One less pitcher

Trying to keep up with the rosters of an independent league team is often soften similar to putting your finger in a leak, only to have another leak spring somewhere else. You're always playing catch-up.

Here's one example:

The North American Baseball League (another independent league that was formed this year as the merger between the Northern, Golden and United leagues) listed on its homepage Thursday that the Lake County Fielders have acquired right-handed pitcher Chris Bennett in a trade with the Wild Things in exchange for future considerations.

Today, the NABL transactions had Lake County announcing that Bennett has retired.

The Wild Things and Frontier League haven't announced anything about the trade.

I guess this means that Bennett won't be at spring training next week.

It's a small world

Back in May of 2006, I wrote a story during Wild Things spring training about Matt Paul (pictured), an infielder who was trying to make the team after being released from the Los Angeles Dodgers' system. That was the story in a nutshell.

There was more to the story, which ran as the main piece on the front page of the Sunday sports section, than just baseball. Paul was trying to rebuild not only his baseball career but his life as well. A native of Slidell, La., Paul and his family had their house destroyed in Hurricane Katrina. The Paul family's residence was two miles from Lake Pontchartrain.

When the hurricane approached, Paul, his parents and sister drove to Jackson, Miss., to stay with relatives and wait out the storm.

When the Pauls returned to Slidell, they found their home in tatters.

"Everything in the neighborhood was black. No sidewalks, no concrete, just black mud," Paul said five years ago. "I'll always remember that like it was yesterday. There were boats in the middle of the streets. Everbody's belongings – refrigerators, clothes – were scattered all over the place. Houses were destroyed, either knocked down or flooded."

Paul didn't make the Wild Things' opening-day roster. He was cut in spring training, and I'm sure those who read that Sunday feature story about him had long forgotten it.

So why am I bringing this up? Because of this roster move today:

"The Pittsburgh Pirates made their second waiver claim in a week, taking outfielder Xavier Paul from the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Pirates added Paul to the 40-man roster by moving Scott Olsen from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled list. … Paul must also be put on the 25-man roster when he reports to Pittsburgh. … Paul has played parts of three seasons with the Dodgers, having 146 career at-bats."

Xavier Paul is Matt Paul's brother.

More Wild Things pitching

In the post below about the Wild Things' roster, I mentioned the curious state of the starting rotation. More precisely, who are the candidates for the rotation? There seemed to be a lack of experienced starting pitchers on the roster last week, and the transactions of the last two days have thinned the ranks even more.

Washington added what appears to be one solid starting pitcher Monday, but also traded one starter and released two potential starters.

The Wild Things signed two pitchers, lefty Vidal Nuno and right-hander Justin Hall. Nuno was a starter for two seasons in the Cleveland Indians system, and had a 5-0 record in the New York-Penn League in 2009. You can probably pencil him into the rotation. Hall was a non-drafted player who spent one year in the Tampa Bay Rays' system. Who knows what role he'll be put in.

Three pitchers who won't be in the rotation are Steve MacFarland, Sean Keeler and Joe Rodriguez.

MacFarland, a former 9th-round draft pick of the Pirates who pitched well for Washington last year (3-2) -- when he was healthy -- was traded to the San Angelo Colts of the North American League. In exchange for MacFarland, the Wild Things will receive "future considerations." Translated, that usually means a player not good enough to make San Angelo's roster.

Rodriguez and Keeler have been released. Rodriguez made a few starts last year for Oakland County -- he was the starter in the game in Lovonia, Mich., when the mound crumbled causing a postponement -- and was taken by Washington in the dispersal draft of Cruisers players. I thought he might be a potential fifth starter. Keeler pitched in only eight games (11 2/3 innings) last year for the Wild Things after being signed out of Franklin Pierce College, where he had suffered an injury that sidetracked his career. I had considered Keller as having a chance at earning a rotation spot, though with his injury history that might have been a longshot.

So with spring training less than two weeks away, this is what we know about the Wild Things' starting pitching: Justin Edwards is injured; Jeff Sonnenberg and Zach Groh are listed on the roster but the Wild Things haven't announced that either guy has been re-signed; the rumor is Billy Muldowney won't be back; Nuno seems to have a spot as a starter and there's a bunch of guys who are either ticketed for the bullpen or have no experience as a starter beyond college.

Who knows, maybe the Wild Thing will be signed to pitch?

Examining the roster

Spring training is less than two weeks away for the Wild Things – the season opener is 27 days from now – but their roster is far from set. Yes, this is a busy time for Frontier League managers and coaches as they scramble to sign players cut during minor-league spring training and released by other independent leagues. Teams also will be adding players from tryout camps, including the Frontier League tryout May 2-3 in Florence, Ky.

