The Bullwhip - 1997.1 - Bulls Acquire Ross & Kelly

[DoubleB]

The Record
October 26th, 1996
Hackensack, New Jersey
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Taking little time to reflect on their Cartwright Cup appearance and 5 game series lost to Austin, the Hackensack Bulls have completed a trade with the Las Vegas Hustlers for 1B Stan Ross and LF Mike Kelly. Going to the Hustlers in the deal are the Bulls 1st round pick in the upcoming MBBA Amateur Draft, minor league pitchers Sherman Clubb, Ricardo Floreza, Ratt Mectenwald and 2B Bill Deming. Ross, 29, has a .754 career OPS in six seasons with Valencia and Las Vegas and can play both first base and left field. Kelly, 26, has a .714 career OPS in three seasons in Las Vegas. With the Hackensack lineup crowded at the corner outfield spots and first base, it is unclear who will play everyday, however the reasonable contracts of Ross and Kelly ($2,090,000 and $600,000 for 1997) make it likely that they will see regular at bats pending other possible moves by the Bulls. Ross' .511 SLG last season puts him behind only 2B Rafael Rodriguez, the recent Sawyer Silk Slugger Trophy winner for the Frick League on the Bulls roster.

"This deal improves the depth of our lineup significantly," said GM Brian Boulton. "Both Ross and Kelly have MBBA experience, are established commodities and give us a big boost in offensive production and on base ability."

The most logical odd-man-out following the deal is 1B Alistar Sharpe. Sharpe's contract, 2 years remaining at $6,820,000, make him a likely candidate for exile given the in-season dispatches of Rashardo Menne Jr., Guy Corngood and Clemente Serrano prior to the deadline. All three were high priced, regular players in Bulls lineup and rotation, however their removal seemed to only help the overall performance of the club as the Bulls surged to the playoffs.