Sandford's status and the WBC

Haven't seen anything on the Wild Things or Frontier League websites about this, but according to some tweets Washington outfielder Darin Sandford (pictured) has had his contract purchased by the Chicago White Sox. Sandford set the FL record with 71 stolen bases last year while playing for Washington and Southern Illinois. He was acquired from the Miners in a late-season trade.

* Has anyone been watching the World Baseball Classic? I didn't think so. But you might find it interesting that there is a Wild Things tie to the WBC. Former Washington catcher Blake Ochoa is one of three catchers on the roster for Spain, which begins Pool C play Friday against Puerto Rico.

Useless information

Cleaning out the notebook prior to the restart of the Frontier League season Friday night:

The topic of discussion in manager Darin Everson's office prior to the Wild Things-Gateway game Sunday was how many wins will it take for a team to secure a playoff berth from the East Division?

The Frontier League went to a 96-game schedule in 2004, and since then the playoff team with the worst record each season has averaged 52 wins. There was a low of 46 (Evansville in 2006) and it took 56 wins to make the postseason in 2009. It doesn't look like the East will have a team pull away from the pack, or one that finishes with less than 30 wins, so the magic number will likely be closer to 52 than 56.

What does that mean for the Wild Things? To get to 52 wins, they need to go 33-16 after the all-star break.

* In Wednesday night's Frontier League All-Star game in Avon, Ohio, Washington's Casey Barnes and Jhonny Montoya each pitched a scoreless and hitless inning. Justin Hall gave up one solo home run in his inning. Catcher Blake Ochoa went 1-for-2 with a walk, and second baseman Scott Lawson was 0-for-1 with a throwing error.

* Washington does not have a home run from the No. 4 spot in the batting order all season.

* Remember Joel Hartman, who was a utility player for the Wild Things last year before suffering a season-ending finger injury? He joined a team in the Pecos League, based in New Mexico, after being released in spring training by the Wild Things. Hartman suffered another season-ending injury recently. According to the Pecos League website, Hartman broke a leg during a play at home plate.

* In Ernie Banks' first 128 at-bats with the Wild Things in 2009, he hit 12 home runs. In 128 at-bats this year, Banks does not have a home run.

* Both Vidal Nuno and Alan Williams -- the two Wild Things pitchers signed this season by MLB organizations -- are off to strong starts with their new teams. Nuno is playing for Staten Island (Yankees) in the Class A New York-Penn League. In five relief appearances, Nuno is 4-0 with one save and a 0.98 ERA. He has 17 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings with only three walks. Williams is with Helena (Brewers) in the rookie-level Pioneer League and has a 1-1 record with three saves in seven outings. The lefty has pitched 11 innings and struck out 24 with only three walks.

Former Wild Things pitcher Tom Cochran, who is in Class AAA with with Cincinnati, took the loss last Saturday in Louisville's 2-0 setback against Indianapolis, the Pirates' top affiliate. Cochran started the game and gave up only one run in five innings to drop his record to 6-2.

* Rockford, which is in fifth place in the East, made a key signing over the weekend, bringing back Jason James. The outfielder has one Frontier League batting title and finished second twice.

* In 46 games this season, Everson has used 45 different batting orders.

* Gateway manager Phil Warren on starting the season with three former West Virginia players and an ex-Pitt player on the Grizzlies' roster: "This is an area of the country that seems to get overlooked in the (major league) draft, for whatever reason."

* Despite losing Nuno, the opening day starter, Washington is tied for second in quality starts with 24. Florence also has 24. Windy City is tops with 28.

Wild Things Average Attendance
at the All-Star Break:
2002 - 2,942
2003 - 3,390
2004 - 3,242
2005 - 3,048
2006 - 3,133
2007 - 3,180
2008 - 2,899
2009 - 2,734
2010 - 2,373
2011 - 2,176

5 Wild Things named to All-Star Game

The Frontier League announced Monday the initial rosters for its all-star game and the Wild Things will have five representatives, including three pitchers.

Selected for the game as position players were second baseman Scott Lawson and catcher Blake Ochoa. Both will be backups for the East Division team that will play the West July 13 at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio.

Washington pitchers Casey Barnes, Justin Hall and Jhonny Montoya will be on the East's staff.

Lawson leads the Wild Things with a .319 batting average, and his .425 on-base percentage is fifth-best in the league.

Ochoa is batting only .198 but is second on the Wild Things with 21 walks and has thrown out 22 percent of opposing base stealers.

Barnes (2-3) is second in the league in ERA at 1.91. Hall (4-2, 3.27) is tied for the league lead with two shutouts and is tops on the Washington pitching staff in wins. Montoya (1-1, 2.20) is fourth in the league in ERA and second on the team in strikeouts with 32 in 49 innings.

The final three rosters spots for each team will be chosen by the game's managers Thursday.

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.

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.