A New Era in Charleston
Posted: Sun May 26, 2019 6:54 am
So after 5 years away, the Charleston Statesmen have returned to PEBA. Owner Charles Pinkney took the team away in 2024 but has found out the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence and has now returned looking for financial stability. His first job was to appoint unknown GM David Barnett to start the team moving forward. The fans were deflated with the appointment and the owner might be regretting the appointment following the Gm's first press conference.
'Firstly I would like to thank Charles Pinkney for giving me the chance to set Charleston on the right course for the future. Although the old Charleston has a rich past, I feel that fans and pundits need to realize this is not the old team but a completely new one. Unfortunately the owner is wearing rose tinted glasses if he thinks things will get better quick. My role here to start with is to set a solid base for the team and ensure we are getting the right players here for the team. Unfortunately I doubt any of the players here will stay beyond their current deals, and hopefully we can trade away some to build for the future. Whilst our fans think we need to bring in big names that is definitely not the way we are going'.
These comments were met with gasps and shaken heads, even from owner Charles Pinkney. Having seen the owner's disbelief Barnett continued.
'I am sorry if this upsets people but if this is rushed the team will never be competitive. You would never build a bridge in a shoddy manner and I wont build this team in the same way. Unfortunately the winter meetings came too soon for me to do anything as i have been trying to recruit a top scout but as yet have been unsuccessful so far and dealing in the dark never works. Hopefully we can have one in place before rule 5 and some free agents are left although i will use my own ability to recruit wisely. There will be painful years ahead but that is baseball'.
With that Barnett got up and refused to answer any questions and was seen in deep discussions with the owner. An hour later a statement was released to the effect that whilst the owner is not happy as he believed competitiveness straight away was the plan, he will support the slow build but the GM will be on a tight leash.
'Firstly I would like to thank Charles Pinkney for giving me the chance to set Charleston on the right course for the future. Although the old Charleston has a rich past, I feel that fans and pundits need to realize this is not the old team but a completely new one. Unfortunately the owner is wearing rose tinted glasses if he thinks things will get better quick. My role here to start with is to set a solid base for the team and ensure we are getting the right players here for the team. Unfortunately I doubt any of the players here will stay beyond their current deals, and hopefully we can trade away some to build for the future. Whilst our fans think we need to bring in big names that is definitely not the way we are going'.
These comments were met with gasps and shaken heads, even from owner Charles Pinkney. Having seen the owner's disbelief Barnett continued.
'I am sorry if this upsets people but if this is rushed the team will never be competitive. You would never build a bridge in a shoddy manner and I wont build this team in the same way. Unfortunately the winter meetings came too soon for me to do anything as i have been trying to recruit a top scout but as yet have been unsuccessful so far and dealing in the dark never works. Hopefully we can have one in place before rule 5 and some free agents are left although i will use my own ability to recruit wisely. There will be painful years ahead but that is baseball'.
With that Barnett got up and refused to answer any questions and was seen in deep discussions with the owner. An hour later a statement was released to the effect that whilst the owner is not happy as he believed competitiveness straight away was the plan, he will support the slow build but the GM will be on a tight leash.
