Spring is here, players report to camp
Finally, spring is sprung, the cars, vans & trucks are arriving at the spring training complex, the locker room and the back fields are a hive of activity. This year the Wichita Aviators have the 39 players on the 40-man roster in camp as well as 22 non-roster invitees. None of these invitees are expected to break camp with the team, but they will get their moment in the sun in the early part of camp while the regulars slowly stretch and prepare for 162 fruitless games.
Reporting to camp amongst the others will be two players the Aviators claimed off waivers in the weeks leading up to Spring Training. 30-yr-old reliever Miroslav Tomanek was claimed off Nashville and will cost us $3m a year for the next three years but he’s got good intangibles, reasonable stats compared to our ‘pen. We figured he’s worth the gamble and project him to be a setup man for us. 22-yr-old right fielder Wally Poole was claimed from San Antonia. He’ll join the gaggle for players competing for the roles as RF starter and backup, he is not expected to win a role with the Aviators but he’s got two options left and is under team control for two years with four more arbitration years to come so it’s a fair bet he’ll be given a while to mature in Albuquerque.
Waiver wire boys Tomanek & Poole
We also picked up 30-yr-old pitcher Mathias Lovlien on a minor league deal with a major league option that will pay him $1m if he breaks camp with the Aviators. In five seasons with Rockville he has posted a 12-2 record with 4 saves during his 98 BBA appearances (eight starts), so he might well prove useful. He’ll probably get half of spring in the rotation and half in the bullpen while we assess how useful he’s likely to be for that million dollars. These three pickups have pushed our profitability projection downwards and we’re now on course for a loss of around a million. These figures are of course based on last season’s gate revenue so could well change. Last season we sold virtually 15,000 season tickets and so far, we’ve sold just over 13,600 with our sales operators telling us they expect the total to be around 18,000 by Opening Day. This increase won’t really help our overall finances thanks to our drop in prices, but if we can also increase, and keep, walk-up sales we have a chance of still ending 2042 with a few dollars in the cash register.
We’ve done all we can now, it’s up to the boys now. 71 guys are in camp fighting for 27 spots, probably 20 at least are already booked, so not many will go home happy. The turnstiles are opening, the sun is shining, the retired folks and baseball writers are filing in. It’s time to . . .
Play Ball 2042 !!
