Winter trades

Offseason trading has been slower than usual this season.

• Scranton acquired third baseman Ruben Aguilar from Philadelphia for two prospects. Aguilar hit .314 with 40 homers and 113 RBIs last season. Philadelphia gets catching prospect Angel Barcelo and pitching prospect Tomas Javier.
• San Antonio acquired center fielder Carlos Santos and pitching prospect Ross Andrews from Syracuse for pitching prospect Glen Perkins, a first-round draft pick last season. Santos hit .291 with 30 homers and 95 RBIs last season.

Coach negotiations have begun, without a few of the regular in-demand candidates:

• Veteran hitting coach Lou Jones, who twice got $6 million contracts, has retired. Jones coached for five teams in seven seasons, most recently for Pittsburgh.
• Pitching coach Junior Flores also retired. Flores worked one season for Omaha, four for LA and two for Columbus, and six of his seven teams had winning records.
• Houston bench coach Bryan Fabregas, who had a record of 655-479 in seven seasons, all with the Toros, also retired.

WELCOME TO SEASON 8

Season 8 is underway.

Cubrunner has replaced Dodgerblue13 and has moved the franchise from Los Angeles to St. Louis. The Coyotes are the second St. Louis team to play in the Evangeline League. In Season 1, the St. Louis Hoosiers were 74-88 for Mslonin. They moved to Dallas, Texas, under JohnnyDancer.

In the AL East, Jacoby66 replaces BigOrange64, and has moved the team from Washington to Iowa. The Cyclones are the first Iowa City franchise in the Evangeline League.

The Evangeline League has become one of the more consisent leagues in HBD. Here's a breakdown:

Class of '01 (18 original owners still remain):

• Sbarrouque
• Jhillblom
• basilleaf
• Phillyfan33
• Jedielvis
• Dawgfan1974
• Blownranger
• Slider15
• EyetoEye
• Lenbo1212
• Eacadca
• Philpitt
• Reggie988
• Shiffy
• Kbrick
• Mpate10
• Vdaino
• Schlemiel

Class of '02:

• Noccolo
• Nordique93
• JoeBoxer

Class of '03:

• 2U23L
• PoconoMets
• Bingles

Class of '04:

• Trapapoodle

Class of '05:

• GDfan

Class of 06:

• Minor3rd
• Buddy bee

Class of '07:

• Campbell1972
• Spainard555