Saturday, January 28, 2012

FAREWELL VICTOR!



DFW-- The Spurs fans have been waiting since the end of last season for the team to make a move and get involved in the trade market. Well the fans got what they wanted as DFW traded former 1st round pick Victor Martinez to ILL. The former 1st Rd pick has played all 7 years in DFW and was a big part of the 2007 World Series team! He led the Spurs in hitting that year with a .361ba & .413oba.

'We want to Thank Victor for his loyalty and leadership the last 7 years, and he will be missed' stated the skipper of the Spurs Red Robbins.

The Spurs got some much needed Draft picks in hopes to build the team into a play-off contender. DFW traded Martinez and DFW 1st (pick 9) to ILL for ILL 1st (pick 4), ILL 2nd, GRK 5th & ILL 6th.


Thursday, January 26, 2012

Attention V-Mart Shoppers





Illinois Times -

Chows make Another Deal

Illinois added C/1B Victor Martinez to their already solid line-up. GM Brad Sherlag and his scouts decided the draft was very thin on bats and made several line-up solidifying moves this offseason. "Once we made the Hafner and Morse deals we could no longer straddle the fence. This is our year and getting an everyday catcher with V-Mart's bat was something we could not pass up. We were very aggressive on the V-Mart front and wanted to make sure we got a deal done before any other NASBL teams had a chance to."

In the rather complicated deal, Illinois moves down from #4 to #9 in the first round and gives up a 2nd, a 5th and a 6th. The upside of this trade is the switch-hitting V-Mart. the downside is that the lower picks would have proven valuable for building the bullpen and bench.

Two for the Title

With Reyes and Martinez in the fold,Illinois has two legitimate contenders to win the TG batting title. Currently Brian Giles holds the Chows All-Time mark for a season at .312. Both V-Mart and Reyes figure to best that mark and either could win the crown. A race for the title between teammates is an exciting thing for fans to watch. One such race was commemorated by this 1985 baseball card.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

END OF AN ERA

Thirty-three years.


Fifteen thousand, four hundred and eighty at-bats.


Four thousand, three hundred and fifty-three hits.


Two thousand, four hundred and forty runs scored.

Two thousand, two hundred and forty-five runs batted in.


Six hundred and fifteen home runs.


Four hundred and ten stolen bases.


One NASBL championship.

One team.

Manny Ramirez, 1995 - 2011
Omar Vizquel, 1996 - 2011

Building the Wales

Every year I like to look at how my players got here. This year, twelve of our seventeen keepers were acquired by draft, including six 1st rounders and two 2nd rounders. If you haven't noticed, Outlaw has a strategy of building from the draft. Only five of this year's players were acquired by trade. Here are Outlaw's keepers listed by seniority, with their years of service and how they were acquired:

Tim Hudson, 12, 2000 1st round
Jake Peavy, 8, 2004 2nd round
Jason Bay, 7, 2005 1st round
Adrian Gonzalez, 5, 2007 1st round
Mike Napoli, 4, 2008 supp 1st round
Dustin Pedroia, 4, 2008 1st round
Scott Baker, 3, 2009 trade for a 3rd round
Elvis Andrus, 2, 2010 1st round
Nelson Cruz, 2, 2010 1st round
Adrian Beltre, 2, 2010 trade for a 4th round
David Ortiz, 2, 2010 7th round
Matt Kemp, 1, 2010 postseason trade for 2011 1st round
Jonny Venters, 1, 2011 2nd round
Justin Masterson, 1, 2011 6th round
Rafael Betancourt, 1, 2011 9th round
Chris Heisey, 0, 2011 postseason trade for Joakim Soria
Chris Narveson, 0, 2012 trade for Brennan Boesch

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Sherlag accused in NASBL scandal


Tonight all of Springfield waits with baited breath to see the outcome of the hottest scandal to rock Springfield since "lefty gate". The controversy surrounds accusations that GM Doug Sherlag used falsified birth certificates to bring in a veteran retired pitcher under an assumed name. Embattled GM Doug Sherlag insists that Fausto Carmona in really not 46 year old pitcher Roberto Hernandez. This despite Carmona/Hernandez' recent arrest in the Dominican Republic. A visibly shaken Sherlag stated "there must be some mistake" when confronted with the phony birth certificate. The future of his recycled pitcher, who was released on $13,000 bail, is unclear though some General Managers report that Springfield was shopping the hurler as of two weeks ago. One must question if they were trying to move the old vet before his true age came out. The perennial contender Isotopes were stunned by Outlaw and GM Sherlag has been on the hot seat after the surprising early exit in the 2011 playoffs.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Chows add Draft Pick - Lose Some Youth

Illinois Times - The Chows traded young starter Homer Bailey for a 5th Round Draft pick today. This deal now gives Illinois 3 picks in the 5th round. "Our goal is to make the play-offs this season. While we like Homer, we think he needs a little more seasoning. We value the flexibility more than we valued his production."

It is widely believed that this deal allows the Chows to cut to below 17 players, maybe even to the minimum. In past years, the Chows have been attached to their guys and have not participated in the supplemental since 2009 when they took Richie Sexson with their lone supplemental pick.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Topes Make Two Big Offseason Deals - More to Follow?


Springfield (AP) - The Topes have won at least 92 games in each of the last seven NASBL seasons and have only finished below .500 in one of the last ten NASBL seasons. It's not very often that GM Doug Sherlag comes out and issues a statement like he did last month. "I'm not sure we have the horses to compete next year," said Sherlag.

Sherlag issued that statement in a press conference in which the Topes announced that the Topes had traded Andre Ethier to the Grizz for Melvin Upton and Ricky Romero. Ethier was one of the key components of the controversial Josh Hamilton trade of last offseason and had a very solid season in his first year with the Topes, serving as a table-setter for Carlos Gonzalez and Adam Dunn in the Topes lineup. Romero has had limited success for the Grizz in parts of two seasons since being drafted in the 11th round of the 2010 NASBL draft. After a Rookie of the Year season in 2008, Upton hit .198 in 405 at bats for the Grizz last season and has failed to live up to his pedigree as the 3rd overall pick in the 2008 NASBL draft. Both players are younger than Ethier and this appeared to be a classic example of a rebuilding move.

Not so fast...it appears that Sherlag is sending a mixed message. Upton was not long for the Topes as Sherlag shipped Upton and set-up man Tyler Clippard to the Shawnee Crows for David Wright and Ryan Doumit. Wright and Doumit are both older than Upton AND Clippard. Wright should replace Ethier's production in the middle of the Topes lineup and Doumit has had success in NASBL as a primarily offense minded catcher.

So, are the Topes sending a mixed message? Not according to Sherlag. "Guys like David Wright do not become available all the time. He is a premium player at a premium position." said Sherlag. "David is only 29 years old and will be a big part of the Topes for years to come. I stand by my statement that it will be difficult to put a winner out on the field next year, even after this trade. However, it won't be long before the Topes are back to where we expect to be and David will be a big part of that."

Asked if he anticipates that there will be more deals this offseason, Sherlag responded with a resounding yes. "We have some nice pieces that can help contenders. I would anticipate at least one or two more trades before roster cutdown day," said Sherlag.