The following report is from Will Bigby, lead baseball correspondent for Treasure Valley Sports.* * * * * * *
The Boise front office was rocked with the sudden retirement announcement by manager Millard Davis on June 24, after the Spuds defeated the Las Vegas Hustlers 17-1. Davis, 56, called the decision "tough" and added "I love this game but I just don't have anything left to give it."
League sources believe Davis' recent health issues was a deciding factor, as the long-time Brewster manager was happy with the team's direction and called last year's surprising Frontier Division win "invigorating." Davis, winner of the BBA's Manager of the Year Award in 2032, led the Madison Wolves from 2030 to 2039, making four playoff appearances and record of 801-819 in 10 years. In one-and-a-half seasons leading the Spuds, Davis was 144-94 and finishes his Brewster managerial career with a winning percentage of .509. Davis stepped down with three more years on his contract set to pay him $1.8M per season.
"Millard has a tremendous reputation around the league and he will be dearly missed here in Boise," General Manager Joe Lederer told the media. "Last year couldn't have been made possible without his leadership. His ability to use analytics, along with his great eye and gut instinct, really put our plans into action. It will not be easy to find a replacement to his equal."
With Davis' retirement, bench coach Lettel Rosch will fill-in as interim manager as the Boise front office scrambles to find a full-time replacement. The Spuds are rumored to have scheduled interviews with former Des Moines bench coach Kurt Phelps, just-fired Madison manager Yves Lemoine, former Brooklyn bench coach Paul Marfell, former Nashville manager Daniel Labrie, Jr., and former Charlotte manager Daniel Berrocales. Internal candidates Rosch and Nicholas Abadee, manager of Boise's Triple-A affiliate in Salt Lake City, will also be considered.
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Boise made their first trade of the 2042 season early Monday morning, sending struggling closer Jesús Arce to division-rival Phoenix in exchange for Saed El Ouaer, a 22-year-old relief pitching prospect.
Arce, in the final season of his two-year contract, had a great debut season in Boise in 2041, going 8-2 with 12 saves along with an ERA of 2.53 and 1.18 WHIP. However, this season has been a huge disappointment for the popular reliever. Arce's struggled to a 7.45 ERA and 1.80 WHIP and was recently removed from the closer's role. El Ouaer, a 17th-round pick by Phoenix in the 2037 Draft, has shown promise the last two seasons, including his breakout this year with a 3.71 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and dazzling 8.9 K/9 to 2.3 BB/9 ratio across Single- and Double-A. El Ouaer, a native of Nigeria, is expected to take over as the closer in Double-A Weymouth and many believe he will likely make his BBA debut sometime in 2043.
The subsequent move to deal away Arce after Davis' retirement raises questions, as Arce was one of two team captains, along with Dennis French. Veterans have been quoted calling the team chemistry "ecstatic" prior to Davis’ announcement and the Arce trade. When asked about the team's attitude during this up-and-down season, interim manager Rosch said "French runs the clubhouse. He's a true captain for the guys on the team, and it's certainly showing in how great the clubhouse is running. I can't hear enough about how smoothly it's going."
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Sources believe Lederer and assistant general manager Ricardo Franco have begun preliminary talks with several Boise players about contract extensions. The ongoing saga of Dennis French's long-term future with the club has been a popular topic amongst the media, however it is not known if the club has discussed a mega-deal with the superstar, who has one year of arbitration left. Rumors have French's asking price for an extension to be at the league max of six years and in the neighborhood of $21M per season.
