In today's big deal with the Sprinfield Serenity, the Surprise Zombies finally addressed the near complete collapse of their 2005 outfield. They acquired the always entertaining Ichiro! Suzuki, veteran hitter Rondell White, and $200K in much needed funds in exchange for perennial all-star 3B Scott Rolen, scrappy OF Eric Byrnes, and control-freak pitching prospect Sean Marcum.
Thanks for the 4 years of memories, Mr. Rolen, and good luck in Springfield. Thanks also to Byrnes, who was very productive as a part-timer in 2 seasons. Hopefully Ichiro! will be just the spark that Surprise needs to win the championship that long eluded the franchise in Laramie.
Surprise isn't quite done shopping yet. We could still use a CF or two, a 5th starter, a good lefty reliever, a catching partner for Javy Lopez, and perhaps a backup 1B who could move Giambi to DH occasionally.
So, what do we have left to sell? Let's see...there's Nate McLouth, Marcos Carvajal, Jeff Davanon, Miguel Batista, Nicky Punto, prospects, and picks. I might also be persuaded to move guys like Oliver Perez, Craig Wilson, or Eddie Guardado...but it would require some serious talent to pry one of them loose.