The addition of 4 new franchises to the Coastal Strat League for 2002 made this off season an interesting one. Besides having to prepare for the 2002 player draft, teams had to leave unprotected the bulk of their 40 man rosters to expansion. As the dust settles after the draft, it appears that the Hurricanes have come out in relatively good shape. Gulf Coast lost Tony Clark, John Smoltz, Todd Ritchie, Shawn Estes, and Brian Jordan, but counts itself lucky to have retained the likes of Neifi Perez, Dustin Hermanson and Woody Williams.
Trades also played a big part as to who was lost in expansion, as the team made 3 large deals prior to the draft. In those trades, Armando Benitez, Jose Vidro, A.J. Burnett, Eric Milton, and Mike Remlinger were exchanged for Bret Boone, Larry Walker, John Rocker and Scott Elarton. After the draft, the Hurricanes also pulled off another blockbuster trade, sending fan favorite Mike Piazza to Albuquerque in exchange for Troy Glaus and Jason Schmidt. It's hoped that the trades are pointing the team in the right direction for 2002...a return to the playoffs, which they missed for the 1st time ever in 2001. |
