Highland, Wilmington Swap Miscellaneous Parts

In a move hailed by many as "nothing special," the Wilmington Atlantics have dispatched infielder Art Whitaker to Highland for a second round draft pick (via Maui) an 8th round pick, plus AA outfield prospect Juan Blanco.

While neither team will save its failing season with this move, fans of both are cautiously optimistic that their teams will play .500 ball sometime in the next 10 seasons.

Seattle Parts with Beloved Veterans and Bolsters Rival

"It's a really, really, really tough day for us here," said a glum-faced Mack Shultz. "It's hard to trade two players who are such an integral part of what we do here in Seattle, what we've done. It's the right thing to do, both for us and for them, but it's just hard."

Seattle traded starting pitcher Enrico "Whistler" Hernandez and shortstop Dewey Wilson to Brick in exchange for three draft picks and three prospects.

Hernandez has been one of the greatest starting pitchers in league history, winning 227 games over 13 years for Seattle. He also may be in the midst of his greatest season ever, going 16-2 with a 3.07 ERA this year. Wilson has been Seattle's starting shortstop for most of the last seven years, before being displaced in a trade earlier this year with Brick.

"I remember trading 13 years ago for a first-round pick in the hopes that we would have a chance to land Whistler," said Shultz. "He was a tremendous pitcher, even then. Luckily he fell to us, moved quickly through the minors, and everyone knows the rest of the story." A quick glance at the league career leaderboards establishes Hernandez's spot in history. He ranks sixth all time in wins, second in winning percentage, fourth in shutouts, and tenth in strikeouts.

Meanwhile, Wilson has hit .300 over his eight-year career while Seattle's infield defense through their recent title runs.

In return for the two stars, Seattle received Brick's first, third, and fourth round picks next year; shortstop Jesus Souza (who was traded from Seattle to Brick earlier this year); A-ball outfielder Michael Erwin; and rookie-league reliever Francisco Flores.

EDITED TO ADD: Seattle also sent $7 million in small unmarked bills to the Brick's owner's Swiss bank account. Seems totally above board.

Highland-Seattle Trade

"I don't like seeing good players sitting in AAA when they could be playing in the majors," said Seattle's owner/GM Mack Shultz when explaining the trade with Highland. "It's not fair to the guys who have worked hard to put themselves in a position to live their dream. If I can't find a spot for them here, then I'll find a spot somewhere else."

And with that, Seattle sent three players to Highland, along with an eighth-round draft pick, for Highland's first-round pick in next year's draft.

The brightest prospect among the three players is third baseman Carter Bailey, 24 years old. Bailey is hitting .371 this year for AAA Tacoma, after hitting .389 last season in AAA, and leads all AAA hitters in WAR. This year, Bailey has been learning to play shortstop, in an effort to increase his versatility.

Highland also added corner outfielder Flint Francis, who came up to the majors after a series of injuries to the Monarchs and hit .346 while making 21 starts. Francis won last year's MVP award in AAA. With the improved health of Seattle's starting outfielders, Francis was likely headed back to AAA, where he's hit over .300 for the last five years.

Finally, reliever Ruben Mota changes addresses. Mota has gone 8-2 with a sparkling 1.86 ERA this year for AAA Tacoma. He's also started in the past, and perhaps could slide between both roles for Highland, especially if he is able to polish off his curveball as an effective third pitch.

All three players are expected to move quickly to Highland's major league roster.

Highland - Maui Trade

Fresh off injuries to two key cogs in the system, the Maui Mashers announced the following trade with the Highland Admirals.

SP Joseph Brown and OF Juan Arroyo will travel across the Pacific to join the Maui squad, while Maui will send to Highland AAA SP Ron Grimes, AA OF Dwight Potts, and Maui's 2nd round pick in next year's amateur draft.

