The Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance

Outstanding to see the old Edo group rising back to a position of prominence.

Patrick's last post is a shinning example of what you can do with a blog post. If you can't find time for a 750-word article just do this 2-3 solid paragraphs of writing

Disappointed with the pitching performance in their first ever playoff appearance the Havana Leones signed SP Kenny Ashley to an 8 year, $136 million deal. With this signing they've made it clear that the former Ghost will be the club's ace for the foreseeable future. Last year's standout, José Durango, will move to the #2 spot in 2024.
Awash in new revenues from PEBA's new media deal the club departed from it's past policy of avoiding long term contracts. "We saw Kenny as a guy who could hold down the rotation for a long time. We'd like to see him stabilize the rotation long enough to end up with him matched with Durango, Glenn 'Legs' Thomas and Enrique 'Old Nick' Vázquez. We love his work ethic and hope he can inspire the rest of the staff with it."

With this signing he becomes the top paid player on the club. Sporting a stately handlebar moustache, he also is an immediate favorite to win the club's $300 'best facial hair' award.

Ashley was square in our radar of a possible fifth starter... Good catch!!

He's going to need to get that Mustache darkened...and, no, Aurora did not need him.

How can you go wrong with a card carrying member of the HandleBar Club? Awesome selection.

Wind Dancers wrote:He's going to need to get that Mustache darkened...and, no, Aurora did not need him.

Word is he chose to sign with Havana for a hair more than Aurora because he'd have to shave the stash...

Nii signs with Havana

The Havana Leones came to agreement with Hiroyuki 'Zippo' Nii, signing the former London hurler to a one year deal worth $1.275 million. Nii became a free avant at the end of a 2023 season in which he put up the worst performance of his fine career. Many think that at 35 years of age he is on the decline.

Where others see decline, the Leones see a potential benefit. Nii's 2023 ERA+ of 72 was well below his lifetime average of 128. While precipitous, the drop may not be a harbinger of doom for Nii. He posted a career high ERA+ of 153 in 2021 followed by a 136 in 2022.

Word around the league is that Nii's been tipping his pitches. The Cuban club thinks that he may be able to get that sorted with a change of venue to refocus his efforts. "He's a very smart guy who works extremely hard. We really think he's just hits a bump last year. When you look at the big picture he's more likely to be a improve than to fall further. He had roughly 100 fewer innings pitched last year and that may have been a difficult adjustment for him."

At a mere $1.275 million it's a gamble that the club felt was worth taking. The six time All Star and Wunderkind award winner is hugely popular amongst the Havana fans. When news of his signing was released the club was inundated with calls asking about season ticket plans. Sales of Leones jerseys spiked dramatically. On the streets some clever entrepreneurs started selling Zippo lighters with the Leones logo which have been the most in demand item on the island this holiday season. There's nothing better to light your cigar with.

Definitely a worthwhile gamble. The biggest are of concern may be that drop in K-rate.

I really hope you can light the Zippo fire again. He was such a great servant for London, it was so sad to see him drop so far. The one black mark on his career is his lack of real post season success, for what he has done he ought to have more than his one PEC ring.

Best of luck with the reclamation project except when you face San Juan of course

The one concern I've got is that he pitched the fewest innings of any season in career last year. Hopefully the lack of work isn't what contributed to the decline. Right now it looks like my manager is slotting him for the bullpen. My hope is that he'll adjust to the pen and the fewer reps will help him regain form.

Given his popularity in Havana we think we'll actually come out ahead on his contract. We only need to bump attendance by 2.8% to break even. We got a pretty good bump when he signed so it's a good start.