Arhart and Hill Traded to York Revolution

On Saturday, Josh Arhart and Jamar Hill were traded to the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League. It is unclear what they were traded for. As for the Wilver Perez trade, there was no official press release from the Victoria Seals or the York Revolution and no news reports on the web. My guess is that they were traded for cash and "future considerations". It seems likely that the players were loaned to the York Revolution in return for cash. The future considerations probably means that York won't sign the players after the season is over and they will all be eligible to re-sign with the Seals (most GBL players are only signed to one-year contracts).

This type of trade has been common in the last month. The Seals have earned a fair amount of cash and the players have been traded to teams that are headed to the playoffs, which gives them potential exposure to major-league scouts. Provided this happens late enough in the season, there isn't a huge downside to the hometown fans. However, it wasn't exactly fun to watch Sergio Pedroza pound the Victoria pitching staff on the last weekend of the season at RAP.

In the last month, the Seals have loaned Roberto Sotolongo, Josh Arhart and Jamar Hill to the York Revolution. Also, Wilver Perez, Sergio Pedroza and Isaac Hess have been loaned to the Calgary Vipers. That's six of their best players -- let's hope these guys all return to Victoria next year or impress a scout enough to be signed by a MLB organization.

Seal Blubber Bits

• The Seals wrap up their inaugural season on Monday with a game against the Long Beach Armada at 7 PM. You can listen to the game at victoriaseals.ca. The team is limping to the finish line after seeing six of its best players traded away. The Seals sport a 32-49 record (.395 winning percentage) going into their final game of 2009.


• Ex-Seal Austin Bibens-Dirkx continues to be lights-out for the Peoria Chiefs of the Midwest League. On Saturday night, Bibens-Dirkx raised his record to 7-1 and led the Chiefs to an 11-1 rout of the Cedar Rapids Kernels. He lowered his season ERA to 1.66 by pitching 6 2/3 innings of excellent baseball, giving up one earned run on only five hits. He struck out six and did not walk a batter in posting his sixth straight quality start. The Chiefs, who clinched a playoff berth on Sunday, will likely start Bibens-Dirkx in either game 1 or 2 of the opening round of the Midwest League playoffs.


• The GBL would like to award an expansion franchise for 2010 to the city of Kamloops, but it is unclear if an appropriate ownership group can be located. Other potential Canadian expansion markets include Prince George, Nanaimo, Surrey, Abbotsford and Saskatoon.