Signing or hoarding?

Player signings, and the ensuing announcements by the Frontier League office in the transactions section of its website, definitely follow a trend.

For example, River City and Gateway, perhaps because they are battling for players with so many American Association teams that are located nearby, are annually the first teams to announce the majority of their offseason signings. The rosters for the Rascals and Grizzlies fill up quickly. Windy City and Normal also have been quick to announce players signings.

Then we typically see a few teams from the East Division and the remainder of the West squads check in. This year, however, the lack of player signings from East clubs make me wonder if some teams are simply hoarding the contracts and protecting them like they're a PIN number. It reminds me of many Division III college football coaches who refuse to give up the names of their recruits because they're afraid some Division II or NAIA coach with a few bucks of scholarship money leftover might notice that Johnny Doe is paying full tuition price and come late in the summer and steal the recruit.

Then again, I see nothing to be gained by a Frontier League team keeping under wraps who its has signed. It just seems odds that so little player movement has happened in the East this year.

Washington announced Wednesday the signings of five pitchers -- re-signed relievers Pat Butler, Matt Purnell and Chris O'Hare, and starter Tim Flight, along with adding rookie Ryan Wakefield of Plymouth State. Prior to Wednesday, the Wild Things had announced that only nine players (all either true rookies or second-year players) had signed contracts for 2015. Now, they're up to 14.

I did a quick check to see how many player signings have been announced by each FL team this offseason. I threw out the players who were sold to major league organizations or placed on a suspended list after signing a contract:

As of March 27, 2015:

West
Gateway - 28 players signed
Joliet - 17
Normal - 32
River City - 33
Rockford - 25
Schaumburg - 27
Windy City - 21

East
Evansville - 12
Florence - 29
Lake Erie - 23
Greys - 24
Traverse City - 12
Southern Illinois - 21
Washington - 14