by Ray D. Enzé, NLN baseball Blogger

April 9, 2019: Duluth, Minnesota – There have been a number of first basemen who have moved through the Borealis system, seeking to displace handyman Al Edwards – Ken Coleman and Rod Johnson to name a few, but no one performed well enough to force Aurora’s hand and move the versatile Edwards to his more natural 3rd base. Even this years projected replacement – Richie Norman, has been moved aside before he had much of a chance to settle in to the departed Edwards shoes.

Aurora GM Will Topham announced this evening, after Aurora’s frustrating 4-1 loss to the Warriors, that one of the big-name free agents who had yet to sign was going to make the Front Range his home for the next two seasons. Former Bakersfield 1B Miguel Salinas has signed a one-year deal, with a team option for a second, for an annual salary of $13.04M. “We have faith in Richie, and in time we envision him as our future first basemen,” Aurora’s Boy Wonder GM stated “but for now, we need some more pop in the line-up and we’ve seen Miguel’s potential up close and personal.”

Edwards, who signed his own free agent deal with New Orleans, began his career with 50 HR in his first three full seasons, but over the last three he hit only 21 – 9 in each of the past two seasons. In six full seasons Salinas has hit 98 HR and has a .300 average. Last year he hit 22 and .294.

Aurora had initially offered Salinas a deal at the start of spring training and then waited as Miguel and his agent “sat on the offer” Topham explained. “Finally they came back to us on opening day with a counter offer that was negligibly higher and we agreed quickly.”

Aurora has historically shied away from the free agent market, being quite content to build through trades and the draft, so this move is significant in that it may signal a change in Topham’s philosophy, for not only have they signed their first big name free agent, they have given away their top pick as compensation – to their arch-rivals, in a draft that early reports suggest will be a deep one.

To make room for Salinas, Jeff Martin has been optioned back to AAA Thornton and Kane Talley has taken over the DH spot with Norman backing up at both DH and 1B. Manager Don James has stated that initially Salinas will hit 5th behind Britt.

When asked if we could expect other, early season moves, Topham said “We have another body on our radar, but whether we make a deal or not may well be out of our control.” What ever that means…