Can Guerrero win 20?
Can Menne hit .300?
by Caitlen Sullivan
Vancouver Sun Sports Reporter
September 9, 2035
So the season winds down. After a nice 5-2 week last week, the team pulled a 180 and went 2-5 this week. The best news of the week was the continued hot streak by Ki-seop Park. Last week he hit .467. This week he cooled off just a tad to. 462 – 12 for 16 with four doubles and four stolen bases in as many attempts. The next best news was Juan Guerrero picking up his 17th win. He is now 17-7. He’ll likely get three more starts, so he has an outside shot at 20 wins. He will face Madison, Seattle, and Edmonton. The third best news was that Rashardo Menne III also had another good week (.333) and now stands at .297 for the year. Can he finish above .300? On 8/25 he was hitting .282.
In less consequential news, reliever Ricardo Arellano, who has quietly had a very effective season (2.70, 6 saves, 7 holds), decided to forego arbitration and signed a three-year deal worth $900,000 per year.
And finally Valentín Colón has likely played his last game as a Mountie. Hitting .285, he was hit by a pitch and suffered a concussion on 9/11 and will be out for two weeks minimum. While Valentín has the option to opt out of his contract at the end of the year, his decision on that is irrelevant since the team almost certainly will not pick up its team option which would pay him $14.26 million next year. He can still hit and run, but his fielding, while he is versatile at five positions, has been a liability at second base this year (-2.7 zone rating). He can still play but not at $14 million worth of value.
Oh, Vernier Piel will be in a Mountie uniform for the next two weeks after winding up a rehab stint at Victoria. A rule 5 draft pick back in the spring, he was injured in April after just one appearance.