The day Baseball Changed Forever

[Red Sox Fan 734]

Ok, sounds cool ill be reading

[twinsGM]

"Hey, dude, your mom's like the Beavers: her home smells like ass and
she gets paid a third as much as the others to suck."
These are the kind of remarks I hear walking around Portland on a drizzly day.
Like most in the city, this particular day was depressing. The thick grey clouds cast
a permanent shadow over the worst baseball city in America. Hoboes
lined the dirty sidewalks, heads in their laps, reflecting the city' attitude.

Besides my wife considering divorce, I was thinking about the starter
I needed for my team. The only pitching prospects were the either the
next Byung-Hyun Kim or a relieft pitcher. The current rotation is probably
the worst combination of 5 guys in the majors, with our likely ace having
never played baseball on a regualtion field before last month. Carlos Silva
and Justin Germano are my main targets, but Germano has almost no interest
in playing for a losing team. That gives me Silva to go after, and that's where
I am headed to tomorrow: My 3-person team will be meeting Carlos and his agent
to discuss a contract, which they think should be for two years. Scanning through
the free-agent list, I don't see anyone else interesting. AJ Burnett is a free-agent
but is now the best free agent pitcher on the market, so he will be way out
of our price range. I decided not to talk to any other free agents before I talk
to Silva, so we know where our budget stands, but my next move is probably Brian
Fuentes. Fuentes is a perfect fit for us, since we need a lefty and a stable veteran,
plus he is seeking between two to three million per year. My only concern
is his injuries, since he only pitched 26 innings last year because of trips to the DL.


*****

We came home exhausted and frustrated. Two days in Miami, and Carlos Silva
was done with us in 30 minutes. He was already mad we made him fly from his home
inVenezuela. We pleaded our case for his excellent control, but that apperently
went to his head and Carlos demanded five million a year after he said Boston offered
4.5 million each year for three seasons. We realized we couldn't compete, if that was true,
but we argued to lower the price but their side got even more reluctant to work with us.

We immediatley made plans to meet Brian Fuentes at his home in Merced, California
tomorrow. If we can sign him, I would set our bullpen's staus to "Solid".

[twinsGM]

*****

Portland Beavers at Baltimore Orioles

Opening Day: April 1st, 2012

                1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 +  R  H  E
  Beavers (Por) 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0    3  5  0
  Orioles (BAL) 4 1 1 0 0 6 0 0 x   12 16  0

PORTLAND             ab  h bb  r hr bi  k sb     avg
J. Pierre (CF)        3  0  1  1  0  0  0  1    .000
B. Bell (RF)          4  2  0  0  0  0  0  1    .500
R. Ludwick (LF)       3  0  0  0  0  1  1  0    .000
M. Montero (C)        4  0  0  0  0  0  1  0    .000
K. Casto (1B)         4  1  0  1  0  0  1  0    .250
J. Meske (2B)         4  0  0  0  0  0  3  0    .000
J. Coronado (3B)      3  0  1  0  0  0  3  0    .000
J. Bianchi (SS)       4  1  0  0  0  1  0  0    .250
J. Vargas (P)         0  0  1  0  0  0  0  0    .000
 L. Overbay (P)       1  1  0  1  1  1  0  0   1.000
 E. Volquez (P)       0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .000
 R. Troncoso (P)      0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .000
 R. Diaz (P)          1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .000
 J. Bisenius (P)      0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .000
TOTALS               31  5  3  3  1  3  9  2

                 ip  h bb hr  r er  k pit    ERA
     J. Vargas  5.0 11  2  1  6  5  6 118   9.0
     E. Volquez  0.1  2  3  0  5  5  1  37 135.0
     R. Troncoso  0.2  3  0  0  1  1  0  16  13.50
     J. Bisenius  2.0  0  0  0  0  0  4  32   0.00
          TOTALS  8.0 16  5  1 12 11 11 203

                  ip  h bb hr  r er  k pit    ERA
     D. Cabrera  7.0  5  3  1  3  3  6 143   3.86
     C. Tillman  2.0  0  0  0  0  0  3  20   0.00
          TOTALS  9.0  5  3  1  3  3  9 163