Highlands players for trade

Pitchers

SP J. Brown , willing to play some salary for last year.
MR J. Lopez, young and good
MR K.S. Kim, vet reliever
CL J. Gonzalez, good MR/set up

Fielders
3B Max Price,  great DH/ back up 3B
OF L. Hernandez, good hitter with pop
OF J. Arroyo, good fielder/ good pop

 If not listed just ask cause the worse I can say is NO lol

July I Sim Done

Game Date:  Jul 16 2030

Standings:
Adams:  Brick over Brooklyn by six.
Zotti: Seattle up by twenty.
Signorino: Philadelphia is seven games ahead of Maui
Wild Card: Maui is four games ahead of Appalachian

Awards & Accomplishments:
Appalachian LF Martin Perez named Player of the Week (7/8, 3rd career award)
Highland RF Lorenzo Hernandez named Player of the Week (7/15)
Philadelphia SP Will Hickford, in only his second start after being traded, throws the first no-hitter in the league in almost three seasons vs. Mepkin Abbey (7/10)

Significant Injuries:
Brick SP Bruno Talamantez has a torn labrum and will be collecting his $30m salary while on the bench for 12 months.
Maui CF Jesus Barcelo has an oblique strain that wll cost him 8-9 weeks.
Appalachian SS Martin Costa torn his thumb ligament and will miss four weeks.
Maui SP Sean Henry is done for the year with a torn flexor tendon.  He should be ready in time for spring training.

Milestones:
Jesus Flores (Atlanta) reached 1000 runs scored.

Batting Line of the Sim:
Appalachian's Ed Weber went 4-5 with 2 HR, 2 runs scored and 5 RBI vs. Houston (7/1)

Pitching Line of the Sim:
Philadelphia's Will Hickford pitched a no-hitter, walking two and striking out twelve vs. Mepkin Abbey (7/10)

Answer to Last Week's Question:
Who are the only pitchers to have thrown more than one no-hitter in the same regular season?

There were five of them, but only four were guessed.
Michael came up with Johnny Vander Meer (the first one to do it, and he did it back-to-back) in 1938.
He also came up with Max Scherzer, who did it in 2015
Thomas came up with Virgil Trucks who did it in 1952, despite going 5-19 on the season.
He also mentioned Nolan Ryan, who tossed a pair in 1973

The one that no one came up with was Allie Reynolds, who did it for the Yankees in 1951.

(And, of course, there is Roy Halladay, who threw two no-hitters [including a perfect game] in 2010, but that does not count because one of them were in the post-season.)

This Week's Question:
Under what circumstances can a pitcher be credited with a shutout but not receive credit for a perfect  complete game, and who was the last pitcher to do it?

(Hint:  I watched that game when it happened.)

Next sim:  Next Wednesday.  The next sim will only go to Jul 30, to give us an additional week before the trading deadline.

Brick, Wilmington Announce Trade

Brick Barracudas have traded their 8^th round selection in the 2031 amateur draft to the Wilmington Atlantics for shortstop Juan Moran, currently with Wilmington's rookie-league affiliate in Glendale.

Moran could not be reached for comment as he hurriedly packed up his cramped apartment.

Brick GM Fred Goldfarb was reportedly ecstatic at having pulled off this trade, calling Moran “our most important acquisition in the past ten years.” The Atlantics arranged a press conference of their own. Speaking in front of a two hundred foot long banner inscribed “Mission Accomplished!!!!”, Kerner touted his many accomplishments since taking over two months ago, such as the time he acquired an 8^th round draft pick in a trade, and announced plans to build a wall completely around the outfield to keep unauthorized relief pitchers from entering the field of play without permission.

Moran's shocked teenaged teammates quickly took to social media to voice their disapproval. Left fielder Victor Samuels tweeted “OMG they tradd Moran ths team sux #traddme #yolo”. Center Fielder Bartolo Rosa, posting a 15 paragraph rant on his official facebook account, called for a boycott of Wilmington's rookie league affiliate and all of its advertisers. As of press time, Rosa's post had garnered 4 “likes”, two “sad faces” and one “angry face.”

Kerner responded by pointing out that the club had arranged to have therapy dogs on hand to console the grieving Glendale players in a special “safe space” hastily set up behind the left field bullpen. Several players were rumored to have contacted nearby college administrators to report having been “triggered” by the event, despite the fact that none of the players actually attends college.

Earlier in the day, Glendale shortstop Walt Cross tweeted “good, more pt for me lol #dontletthedoorhityou” but later deleted the tweet, claiming his account had been hacked and that any suggestions that he was happy to see a fellow shortstop leave town were simply “fake news.”