Maple enters the 2017 season with a conflict of opinion. The owner feels we should be an above .500 club this year, however; the GM feels we are in a rebuild mode.
Over the past five seasons the TML Billy Martin division has been arguably one of the weakest divisions in the ABL so, a .500 record in fact may put you in the playoff hunt come September. The OSA scouts though predict a horrible outlook for the Marauders with a 2nd last place finish and a well below .500 record. Fans in Maple were surprised to see the OSA prediction with the Marauders double digit games behind a surprising 100 win San Francisco club. Only time will tell if the Marauders are this bad or if San Francisco is really this good.
The off-season saw Maple pick up a quality starter from Dallas as Rich Bussell was acquired in exchange for allstar catcher Bobby Shine. We hate to lose Bobby as he was a nice surprise last season for our team and the catcher position in the ABL has been a tough position to fill at a high level. On that note, acquiring Rich gives us a chance to be more competitive this season and gives us more options near the trade deadline if we should be really as bad as the OSA predicts. Teams have already contacted Maple to see what the price is for Bussell and the response from Maple has been a consistent; "we will let you know IF and WHEN he is on the market". This trade also allowed us to call up Manuel Fernandez known as "Stubblebeard". Our scouts predict only a backup role for him but, if there is any chance he can turn into anything beyond that now is his chance. Fernandez does shine with the glove behind the plate.
Another interesting off season move saw Nottinghamshire and Maple again continue their interleague relationship in making deals each season; Maple acquired last seasons AAA KSL Cy Young winner - Nicolas Rodriguez in exchange for hard throwing Van "Shooter" Smith. The GM feels a change of teams sometimes can help the players involved so we will see longer term how this trade works out. Maple fans were happy to see that Rodriguez made the team out of spring and will be in the rotation for Maple to start the year.
After a mediocre spring training Maple was on the phone again after the 1st regular season week trying to improve his club and deal with some tough decisions on their 25 man active roster. This team has a lot of players out of options and having the flexibility to call up players like in the past is now just a memory. Maple finished 3-4 after the 1st week of the season and quickly made two more transactions that were announced shortly afterwards. The first move shipped SP Vern Poulin to Nottinghamshire in exchange for hitting middle infield prospect Alfonso Alonso. We felt we have an excess of SPs in similar quality to Poulin and needed some more depth in the middle infield. It is always a pleasure to deal with Mr. William Atteberry. We both discuss which players are of interest and then either quickly agree or move on. Nottinghamshire has been the flagship organization for the ABL and whenever you can pick up some young players that play within that surrounding we feel it is a benefit to our minor leagues. In the second trade, Ron Harrison of Mile High agreed to send OF Floyd Lowery AA to Maple in return for MR Leon King ABL. This deal was to help to get some value from a very decent prospect and young pitching arm in lieu of managing the 25 man roster and possibly losing a player for nothing. We also like Lowery's ability to play all OF positions namely CF. CF has been a long time need for Maple from a defensive stand point. Lowery will begin in AA and based on his results will be given a quick promotion to AAA if the results meet expectations. Lowery's time to make the ABL is now and he knows it. Meanwhile Alonso will start in AA as well and will see some time at 3B. The sales of Sandy Springs Spartans' Alfonso Alonso jerseys skyrocketed quickly after the deal was announced. Fans have been saying in the Atlanta area, "how can't you not like this kid and his name"! We will see how far this 21 year old progresses in the minors over the next year or two.
After all of the minor juggling, the Maple organization announced two more organization changes. Both might have implications for the TML ROY race. 1st call-up was John "Toad" Jones MR from AAA. He was our R1 Supplemental pick this past draft. John was looking very strong out of spring training and didn't pitch for Maple in any spring training games but, had several effective outings in International play. John has bloomed very quickly and we are pleasantly surprised and very happy to have him in the ABL this soon. This southpaw pitched at South Carolina and has told reporters, "I would love to compete versus my favorite team growing up the Bombers"! Gary Altman was not available for comment. Gary has taken some bad press for neglecting to pick the local fan favorite. The 2nd call up saw power hitting OF George Evans get the promotion from AAA ball. Evans was Maple's R2 pick the year previous and is coming off a monster season in AAA for Astoria when he hit 38 HRs and had 78 Extra base hits. Maple is confident both players will be on the ROY ballots for the TML at the end of the year.
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