MUMBAI, India: They say you should never do deals with your divisional rivals. The Melbourne Meteors and Mumbai Cobras just threw that advice out the window, closing on a six-player blockbuster. Melbourne sent fan favorite right fielder Bhuvancandra Dwijen and setup reliever Irmazighen Kitur to the Cobras, as well as a fifth-round pick in next year's draft. In return, they received the one thing everyone has been saying they needed: starting pitching. Mumbai shipped SPs Andy Stone and Abdeljilil Abedi to Melbourne, as well as a seeming replacement OF, Tiago Celestino, and outfield prospect Hiroya Ichikawa.
This deal will take a while to sort out, but while the dust is still settling, here's what's clear. First: This trade absolutely had to be made for Melbourne. They needed starting pitching, and boy did they get it. But the question will be, was the price too high? Dwijen was clearly the best outfielder in a loaded outfield, but Melbourne seems to have enough talent to cover it. Melbourne's outfield is actually in some doubt, though. Botol Gamarra seems to have a starting job secured, but there are rumors that Melbourne is trying to trade Stéfane Salomon. Extension talks have also reportedly stalled with Gong Jiang. Celestino will certainly have at least a backup role, but the jobs of him, Salomon, Jiang, Percy Oskam, and Ze-min Tsao seem to be up in the air.
Melbourne's pitching now looks quite formidable. Their rotation features Stone, Abedi, returning ace Kvana Datar, and new SP Janardan Shreerang, who literally stepped off a plane from Santo Domingo less than a week ago. Their bullpen will suffer a little bit from the loss of Kitur, but they seem to have more than enough to cover it. Reported trade talks for closer Magtanggol Baladad have not emerged, so, for now, he looks like the closer. Melbourne also has Bereket Ainran, Sergio Castillo, Himayati Ramkumar, Manny Juárez, and Bob Pérez. Of those 5, only Pérez was on their Opening Day roster last year.
It seemed sort of inexplicable why Melbourne had been trading for so many relievers recently, but it now seems like they had planned to trade Kitur all along. Their future seems up in the air now, but it seems like they now have the potential to challenge the Rome Generals for the IBL crown. Of course, it's also possible that Dwijen hits 4 home runs in the divisional series and Melbourne is knocked out early. But as the dust settles around Melbourne, we know that we can look forward to an entertaining playoffs.
Meteoric Bob
Meteoric Bob is sort of shocked right now. He is pinching himself to make sure this really happened.
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