The Gijon-based club EL LLANO, fourth in the 2008 Division de Honor, announced a few roster transactions on its website. Pitchers Fidel Mane and Carlos Fente will leave the club. Mane had a 3-4 record with an ERA of 2.30 in twelve games (eight starts) last season with 58 strikeouts (nine walks) in 66 2/3 innings. He will join SAN INAZIO BILBAO during the upcoming campaign. The new club of Fente is based in Catalonia, but which one isn’t known yet. He had a 2-1 record with an ERA of 2.53 and 19 strikeouts (17 walks) in 46 1/3 innings.
Roberto Noriega, Marcos Trillo and Gabriel Sanso return to the team as well as Jose Morales, who impressed during the Copa Del Rey tournament. Noriega led the league with an impressive .458 batting average (OBP .488/SLG .542) with 23 runs scored and 28 RBI in 31 games. Sanso batted .305 (.468/.373) with 21 runs and eight RBI. He will be accompanied by two fellow Argentines, as an infielder and an outfielder will arrive in February to reinforce the squad. Trillo (.236/.330/.281) scored 16 runs and drove in eight. Jose Luis Bailon is not going to be able to pitch in 2009, as he still is recovering from a back injury.
The 2009 season in Spain starts on March 15.