Reno pulls off 5-player trade with St. George

After getting stomped by the Roadrunners for four of the last five games, it looks like Jeff Leonard saw that it was time to make a move. And what better way than against a team he's been watching closely for this past week?

Reno sends DH Will Henderson (.250, 1 HR, 2RBIs) and a player to be named later to St. George for 1B Ryan Brown (.188, 0 HR, 2 RBI), Gary Harris (.300, 0HR, 0RBI, 4 SBs), and pitcher Danny Hall (0-0, 13.50 in 4.2 innings).

Brown brings some power hitting 4 home runs in just 15 games. He went on the inactive list pretty quickly so we really never got to see what he could do. Harris will bring some speed having stolen 11 bases in 75 games for the roadrunners last season. And Hall brings a badly needed left hander to the bullpen but he got shelled by Reno this past week so we'll see if he is the answer to the problems the Sox have been having with pitching.

On what might be a bad note, Harris is supposed to play second for the injured Carlos Madrid. Though he isn't on the inactive list yet, bringing in a guy to play his position when we already have 2B Shaughn Neal can't be a good sign. Neal has struggled (.188 in 16 at bats) so this move may mean they need more than a stop gap measure at second. We'll see how it plays out but for now, Kudos to Jeff Leonard for being willing to make a move before the first half gets totally out of hand.

Ben Deach made a good point in his last radio broadcast. Last year there were way to many moves. There ended up being over 40 players who wore the Sox uniform last year and with a situation like that, no one really gets comfortable...to include the fans who like to see familiar names. But, as Ben pointed out, they also brought in Senreiso, Kane Simmons, and Adam Amar who all got signed to major league contracts at the end of the season. But he said Jeff Leonard and Curt Jacey will probably work for some consistency in the line-up.

So the key is to make moves that will improve the team quickly while not destroying the chemistry. That can be hard with only an 88-game season split into 44-game halfs (think mini-seasons). Since each half results in a playoff spot they are critical. To apply it to MLB standards, we would be about 30 games into the season right now, or entering May. As you know, most teams start to get nervous if their team is not doing well by memorial day. Well, to use this analogy, memorial day is less than a week away for these teams so if you see a chance to improve the team, you have to take it. But you do have to have a little patience as well especially if a guy is well liked in the club house. We'll see if this adds the spark we need. I hope so.