by Francis Ferry, NLN baseball beat writer
July 26, 2038: Reno, Nevada – The trade deadline may yet be five days away, but over the last three weeks the contendors of the PEBA – seeking the coveted Rodriguez Cup, have already been on the hunt – looking for that key piece that will put them over the top.
Kalamazoo has been wheeling – picking up reliever Jose Tojera from the Ghosts, in exchange for a 4th round pick, and 2B Benigno Canseco, who was rumored to be on Aurora’s radar, from the Fishermen, for 2nd, 3rd and 13th round picks. The Badgers have been busy over the past couple of seasons, mostly tinkering with their pitching staff – picking up Bartolo Mojica from San Antonio. Mojica is 10-4 with a 3.96 ERA for the Badgers this year.
No one has been more vocal – nor more addement that they are going to chase down the Borealis – leaders in the Desert Hills by 6.5 games, than Aurora’s opponent today – the Reno Zephyrs. Reno is desperately tired of being second fiddle in the division – much less the Sovereign League, with three playoff appearances over the past six seasons – and seven all-time – and just a single Sovereign League championship (2018) to show for their four Alliance Tournament appearances.
The Zephyrs traded their top two picks in next years draft to Niihama-shi for starter Carmelo Lamberti and 3B Yosuke Morimoto, and traded a 3rd round pick, a struggling catcher and AAA outfielder to Florida for C Andre Cooper. Cooper has started well for Reno – hitting .324 and already with 3 HR over 9-games – as has Morimoto, who over his 4-games is 5-11 with a homer. Lamberti was not so lucky in his first start – allowing 5-runs over 4.2 IP – including 3 HR, in a game Reno ultimately won at Yuma, 8-7. Lamberti will miss Aurora this series.
Not to be outdone, the Borealis announced this morning that they came to an agreement in the wee hours of the morning with the Manchester Maulers – trading their 2nd and 4th round picks in next years draft, A Ball closer Arthur Massingham, International Complex prospect, 3B Juan Hurtado, and current 3B and former-2nd round pick (33rd overall) David Simmons, in exchange for two-time All-Star 3B Pedro Macias.
The trade of what is, on the surface, an exchange of 3B, is an interesting exchange of left-handed hitters of contrasting styles – Simmons a line drive, spray hitter who hit 30+ doubles each of the past two seasons and 9 HR last year (with 7 HR this season). Macias, on the other-hand is a pull hitter, who may be able to take advantage of the 307-foot foul line in right-field better than Simmons. Northern Lights Park and Whiten Field are similar down the line – though on The Front Range, the right field wall does dramatically move away from the plate; that said, the 20-foot difference in wall height may make a big difference for the powerful Macias, making it all the more easy to clear the wall.
Macias is also a strong gap hitter who makes good, consistent contact, and should take advantage of the deep Triples Alley. He’s hitting .318 on the year with 15 HR and 24 doubles. His splits are very even – vR/L and home v. away, where as Northern Lights Park was death for David Simmons, hitting just .138 at home. It shall be interesting to see if he hits any better at home for the Maulers. Perhaps he'll bang balls off that 45-foot wall.
There will no doubt be some who will say, why break-up a good thing; some fans will say Aurora over-paid – despite their need for more offense. Not so much with the draft picks, I’d think – they were able to protect their 1st round pick, which GM Will Topham has repeatedly said will not be moved (yeah – we’ll see what might tempt him to do so), and trading Simmons makes obvious sense, but Hurtado was one of two strong looking to-be-18 year olds (next year) in their IC, and Massingham was one of their top relief prospects in their minors – 5-3, with 19-saves and a 3.19 ERA for the Rapidos Blancos. Rumor is the Maulers wanted a reliever who would fit their bullpen needs, so the fact that Aurora held on to Martin Gutierrez and Tekle-Mariam Louahla, both with the Sun Dogs, is probably a win. As the impartial journalist, I think this deal feels right and should fill Aurora’s need for more offense from their infield.
If there is a point of concern, it is Macias’ defense. Although he shows better range than Simmons – and a powerful arm like David, he has a greater propensity to bobble the ball and is slow to turn the double play – arguably something Aurora can’t afford to see diminish. But it’s an age old question: More offense and less defense, or more defense and less offense. We see now where Aurora stands on this point, as the pennant race heats up and their rivals tune-up their rosters. The question now is: Did they choose wisely?
