March 31, 2036
Long Beach, CA
The Long Beach Surfers announced today that they have added top prospect Sloan Daniel to the active roster and that he will be in the lineup on Opening Day against the Twin Cities River Monsters.
"Every win matters," said GM Stephen Lane, "wins in April count the same as wins in September. After what happened last season, we are reaffirming our commitment to making the playoffs year in and year out. We believe that Daniel is our best option to play second base, and service time implications were not even considered."
'Doodle' as he is known to his teammates was drafted in the first round (25th overall) in 2034. He climbed the ranks of the minor leagues quickly, as one hopes a college draftee will, and found success at every stop.
Gary Tinstaap, prospect writer for The Independent reports that Daniel has steadily improved his skills over the past two seasons in the minors, and has even surpassed scouts initial expectations regarding his contact ability. "He should do everything you expect from an elite hitter in the BBA, except maybe hit 40 HR. He's got the ability to get on base at a .400 clip year after year and hit plenty of doubles" reports Tinstaap.
Rated by OOTP OSA as 8/9/5/8/8 v RHP and 7/7/4/7/8 v LHP, he'll clearly have most of his success against righties. And he should be no slacker v LHP either, allowing manager Anthony Light to pencil him in on a daily basis.
By placing Daniel on the roster on Opening Day, the team stands to lose a year of control compared to waiting until the middle of April. Clearly, the team feels that Daniel is ready to help immediately, and is willing to sacrifice that control.
He will immediately become a contender for the Joe Gillstrom Newcomer of the Year award and will be a legitimate on-base threat no matter where he slots in the lineup.
