Blazer Blog 1996.2

[scotto313]

EXTENSION, EXTENION, EXTENSION!

Montreal, ON - The Montreal Blazers are looking up at the Hackensack Bulls who lead the Atlantic Division. Montreal is in 3rd place sitting 5 games back with an overall record of 11-16. Things look pretty bleak, both the hitters and pitchers rank near the bottom of the league in every category. Still, it is too early to throw in the towel.

The good news is that the front office was able to lock up thier three best players to multi-year deals. Bolt Vanderhugen was signed to a three-year $36,225,000 contract, Ben Rivera was signed to a two-year $14,950,000 deal and Jim Cramer was inked at three-years $12,750,000. It is ideal for the Blazers to try and lock up their three best players who were all eligible for free agency and all in their upper twenties.

Bolt is having the best year of the trio as he has posted a .291 batting average, .331 OBP and .436 SLG. All three are expected to perform better as the season progresses. Thus warranting the contract extensions. Rivera, who is the team Ace stands at 3-2 with a 4.02 ERA. Cramer has the worst stats of the three with his 5.03 ERA and ugly 1-4 record. The ultimate decision to extend the trio rested with the general manager who relied heavily on both past performance and Montreal's Head Scout recommendation.

Most general managers would be pleased to build a team around these three players and that is exactly what the Blazers front office expects to do. Now the hard part will be giving these guys a strong supporting cast.