2060.04 - The Long Beach Independent - $12 Million Dollar Man

[Lane]

BREAKOUT SEASON FOR LULANI

August 8, 2060
Vancouver, Canadia

In last night's 5-4 extra-innings loss to the Vancouver Mounties, rookie first baseman Elia Lulani swatted his 21st home run to give the Surfers a short lived lead in the eighth inning.

In just 61 starts this season, the lefty has racked up 2.6 WAR and a 1.009 OPS. Lulani was drafted by the Phoenix Talons^TM in the 2057 draft and was unable to reach an agreement on a signing bonus. When that happened, and he became a free agent, Long Beach won the bidding war at a very nice price of $12,420,069. Lulani found every level of the minor leagues to be a breeze, yet was continually overshadowed by fellow Long Beach 1B prospect Gustavo Espinoza. That's not to say that Espinoza is a slouch, he's got excellent power and has done very well in two cups of coffee with the big league club. However, Lulani is having a rookie season unlike any that we've seen from a Long Beach hitter in many years.

In addition to his 21 homers, Lulani is hitting .309, and was honored with the Frick League Rookie of the Month Award for July. He hit .300/.373/.711 with 9 HR, 8 doubles, 1 triple, and 16 RBI in 22 games (1.3 WAR). And, believe it or not, it was only his second best month this season by WAR. In May, he hit .370/.436/.716 and earned 1.4 WAR.

At 23, Elia is a bit old to be making his BBA debut, but you won't catch us complaining. It appears that Long Beach has snagged a gem from the free agent pool, even if it did cost them a good chunk of change up front.

[Jwalk100]

Pay off!

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