There's a famous movie quote that goes...
For Boise GM Joe Lederer, he spent the early part of the off-season making decisions that seemed more personal than business.
On December 16, Lederer was reunited left-handed pitcher Robin Cooper, selecting the 35-year-old in the Rule 5 Draft with the 21st overall pick. Cooper was Lederer's first-ever first round draft selection with Boise back in 2039. Cooper spent fourteen years in the Boise system, two years after the draft in the minors before being a fixture in the Spuds rotation for a dozen years. After 2052, the southpaw bounced between a trio of organizations (Omaha, Chicago and Rocky Mountain), most recently on the Oysters AAA club where he was named the RHML Pitcher of the Year Award (12-7, 2.69 ERA, 1.25 WHIP) as a seasoned 34-year-old veteran.
"I never expected to be back in Boise," Cooper said on the Gem State Diamond Talk podcast. "It's great to be united with Joe. He took a chance on me out of high school and he's doing it again. I'm excited for the season and being back in a Spuds uniform."
While team officials have not spoken about Cooper's role going into the 2056 season, many believe he'll be a left-handed option out of the Boise bullpen.
The nostalgia tour for Lederer didn't end with Cooper's addition to the organization. While it didn't make front page news, those close to Lederer know the minor league free agent signing of second baseman Gehrig "G-Man" Jelinowicz on January 1st meant a great deal to the general manager. Jelinowicz, 31, is the nephew of Lederer and grew up loving baseball and learning about the game from his uncle.
"Yeah, pretty cool story," said Cipriano Cedeno, manager of Boise's Triple-A Salt Lake City Alpines. "We've the potential opening for strong-side platoon at second this upcoming season, so Jelinowicz has a real shot at making the club." When asked if he could be reunited with his uncle in the big leagues, Cedeno chuckled, then said "Don't know about that. He's got it earn it. There's no preferential treatment just because they're related."
Jelinowicz has nearly 500 games of BBA experience, all with Montreal between 2046-2051. In over 1800 big league plate appearances, the Long Beach native slashed .263/.332/.379.
