Hickory-Seattle Finally Consummate Second Half of Trade

Some time in the early 1990s, Hickory and Seattle agreed on a trade that sent superstar David Kerry to Hickory in exchange for a gaggle of prospects. At the time, it was rumored that the greatest player in Monarchs' history, Greg Mudge, would be returning to Seattle in a second, linked deal.

Today, Seattle Owner/GM Mack Shultz proudly announced the return of Mudge, to a wildly cheering standing-room-only crowd at the Monarchs' home stadium. Mudge, who hit 330 of his 352 home runs in a Seattle uniform, said he was excited to be returning home. Mudge proclaimed, "I may have been born in Minnesota, but my true home is Seattle."

In addition to being second on the league's all-time home run list, Mudge is the career leader in RBI, 2nd in total bases, 4th in hits, 6th in runs scored, 7th in at bats, 9th in games played, 11th in doubles, 12th in OPS, and third in strikeouts. "Greg is a true legend, and we're thrilled to have him back," gushed Shultz.

In the first half of the deal, the Monarchs traded Kerry and $8 million in cash to Hickory in exchanged for reliever Nicolas Vargas, AAA infielder Miguel Salazar, A-ball reliever Fei-hsien Bao, and Hickory's first round pick in the 2015 amateur draft. The first round pick was later revoked when it became known that sly Hickory GM Frank Ferrara had traded his pick away twice. Now, in the second half of the deal, Seattle sent outfielder Lonnie Machen to Hickory for Mudge, $10.5M in cash, and Hickory's 1st and 4th round picks in the 2016 draft.

The most enthusiastic person about the trade was Seattle's Director of Finances, Scrooge McDuck. The first part of the deal was made on December 1, with the concluding half on March 16. In exchange for effectively lending Hickory $8 million, Seattle gained $2.5 in interest. "Even by my standards, a 31% return in three and a half months is pretty good," explained McDuck.