East Division preview, part 1

Florence Freedom
Location: Florence , Ky.
Manager: (Toby Rumfield, (1st year in Florence , 83-109 career in Frontier League)
Stadium: Champion Window Field (5,000)
Last year: 47-49, 4th in East
Key returners: OF Ryan Basham (.278, 11 HR, 53 RBI); P Andy Clark (10-2, 3.36); 3B Tim Grogan (.309, 11 HR); P Everett Saul (7-7, 5.44).
Impact newcomers: OF Erold Andrus (182 games in Class AA); OF Brad Hough (.270, 9 HR, 9 HR, 60 RBI, 24 SB for River City); OF Jay Johnson (.265, 64 RBI in Class AA in 2007); P Moises Melendez (4-3, 3.00, 2 saves in Class A); 1B Jeff Miller (.283, 15 HR, 66 RBI); P Jonathan Miller (3-5, 3.76, 9 saves for River City).
Outlook: Rumfield comes over from River City and replaces Jamie Keefe, who is the third-winningest manager in Frontier League history. There are so many former River City people on the roster and in front office that the team should be renamed the Freedom Rascals. Under Keefe, the Freedom always had enough offense but fell short in the pitching and defense departments. Florence led the league in home runs and errors last year. Gone are league home run champion Kelly Hunt, all-star Angel Molina and runs leader Garth McKinney. The trio combined for 66 home runs. That will be hard to replace, but the players acquired from River City and from the affiliated ranks might be enough to make Florence the team that challenges Kalamazoo for the division title.
Did you know? Champion Window Field’s playing surface was recently converted from grass to artificial turf.


Kalamazoo Kings
Location: Kalamazoo, Mich.
Manager: Fran Riordan (6th year, 377-303 career in Frontier League)
Stadium: Homer Stryker Field (4,006)
Last year: 60-36, 1st in East, lost to Windy City in finals
Key returners: P John Brownell (11-2, 3.87); P Joe DiPietro (7-5, 3.28); OF Jeff Grose (.252, 54 RBI); P Trent Lare (8-5, 4.13); DH Brendon Murphy (.332, 16 HR, 77 RBI); P Brandon Parillo (1-3, 2.93 league-high 20 saves); 3B Joseph Ramos (.281, 10 HR, 65 RBI, league-high 45 SB); OF Simon Williams (.282, 20 HR, 57 RBI, 15 SB).
Impact newcomers: 1B Tim Brown (.274, 13 HR in Class AA in 2007, in Orioles' major-league camp in 2007); 3B/P Amos Ramon (.256, 5-4, 4.65 for Windy City).
Outlook: Easily the favorite in the East. The Kings began camp with 16 players, including four of five starting pitchers, returning from last year's team that won the division by 10 games and reached the championship series. Now they've added pitcher/third baseman Amos Ramon from Windy City and first baseman Tim Brown, who led Kalamazoo to the championship in 2005 and was in the Baltimore Orioles' major-league camp in 2007. The team everyone in the East is shooting for.
Did you know? Riordan, who is 36 wins away from becoming the Frontier League's winningest manager, has put a team in the finals four times in seven years.


Lake Erie Crushers
Location: Avon, Ohio
Manager: John Massarelli (1st year, 229-143 career in Frontier League)
Stadium: All Pro Freight Stadium
Last year: 39-57, 5th in east as Chillicothe Paints
Key returnee: INF Drew Saylor (.276, 3 HR, 48 RBI).
Impact newcomers: OF Scott Billak (.291, 7 HR, 55 RBI for Windy City); 3B Andrew Davis (all-time hits leader at Kent State, 3 years in San Francisco system); P Paul Fagan (4th-round draft pick of Seattle in 2003); OF Luke Hetherington (.305, 4 HR for Evansville, 459 games as a pro).
Outlook: Massarelli, the former Wild Things manager, says the Crushers are an expansion team. Though, technically, they aren't, he's not far off. Saylor is the only player who made the transition from Chillicothe to Avon. Massarelli's teams in Washington never failed to make the playoffs, but it might take his best coaching job to get the Crushers into the postseason. Lake Erie, however, will improve upon Chillicothe's 39 wins last year. Two things are certain for the Crushers: 1. Like any Massarelli team, they'll be more aggressive running the bases than any team in the league. 2. Massarelli will sign a couple of players out of the Mid-American Conference in late June.
Quoteable: "I think we're going to be a Southern Illinois kind of deal, sellouts every night." - Massarelli on baseball in Avon.