57.15- Random Scribblings

[chicoruiz]

A few notes from a team currently basking in the afterglow of its first winning week of the season…

1. My wholesale importing of starting pitchers this year has had mixed results so far. Bruno Bugbie and Anthony Jones, who was brought in pretty much as an afterthought, are pitching rather well; not great, but the bar here in Atlantic City is pretty low. Meanwhile, Steve Anderton, who I thought would be my big acquisition this season, has pooped the bed repeatedly (figuratively speaking, I hope). The situation is further confused by the fact that Eddie Armstrong, who I had considered the one holdover I could count on, has decided that it would be a good idea to double his career ERA. Eddie lost his rotation spot briefly to Todd Schroeder, but Todd was no better, so Armstrong’s back in there every fifth day, trying to get back to the Eddie we all know and love.

2. My two catchers have swapped roles. Craig Hughes, the incumbent starter, is playing like he’s on a Ny-Quil binge; meanwhile, Spencer Clough, until now the backup, is hitting a tidy .315 and has seized the starter’s job for now. Ever since I acquired Spencer from Nashville in a trade, I’ve been waiting for him to step forward, and maybe this is it. Plus I like him because “Clough” was the name of the street my old high school was on.

3. I did something this week I thought I’d never do: I gave a contract extension to a 37-year-old player. My reasons?

a) Ernesto Gonzalez has been killing it this year- averaging .320 as I write this

b) I have no obvious replacement in the pipeline.

c) He was willing to agree to a relatively team friendly deal: 2.6 million a year for 2 years.

d) He’s very close to a couple of milestones. He’s currently at 2907 hits, so he should clear 3000 late this year barring injury. And as I understand it, he’s 64 doubles away from the BBA career record of 810. He won’t get there this season, but if he plays out the life of this extension without falling off too terribly, he could get there. And it would be fitting to see him do it in a Gamblers uniform. Make it happen, Ernesto!