Playing catch-up

While this is generally a slow time in the Frontier League as teams await cuts from minor league spring training, there was plenty of news over the last week.

* The Wild Things signed a catcher, Blake Ochoa, who figures to get plenty of playing time. A 25-year-old native of Maracay, Venezuela, Ochoa has six years of pro experience in the Florida Marlins and Seattle Mariners' systems. He's listed as an "Experienced" player under the FL's new roster rules. In the past, he would have been listed as a Veteran.

Ochoa played three games last season for the Mariners' Class AAA affiliate in Tacoma and played three games in Class AA at Carolina in 2007. He played 256 career games in Class A.

* The Wild Things are asking fans to select the club's all-decade team. Online voting will be conducted on the Wild Things' homepage. Currently, you can vote on the left-handed starting pitcher and right-handed starting pitcher.

* The situation in Kalamazoo remains muddled. Here is a link to the Kalamazoo Gazette's video of an interview with Kings owner Bill Wright.

Video here.

* If Wright decides the Kings will be "dark" during the 2011 season, here's one possible location for the Frontier League's 12th team: Schaumburg, Ill.

The Schaumburg Flyers of the North American Baseball League, and formerly of the Northern League, have been evicted from Alexian Field for owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid rent and fees.

The team, up for sale for more than a year, was ordered by a Cook County Circuit Judge to vacate by March 6. The village of Schaumburg and the Schaumburg Park District — co-owners of the stadium — asked for the eviction as last resort to recoup some of the more than $900,000 owed.

Now the village has the right to negotiate with other teams and independent leagues.

According to ballparkdigest.com, the American Association and Frontier League have been invited next week to make a pitch for the Alexian Field lease. The city seems set on having a team in the ballpark for the 2011 season.

With the Frontier League the only indy circuit looking at the possibility of having an odd number of teams (because of the Kalamazoo situation), Schaumburg might be most appealing.

The whole situation, however, could be rendered moot if the Flyers are sold between now and March 6.

To play, or not to play

The three-ring circus in Kalamazoo just keeps getting more bizarre.

Kings owner Bill Wright (pictured) told the Kalamazoo Gazette on Wednesday that he's had at least seven offers from potential owners to buy the team, but he's leaning toward keeping the franchise and not fielding a team in 2011. He has set March 10 as his deadline for deciding if the Kings will play in Kalamazoo this year or "go dark" for one season so he can "regroup."

The March 10 date is a mere 72 days before the Kings are scheduled to throw the first pitch in their season.

Wright said he met with Tuesday with a group from Omaha, Neb., that is interested in purchasing the team, but no deal has been struck.

Read the story here.

Would you pay a ransom for Kings?

As I wrote a few days ago, there is more to the story of the Kalamazoo Kings than we are being told. Bill Wright, owner of the Kings, is indeed in negotiations to sell the team. According to the Kalamazoo Gazette, a businessman from Nebraska is one person known to be interested.

Read the story here.

Will the Kings be overthrown?

The three-ring circus in Kalamazoo continues, and it's apparently reached the crisis point.

According to commissioner Bill Lee, the Kalamazoo Kings are still in the Frontier League. The league's schedule, released months ago, still shows that the Kings will open the 2011 season at home May 21 against the Traverse City Beach Bums. Spring training begins in less than three months.

However, according to team owner owner Bill Wright, there's no guarantee the Kings will be around in May.

Wright still hasn't stated publicly that the Kings will play their 11th season in Kalamazoo. In early January, Wright told the Kalamazoo Gazette that a decision on whether the Kings will play in 2011 will be made "early next week." No announcement has been made and Wright hasn't returned phone calls made by the newspaper.

Several front office employees, including the general manager and director of baseball operations, are no longer with the organization. According to the newspaper, the Kings' office has been empty during the winter, except for somebody stopping by to pick up the mail from time to time.

The Kings did pick up the contract options on 27 players, including designated hitter Brendan Murphy. That was in December, and Murphy says that's the last contact he's had with anyone associated with the Kings.

“It’s not looking too good as far as playing in Kalamazoo,” he told the Gazette. “I’ve just been telling the other guys (from last year’s team) to find another place to play, if they can.”

During the Wild Things' Hot Stove Banquet last month, I asked members of Washington's front office and coaching staff if they knew what is going on in Kalamazoo. The answers were "I don't know. I haven't heard anything," or "Who knows? What have you heard?"

Unless there is something going on in Kalamazoo that the Frontier League isn't telling us (very likely), then the league is taking a laissez-faire approach to something that should be treated with the seriousness of a heart attack.

Perhaps the situation is Wright is finalizing the sale of the Kings. If this is the case, then Wright might not want to make any hirings or enter into contracts with players or advertisers until the sale is complete. If this isn't the scenario, then you have to wonder if the Beach Bums will show up in Kalamazoo May 21 only to find Homer Stryker Field locked and empty.

First free-agent signing

According to the News Virginian newspaper, the Wild Things have signed free agent pitcher Brooks Cullen, who played last spring at Concord University in the NCAA Division II West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. According to the story, Cullen is being brought in as a relief pitcher.

At Concord, Cullen had a career record of 19-7 with three saves. He was 8-1 with a 3.54 ERA and struck out 62 batters in 53.1 innings last year. Cullen was a second team all-WVIAC picks as a first baseman.

Here's thinking that maybe Cullen is coming to Washington as part of a package deal. A teammate of Cullen's at Concord, Greyson Schram, was recently released by the Baltimore Orioles. Schram played second base at Concord at won the WVIAC Triple Crown last spring. He played in 11 games (four at catcher) for the Orioles' rookie-level affiliate in the Appalachian League last summer.