Dateline Hickory: Commence the Purge

OK.

Hickory is terrible this year, thanks to some really dismal performances by starting pitchers who ought to be better, and with an aging roster and no prospect of short-term improvement, it is time for a massive overhaul.

I am not willing to trade 1B Jesus Flores or any major prospect.  I would consider offers for any other player on my major league roster.  This includes the following players of note:

LH Relievers - Joel Riojas (31 yo, $317K, 4.71 ERA); Ray Lewis (24 yo, $300K, 3.83 ERA); Forrest Powell (27 yo, $700K, 3.32 ERA); Cristobal Reyes (26 yo, $300K, 1.30 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 27 innings at AAA Beulaville)

Nobody here is going to blow your socks off, but all are useful left handed middle relief guys.  Lewis is having a down year but his peripherals are good and he's had a lot of success already in a young career.  Reyes is a decent prospect with nowhere to play in my organization.  I have a lot of young left-handed pitching talent in my organization and need to make room for some of them to actually play, so I'd let one or preferably two of these guys go either alone for a relatively low price, or as part of a larger package.

Catcher - Alberto Granado (.251/.328/..364, 29 yo, signed to a murderous 5-year, $19M/year contract) 

Nitro is having his worst year as a professional by far, but he's only 29 and he's bound to rebound at some point.  However, my best prospect, catcher Aaron Hampton, is Major League ready. I am thus very anxious to unload Granado if there's a willing taker.  I realize his contract is onerous, but I am willing to pay a sizable portion of his salary in the right deal.

Starting Pitchers - John Okane (LHP, 40 yo, $13M but expires this year; currently at 5-5 with an ERA of 4.77)

I'm not looking for much in exchange for Okane; he's been useless to me and won't be back next year, but if you'd like to rent a lefty starter with modest upside for the stretch run the price here is very, very, very low.

Starting Pitchers Don Hunnicutt and Richard Shipp - Both have played very poorly this year, but if you want a lottery ticket on either, have at it.

Centerfielders - Joseph Bevers, Tim Combs, Manuel Cardona, Guillauime Fornier - All are respectable fringe starters and/or fourth outfield guys, all can steal a lot of bases, and most play top quality defense in center.  Cardona is quite young; Combs is only 24.  All but Bevers are paid less than $1M this season.  All are available, since I really don't have playing time for all four even now, and will have less upon the return of Bo Bice.

ferrarafc@comcast.net.  Drop me a line - you'd be surprised how receptive I'll be to any even remotely reasonable offer.