As announced last night, Surprise hasn't quite finished their 2015 season yet. When it does end, that will also conclude the glorious 9 year tenure of their superstar 1B, Adrian Gonzalez. Thanks for your consistent excellence. Adrian's legacy will live on in the Surprise record books and in our hearts. He'll be moving to Bali to join former teammates like Josh Donaldson and bringing along some current teammates as well. Best wishes on the next phase of your career. Okay, I should probably talk about the actual deal, which is a big one...
Surprise sends Adrian Gonzalez, Matt Holliday, Hector Santiago, Danny Duffy, Edwin Diaz and Francisco Mejia to Bali
FOR
Joey Votto, Randal Grichuk, EGR #3 and $80K
Whew! I sure hope the new 1B is worth it. Thanks also to Holliday, Santiago, and Duffy for their contributions. I hope you can depart as champions!
At this point, I'm sure everyone is wondering what they can do to support Surprise 2016. Sure, I'll tell you!
1) Catcher: Either upgrade from Avila (actually not bad vs. RHP, particularly for unlimited) or a good platoon partner
2) 3B: Either upgrade from Sandoval (also not bad vs. RHP) or a good platoon partner
3) DH: Another big bat would certainly be welcome
4) Bench Players: Don't really have any at the moment, so there are some job opportunities
5) RH Relief?: Could maybe make room for someone awesome if Gregerson traded
Available Assets Include:
1) Avila (if made obsolete)
2) Sandoval (ditto)
3) Luke Gregerson (pretty damn good, but our 3rd best closer option, so maybe could help more elsewhere)
4) Chase Utley (Doesn't hit so well anymore, but compensates with leg-breaking talents)
5) Other Bounce-back Candidates (AKA Reclamation Projects): Desmond Jennings, Wilin Rosario, Neftali Feliz, Daniel Nava, etc.)
