With an extra contract available for domestic sides this season, and five Otago players gaining New Zealand contracts as opposed to four last season, there were gaps to fill in the roster.
Batsmen Brad Rodden and Ryan Duffy, along with veteran seamer Bradley Scott, were the big winners as Otago named its maximum allowance of 14 contracts in the first round of the contracting process. One more contract can be offered in the second round of contracting before August 8.
Scott (34) returns to the fulltime contract fold after moving back to Dunedin last August following a stint with Northern Districts.
Volts assistant coach Nathan King said Scott, whose nagging left-arm seamers have been a mainstay around New Zealand domestic cricket for the last decade, was a ''proven performer''.
''While he might not bowl at the same pace he did 10 years ago, he's still a very smart sort of bowler,'' King said.
''You know what you're going to get [from Scott] in all three formats - it's a good feeling going in to the season knowing that you've got someone like him.''
Duffy (23), who averaged 31.66 in two games last year, joins Rodden (25) as the two new contracted batsmen.
Rodden finished with an average of 38.25 from his three first-class matches last year, including 118 against Auckland in January.
''He's fully deserving of a contract,'' King said.
''He's worked hard over the last couple of years and he performed very well in the couple of opportunities that he got and scored a 100 in his second game - that's no mean feat.''
Otago was left with four spots to fill thanks to an extra Otago player being nationally contracted, the additional domestic contract, Neil Broom's move to Canterbury and Ian Butler's retirement.
''One was obviously Tipene Friday and you've got the likes of Brad Rodden and Ryan Duffy, who ultimately benefit from the position Otago cricket is in at the moment,'' King said.
''We're now in a good position to reward some of those younger fellas - we're still not 100% certain about them purely because they haven't played much cricket, but there's only one way you're going to find out about them.''
Left-arm quick Blair Soper could be considered unlucky to miss out on a contract, but King explained the length of time of Soper's recovery from shoulder surgery forced Otago's hand.
''He had surgery on the first of July and he's been given a time frame of a minimum of six months. It was a little touch and go. We're hopeful that he'll be available for the back end of the season, but there's just no guarantee of that.
''Being a bowler, he's got his workloads to consider, so there was just too much uncertainty.
Otago is likely to stay local with its final contract spot to be announced next month. All other domestic associations opted to name 14 contracted players yesterday, with the exception of Auckland, which named 13.
''We've got our own views around our local players that are in contention, but I would expect it to go to a local player. We're not hunting for someone outside the region, but you just don't know what might get thrown up in the next week or two.''
Otago Volts: Domestic contracts
Nick Beard, Michael Bracewell, Derek de Boorder, Jacob Duffy, Ryan Duffy, Tipene Friday, James McMillan, Aaron Redmond, Iain Robertson, Brad Rodden, Hamish Rutherford, Jesse Ryder, Bradley Scott, Sam Wells.
