Big trades for the Jokers!

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.

Bob Rudyard

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.

Las Vegas trade block

Las Vegas is now ready to move after a stunning defeat in 4 against Montreal.  Of course, the team is the Thurman Munson league champion but every players stay with a piece of deception after their championship serie failure.

So, it's time to think about 2013 and the Joker put a really nice players on the trading block, the catcher Ronnie Wells.  He's not a young man but at 32 he still have some good years in front of him.  Our scout see him with a 17 contact and 18 in avoid strikeout, a nice combo for a catcher. He hit well last year (.291) even if he's righty in our friendly lefty stadium. But with the emergence of Phillip Smith, the organisation want to give Wells a chance to be #1 backstopper in another team.  Let's come and talk, we're open at many ideas.
http://www.usfleagues.net/abl/reports/players/player_765.html

If someone want to make a solid run for the title, we can talk about Clay Morris (SP) and Kevin Carey (3B), two very good vets who had very good playoff.

In fact, there's just 2 players who won't move for sure; Maurice Gould and Colin St.John... Now, we're waiting to see who's gone a be Vegas first pick...

World series start in Vegas tonight

It's time... The Jokers will receive the Bandits tonight in the first match of world series. really The Jokers want this first title so they're happy to start at home, with Maurice Gould on the month. All players knows that to beat Montreal, they'll need good pitching.  Montreal offense is terrible and can mark 10 or more points easily. So, all the pressure will be on the shoulders of Gould, Morris and Magee. The trio pitched extremly well against Boston and they'll need to be better against Montreal. If not, the dream can become a nightmare quickly.

On the offense, Kevin Carey is on fire in this year playoff. The vet took offensive leadership with many clutch hits and a consistency that really help his team. Colin St.John played extremely well in the last three games against Boston but struggled before. Troy Tracy and Vic Jennings needs to be better.

So, all is set for a fabulous series against two friendly GM. We all know that Francois Neveu came from Montreal, so it's special to face his hometown team in this serie. So, all the actors are in place, PLAYBALL!

Clay Morris win against former team.

It's an happy Morris who meet the journalist after a good showing against Mile High.  The veterant starter gave only 2 runs in 7 innings.  He admit that some money was put on the table in case of a victory against former team.  "I want this victory so bad, it's always a pleasure to show that your former team may have made a mistake to let you go".  The box score of this game is just below.
http://www.usfleagues.net/abl/reports/box_scores/game_box_1852.html

The Jokers play better since they're back home; going 8-2 in the last 10.  This confirm their first place of the division and let coach Mcghee rest some players before starting the playoff.  The coach confirm that Phillip Smith is now the regular catcher, supplanting Ronnie Wells.  "Smith is the biggest surprise of the year, we didn't expect that he would develop as fast" said coach McGhee.

So, the Jokers are now near the end of season.  Maurice Gould will have only one start to reach the 20 wins.  Coach McGhee confirm that he will pitch against Kansas City and will not be back against Eureka, whatever happen in the K-C game.  But, the way Gould pitched in september and the fact that Las Vegas played very well this season against K-C, we think that he will reach the 20. 

Gould, a Joker for 4 more years

The press conference confirmed the good news, Maurice Gould signed a 4 years extension.  At only 10,500,000$, we can say that it's an excellent deal for the club.  A member of the organisation told us that at first, Gould asked for 16,17,18,18 and 20M, a little bit too pricey for a player who have one more year in arbitration.  So there was a long discussion between the player and the management and finally, they agree to a deal that satisfy both side.  Gould knew that he accepted a bit less but he really want to continue here in Vegas. "The team really want to win and treat their players like a familly member.  I trust mister Angelil (the owner) when he say that he want to build something strong here, and Las Vegas is a really good place to play."  The management really want a long term contract with their ace and now that is done, we need to concentrate at making the playoff.

Because the team performance is a bit irregular theses last weeks.  After loosing their last 4 games in august and play only .500 in september.  They saw their lead melt from 9.5 games to only 6.  So the next week is important to regain a bit of this lead and be able to rest some key players in the last week of the season. 

Phillip Smith: a pleasant surprise

At the end of the month of august, the Jokers have a 8.5 leads over their closest opponent in the Sparky Anderson division.  The team are starting to win more regularly with the return of Colin St.John in the lineup.  But, quietly, there's a youngster who start to shine more quickly then expected: Phillip Smith.  This 24 years old catcher starting to battle with Ronnie Wells for more playing time, and when we look at the numbers, we just can be happy with the production of Smith.  A .330 average with 6 hr and 18 rbi in only 30 games.  All scouts agree, his full potential is not achieve so he'll get better with more experience behind the plate.  Right now, he's playing each 3 games instead of one each six or seven.  He's one of the better Las Vegas hitter in august, so he may push Wells elsewhere at the end of the season.  GM, Francois Neveu told us that Smith was one of the players in demand at trade deadline.  Sometimes, the best deal are the one you refuse!

Others little notes

Clay Morris finally won his first game as a Jokers.  A magnificent gem, no run in 8 innings.  Morris said it was a relief to finally display a good showing.

Troy Tracy is on his way back from injury.  Maybe a week or two and he'll be able to play.

Some rumors says that Maurice Gould and Jokers management are in serious talk to keep the ace 4 years in Vegas.  Both sides seems near an agrement.

Breaking News: Clay Morris come to Las Vegas!

Las Vegas GM, François Neveu, just called a press conference:
 " The Jokers made a transaction with Mile High Mustang to obtain the starting pitcher Clay Morris.  As everyone know, pitching in Las Vegas is an area we tried to improve since a couple of week.  So the acquisition of Morris, a 35 years old vet, add a quality arm to the formation.  This will decrease the pressure on Mcgee and let him time to fully develop his skills before taking the #2 spot in the rotation.  Morris will do that job and we're really excited to see him in our uniform.

To obtain gold, you have to give some gold too.  Mile High are chasing us in the division so they asked a big price.  So young SP Paul Durden, 2B Bill Whitehead and RF Julio Rodriguez, all playing in Reno (AAA) will quit to Mile High.  We wish them good luck in their new organisation.  We know that we give a lot but to obtain a quality pitcher, that was the price.  We really wanted to strenghten this area of our ball club.

- Mister Neveu, is that acquisition is the only one Las vegas will do?  What about Danny Burris?
- Burris is an excellent player and we made some contact with Notthinghamshire about him.  The problem is that we can't agree on the value of Las Vegas players.  Our scouting team and their saw things differently.  So we decided to go with Mile High and get a SP.  And when you look at the number, we're first on attack in our league but didn't do as well in pitching area, so improving that area made sense for me.
- Mister Neveu, is there a possibility that you move with another team for a 2B?
- We're always looking to improve the team.  We had few discussions over very good 2B or SS but when they asked for Bob McGee in the deal, we decide to not discuss further.  McGee is not on the market"

So, we will keep you inform about the reaction of Clay Morris when he'll arrive in Vegas.  With this move, the Jokers clearly show their intention to be a serious contender in ABL Title.

This is Bob Bobino in Vegas!