Hasegawa lands in H'ville

H'ville, Tn (AP) - A week after trading former MVP Tommy Green to Madison, Hendersonville's Owner/GM Travis Hays completes a 2nd deal to bring in 3B Masanobu Hasegawa who finished 3rd in the TL MVP race this past year.

"Well it was no secret that 3B was a HUGE weakness for us last season," comment Hays to local media.  "We had to address the weakness somehow and Greenville is one of the few teams in the league that had quality depth at the position."

Hasegawa

Age: 27
Salary: $3.5M through 2016
Avg: .313
HR: 22
RBI: 130 (2nd in TL)
2B: 58 (1st in TL)
VORP: 63.9 (3rd in TL)


Hasegawa had a career year last year in Greenville as he lead the team into the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.  At 27 he is entering his "prime" and has a VERY team friendly contract at $3.5M over the next 4 years.  He is already extremely popular with the local fan base and has brought a very loyal Japanese fan base with him to H'ville.  Hasewaga is one of the brightest guys in the game today.  His defense is a MAJOR upgrade over last years platoon.

Also coming over in the deal was CF prospect Luis Rodríguez who adds depth to a very talented and crowed OF.  Luis played at all 3 minor league levels last year and finished with a .308 avg, 24 2Bs, 17 HRs, 74 RBIs and 24 SBs.  He will get a shot in to win a roster spot in ST, but most likely will start season in AAA.

"Lighting Rod"

Age: 25
Spec Rank: 53rd
Avg: good contact hitter, should hit .290+
Power: no real pop, 10-15 HRs is a great year
Speed: lighting speed, should get 40 a year
Glove: great glove, can play all 3 OF pos
Arm: has a cannon!


Hays told reporters, "We are pretty high on this kid.  He's been giving the nickname 'Lighting Rod' due to his speed.  The kid can run, but that is just one of his weapons.  He has a canon in the OF can play all 3 spots and should be a great contact and gap hitter."

Departing H'ville in the trade is a trio of youn pitchers.  This time it's SP Mal "Shelled" Windham, SP Ricardo "Buzz" Maldonado, MR Jorge Valentín.

"Windham was hard to let go over," Hays said at the press conference.  "We traded for Windham after a 4-23 season.  There was a reason for that, we think this kid can be special.  He has nasty stuff, he's left handed and he throws four very good pitches.  Add in that he's only 25 and signed for under $800k for next 3 years...yea it was hard to trade him!"

Maldonald was the Hitmen's only true SP spec while Valentin was the 1st call up MR if anyone got hurt or struggled.

Final trade looks like this....

Gets:

SP Mal "Shelled" Windham
SP Ricardo "Buzz" Maldonado
MR Jorge Valentín

Gets:

3B Masanobu Hasegawa
CF Luis Rodríguez.




Off-Season PR2