KALAMAZOO – The Kalamazoo Badgers have traded away their best player, but team owner Don O’Quinn wants to make one thing clear.

“We’re not giving up on the season, I want to put that out there right now before anyone asks it, says it, or suggests it” O’Quinn told the assembled media in a hastily-announced press conference at Portage Park only a couple hours after it was announced that Chris Allen has been dealt to the Florida Featherheads for a package of five players.

Allen, who signed a one-year, $13.4-million contract with the Badgers in the offseason, has provided consistent offence from the middle of the lineup for Kalamazoo this year, hitting .268/.359/.506 with 20 home runs.

In exchange for the slugging outfielder, the Badgers have acquired outfielder Keitaro Sato, starting pitcher Michael Ayers, third baseman Jaime Lopez, veteran pitcher Jose Cruz and pitching prospect Clarence Peterson.

While it won’t please a fan base to see a star player walk out the door – Allen is also a huge fan favourite – the Badgers owner is insistent that this deal could help the team this season as well as in the future.

“The fact of the matter is, as much as everyone loves Chris Allen, he likely wasn’t going to be suiting up in Kalamazoo next season unless we backed the Brinks truck up,” O’Quinn said. “So we either trade him for what we can now, or watch him walk away and wish him well with another team.

“Oh yeah, and I’d like to wish Chris Allen well with Florida. He’s a pretty good guy,” O’Quinn added, briefly remembering the typical tact that most front office personnel use when speaking with media, as opposed to the brash, honest and open style that is his norm.

For his part, when scrummed by local reporters while he packed up his locker, Allen wasn’t overly surprised he was dealt, but was looking forward to Florida.

“Part of the game,” the veteran outfielder said. “I am happy Kalamazoo gave me a chance here and I’m even happier to be going to Florida with a really good chance to win a championship. That’s a team that’s in the playoffs pretty much every year and they are heading back there this season. I’m going to miss the guys around here and I hope to see them pull it out and make the playoffs too.”

The centrepieces in the trade coming back to Kalamazoo are Ayers and Sato.

Ayers is the owner of a 76-56 PEBA career mark, with a 3.77 career ERA. However, only three months after signing a three-year, $28 million contract extension with the Featherheads in 2018, Ayers tore his UCL and had to spend a year rehabbing after a successful Tommy John surgery.

He hasn’t yet made it back to the PEBA level, as he had been rehabbing through Florida’s minor league system the past couple months. He had a brief stop with three starts in double AA, posting a 4.67 ERA and had since moved up to AAA, where the small sample size of results has been ugly – an 8.03 ERA through three starts and 12.1 innings pitched.

“I know it hasn’t looked good, but I feel healthy and I feel ready to get back and contribute to a PEBA team,” Ayers, 30, told the assembled media on a conference call, while en route to Kalamazoo to join his new team at home. “I’m grateful to get the opportunity to suit up for Kalamazoo and hopefully get the club to the playoffs.”

Ayers added that in his minor league starts he’s simply been trying to work on re-establishing his pitches and shake off the rust that was the result of his long lay off. He’ll have to shake it off in a hurry, as the team owner announced he has been added to the team’s 25-man roster and  will make his first start of the season on July 31 at home against Aurora Borealis.

“We’re not going to be paying this guy to play AAA baseball,” O’Quinn said, referencing Ayers’ contract, which pays him $8.85 million this season, $9.35 million next season and a team option for $9.85 million in 2021.

“Hey, it’s a feel good story. It doesn’t always work out after Tommy John surgery, but he’s passed his physical, he’s still throwing as hard as he ever was. Michael Ayers is going to help this team win some ball games.”

The other key piece the Badgers will be hoping on is exactly the man who will be replacing Allen, Japanese import Sato.

He’s a 25-year-old switch-hitting outfielder who can play all three positions and has a reasonable bit of speed. His big league career has been without much fanfare thus far, as he’s hit just .205/.284/.321 over his first 190 at bats in a part-time role over the past two seasons.

“This is a good ball player and we have faith in Sato. It’s hard to really get your career going when you’re only playing once in a while. The guy has hit over .300 when he plays everyday in AAA and we expect him to contribute offensively here too once he gets the reps in,” O’Quinn said. “If not, you know, he’s Japanese, we can always ship him off to the League of the Rising Sun.”

While O’Quinn’s joke set off a few stifled awkward laughs during the press conference, as a Japanese-born player, acquiring Sato does give Kalamazoo the possibility of opening up meaningful trade talks with the LRS should he not pan out in the United States.

The other major league acquisition is Lopez, who is an above average infielder who can play all four positions and has potential with the bat, but is the owner of only a .625 OPS over 465 at bats during the past four seasons.

He is also expected to get more frequent at bats than he was getting in Florida, taking over from Derrek Lollar, who has been sent to the disabled list with a concussion.

Peterson, 24, is currently in AA where he is enjoying a breakout campaign with a 10-3 record and a 3.07 ERA. O’Quinn announced that he will be optioned to Kalamazoo’s AA team.

Finally, Cruz may have his best years behind him, but the 38-year-old is a well-known name, having played in the PEBA since the inaugural 2007 season.

2019 is in fact the first season that Cruz hasn’t pitched an inning of big league baseball. He most notable spent nine seasons with Crystal Lake, before being signed and later released by Duluth.

He is the owner of a career 3.25 PEBA ERA, but he is currently struggling with a 7.14 ERA through 29 innings at AAA this season.

“He’s a guy with a lot of experience who we can call on if we need him, but Cruz is going to start out with us in the minors and give us some depth there,” O’Quinn said.

There was a lot of speculation about what the Badgers – currently sitting five games out of the division lead with a 49-54 record – might do during this trade deadline. That question has now been answered loud and clear, although the move perhaps leaves more questions than answers.

“Are we as good today as we were yesterday? Maybe, maybe not. I think the three guys we have coming up to our big league team are going to help us. Chris Allen is a hell of a ballplayer and it’s tough to replace a guy like that, but we’re going to try,” O’Quinn said. “This isn’t waving the white flag on 2019. The Badgers are still alive and well and we’re pushing for the playoffs, with or without Chris Allen.”

It wasn’t such an easy sell in the clubhouse.

“It’s tough man. He’s a quiet type, doesn’t really say much, but Chris led by example. When we needed a big hit, he was there,” said team catcher Lorenzo Amador about the trade. “A lot of the guys are pretty bummed out about losing him, but we’ll plow ahead. I think the guys we got back could be pretty interesting too. We’re still going to make a run at this thing.”