Wild Things trade for power hitter

Late last summer, when discussing what the Wild Things needed to do to boost their offense for 2013, manager Chris Bando said the top priority was to find a power hitter who can play a corner position, either in the infield or outfield.

Washington made a move Friday to bring in one such player. The Wild Things traded their first-round draft pick (5th overall) at the upcoming Frontier League tryout, along with a player to be named later, to the Gateway Grizzlies in exchange for outfielder Rogelio Noris (pictured).

Noris was third in the Frontier League in home runs (21) last season and sixth in RBI (74).

A native of Mexico, Noris, who will turn 24 this week, has played six professional seasons. He spent five of those in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization and played two years with the West Virginia Power in the Class A South Atlantic League.

Noris signed with the Lake Erie Crushers last spring and batted .250 with three home runs in 80 at-bats before being traded to Gateway. He became an impact player who helped the Grizzlies to the East Division title, batting .313 with 19 home runs in only 58 games.

So why did Gateway give up on Noris at what seems to be a bargain price? There are a number of reasons why players in the Frontier League get traded. Among those are roster restrictions, a player's desire to play for a team closer to home, etc.

There is no questioning Noris' power. He hit 15 home runs one year with West Virginia, and the Pirates thought enough of him that they gave him more than 700 at-bats in Class A.

The one rub against Noris is his plate discipline. He's the classic clout or out guy. Noris is a free-swinger to say the least. He struck out 144 times in one season in Class A. Last year, in 320 at-bats in the Frontier League, Noris whiffed 79 times. With Gateway, he struck out once every four at-bats (60Ks in 240 at-bats). That's just shy of the strikeout rate of former Wild Things power hitter Jacob Dempsey.

The big difference between Noris and Dempsey is in walk rate. Dempsey averaged a walk once every 6.7 plate appearances during his three years in Washington. Noris has averaged one walk per every 17.3 plate appearances for his career. Last season, Noris walked once every 31 plate appearances and drew only 11 walks all year.

One of the FL's most hitter friendly ballparks is found at Gateway, and a check of last year's numbers show that Noris didn't pile up his home run total while playing in home games. He hit 10 home runs at Gateway and eight on the road, including three in a game at Traverse City. That might have been the only three-homer game by a player ever at Traverse City, where there is no such thing as a cheap home run. He also had two-homer games against the Wild Things and Rockford.