The Portland Wild Things, fresh off their first KCS championship win, yesterday announced that they had signed top free agent right fielder Justin Vargas, a sure future Hall of Famer. While Vargas is certainly past his prime he remains a solid player who still has some of the best speed and base running in the game, a strong bat, and above average defense in right. In addition to that, he is durable and considered to have great knowledge of the game. This looks like a great addition for the mostly young and talented reigning champs. And given that 2 of the 3 players who gave them the most innings in right field last season (Ryan Rodgers and David Beane) retired while the third (Anthony Schaer) is himself a free agent, this was the exactly right player for the Wild Things to target.
Meanwhile, the reigning MGL East champs, the Brooklyn Aces, added a veteran arm to their rotation in Jose Mendoza. After Jose Hernandes and Joel Travino the Brooklyn rotation was pretty underwhelming and they also saw Marty O'Brien enter free agency at the end of the season. So getting the durable power pitching groundball specialist who is also considered a sparkplug seems like a move that makes great sense.
Over in the SJL, the Boston Berserkers, coming off a disappointing 5th place finish in spite of ending the season 4 games over .500, sign veteran third baseman Chris Tobin. Tobin, a 2-time MGL MVP, doesn't have the greatest reputation in terms of clubhouse influence (selfish) but since moving from shortstop to third base last year he is certainly providing much more value in the field while he continues to be a dangerous hitter. Although he is 35 years old he is considered durable and not showing many signs of slowing down, having put up a 5.7 WAR season in 1981, his best since his 6.6 WAR MVP season of 1977.