Sioux Acquire Medlen - Announce Intentions

- Burlington, VT


The Vermont Fighting Sioux have acquired front of the rotation starter Kris Medlen from the Troy Haymakers in exchange for Dillon Gee and picks in the 2nd and 4th rounds of the 2015 NASBL Rookie/FA draft. The Sioux also received back TRY's 8th and 10th round selections.

The moment Ken Anderson hung a For Sale sign on Medlen, Justin Rabidoux quickly assigned the Sioux scouting and medical (TOMMY JOHN, hello) departments to evaluate Medlen's immediate and long-term value. The immediate value is clear, another front end starter added to a now (crosses fingers) very top heavy Sioux rotation. Long-term, who knows, and frankly in the NASBL the future, nonetheless the present, is not guaranteed. So the Sioux pushed their chips to the center of the table and declared themselves all in for the 2014 NASBL title. "Heck, if LVI can do it twice, why not us once?" quipped an anonymous VFS front office source.

It's funny how a season and its expectations can change in the briefest of moments. Sitting with the 7th pick in the opening round of the NASBL 2013 R/FA draft, Vermont would've been content with its forecasted selection of Starling Marte. Heck, one can never have enough LHP whooping bats in a division led by Jack Howard's Southside Hurling Grizzlies. But then a funny thing happened, fellow NASBL execs, no doubt scared away by his pending TOMMY JOHN surgery (this will be a theme for the Sioux this year, looking at you too Jarrod), one after another passed on talented hurler Matt Harvey. Rabidoux was more than willing to grab him for this year and beyond, hoping Harvey would have a Cy Young caliber 2014 and then a Strasburg-like bounce back from surgery leading to a successful NASBL career.

Entering the draft the Sioux had 159 of the required 162 starts from a rotation comprised top to bottom of:

Mat Latos
AJ Burnett

Medlen, ready to deal for Vermont in 2014

Jarrod Parker
Eric Stults
Dillon Gee

That group was an ideal Sioux quintet, given Vermont's recent history suggests 81 win campaigns are ideal.

After the draft and Medlen acquisition, the group is now:

Matt Harvey
Kris Medlen
Mat Latos
AJ Burnett
Jarrod Parker/Eric Stults

Having an extra leftie allows Rabidoux to send the southpaws out against LHB-heavy squads.

So after all this questions still abound. Is this enough to topple GCG, DFW and the rest of the Less Filling? Was it worth it to acquire Medlen for two high picks? Drafting Harvey, whose rehab timetable is unknown, smart move? And on and on.

One thing we do know, the rotation entering the draft had a cumulative 13 wins above replacement (data from Fangraphs). The rotation after the draft (not counting Stults) has 19 WAR. Will those extra six fictional MLB wins translate into NASBL? To what extent? If we assume it actually means six more NASBL wins, that is likely the difference between missing the playoffs and being in contention for a division title and wildcard spot. If that's what 2014 holds for the Sioux, they'll happily take that gamble.

This season is setting up as a parlor game of sorts for VFS. A series of dominoes led to the current pitching staff. Without six other GMs passing, understandably so, on Harvey, VFS would not have pulled the trigger on the Medlen trade. With all the dominoes in place, the 162 roll crap game begins - here's to hoping the Sioux keep rolling their point!!