Busy season

The Frontier League season doesn't begin until May 21, but April 1 can often be pointed to as the start of the busy season in the league. This is the week when teams try to put together the final pieces of their roster, signing players who were released last week by affiliated teams.

After scanning current FL rosters and checking the daily transactions, it appears the league will feature more returning players than in past years. Why? Some people are mentioning the new R2 roster status, but I don't think that's the primary reason. It has more to do with the average age of FL players was down last year, which led to fewer players reaching the age limit.

Of the 11 pitchers signed by the Wild Things, none is benefitting from the R2 status. Each would still be a rookie under the old roster rules.

Here is a rundown of the number of pitchers re-signed by FL teams along with their combined records in 2007:

Team; Re-signed; Record
Chillicothe: 8 re-signed; 18-15, 4 saves
Evansville: 3 re-signed; 6-13, 1 save
Florence: 0 re-signed; 0-0
Gateway: 9 re-signed; 48-25, 4 saves
Kalamazoo: 6 re-signed; 24-16
Midwest: 2 re-signed; 3-7
River City: 6 re-signed; 9-20, 21 saves
Rockford: 6 re-signed; 15-18, 1 save
Southern Illinois: 5 re-signed; 23-19, 14 saves
Traverse City: 6 re-signed; 22-14, 9 saves
Washington: 7 re-signed; 28-11, 8 saves
Windy City: 7 re-signed; 45-26, 28 saves

Notes:
* Chillicothe has re-signed pitcher Zach Johnson, who was 0-2. He will be used as an infielder this year.
* Florence is famous for hoarding its signed contracts and turning them into the league office in one lot. So far, no Florence players from 2007 have been re-signed, according the league's Web site.
* Windy City's numbers are skewed a bit because the ThunderBolts signed Nick Tracy, who was 3-12 with Slippery Rock last year.