"SUNGLASSES" AT KNIGHT - Knights Deal Matsui for OF Corey Hart

(New York Daily Mirror - December 16, 2008)

NEW YORK - There are so many uncertainties surrounding the Knights these days, but there is no doubt what song will be playing on the Empire Field PA when Corey Hart steps to the plate for the Knights in 2009.

The Knights last night completed a quick trade with the Lake Champlain Cannibals, dealing fading slugger Hideki Matsui to the Cannibals in exchange for RF Corey Hart. The trade follows Mitch Pak's public pronouncement in November that the Knights would be actively seeking to trade the 34 year old to get the team younger and more athletic.

Matsui earned an All-Star berth in 2008 but was perceived to have lost a degree of bat speed, resulting in a subpar season. Matsui hit 21 home runs last year but drove in just 66 runs and batted .235 with a .769 OPS. The Knights perceived him as being a declining asset. Matsui was the Knights' first pick in the 2004 draft and spent the last five seasons in New York. His best season was 2005, when he hit 47 homers and knocked in 121 runs while batting .311. He is second only to Michael Young in career games played for the Knights with 584.

Hart, 26, has been a part-time player for the Cannibals the past two seasons. His performance as a Cannibal has been pedestrian but the Knights felt that given the power-laden lineup in Lake Champlain, Hart never really had a chance to get 500 at bats. He will be given every chance to get the starting right fielder's job in New York in 2009.

"Hideki is a great talent," said Mitch Pak on WFAN radio last night, "and he's been a mainstay of our lineup for five years. But its clear that, after 118 losses last season, we have to make substantial changes on our club. While we hate to lose Hideki, we are thrilled to get back a young talent like Corey Hart. We wish Hideki well in Lake Champlain."

The Knights would now appear to be set in the outfield for 2009, with Xavier Nady, Grady Sizemore, Matt Kemp and now Hart available for the three positions.