His Work Done, John Willer Moves On

Lifetime Seattle Monarch John Willer and the team reached an agreement yesterday to allow Willer to seek a starting job with another team for the 2011 season.

"I know that my time here has passed," said the 35-year-old third baseman. "I recognize that it's Gene's time now. But, I still feel like I have a lot left in the tank and the Monarchs management has agreed to let me pursue the chance to find a starting job with another team."

Even though he was named to his fifth All-Star team this year, Willer had been supplanted at the hot corner by Eugene Alustiza in June. The 21-year-old Alustiza hit .318 with ten home runs and posted a .396 OBP in the regular season. Alustiza then followed that up with a .435 OBP in the Cecil Cup. Despite Alustiza's star turn, Willer more than held his own and ended the year with .284/.346/.390 marks. He had 18 doubles in just 282 at bats.

Willer was the Monarchs' seventh round pick in the inaugural expansion draft and has been the starting third baseman for the Monarchs franchise since its inception. He ranks among the leaders in SDMB OOTP history in many categories, including:

Batting average: .288 (25th)
Hits: 1,278 (12th)
RBI: 653 (14th)
Doubles: 331 (2nd)
Triples: 31 (18th)
Walks: 521 (12th)
Runs: 654 (16th)

Willer's best year was probably 2009, when he hit .324/.414/.494 and helped lead the Monarchs to their first championship. In fact, Willer was rarely to blame for the Monarchs' previous failures, as his career stats for the Cecil Cups are .366/.409/.646. He was especially remarkable in the Monarchs' seven-game loss to South Bay in 2006 when he hit over .400 with four home runs in the series, posting a stunning 1.523 OPS.

"John Willer has been one of the pillars of our franchise. He's the last remaining player who started in Opening Day 2002 for the Monarchs. He asked us to let him go to pursue a chance to play again. But, we will always have a door open to John if he ever wants to come back," said Owner/GM Mack Shultz. "To show our respect, we've agreed to pay John his full salary for the 2012 season, $8 million."

Sources within the Monarchs organization have indicated that they are going to keep the manager position open, to possibly be filled by Willer should he retire. Even if Willer is not chosen, the Monarchs are expected to look within their own organization or at former players to fill the head job. Apparently, interim manager Larry Hockett damaged his chances of keeping the top job when he termed the front office, "Lollygaggers."