continues as prospective coaches are being swept up quickly.
