NEW ORLEANS --
The Featherheads made a pair of moves to better position the F-Heads for their 13th consecutive playoff appearance. A few notable holes in the Featherheads roster existed before the trades which Hannahs hopes to have filled with trades between Toyama and Crystal Lake. GM Hannahs spoke about each trade recently at a press conference held in New Orleans during the All Star festivities.
The first trade that was announced sent Florida's 2029 fourth round pick and Mexicali starter
Paolo de Nooyer for struggling Wind Dancers starter
Paul Norris. This move illicited some mixed reactions from the Featherhead faithful as Norris had not been pitching very well and even with the off year for
Jose Diaz, had not been pitching as well as Diaz was. Hannahs gave an explanation at the all star press conference in New Orleans... "We really like Norris and what he's capable of. At the end of the day, we really like the idea of having six capable starters in our rotation and the possibility of using them as swing options was important to us. In the end, we felt that bringing on a player like Norris was going to better strengthen our rotation and bullpen since we would have the ability to move people around and provide more cover for pitchers if they struggle. Right now, I think we have seven or eight guys on our squad who can all start games for us which is awesome. When we're gauging our strengths, I think that Norris being able to fulfill that swing role is one of the prominent advantages that we have."
When asked about Norris' struggles in particular this year, Hannahs had an answer ready. "We think a lot of Norris' struggles came from his intense competitive streak. Being on a team that isn't winning can weigh on anyone and we think that played a large part in his dip in production so far in the 2028 campaign. With his spin rates and ability to keep the ball on the ground, we expect him to be able to produce here in Florida."
What was most notable is what was not said. Hannahs and Co seem less likely than before to promote young phenom
Luppe Van Dam this year with this trade. This has been a bit of a blow to the Luppe faithful in Jacksonville.
The second trade with Crystal Lake felt almost like a continuation of the earlier trade between the two clubs that sent Gareth Bugler to the Gnats a few weeks back. This time, the two clubs met up to oversee the transferance of journeyman outfielders
Pablo Cabrera and
Orlando Reyes. There has been a bevy of moves between the two clubs in the past months which makes sense given the familiarity between the two clubs' front offices (Gnat's GM RJ Ermola famously was one of Ken Hannahs' groomsmen during Hannahs' break from baseball) but Hannahs made it clear that it wasn't only due to the familiarity that led to this trade coming to fruition the way it did. "To be honest, I wasn't expecting the phone to ring when it did from RJ. RJ still had a good shot of making the playoffs with the players he had so I was definitely surprised when I learned he was looking to offload talent and build for the future. I was already looking at other possible trade partners to sure up our outfield offering -- especially against lefties -- so when we learned that Reyes was available, it was an easy move. We agreed on pricing pretty quickly. The only part that was a little painful from our end was having to let go of
[Beau] Phillips who has had a lot of success throughout his time in Florida." Phillips had been a longtime stalwart of the Featherheads' farm, finally breaking into the big club last year where he pitched respectably if not particularly inspiring. This year with the inclusion of Gallagher and Sato into the rotation, Phillips found his role in the bullpen where he struggled mightily to find purchase. Word was that before the trade, Phillips was on his way back to Chesapeake to repurpose himself again as a starter.
Reyes has the ability to play all three outfield positions and brings a much needed right handed bat to the the otherwise southpaw laden outfield. While not formally announced, the supposition with the trade is that we will see a platoon in right field with Reyes primarily playing against left handed pitching where he is crushing with an over .900 OPS.
The Florida-Crystal Lake pipeline has always been one of the worst kept secrets in PEBA, and this trade does nothing if not strengthens that theory. During the year, Crystal Lake has acquired Gareth Bugler, Beau Phillips, and Pablo Cabrera and Florida has acquired Orlando Reyes and Crystal Lake's third round pick. With these trades taken in their totality, fans and the F-Heads executives seem happy with the results.
The rest of the press conference went off without much of a hitch. It became the overriding belief from those present that these moves may actually be the extent of the moves the Featherheads are willing to make, however, "there's always a possibility that something will come up in the 11th hour," Hannahs said.