57.21-My Staff Has a Hissy Fit

[chicoruiz]

My assistant GM is a fine fellow, and he works hard for minimal salary, and he even got me my old office back after I got back from Saratoga. Our Hall of Fame is now housed in an abandoned weiner schnitzel restaurant on the stadium concourse. Who knew the demand for weiner schnitzel in New Jersey in summer would be so limited? But I digress…

He works so hard that I tend to ignore the fact that he disagrees with almost every trade I make. He may be right sometimes, but that still doesn’t make it any easier to listen to, when I’ve already agreed to the trade.

This tendency reached its peak yesterday when I traded away Yoshi Tamura. I thought the man was going to lay down on the floor kicking and pounding his fists on the ground. Several in our player personnel department had similar reactions; one had to lie down with a cool washcloth on his head till he regained his composure.

Yoshi Tamura is generally considered by the scouting community to be one of our best, if not the best, prospects in our system. He’s rated as having plus power and plus gap power, and he could play second if you don’t care too much about defense. I, on the other hand, am always guided by the simple premise, “You can tell good players because they play good”, and that hasn’t been Yoshi. He’s currently in single-A at age 24, OPS-ing about .750 in his third year at that level. And he’s taking up a 40-man roster spot. So when I had a chance to trade him I jumped on it. He’s in Rocky Mountain now, and he’ll probably hit 40 homers for them in 2058, but I don’t care. I’m just over him.

What did I get in return? Mainly I got a reliever named Bhadrasa Thimanniya. He’s already 27, and he’s only pitched 9.2 innings above AA, but he intrigues me. He’s wilder than a biker bar on Saturday night, but it hasn’t really affected his efficiency; he’s never really had a bad year. His wildness probably stems from the fact that he’s almost seven feet tall, and has a crazy, all-arms-and-legs motion that resembles an octopus falling out of a tree. This year, for example, he’s pitched 53 innings and given up only 34 hits with a 1.08 WHIP. I’m going to start him at AAA and maybe give him a shot in the bigs after rosters expand, just to see…

I also picked up a teenage pitcher named Travis Miley in the deal. He may eventually develop into something, but right now…. Well, he exhales carbon dioxide, which is good for plants, but that’s about the extent of his worth.

Well, I must go now and talk my assistant GM off the ledge…

[Lane]

reminds me of Ski Mellilo. Dude didn't really develop until age 27 or 28. Traded him some time before that to Omaha in a salary dump. Looks like you did a good job here.

[RonCo]

At 27, I'd say put the thin man in the majors and hope like mad the 4 is a high 4.