December 1st Press Conference
GM Laverick & Stelio Kontos
“Good morning Gentlemen & Ladies of the media, I’d just like to update you on some of the recent happenings in Wichita. As you know we recently dispensed with the services of Hopkins and Clark, well today I’m pleased to introduce you to our new Assistant GM, Stelio Kontos. I know Stelios very well, he has been my manager in Cairo the last three seasons and I have no doubts in his ability. He has picked up three Manager of the Year Awards during his time in the UMEBA and ABA. I think he’d like to say a few words to you”
“Thank you, Mr Laverick, it is a great privilege to be here in Wichita and to be able to assist you again. You have a very good team of developing hitting talent here and I am very much looking forward to working with Coach Boone Carlyle. I have already met with him and I’m sure I will be able to improve the development of our batters here. We have plans to assemble a very good team here, one that won’t lose 90 or 100 games every year. I will be giving personal interviews to you all in the next week or so.”
“Thank you, Stelios. We are still in negotiations with a possible candidate for the role of Manager and we will let you know if that moves forward. I would also like to share with you today a fantastic piece of news we received a few days ago from our medical team. Young reliever Julio Garcia is progressing very well from his torn flexor tendon last May and his latest prognosis is that he is ahead of schedule now and quite possibly will be throwing off a mound around spring training. He will in all probability spend a month in Albuquerque at the start of 2042 as a rehab assignment and we hope to be able to consider bringing him back to Wichita in May or June.
As you know the Arbitration Hearings have all been concluded now and in all but one of our cases the Arbitrator ruled in our favour. Roberto Sanchez, Jesus Ramos and Gabriel Talamante have all filed for free agency & have left the team. All of this has meant that we currently anticipate an Aviators payroll of around $60 to 70m in 2042 which is considerably lower than last season and is a figure which we can possibly make a profit on the year, especially if the fans respond favourably to our $10 ticket promotions. I know the franchise had a down year in 2041 but if we all work together, we can make 2042 the year the Aviators rose from the ashes. We are already talking to several free agents who at this moment in time are looking favourably at our offers, unfortunately they will in all probability not be All-Star calibre, our budget guidelines won’t allow that, but they will be young, hard working players that will add value to our team.
The whole management and scouting teams will be sitting down soon to ensure that we take the maximum possible advantage out of our draft slot of 5th overall. We have to build the Farm up, our ranking of 31st out of 32 shows that we cannot expect our minors to help us a great deal at this moment. Maybe some of those currently playing in the FPL will be the next to help us? You can rest assured that we will be casting the net far & wide for players that we feel will improve our minor league system and have already signed a considerable number to bolster our system. You can expect to see a large number in spring camp as we continue to assess ways to improve.
Thank you for your attendance today, I can promise you that we will be doing our best this upcoming season to be transparent and upfront with the happenings in Wichita”
