On Monday morning the Slammers added their second closer to the roster. Many had predicted that the owner would fill the need in the outfield or add another front line starter, but after there was a run on closers Springfield's hand was forced in the second round.

"We were looking for an outfielder in the second round, but not having a third round pick forced us to rethink our plan a bit. A player of Derrick's caliber would not be available in the fourth round, we are excited to have a great tandem of closers to lead us to the title this year."

Here is a current look at the Slammers roster.
C-
1B- Ryan Howard
2B- Alfonso Soriano
SS- Jhonny Perralta
3B- Aramis Ramirez
OF- Coco Crisp
OF- Juan Pierre
OF- Hideki Matsui
OF-
UTIL- Tadahito Iguchi

SP- Barry Zito
SP- Tim Hudson
SP- Jeremy Bonderman
SP- Kris Benson
SP- Bruce Chen
RP- Billy Wagner
RP- Derrick Turnbow

Newest Slammers report to Springfield

All 4 of the newly acquired Springfield Slammers made it to Springfield early this morning for a press conference. Juan Pierre expressed happiness on his "Escape" from Upper Peninsula. Pierre said, "With Broskey in charge we never even knew what our team name was, and could never get comfortable knowing how often he wheels and deals, it will be nice to play for a contender in the West this year, hopefully I can lead this team to it's first playoff birth."

The harshest comments came from veteran Tim Hudson however, "I can't wait to suit up against the Redbirds! They promised me they'd be a contender last year and Doyel lead us right to the bottom of the division. I'm glad to get out of that organization and I am looking forward to the opportunity to shove it down his throat!"

Zito, as eccentric as usual seemed unaware he had even been traded, when reminded he responded, "That's cool, I guess...I need to go paint my fingernails, later."

Hideki Matsui waved and smiled showing off his new uniform, but his translator was not in town yet so we are not really sure what he said.

The 2006 season is shaping up to be a great one in Springfield.

Welcoming the newest Slammers

Springfield's new lineup

C- Unfilled
1B- Ryan Howard
2B- Alfonso Soriano
SS- Jhonny Perralta
3B- Aramis Ramirez
OF- Hideki Matsui
OF- Juan Pierre
OF- Coco Crisp
OF- Unfilled
UTIL- Tadahito Iguchi

SP- Barry Zito
SP- Tim Hudson
SP- Jeremy Bonderman
SP- Kris Benson
SP- Bruce Chen
RP- Unfilled

Slammers change course...

Late breaking news out of Springfield. Slammers owner John Liehr surprised the league and fans by totally revamping their team. They traded away franchise players Adam Dunn, Paul Konerko and Andruw Jones while also letting go of Adam Eaton and Michael Cuddyer. In return the Slammers acquired Hideki Matsui, speedster Juan Pierre and frontline starters Tim Hudson and Barry Zito.

When asked why the sudden change in plans Liehr explained that he simply wanted to provide a balanced team on the field this year. Despite trading away 131 homeruns, 300+ runs and 325+ RBI's from last year Liehr believes that the returning core of Ryan Howard, Alfonso Soriano, Jhonny Perralta, Aramis Ramirez, Coco Crisp and Tadahito Iguchi coupled with the additions of Matsui and Pierre will provide a still explosive offense with a better average and more speed. And adding veteran pitchers Zito and Hudson should take some of the load off of young Jeremy Bonderman.