Earlier in the week new Altoona owner Justin Zima said “pitching needs to be the vocal point moving forward” well it seems like Zima and Gagne were very serious about that belief…
In a surprise move Altoon ships Allstar Second baseman Scooter Gennett to the San Diego Surf Dogs for second baseman Eddie Rosario and 27 year old Ruben Alaniz. Gennett was the pride and joy of Altoona last year with a remarkable .339 batting average and a gold glove. Gennett was second in the MVP voting so this move really has struck the Altoona fan base by surprise
When asked about the deal that sent Allstar second baseman to San Diego Zima said “Ruben Alaniz was a guy Dallis and I knew we wanted at the top of our rotation. He has a ton of upside and is still developing his skills. Great stuff is in Alaniz’s tool belt he just needs to learn to devolope into a constant pitcher who can control his fastball a little better. All the guys in San Diego looked up to him and admired his work ethic so it’s extremely exciting to have a pitcher like that in Altoona. We felt that him combine with former top prospect Eddie Rosario (who showed some serious gap to gap power last year with 42 doubles) made this deal right for our team and the goals we have moving forward”
Gagne didn’t say much in relation to the deal but more so shared his view on the team and his perception of more deals to.come. “This is obviously a big move. Any time the runner up in MVP gets moved its going to make headlines. We feel like pitching was something that needs to be valued and we went out and acquired one of our favorite and most exciting pitchers in the league (Alaniz). I can assure you this isn’t the only move we make to bolster this pitching staff but we feel like its definitely a step in the right direction.”
This new ownership has proven to be proactive rather than reactive just like Zima said earlier this week. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the days to come as Zima and gagne both stressed they aren’t done improving there starting rotation. In the mean time we must Bon Voyage to Scooter Gennett and good luck in San Diego!
