Claymores Roundtable #1

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Claymores Roundtable #1

#1 Post by Vic »

Claymores Roundtable
Opening theme music plays, then fades ...

Sophie MacRath: Good evening everyone, and welcome to Claymores Roundtable here on talkSPORT radio. With me tonight to discuss all things Claymores are Salvador “The Gambler” Medrano, host of PEBA UK! here on talkSPORT and also the man who holds the Scottish franchise record for home runs … How many did you actually hit, Sal?

Salvador Medrano: That would be 221, Sophie.

MacRath: Ah yes. Not exactly a round number, is it?

(Unknown Voice): Or exactly a high number …

Medrano: (Laughing) Hey! I resemble that remark!
Sophie MacRath


MacRath: Oh well, ladies and gentlemen, that was another member of our panel, Malcolm Wilkes, the Imperial League columnist for PEBA Weekly, a fantastic publication that covers everything happening in the league.

And lastly, we have Hamish Campbell, the Claymores beat writer for the Edinburgh News …

Medrano: Hey Sophie, before you get too deep into things, did any of you hear the PEBA Cast the other night, the PEBA podcast?

Malcolm Wilkes: Of course, that’s kind of required listening, isn’t it?

Medrano: Well, did you hear them talking about the logo for the Claymores’ short season club, the Fukumitsu Timbers?

Hamish Campbell: (Laughter in the background) Oh, yeah, I know where you’re going with this.

Medrano: I’d never really thought about it before, but their logo is a big red Fuk!

MacRath: Oh no … Sal!

Campbell: Hey Sal, you know, if Fukumitsu had a college team, the logo would be Fuk U!

MacRath: Bloody hell. You guys do know we’re on the air, right?

Wilkes: They put this on the air? Well, then, they deserve what they get …

MacRath: (Sighs) Well, before they pull the plug on us completely, can we please talk about what’s happening with the Claymores? I mean, this is actually a pretty exciting time.

Campbell: Sorry, Sophie. Don’t want to get you in trouble here. Do you want to start with the Don Mercer deal?

MacRath: Oh, thank goodness. Yes, please. What did you all make of that?

Campbell: Well, it was kind of a grand roll of the dice by GM Vic Caleca, wasn’t it? I mean, Mercer is an excellent player, there’s no question, but he earns practically three times what the next highest paid player on the team earns. I heard, for instance, that the team’s pot for contract extensions practically dried up after that deal.

Wilkes: Yeah, I heard the same thing. It went from something like $20 million to $5 million.



Campbell: More like from $30 million to $4 million. Those were the figures I heard.

Medrano: Well, here’s the thing, they’re not going to renew Robles …

MacRath: Francisco Robles, the starting pitcher who hurt his shoulder.

Medrano: Right. He’s a legendary starter, may be a Hall of Famer in a few years, but he’s almost 38 years old, he’s coming off a serious shoulder injury, and I heard he’s talking about a 4-year contract at $20 million per …

Wilkes: No way that’s happening.
Malcolm Wilkes
Medrano: No, no way. So, he was making $7 million and change this season. Yosuke Imai, the catcher and DH, will also expire … he’s making about $7 million, too. Now, he’s a good hitter, but a very limited catcher. Do the Claymores try to re-sign him?

Campbell: Doubtful, especially since they’ve got Yasunari Fujihara at Aberdeen, and the scouts believe he’s ready to move up to the big club.

Wilkes: Yeah, but he can’t hit. He’s like a .240 hitter.

Campbell: But he’s a significantly better defensive catcher than Imai, and he’s got one other thing going for him.

Wilkes: What’s that?

Campbell: He’s cheap as hell!

Wilkes: (Laughs) Well, sure, there’s that.

MacRath: So, who do you think they actually want to extend?

Medrano: Well, I’ve talked quite a bit with Hayato Sasaki, the manager, and I know he’s very high on the three pitchers they brought in on free agency mid-season.

Wilkes: Yeah, Roger Keller and Allen Guthrie, the two starters, and then William Talley, who they’re using as a setup guy in the bullpen. All three of those guys have done surprisingly well.

Campbell: Caleca actually did pretty well plucking off some useful free agents – they also got Bob Swift, who’s starting at third, and Josh Ligonier, who’s playing first for them.



