[dgally]

Ace, not in the hole. With Davis down for the month and Velez not coming back till mid-month, the team is on shaky ground. Our offense has been inconsistent, putting up crooked numbers one day and leaving bats behind the next.

The whole month, we keep a close eye on trades, needing to dump Figueroa and Newman at the least, maybe Bonilla and Asenjo. Velez and Bryan are far too expensive for anyone to bite.

June starts off in Tijuana, where, after taking the first game, we drop the next two, losing the series, 1-2

We come back to Montreal for a 6 game homestand, first off against San Luis who are already cruising a cool 15 games above .500. In a surprise, we take 2 of 3, blanking them on the final game of the series. 2-1

Monterrey is our back half of the homestand and we continue fine form, winning the series, scoring 16 over 3 games. 2-1

A funky, two game away/home split comes next against Mississauga. The away game is a pitcher's duel won by Asenjo then a hitting bonanza in the second with Bryan going 4-5 with 4 RBI. 2-0

On the turn of the half-month, we hit black ice and start a heavy slide. It starts on a six game roadtrip with the first stop against tough Detroit who sit atop their division. We suffer a sweep despite Velez's return. 0-3

Next stop Carrefour who boast a similar record to Detroit. Another tough team and we only tough out one W. 1-2


At this time I'm deep in my calls. No one wants Fig. I don't blame em, he costs 14 and 23 million and after his injuries, is a #5. Newman is more desired however so I decide to package them. I'll get less but the most important thing is getting money off my books. I do a few AAA traders for 5 million in cash so I can sign my draft picks. 1-20 pot gives a lot of room for error but we pick alright at the back end of the draft, picking up the #190 prospect CF Zach Davis, #88 prospect SP Carlos Gurrola, #155 SP Lee English, and #189 1b Luis Martinez. Not great, not bad. Although we can't get our hands on anyone that close to majors ready.

A homestand comes back around against two more over .500 teams San Diego and Honolulu. Trounced as back-to-back sweeps push us down the WC race. Velez, pitching well with a 3.07 ERA is 0-4. We go 0-6 here.

But we do deal Fig and Newman. We only have to retain 20% of Fig's contract which is as low as I could go. We get a #4 SP in return who we have team control of and has room to grow into a #3 at min along with a OF who won't bring Newman production but should serve us for now.

Last series of the month we go to Guadalupe and, in a summation of our Off this year, win the first 11-8 and lose the next 0-1. Series split 1-1

Buck is back though in that 0-1 loss. We need him. 9-16 for the month keeps us in 3rd in the div but drop us 5 out of WC contention. Better than I hoped. I waffle on signing Bonilla who wants 4 yrs, 19mill. July should be a busy one.