Cleaning out the notebook

Received an email notice today that the Wild Things are holding a snowman contest. Build a snowman wearing Wild Things gear, take a picture, send it to the team. Winner gets something.

Maybe the winning snowman will be named manager.

* An interesting trade from earlier this month had the Kalamazoo Kings sending shortstop Kyle Higgins, outfielders Jeff Grose, OF Brandon Anderson and OF Josh Short, third baseman Amos Ramon, second baseman Joe Ramos and right-handed pitcher John Brownell to the Lake County Fielders in exchange for three pitchers, an infielder and future considerations.

Basically, Kalamazoo sent six starting position players from last year and their best pitcher to Lake County to be reunited with former Kings manager Fran Riordan. Kalamazoo is starting from scratch under new manager Jamie Keefe.

* The Rockford Riverhawks, formerly of the Frontier League and now of the no-age-limit Northern League, have signed Randall Simon.

That's the same Randall Simon who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and is best known for using a bat to plunk Guido the Italian Sausage during a between-innings sausage race at Miller Park in Milwaukee.

* There are 81 days remaining before Frontier League spring training and the Wild Things still don't have a manager.

* Former Wild Things outfielder Matt Sutton has signed a contract with the Lake Erie Crushers.

* Yancy Yeater, who worked for the Wild Things for four years and coordinated the audio and video at Consol Energy Park before being let go during the offseason purge, has started a Frontier Legaue blog. You can view it at http://frontierleague.blogspot.com/

* Former Wild Things manager Jeff Isom (2002-03) is returning as manager of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, the Milwaukee Brewers' affiliate in the Class A Midwest League.

* Former Wild Things second baseman Ryan Ellis will be the hitting coach of the Savannah Sand Gnats, the New York Mets' affiliate in the Class A South Atlantic League.

Sutton on the move

The Wild Things made their first major roster move of the offseason Tuesday when they announced that right fielder Matt Sutton, pictured, has been traded to the Lake Erie Crushers for future considerations.

Sutton, an excellent defensive right fielder, had an up-and-down career over three seasons with the Wild Things. He hit .295 with 12 home runs in his rookie season of 2007 and was the Wild Things' best hitter during the postseason. In 2008, he played in only 33 games before being suspended by manager Greg Jelks. Manager Mark Mason reinstated Sutton last year and the lefty batted .264 with 15 home runs. Sutton did strike out a career-high 82 times and hit only .181 (19-for-105) in July, but he rallied and batted .336 over the remainder of the season.

At Lake Erie, Sutton will be reunited with former Wild Things manager John Massarelli.

Washington also signed infielder Richard Michalek. A Pittsburgh Central Catholic and Slippery Rock University graduate, Michalek played in three games last year for the Brockton Rox of the Can-Am League. Michalek played second base, shortstop and outfielder at Slippery Rock, where he was a .355 career hitter. In 2008, Michalek was MVP in the Jayhawk League, a college summer league based in Kansas.

“We have gotten good reports on Rich,” general manager Ross Vecchio said. "We like his versatility. He can play anywhere on the field. He had a great career at Slippery Rock and will be given an opportunity to win a spot on our 2010 roster.”

The Wild Things also have announced that pitchers Craig Snipp and Nick Peterson have retired.

Shining some light on the subject

During the sixth inning Saturday night, Washington's Grant Psomas hit a routine two-out fly ball to right field that River City's Matt Houin couldn't locate. The ball dropped for a double and led to the go-ahead run for the Wild Things.

It was the second time in three series at Consol Energy Park this year that a visiting right fielder couldn't locate a routine fly ball. Both times the ball dropped for an extra-base hit. It will happen again this season. You can bank on it. At least three times every year visiting right fielders lose track of fly balls. Most drop for doubles or triples. A few have been caught by hustling center fielders or second basemen.

