Sticking Points 2051.3: Shuffling the Deck

[JimSlade]

The cap-strapped Rockville Pikemen are filling up the Rockville sports-talk airwaves with a recent flurry of moves, headlined by the trade of ace Danny Leach to the Boise Spuds. Fan reaction is swinging wildly, from cries of anger to sighs of relief with mildly optimistic takes on the 2051 season in sight that could only come from the most diehard fans.

We caught up with local fans at the regular Thursday Night Sports Quizzo, held at Shipbottom's Inn, the longtime Rockville drinking establishment, to gauge their reactions on the cap-driven deas of Leach, prospect Kent Johnson, and cash for C John McMuttray, 3B Richard Wright, and RP Frank Wilson as well as the deal that send C Manuel Moreno and prospects Scott Byrd and Michael Craig to Edmonton for veteran CF Xavier Rangel. To kick off trading season, a few days earlier, GM Jim Slade traded 1B Danny Adkins to Long Beach for prospects.

"I've been a Pikemen fan since back in the day." said Nate Bologna, a teleporter operator. "I can't believe, with our team a perennial playoff contender, that we go and trade our ace!"

"I'm just about done with this team," said personal brand manager Alexis Scrabble. "Danny was a flat-out stud...well, other than that turd he laid in the playoffs."

Virtual fitness instructor Luther Martinez took a more philosophical view on things: "We needed to get stronger up the middle. Moreno was a sieve behind the plate. That kid Doghouse [ie, McMuttray] gives us some new blood behind the plate, and if Rangel can stay on the field, we've got ourselves an upgrade in center."

Toni Jones, an identity consultant from Bethesda, drained her IPA, burped, and simply said, "Well, if there's one thing I'm learning about this Slade guy, careful with investing too much into any one player's NFT merch!"

[aaronweiner]

I actually think you're doing a nice job of tearing down the team, which needed to be done and is a good decision in my opinion.

Good work so far.

[JimSlade]

Thanks, it's no disrespect to the nicely constructed team you left me!

[BaseClogger]

I actually think you're doing a nice job of tearing down the team, which needed to be done and is a good decision in my opinion.

Good work so far.

I didn't realize you swapped teams. How often have the longest tenured BBA GMs done that?

[aaronweiner]

I actually think you're doing a nice job of tearing down the team, which needed to be done and is a good decision in my opinion.

Good work so far.

I didn't realize you swapped teams. How often have the longest tenured BBA GMs done that?

Infrequently.

[Dington]

I actually think you're doing a nice job of tearing down the team, which needed to be done and is a good decision in my opinion.

Good work so far.

I didn't realize you swapped teams. How often have the longest tenured BBA GMs done that?

Des Moines was in dire need of an expert GM to come in a fix the miserable franchise. The OOTP gods may have overplayed their hand here and created a monster. We, the Heartland, believe Brother Weiner should be returned to the Johnson, his name sake.

[BaseClogger]

I actually think you're doing a nice job of tearing down the team, which needed to be done and is a good decision in my opinion.

Good work so far.

I didn't realize you swapped teams. How often have the longest tenured BBA GMs done that?

Des Moines was in dire need of an expert GM to come in a fix the miserable franchise. The OOTP gods may have overplayed their hand here and created a monster. We, the Heartland, believe Brother Weiner should be returned to the Johnson, his name sake.

As a new GM, it will be kind of fun to benchmark against the progress he can make with Des Moines. How long has Aaron had Des Moines?

[Dington]

I didn't realize you swapped teams. How often have the longest tenured BBA GMs done that?

Des Moines was in dire need of an expert GM to come in a fix the miserable franchise. The OOTP gods may have overplayed their hand here and created a monster. We, the Heartland, believe Brother Weiner should be returned to the Johnson, his name sake.

As a new GM, it will be kind of fun to benchmark against the progress he can make with Des Moines. How long has Aaron had Des Moines?

He's been there for a year after creating a dynasty in Rockville. You can take a look at the Kernels team history to see just what he got himself into.