Well….they did.
Not only did the team announce a trade, but announced they had traded him inside the division where Bin Mazin could wreak havoc on Omaha for many years. Also included in the deal was catcher Kazuki Saito, who the team acquired literally 3 weeks ago.
Heading back to Omaha was Des Moines catcher Sloth Fratelli, who has a total career WAR of 0.0 in 306 at bats, and starting pitching prospect Dale Dyke, who is projected eventually to maybe be a mid-rotation piece however at age 21 better start picking up the pace, finding himself in Short-A for the second straight season where he has a career 8.67 ERA. For his part, Dyke is ranked as the #89 prospect in the BBA currently.
Bin Mazin was ranked as high as #5 on the BBN Prospect listing in 2048,but has failed to live up to full expectations’ averaging just a 2 WAR over his first 3 seasons, and this season having a -0.2 WAR through 209 at bats. At just 23 years old however, he has the time to figure it out.
Sloth Fratelli fills in an immediate need for Omaha at catcher, in what they hope might be their next long time catcher. Omaha hasn’t had a catcher start more than 5 seasons in a row since Chad Lawrence way back in 2027. Fratelli at age 24, should have a fair chance to change that.
“We told you nobody was off limits, and we meant it” said Omaha GM Justin Niles.