London, Shackamaxon announce trade

LONDON -- The London Dragons continued their drive for the playoffs, trading another blue-chip prospect in Single-A closer Leonard Christopher for another player ready to contribute right now. It's hard to blame the Dragons for going 'all-in' - flags fly forever, as they say. And the Dragons have a solid team with a (reasonably) young core; if everything breaks right they could have a two- or three-year window. But there is no denying the Dragons are taking a high-risk, high-reward approach in selling off their future to try and win now.

The deal sends Christopher and fellow Marietta Mammoths team-mate, second baseman Montrel Luttazi, to the Lenapes. In return the Dragons get Bartolo Olivarez and a 5th round draft pick. Olivarez is a veteran right-hander that can be very effective when he's able to limit the number of free passes he gives batters. According to sources, Olivarez is likely to replace Victor Rivera in the rotation. Rivera, the promising rookie from the Dominican Republic, has shown flashes of brilliance but has been struggling of late, and management seems reluctant to force him to work through his issues in the midst of a pennant race pressure cooker.

Christopher was the Dragon's 1st-round draft pick last year and the 7th pick overall. A hard-throwing righty with excellent movement and command, the Marietta Mammoths closer has picked up 15 saves this year already despite missing seven weeks to back spasms. He's struggled a bit since coming off the DL, giving up 5 earned runs in his last three outings (two blown saves and a loss), yet for the season he's still striking out more than a batter per inning with a 60% ground ball rate. Scouts have long touted Christopher as a future shut-down closer, although he'll need to add a second pitch to go along with his fastball.

Luttazi, a 17th round draft pick two years ago, is a 21yr old mid-tier prospect that originally caught attention for his glove more than his bat. He has been a pleasant surprise so far this year, hitting over .300 across Single- and Double-AA, although a somewhat low BB% (5%) and high K% (19% in an admittedly small Double-A sample) suggests points of concern - points that could be alleviated by his above-average glove.

"Giving up Christopher is disappointing; we think he has a very very promising future. But our focus now is on winning now", said Urista. The Dragons have made a plethora of trades in the last few weeks to bolster the team's pitching and defense, and Urista noted that the added depth gave them more options as the season moves into the last third of the season. "We have six quality starters for a five-man rotation. Yes, having to figure out who gets moved to the bullpen is a problem, but as far as problems go, it's a nice one to have".