Altoona GM’s Dallis Gagne and Justin Zima have certainly been busy since acquiring the job at the start of the season. A few months ago we asked GM Justin Zima what his vision for the team was and he simply said “We need to be Proactive not Reactive, if we see a problem that can be fixed then we’ll fix it.” Well those words certainly seem true to the young Altoona General Manager. This past week Altoona had made a plethora of moves that they feel will keep them competitors this year but also solidify their team for the future, no move bigger than the acquisition on 23 year old right handed pitcher Mike Piper.
We had the pleasure of catching up with both GM’s Zima and Gagne. We asked Zima what type of negotiations went behind the scenes and what type of talent he thinks Altoona acquired.
“Well behind the scenes our organization and the wickedly dedicated front office of Altoona worked ALL DAY to get this deal done. After many headaches and head scratchers we decided as an organization to not just walk away but rather grab a hand full of Advil and make this deal work. We gave up a guy we really really loved and valued in Altoona in order to get the pieces to make this deal possible. (1B Freddie Freeman) We sat down with Freedie and thanked him for his years of service and told him we haven’t seen talent like him in quite some time but unfortunately if we are thinking about our future it was time to move on. As for Mike Piper, Our value for a 23 year old with the stuff and minor league success he has is evident in the deal and the players we gave up to get him. Freeman was an amazing player! He worked harder than anyone but this guy has the talent and ability to get anyone out. He’s tough, dedicated, and fierce and we are proud to have him in our Curve family.”
Gagne as always was short and sweet. “Yeah, Justin and I took a trip to go see Piper pitch before deciding he was a guy who fits with Altoona. The ball sizzled and danced when he threw it and he hit the corners. He has the stuff to be the ace of our Alroona Curve team for years to come and that’s certainly valuable! GO CURVE baseball!”
Altoona has been fun to watch this season, the team finds themselves in the wildcard hunt and their record seems to be improved heavily from last year. This new management has said they wanted to be proactive not reactive and from where I stand they’ve done exactly that! For more Curve news you can subscribe to our weekly podcast…. There is certainly a lot to talk about after this week.
