Trade between Aurora and Omaha

[Borealis]

A trade has been completed between the Cyclones and Borealis:

Omaha receives:
2B Steve McDonald

Aurora receives:
Omaha's 2nd round pick

We've made many a deal since taking over the reigns of the Borealis, but by far this is the hardest. Many thoughts went into this deal, and giving up on Mr. Aurora is going to hurt. That said, we're not making the playoffs - that alone is hard to swallow. We were not going to resign him - the money is not there; he wants $25 M. My estimates have Aurora losing $10M this year, $8M of which is the rest of Stevie Mac's $22M contract. Best case scenario if we kept him was a 2nd round comp pick - and the $10M deficit. With moving Cain, we hope to be really close to break even. I can hear F-head Kevin calling this a 'Bill Walsh deal'... Of sorts...

We had hoped to have garnered a lot of interest in Stevie, but alas, no. I'd have loved to get more, but the 2nd round pick equates what we'd have gotten had he signed elsewhere - no guarantee if you study big money FA signings. The financial relief is like getting a quality player in return.

We wish Stevie good luck and hope he does well... I hope the drop in FI, isn't greater at the gate than I estimate. Trading within the SL is uncommon for us - I hope it doesn't bite us in the rear. Good luck and thanks Jason - the GL just got a whole lot more interesting!

EDIT: Dan, McDonald has been moved to the DFA...

[Jason]

A trade has been completed between the Cyclones and Borealis:

Omaha receives:
2B Steve McDonald

Aurora receives:
Omaha's 2nd round pick

We've made many a deal since taking over the reigns of the Borealis, but by far this is the hardest. Many thoughts went into this deal, and giving up on Mr. Aurora is going to hurt. That said, we're not making the playoffs - that alone is hard to swallow. We were not going to resign him - the money is not there; he wants $25 M. My estimates have Aurora losing $10M this year, $8M of which is the rest of Stevie Mac's $22M contract. Best case scenario if we kept him was a 2nd round comp pick - and the $10M deficit. With moving Cain, we hope to be really close to break even. I can hear F-head Kevin calling this a 'Bill Walsh deal'... Of sorts...

We had hoped to have garnered a lot of interest in Stevie, but alas, no. I'd have loved to get more, but the 2nd round pick equates what we'd have gotten had he signed elsewhere - no guarantee if you study big money FA signings. The financial relief is like getting a quality player in return.

We wish Stevie good luck and hope he does well... I hope the drop in FI, isn't greater at the gate than I estimate. Trading within the SL is uncommon for us - I hope it doesn't bite us in the rear. Good luck and thanks Jason - the GL just got a whole lot more interesting!

EDIT: Dan, McDonald has been moved to the DFA...

Trade confirmed!0

[Alan Ehlers]

I hope the drop in FI, isn't greater at the gate than I estimate.

Keep in mind that teams out of the playoff hunt generally take fan interest hits and see shrinking attendance even without trading extremely popular players away. Luckily Aurora has an extremely loyal fan base, so it might not be too bad. But your definitely not going to save the full $10 million dollars if Northern Lights Park is half full in late August/September.

[Jason]

This may turn out to be an 8 million dollar rental -- if he can play like the old Steve McDonald, one would think he could help propel us into the playoffs.

If not, worst case is we lose him in Free Agency and get a compensation pick. I can't imagine no one in PEBA would not take a chance on a 30 year old destined for the Hall.