Wilkes: Yeah, but he’s just weird as all hell, isn’t he?

MacRath: Who? Caleca? Why do you say that, Malcolm?

Wilkes: Why do I say that? He’s been general manager of the Scottish Claymores for, what now, almost eight months? And he STILL HASN’T ACTUALLY VISITED SCOTLAND.

(Laughter in studio)
Hamish Campbell
Campbell: Yeah, he’s a great advertisement for Skype, isn’t he?

Medrano: What is it with him, anyway?

Campbell: He says it’s too foggy here.

MacRath: I heard he’s allergic to plaid.

Wilkes: Well, whatever it is, it’s just weird.

MacRath: To give the devil his due, though, he does have the Scottish in the wild card race. He hired Sasaki, who’s been a very solid manager, and if you talk to the players, they say they’re just ecstatic with the atmosphere in the clubhouse.

Wilkes: A lot of that is just winning, though, isn’t it? You win and you’re happy.

Campbell: Well, I think it’s more than that. I know Sasaki, Caleca and the owner, Brad Kern, put a premium on good clubhouse guys – leaders and hard workers and smart guys.

Wilkes: (Snorts) I don’t think anyone has ever accused Mercer of being a worker.

MacRath: Well, no, but the talent is sure there.

Medrano: Was anyone else surprised that Mercer got off to such a slow start with the Claymores last week? What was it, a .227 average, 1 homer and maybe 3 RBIs?

Campbell: No, that didn’t really surprise me. A new club, a new country, for goodness sakes. And I heard he was pretty peeved about being traded mid-season. I think he saw himself making a drive for the Sovereign League Triple Crown – he was in the ballpark, you know.

Wilkes: Well, he’ll just have to console himself with a pennant race. Poor baby.

Campbell: He’ll be fine. Just give him a little time – that one homer he hit was pretty clutch. A 3-run homer that put them back in the ballgame against New Orleans. The week before, I don’t know if they go on to win that game.

Wilkes: Who’s to say on that? But I do agree. He’ll heat up as he gets used to the new surroundings.

MacRath: Ok, we’ve got time for one more question. What I’d like to know is this: how are the Claymores draft choices doing?

Wilkes: You mean down at Fuk U?

(Studio laughter)

MacRath: Oh no, I almost thought I’d saved my job.

Campbell: Way too late for that, Sophie. But I can answer your question: their No. 1 pick, Keiji Honda, is off to a really nice start. I checked before we came in here, and the Timbers are indeed using him as a closer. He’s pitched about 18 innings and he has 7 saves and his ERA is under 2 – 1.9-something.

Medrano: Yeah, and he’s got about 21 strikeouts and only 7 walks, so that’s a Command Ratio of 3, which is good stuff.




Wilkes: I love it when you talk Command Ratios, Sal.

MacRath: Get a room, you two. Anyone else we should know about?

Campbell: Yeah, actually, that shortstop they took in the third round out of the University of Sydney, Thomas Windus

Wilkes: The Fighting Wallabies!

Campbell: (Laughs) Yeah. Anyway, he’s off to a decent start … he’s hitting around .280, plays a nice short. And the catcher out of Oxford, Jorge Ramos, he’s hitting about .250, but he’s got 4 homers and 12 RBIs and got picked to the Surf and Snow
Amalgamation All-Star team. Not too shabby for an Oxford man!

Sal Medrano


MacRath: I should say not …

Wilkes: Or for a Fuk U man!

MacRath: OK, that’s it. We’re out of here. I’m not sure we’ll ever be back, but for now, I want to thank Salvador Medrano of PEBA UK!; Hamish Campbell of the Edinburgh News; and Malcolm Wilkes – I think I want to thank you, Mal – of PEBA Weekly for being here.

Be sure to tune in next week …

Medrano: You’re going to be here next week? Way to be optimistic, Sophie!

MacRath: You’re not helping, Sal …

The voices fade as the closing theme music comes up.
Last edited by Vic on Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Claymores Roundtable #1

#2 Post by Sandgnats »

:clap: :smile:
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Re: Claymores Roundtable #1

#3 Post by Borealis »

That was Excellent!! Party Time!!! Woot-Woot-Woot!!
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