2057.05 - The Long Beach Independent - Too Many Arms? Never!

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SURFERS ACQUIRE YET ANOTHER POTENTIAL SP

March 7, 2057
Catalina Island, CA

The Surfers announced today that they acquired 31 year old pitcher Aaron Anderson from the Chicago Black Sox in exchange for 1B prospect Qing-nian Liu. The team is already overloaded with seven players that could potentially crack the opening day rotation, so it will be interesting to see who ends up being pushed to the bullpen.

The veteran lefty has almost exclusively been a relief pitcher in his career, but the rumors from the Long Beach front office are that he will be tried out in the starting rotation. The Surfers have been without a reliable left handed starter for many years, and while Anderson doesn't look to be quite that good, it's possible that the team will overlook some talent issues in favor of adding a southpaw to the rotation.

Worst case, he should be a decent contributor out of the bullpen, which is also slightly lacking in left handed arms. Reports out of spring training indicate that star lefty reliever Luis Manuel Rodriguez is not looking as sharp as expected and could be moved out of the high-leverage work that he is used to doing.

In other unfortunate bullpen news, Joe 'Tripping' Walter, just signed to a 2 year $6.4 million deal at the end of January has landed on the injured list with a strained forearm. It's the first forearm injury of the 30 year old's career, but as we all know, forearm injuries are often a precursor to more serious UCL damage in the future. Team Trainer John Foster indicates that Walter will require at least two months to recover.