The Monarch faithful are dancing in the streets after the organization pulled the trigger on a bevy of moves to shake up the listless, sinking franchise.  Sporting a soft 25-30 record 55 games into the season, GM Greg Wickham shocked Kansas City fans by boldly refusing to throw in the towel and deciding the future is now.  
Swinging separate deals for superstar pitcher Mike "House of Pain" Rotch and the best third baseman in baseball, Gustavo Sanchez, both the Monarch rotation and lineup received a badly needed jolt of energy.  "We needed to get Herman some help in the rotation, that's for sure.  And we're just not scoring runs.  Too many swings and misses.  Sanchez should help everone in the lineup, and Godfrey-Hayakawa-Sanchez is a helluva run for any pitcher to get through," Wickham said.
The transformation didn't stop there, however.  Top prospects Frank Hanson and William Smith were called up the same day as the trade.  The speedster Hanson takes over at short and is hitting leadoff, while 19-year-old Smith takes over behind the plate.  "They're young, especially Smith, but I think they're ready to contribute," Wickham said.
The hometown was swarming with ticket purchases when the new-look Monarchs finished off their most recent roadtrip with a three-game sweep of mighy Caledonia. 43,000 fans each night, unfortunately, were forced to realize the team is still young and finding its way after two losses at Arthur Bryant Field to Chicago.  Nevertheless, it looks to be an exciting summer in KC.

Are the Seattle Blackbirds throwing in the towel? The recent trade of promising young starting pitcher Mike Rotch, and the fact that they are shopping two of their better hitters would seem to indicate exactly that. When reached for comment, the Blackbirds GM was non-commital and somewhat evasive. "We never give up here in Seattle, and don't plan on it now." "What we are doing is looking at getting some younger players on the team. When we moved Mike, we fully expected that Bryan Hepner would step up as our #2 starter, but unfortunately for Bryan and our team, he suffered a season ending injury last week and more or less put us in a tight spot. We have some promising young prospects in the minors who we expect will contribute starting next year, and now we like to add a few more.

It remains to be seen how the rest of the season plays out with the loss of Hepner, but other than Taddese Fenuku, the starting rotation is thin. If the Blackbirds can make a few trades for some young arms, then this could well be a team toreckon with in the not to distant future. When you look at prospects like 1B Alexis Wilson, LF Clarence Gentry, C Josh May, and a few others you have to think that Seattle's future looks bright.