ON DECK: Desert Rats going local

I generally hate fence-sitting.

But this is about to be 160 words of neutral thoughts on the Yuma Scorp, uh, Panth, uh Desert Rats.

History has taught me there is no bottom. When you think you've hit rock, a trap door opens and the descent continues.

But the new ownership group seems to be making some solid moves. The two biggest moves were a lefty pitcher and a hitting coach.

And if all goes according to owner Tim Ferguson's plans, those'll be the two biggest moves the ScorPantheRats ever made.

Not because they are part of some cost-saving foreign affiliation deal or a roided-out showman has-been. No, but because they are local.

Signing James Kuzniak to pitch and Jake Thrower to be an assistant to manager Hal Lanier — the 1986 National League Manager of the Year — show that community and local aren't just buzzwords.

With this group, they might actually mean something.

Of course, we'll have to see where this all goes. And that's some good old-fashioned fence-sitting.