By Francis Ferry, NLN baseball beat writer

May 2, 2022: Aurora, Colorado – Wilson Berry manned the position for 7 years (2008-2014), Bob Keller manned it for 7 years (2012-2018), and Scott Vinson for 7 years (2015-2021, though ’15-‘18 more as DH). Now we can add to that list Jesús Negrete.

Aurora has been lucky enough to be strongly set behind the plate for virtually the entire history of the franchise with Berry, Keller and Vinson, but when Scott Vinson bolted to Crystal Lake in free-agency this off-season, Aurora was left with what seemed to be a black hole behind the plate.

The 2022’s title defense began with Rusty Butler behind the plate with Sergio López returning to his long-time back-up spot. Butler was given the starting job out of necessity rather than having earned the role with his .233, 4 HR, 25 RBI numbers in 249 AB in 2021 as Vinson’s back-up.

Butler was the 19^th overall selection in 2015 and at the time, Aurora had drafted him for just this moment – to be the guy to take Vinson’s place, but after a solid start to his professional career, his offensive numbers began to wane and after he began his term as starter with a .161 average a month into the season – and only 1 base stealer caught, GM Will Topham knew something needed to happen – and soon.

In steps Negrete, one of the best – if not the best, young catchers in the PEBA. Catching for the Zephyrs, Jesús was hitting .284 with team leading 7 HRs and 21 RBIs. Negrete formed part of a three-headed catcher situation – a situation Aurora fan’s must be able to relate to as we harken back to the Keller-Vinson-López trifecta, sharing the catching duties with Germán Hernández, who Reno GM Scott Maynor has suggested from time to time that he’s often felt was the ‘better option’.

For the Zephyrs, the three-headed, potentially equally talented, catching triplet, must be a luxuary that they could not afford and being… handcuffed(?) with the massive contract ‘Whitey’ Carmona possesses (three more guaranteed years left at $21.6M per for the 35-year old C/DH), the arbitration eligible Negrete could very well have become too expensive in the near term.

In exchange for the young Southern Californian catcher, Aurora trades AA 1B John Lawson and the 4^th overall selection in this years draft – a pick acquired from Okinawa during the winter meetings in exchange for SP Gustavo Cabrera (SA), Aurora’s 1^st and 4^th round pick and Rio Grande Valley’s 2^nd round pick (acquired in the Richie Norman / John Dickson deal).

“Yeah…” Interim Manager / GM Will Topham began during the question phase of the announcement “We certainly look at it as if we ultimately gave a lot to round-aboutly bring Negrete into the fold. But – and despite how well Norman has played for the Ocelots (.337, 8 HR, 18 RBI), those were deals made on their own, individual, merit. Hey, I’m happy for Richie, and I gotta think being away from the pressure to perform here has helped him. But on it’s own merit, we feel this deal brings good value for our effort.”

“Frankly, I sat down and discussed this with my team (Assitant GM Daisuke Yamashita and Assistant to the GM Wellman Castle) and the Owner (Michael Topham) – pros, cons, merits… It came down to one idea – could we get the quality of catcher with that #4 pick that we have now aquired? And when that player was ready to reach the majors, we hope Negrete (now 26-years old) will still be manning the plate for us.”

“Scott (Maynor) and I have had a number of off and on discussions about Jesús, but this time they become more than exploratory for us. Our goal every year is to reach the PEC, and after sitting in that dugout for a month, I realized more than ever that despite our strong start, we weren’t as strong as it looked. We needed to fill that hole behind the plate. When Scott suggested the #4 pick, I was like, ‘yes-no-yes-no’… I really didn’t want to deal such a high pick – you guys know me, I even spoke with my personal assistant (Aurora office manager Mary-Ellen Scott) for her opinion! But in the end, more than anything, we needed to improve this part of the team. Mission accomplished.”

For Aurora, perhaps the end result will be a team that has the looks of one about to walk along a fiscal cliff. Negrete is scheduled to be arbitration eligible this off-season, and I’d assume the Aurora financial team will begin hammering away at a long-term deal with Negrete’s agent. With many equally talented young stars in the stable, will Aurora be able to keep everyone happy – including the reportedly ‘selfish’ Negrete? Hard to say, but it won’t be easy.

Meanwhile, what is for sure is the Borealis have moved with a bold stroke towards being in the race to the end. For a team that has struggled to score runs despite entering today’s games with the second best batting average and third best OBP (not unlike 2021), adding Negrete’s power bat should definitely be a difference-maker.