[mikev]

Crusaders aquire Manhattan backstop

A breaking story just coming across the wire is reporting that the California Crusaders have agreed to a trade with the Manhattan Myst that would send catcher Pat Bennett along with several minor leaguers in exchange for budding young star Jack Bryant

Bryant, 26, burst onto the GUBA scene in 2007 as a 24-year old, hitting nearly .300 with an OBP of .351. He showed some regression in the 2008 season, but has come on strong in 2009 and looks to be breaking the sophomore slump.

"We're going to bring him along and let him play alongside Carlos (Becerra, Crusaders starting catcher) for now," said GM Mike Voelker. "Pat was a great guy and will get the opportunity to play a lot more in Manhattan than he was here, we really wish him the best. He was a class act, and never caused any issues in the clubhouse. However, the opportunity to pick up Jack came around, and I asked Pat if he was okay being included in the possible deal, which he was. I really think everybody gets what they're looking for here."

The minor leaguers California sends are both Triple-A players. Luis Colon is a 24 year old third baseman in his first year with Oakland, currently hitting .313. He's a pretty slick fielder, but some scouts question whether he'll make the jump to the bigs well enough to start. With his glove, he'll likely always find himself a spot towards the end of the bench.

The centerpiece of the package was Norberto Juarez, who was a relatively obscure lefty who repeated Single-A before making the jump straight to Triple-A and being relatively dominant. He's probably got 2 more years before he's ready for the majors, but he's got a good chance at sticking into the middle of the Manhattan rotation when he does make the move. Ranked as the #4 pitching prospect in a California farm that's fairly deep with pitching, the Crusaders were okay letting him go.

When asked about Juarez, Voelker said "We felt that young starting pitching was, and still is, an organizational strength, and we were able to make Berto the primary piece of a deal that we think will upgrade us for the future as well as for the present. He's definitely on the right track, but we feel that Arturo, Ben, Blackley, and the guys we have on the major league club now are going to keep us real competive for a long time."