So why all the trouble locating the fly balls? Washington right fielder Matt Sutton gave this explanation Saturday night:

"They're not losing balls in the lights or the setting sun. They're losing the balls in the sky. When it's still twilight here, it's very difficult to locate the ball in right field because of the background. Left fielders don't have as much of a problem because there are some tree tops over by the Interstate that give you a background for finding the ball. In right field, all you have is sky. There's no park in the league that's tougher to pick up a fly ball in."

Part of the problem is CEP's location. CEP offers no background for locating fly balls hit to right field. Sutton said you have to find the ball coming off the bat against the background of the third-base stands or pick it up in the lights. If you don't, then what happened Saturday night will be the result.

"That's a tough sky in right field," Washington manager Mark Mason said. "When the ball gets above the lights, it's like it evaporates. Our guys are used to it."

If CEP has one home-field advantage for the Wild Things, then this is it.

The waiting is the hardest part

It's less than 24 hours until the on-field part of the Frontier League season begins for the Wild Things with their annual open tryout Saturday morning at Consol Energy Park. The Frontier League's tryout and player draft - each team must select at least 2 players - will be Monday and Tuesday in Washington.

If you check the Wild Things' roster, you might notice there are at least two positions in which depth is needed. One is catcher, where only Steve Pickerell and injured Kris Rochelle are on the roster.

The other position is first base, where Washington does not have a player with pro experience. Only Peters Township graduate Aaron Janusey is on the roster as a first baseman.

The Wild Things were expected to announce the signing of three more players as early as Wednesday, but that hasn't happened. Word is they were to sign catcher Alan Robbins, along with a first baseman/outfielder-type player and an infielder. Robbins was a teammate of Jacob Dempsey and Chris Carrara at Winthrop University and spent three years in the Philadelphia Phillies' system. he has the reputation of being a good catch-and-throw guy, better defensively than with the bat.

UPDATE: The Wild Things announced the signing of Robbins late Friday afternoon. Washington also signed one outfielder and lost another.

Signing was Alex Paluka, a Murrysville native and Franklin Regional High School graduate. Paluka played at the University of Iowa and Eastern Connecticut State before concluding his career at Point Park. Paluka played four years at Franklin Regional under Wild Things pitching coach Larry Wayman. Paluka batted only .235 for Point Park last spring.

"Alex is someone who we've worked out, and we've watched him hit. … We liked what we saw and wanted to give him an opportunity to come to camp," added Mason.

Washington also announced the retirement of outfielder Jason Appel who, judging by the current roster, would have seen significant playing time. This roster move leaves the Wild Things with only two outfielders with pro experience (none at the affiliated level), Chris Sidick and Matt Sutton. Not a good way to start camp.

Nine players signed

The Wild Things announced Monday the signing of nine players, including six who were with the team last season.

Returning are relief pitchers Rick Austin, Dan Horvath and Matt Maradeo and Josh Eachues, who was a catcher last year but is being converted to relief pitcher. Eachues was a briefly used as a reliever in the Philadelphia Phillies' system last spring.

Also back are outfielder Matt Sutton and catcher Kris Rochelle, pictured. Sutton is the most interesting of the nine signings. He was one of Washington's top players in 2007, when he batted .295 with 12 home runs and 26 stolen bases. He also had a big postseason that year as the Wild Things reached the Frontier League championship series. Last year, however, Sutton played only 33 games with the Wild Things before being suspended and eventually released. Sutton was free to sign with any team for 2009.

Rochelle had elbow surgery last September and will likely not be ready until mid-season.

Also signing contracts were infielder Joe Spiers, right-handed pitcher Sean Heimpel and left-handed pitcher Craig Snipp. Each player was acquired in trades during the offseason. Spiers played last season for Chillicothe. Heimpel and Snipp played last year in the independent Can-Am League. Heimpel pitched in five games for Nashua. Snipp spent two years in the Can-Am and had a 10-7 career record including an 8-5 mark with a 3.94 ERA for Sussex.