As reported early in the day, League officials confirm that the Spuds and Yellow Springs Nine swung a deal, sending long-time Nine third-bagger Rob Thomas and minor league pitcher Jorge Morán to Boise in exchange for prospect Jim Des Jardien.De Jardien, 22, was one of the biggest breakout stars in the Boise farm system in 2039, slashing .294/.357/.585 and earning an All-Star nod in his first season in Triple A. "We truly think the world of Jimmy," Boise general manager Joe Lederer said in an official statement. "We see great potential out of him, but in the end, it was a numbers game. We felt it would be tough for him to see regular at-bats in the bigs with some of our top prospects expected to make impacts sooner than later."
The "top prospects" in question are assumed to be Félix Román and Ricardo Ruíz, both whom the Boise front office has high hopes, possibly as soon as this upcoming season. It's been reported out of the Nine camp that Des Jardien will get an opportunity to play in Yellow Springs in 2040.
The addition of Thomas gives Boise an new option at third base, a position that netted only 0.2 WAR between António Baca and current free agent Pedro Nava. "Rob comes from a winning organization, something we need in Boise," Spuds manager Barrett Callahan told Brewster Baseball News. "We've spoken to him and while he's disappointed to leave the club he's spent his entire professional career with, we think he's going to love being a part of what we have going on here."
Thomas was quoted saying “I’m kind of shocked, to be honest” when he heard the news. While Thomas could not be reached for a follow-up, the 26-year-old infielder did take to social media hours after the trade was made official:
Thomas saw a drop-off in production in 2039 but Callahan believes a bounce-back is in order with the lefty-batting Thomas moving to the newly re-configured Grigg Memorial Stadium. Thomas is on the last year of his deal, set to earn $4.7M in 2040.
Dmitri Wunderlich, Managing Editor for the analytics-based Brewster Register website, added his own commentary on the deal:
