Outlaws Span the Auction

The Flagstaff Outlaws have been busy in the BDBL Free Agent Auction, but they didn’t manage to break through and land anyone until this evening, when they were informed that they were able to sign outfielder Denard Span for 5M.

“During the rebuilding, we created some holes and one of those was in left field,” Outlaws GM Greg Newgard said from the team’s press room podium. “Tonight, we were able to fill that hole by adding Denard Span.

“We don’t want to diminish what we think Span can bring to us, but we were really looking at the opening in left as a one-year stop gap, so it made sense to extend the longest one-year offer and see if anyone would outbid us.”

With Span in left, the Outlaws now have a full OF and will look to add a corner OF for the bench in the draft. The Outlaws still have over $24M free for about nine players.

“We have some obvious holes,” Newgard stated. “We have to add another starter, a third-basemen, a bench, and a few relievers.”

When asked who specifically they’d be targeting in the second half of the auction, Newgard wouldn’t tip his hand. “There are 25 targets out there. Many of those don’t make sense, but a few do. We’ll be strategic with the bids and try to bring home a few players that can help us.

When asked how come they haven’t been able to use their auction tiebreaker more often, Newgard shrugged. “There have been a few guys that have gone by that we hoped to get with that 5M option, but instead re-signed with their former teams. or teams made longer term commitments. During a rebuild, we don’t want to strap ourselves with bad contracts moving forward, so that’s where the strategy comes in.”