Two big trades this winter for the Jokers. The biggest one see the arrival of Bob Rudyard, the southpaw from Seattle. Rudyard had a great year in Seattle with 19 wins and we think that he will assume the number #2 starter role in the orgasnisation. We really need a dominant southpaw and that's what we've got in this deal, says GM Neveu. The price for Rudyard was young SP Roberto Gonzalez and MR Arthuro Sandoval, two promising youngsters. GM said: It's clear that on a long term perspective, Seattle will win this deal. But with the team we have, future is right now for Vegas.
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| Bob Rudyard |
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| Jeff Olsen |
The other trade saw vet backstop Ronnie Wells going to Eureka in a deal that saw young southpaw Jeff Olsen coming to Vegas. In fact, it may be in Reno (AAA), the time he fully develop. This deal made the departure of Gonzalez possible because Olsen is a talented young SP. Ronnie Wells is a very good catcher but the emergence of Phillip Smith made him available. So we think that the addition of two good lefty SP help to strenghten the team. If Rudyard is as dominant as he was in Seattle, Vegas will have the best 1-2 punch of the league with him and Maurice Gould. The team didn't like the way starter were beaten against Montreal in final so they move to be stronger this year.
