By Ray D. Enzé, NLN baseball blogger

November 18, 2019: Aurora, Colorado – It wasn’t a surprise to the team, the gathered media or the fans gathered ‘round the ‘hot stove’.  Surprise or not, the news still rocked the Aurora organization and their baseball family – two-time Royal Raker Cory Pierce has turned down the teams offer for arbitration and in doing so, the nine-year veteran of Aurora’s outfield becomes a free agent.

Pierce just finished a 2-year, $10M per year deal that made him one of the best bargains in all of PEBA. Reports early on in the season had him asking upwards of $18M per for any extension. By season’s end, it was rumored that he was willing to take $12.5M to remain in Aurora. Pierce then put his skills on display during the Borealis’ championship run – hitting .339 with 6 HR and 13 RBI, but at the end of the day, only a severe pay cut would keep the career .322 hitter at home on the Front Range.

What would allow one to let the anchor of your team walk out the door? Two things: the cost of doing business and the blossoming of outfield talent both on the Front Range and in the high minors.

Aurora’s title could arguably be placed on the shoulders of their pitching staff – specifically the starters – a group that will become far more expensive in the coming two seasons, should the team choose to keep them together. Anastasio López will be a free agent after the 2020 season. Michel Provost had a huge break-out season that he should parlay into an equally huge arbitration pay-out next November. Throw in the uncertainty of Martín Francisco and his surgically repaired elbow (and the possibility of the team seeking a new arm as insurance) and one could easily envision another $10M+ going into the rotation for 2021 – and those three are already slated to earn a combined $35M in 2020!

A young nucleus of outfielders already inhabit Aurora’s outfield, and Matt Ferrell, River Pope and Mike Hale have all shown the strong potential that GM Will Topham had anticipated upon drafting them. Combined with the break-out year ‘Dingus’ Talley had, coupled with Paul Carlisle (AAA) and 2019 draftee Pedro Ferringo (AA), and you have a crowded outfield without the 3-time All-Star.

Somewhere Ronald McCall wonders where he fits in.

Pierce was the 19^th overall selection in PEBA’s initial amateur draft (2007), taken by the Omaha Cyclone. After two seasons in Omaha’s system at Cheyenne (A) and Laval (AA), he was traded to Aurora for SP Fernando Madrid and an exchange of 1^st round draft picks. Clearly Aurora got the better end of that deal. Two-and-a-half years later and Pierce was making his major league debut (2011) and three weeks into the 2012 campaign he was called up for good.

Pierce’s 2012 season was a dream year as in 117 games he hit 24 HR, drove in 104 and hit .385 as he won the Royal Raker award – the second straight for Aurora. Pierce capped a stretch of four straight Royal Rakers for Aurora in 2014 with a .358, 25 HR and 123 RBI performance. In recent years Pierce has struggled some to put the ball in play, as his strike-out numbers have risen as his average has dipped. This season was the first in 8 years he failed to hit .300 (.281) or double-digit HRs (9) – 6 of the previous 7 years he had 20 or more HRs, and in the ‘off year’ he had 19. For his Aurora career Pierce has 182 HR and 813 RBI to go with his .322 average.

So for now, the question is: Where will Pierce land for the 2020 season. This off-season will certainly be an interesting one as the upheaval in Japan has led to major changes to both the LRS and PEBA and a major influx of cash to the Far East. It’s not unreasonable to see Cory follow the likes of Jon Wood, Pat Lilly and ‘Quagmire’ and jump to the LRS. Might we see Pierce leave one Champion for another (Shin Seki) and then see him face off against Michel Provost on Opening Day 2021? Me thinks it’s not too far fetched.