| A Serious Case of the Blues 
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| (CBL Newswire) - by Bull Tallis of the Charlottetown Examiner |
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Poised at earning the best record in franchise history since their first season, Charlottetown is rapidly becoming relevant again. What's more, the team is looking to remain in contention for a long time. "We don't intend to repeat past mistakes," said team owner and general manager, John Thronberg. He was referring to 2006 - when Charlottetown surprised the league by sneaking past an aging Blackwater and injury-prone Fredericton to earn their second division title. "We weren't ready to contend that year... we got lucky and snuck in but we mortgaged a bit of our future in doing so and that prevented us from being able to stay in contention. This year we're doing things differently."
Not that Thronberg isn't afraid to deal away talented youngsters - he sent away catcher of the future Brent Ponson along with draft picks to acquire closer extraordinaire Asmar Coleburn, setup man Otto Coplen and new ace Bill Claire. But this trade is meant to help the team both now and in the future. Coleburn and Claire are both expected to be with the team for several years. Coplen has performed well enough to displace two setup men in Trae Fragale and Rance Spillner who were sent to Saskatoon along with Brian Beman for a 3rd base prospect and draft picks. "In the Saskatoon deal, we saw the opportunity to get some value in return for three good men... but good men who are aging and losing effectiveness. Trae is a helluva pitcher but he's getting up there and we've seen a decline in his numbers every year he's been with the club."
Analysts who have been close to the team claim that Thronberg has more moves in him yet. 3rd baseman/DH Frank Duckworth has been linked to Quebec and Moose Jaw reliever and former Charlottetown closer Derrell Hoke has been rumoured to be heading back to Charlottetown. Thronberg refuses to discuss rumours: "Well, if I were to trade Ducky, I'd need to been blown away... and would probably have to get back another run producer in either that deal or another. I will say that we're looking for someone, either on this team or acquired in trade, to lead off - Israel's probably better suited to bat 2nd - and I'd like either another stronger reliever or starter to take the pressure off the rest of the crew. We might be able to acquire our needs internally. We're looking for some guys to play up to the their career numbers, Koenig, Reinecke, Alten and Brock are all disappointing right now, and looking for some other guys, like Javier and Douglas, to take the next step. If these guys step up we won't need to do anything. If not, well, we'll see at the trading deadline."
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