At 10:18p, EDT, Bomber GM Gary Altman approached the podium and started the press conference annoucing the acquisition of Francisco Alfonso from Seattle for LF prospect Noel Patton.
The South Carolina offense has struggled a bit this season, and Alfonso should be an immediate shot in the arm for the Bombers. Altman along with Manager Tom Ritchie both agreed that Alfonso will be inserted into the cleanup spot in the batting order and be inserted into RF, a spot that he hasn't been asked to play in the ABL, as he primarily DH'ed for Seattle.
In moving Patton, Altman was a little reluctant to move, but ultimately, getting a player of Alfonso's caliber, who has shown he's ABL ready versus a prospect was the right move for the franchise at this point in time. Another factor that was overcome was the 14 year age difference between the two.
Some questions asked of Ritchie was what will be the roles that Brad Quinn and Robert O'Neill now have with the team. Ritchies response was that these things often work themselves out. Altman chimed in saying that both players, for now, will remain with the parent club and Angelo Casas would be sent to the Bronx (AAA) to make room for Alfonso.
When asked if Alfonso would be offered an extension, as he'll be a free agent at the end of the season, Altman said that there he'd open up contract discussions with Alfonso shortly, and would like Alfonso to acquaint himself with all that South Carolina has to offer.
Altman was asked if this now makes the Bombers contenders for the Division. "Right now our goal is to get to 500 as quickly as possible (20-25 to date). We're only 6 games behind Maple who has suffered through some injuries themselves. But the road gets tougher from here as they get one of their better pitchers back in a week or two. But we feel that our pitching is maturing sooner than we thought, and in the last 3 weeks have brought up Jeremy Rogers (1-1, 2.37 ERA) and Dave Nicholson (one abbreviated start due to weather). We also have Cecil Gibbons, our 21 year old phenom honing his skills and John Martin at AAA that are just a phone call away if we can remain close. We don't have to make another trade to get better. We're aligned just where we thought we should be, and all we need now are the fans to come out and make our ballpark a place where other teams dread playing.
Alfonso, on the all time lists is currently sitting in 3rd place on the ABL HR list (60), and 3rd in RBI's (190).
In other moves, Michael Green was activated from the 14 day DL and demoted to AAA.
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