A check of the Wild Things' roster shows there are still spots that must be addressed before spring training begins. The most obvious is catcher, where only Blake Ochoa and Greyson Schram are on the roster. Billy O'Conner was placed on the suspended list last week. You can't go through spring training with only two catchers, so expect one or two more to be signed.

The same can be said for the outfield, where only four players are on the roster. Though some of the infielders have position flexibility (a Mike Tomlin term), here's thinking that at least one more outfielder will be signed for spring training, if only to make fewer infielders play out of position during intrasquad games.

One other spot that appears to be quite unsettled is starting pitcher. Judging by the quotes from manager Darin Everson in Wild Things press releases, many of the pitchers signed by Washington seem ticketed for bullpen duty.

Of the 20 players who had their options picked up in December, five were starting pitchers last year. Another, Jason Neitz, did not play last season but was a starting pitcher for Washington in 2009.

Of those six starting pitchers, I've heard that one (Billy Muldowney) won't be coming back, though you never know for sure who will and won't return until camp opens. I've seen guys be no-shows at camp, and at least one who wasn't expected to return arrive several days into camp (and woefully out of shape).

Another starting pitcher (Justin Edwards) is coming off shoulder surgery and won't be back until midseason. Two others (Zach Groh and Steve MacFarland) ended last year on the injured list and aren't even listed on the Wild Things' roster on the Frontier League's website.

The other starting pitcher is Jeff Sonnenberg, who developed into the staff ace last year.

It looks like the other starting options could be lefty Joe Rodriguez, who was selected in the Oakland County dispersal draft after making four starts for the Cruisers, and Sean Keeler, who had some starting experience (three games the last two years) in college at Franklin Pierce.

Depending on the status of MacFarland, Groh and Neitz, this could be a position the Wild Things are actively trying to address. My guess is there's a starting pitcher or two who Washington is waiting to receive a contract from in the next 10 days.

New-look at CEP

Here's a shot, taken by the O-R's Scott McCurdy, of Consol Energy Park during the Trinity-Chartiers Valley high school baseball game a few days ago. Click on the photo for a larger image.

Don't count on the Cruisers in 2012

Not that anyone across the Frontier League was banking on the Oakland County Cruisers to return next season with a new stadium in Waterford Township, Mich., but you can probably count the team among the defunct.

One reason is Cruisers owner Rob Hilliard filed for bankruptcy last month. Hilliard, president of Diamond Heroes of Southeast Michigan, Inc., the corporation that controls the team, filed for personal bankruptcy, listing about $12,000 in assets and $414,000 in liabilities.

According to the Oakland Press, court records show legal filings against the corporation and individuals associated with the Cruisers.

Business debts listed include $17,334 to State Farm Bank in Georgia, $15,810 to Nationwide Credit Inc. in Georgia, $49,814 to Fifth Third Bank in Cincinnati, $37,792 to Chase in Illinois, $13,088 to Advanta Credit Cards.

About the only thing the Cruisers have going for them is Hilliard has been through this before. In 1994, he was part of an ownership group for the New Jersey Cardinals of the Class A New York-Penn League. That group filed for bankruptcy after being hit with significant construction-cost overruns on its ballpark in Sussex County, N.J.

The Cardinals' ownership eventually reorganized and got out of debt. The franchise lasted 12 seasons before being sold and moved to State College.

Hilliard has not given up hope that the Cruisers will have a ballpark to call its own.

“I don’t know if the ballpark will be built where we originally planned (in Waterford), but we are working hard behind the scenes to make things happen,” he said.

Leader of the Gnats

Here is the link to a story about former Wild Things second baseman and coach Ryan Ellis, who is in his first year as manager of the Savannah Sand Gnats of the Class A South Atlantic League. Savannah began its season on the road and will play its home opener tonight, thus the story about Ellis in the Savannah Morning News.

The story mentions the end of Ellis' playing days with Washington.

Savannah, an affiliate of the New York Mets, is off to a rough start with a 1-5 record, losing two games to the Pirates' West Virginia affiliate.

Read the story here.

Ex-Wild Thing starting in Class AAA

Former Wild Things pitcher Tom Cochran will begin the season tonight playing for the Louisville Bats, the Cincinnati Reds' Class AAA affiliate.

Cochran, who played two seasons (2006-07) with Washington and three overall in the Frontier League, will be a starting pitcher for the Bats. Among the other pitchers in Louisville's starting rotation is former National League Cy Young Award winner Dontrelle Willis.

The last two years, Cochran pitched the majority of the season with Cincinnati's Class AA affiliate -- compiling a 12-11 record -- before being promoted late in each season to Triple-A. Cochran, who is not on the Reds' 40-man roster, started one playoff game for Louisville last season.

Cochran is one of two players who have reached Class AAA after playing for the Wild Things. Pitcher Patrick Stanley appeared in one game (getting the win) for the Pawtucket Red Sox in 2009.

Riverhawks owner: Rockford returning to Frontier League

The Rockford Riverhawks are returning to the Frontier League.

Riverhawks owner Dave Ciarrachi told WREX-TV in Rockford that the team will leave the North American Baseball League and play in the Frontier this season. The switch comes on the heels of Chris Hanners, owner of the Chillicothe Paints during their days in the Frontier, joining the Riverhawks' ownership group. He replaces longtime Riverhawks owner Kurt Carlson.

The Riverhawks are returning to the league in which they played from 2002 through 2009.

Ciarrachi told the television station that the North American Baseball League recently had two teams pull out, and with five road trips on the schedule that require air travel, which is an added expense, the RiverHawks decided to leave the league.

"Collectively the move back to the Frontier League made a lot of good business sense," Ciarrachi told WREX. "The league provides us with good financial stability."

Hanners is expected to take over Carlson's duties on the business side. Carlson still owns Road Ranger Stadium, home of the RiverHawks.

Carlson, by the way, is the brother of Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos.

Is Rockford the 12th team?

Let's face it, the Kalamazoo Kings have no plans to play in the Frontier League in 2011.

Never did.

That much became obvious when the Kings let their employees go last fall, closed the office, didn't sell season sponsorships for 2011 or sign coaches and players. Who knows what Kings owner Bill Wright was trying to accomplish when he told the Kalamazoo Gazette in mid-February "I’m not leaning towards playing."

Wright knows he's not going to field a team. The rest of the Frontier League knows the Kings won't be around for spring training in May. Commissioner Bill Lee knows it, too.

So why is Kalamazoo still on the schedule? How can a baseball league go ahead with an odd number of teams? Why didn't Lee give Kalamazoo a drop-dead date to announce it's intention to play or "go dark" this season? Will the Frontier League revive the Midwest Sliders and have a travel team as its 12th club?

That's a lot of questions. And because I asked 'em, I'll get the first crack at playing Answer Man. Here goes:

Kalamazoo is still on the schedule because, well, you need a 12th team. Some team is going to play Kalamazoo's schedule. It just won't be the Kings. That Kalamazoo was even on the schedule in the first place, without a commitment from its owner to field a team, makes no sense. Those at the league office must have felt having a schedule with a bogus team at least helped the other 11 clubs in their efforts to start selling tickets and securing ballpark dates.

Obviously, the Frontier League can't have a season with 11 teams. There are two alternatives: the traveling Midwest Sliders or bring in a team from another league.

That leads us to a story by ballparkdigest.com. The website reported Thursday that a group with ties to the Prospect League's Chillicothe Paints (formerly of the Frontier League) is negotiating to purchase the Rockford RiverHawks (formerly of the Frontier League) and move them from the North American Baseball League back to the Frontier.

A quick background: Rockford joined the Frontier League in 2002 and played through 2009. Last year, the RiverHawks defected and joined the Northern League, with its no-age-limit rule and higher salary cap. Though the switch helped both leagues -- each had an odd number of teams before the move -- there were some hard feelings among Frontier League owners toward Rockford's ownership.

To make a long story short, Rockford was one of the three remaining Northern League teams that joined forces several months ago with the struggling Golden League and struggling United League to form the NABL. One of those former NL teams (the cash-strapped Schaumburg Flyers) are no more. The other, the Lake County Fielders, don't have a completed stadium.

The NABL has problems and they are great. It has teams ranging from Calgary to Maui to San Angelo, Texas. Only Rockford and Lake County (Ill.) are in the midwest. Travel is going to be wildly costly for Rockford, if the league even makes it to opening day. Selling the club solves many potential problems for Rockford's owners.

According to ballparkdigest.com, the NAL recently circulated a new 10-team schedule that does not include Rockford. The RiverHawks were supposed to have a news conference last Thursday to discuss their schedule in the NABL. I was told that event was postponed until Monday.

Expect that news conference to either be scrapped again or held to announce the RiverHawks are being sold and moving back to the Frontier League. Let's assume the latter happens. It would create some minor problems and solve many big ones.

Rockford, of course, would inherit Kalamazoo's schedule and play in the East Division. The RiverHawks also would have to trade or release many of its players because they're over the FL's age limit. According to the RiverHawks' website, Rockford has 23 players signed. They would have to get rid of 11 because of the Frontier League's age rules.

That leaves the problem of what to do with the 20 players whose options were exercised during the winter by Kalamazoo. The scenarios that make the most sense would be to declare those players free agents or hold a dispersal draft. Transferring them to Rockford makes no sense.

Then again, what has made sense this offseason in the Frontier League?