Roster set ... or is it?

The Wild Things trimmed their roster to under the Frontier League limit of 24 active players Wednesday in preparation for their season opener Friday at Evansville.

Washington released right-handed pitchers Gary Lee and Andy Wells, left-handed pitcher Ryan McCarney, outfielder Rashad Taylor and infielder Nick Spears. The Wild Things also placed infielder Nick Lockwood on the 14-day disabled list.

The moves leave Washington with 23 active players, plus Lockwood and outfielder Trevor Pippin on the DL. The Wild Things are one player under the league limit of 24. They can add a player before opening day.

Lee was part of Washington's starting rotation last year, when he was 4-6 with a 4.16 ERA in 16 outings (13 starts). Lee had played for new Wild Things manager Chris Bando in 2007 with the Aiken Foxhounds in the now-defunct independent South Coast League.

McCarney, who is an assistant coach at San Diego Christian College where Bando is the head coach, had an arm injury early in spring training and had been on the disabled list.

The roster:
Pitchers:
Casey Barnes
Mickey Cassidy
Nick Cico
Alan gatz
Ross Gusky
Justin Hall
Jhonny Montoya
Chris Smith
Shawn Smith
Ryan Thomas
Kyle Wahl

Catchers:
Chris Anderson
Brandon Fowler

Infielders
Mike Bando
Nick Lockwood (DL)
Matt McConnell
Michael Mooney
Shain Stoner
Doug Thennis

Outfielders
Allan Boyer
Mitch Dening
Michael Miller
Trevor Pippin (DL)
Luis Rivera
James Simmons

Crowded outfield

The Wild Things have signed two experienced outfielders, Trevor Pippin and Nick Santomauro. Both players were former top-10 round draft picks whose careers fizzled quickly in affiliated ball and ended up in the independent Can-Am League last year.

Pippin (6-2, 185) was the fourth-round draft pick (148th overall) of the Los Angeles Angeles in 2007 out of Middle Georgia Junior College, the same school that produced former Wild Things pitcher Tom Cochran and a host of ex-major leaguers, including Kal Daniels and Jody Davis. Pippin, from Peachtree City, Ga., played two seasons in the Angels' system, each in rookie ball. He failed to hit better than .188 in either season and was released.

Pippin did not play in a professional league in the 2009 and 2010 seasons, but did get into 10 games last season for the New York Federals, the Can-Am League's traveling team. He batted .263 with three home runs in 38 games.

This is apparently the second try at the Frontier League for Pippin. He was released in spring training by the Florence Freedom in 2010.

Santomauro (6-2, 205) was the 10th-round draft pick of the New York Mets in 2009 out of Dartmouth. A three-time all-Ivy League first team selection, Santomauro led the conference in hits in 2009 and was third in batting average (.372) as the Big Green won the Ivy League title. Santomauro was the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2009. As a sophomore in 2008, Santomauro led the conference in RBI and was second in home runs.

During his first season as a pro, Santomauro batted .241 with six home runs for Brooklyn in the short-season New York-Penn League. One of his teammates was Wild Things outfielder Luis Rivera.

In 2010, Santomauro advanced to full-season Savannah of the Class A South Atlantic League but batted only .191 in 81 games. Santomauro's hitting coach that year was former Wild Things second baseman Ryan Ellis.

Last year, Santomauro played in 39 games for the New Jersey Jackals in the Can-Am League and batted .239.

The signings of two players who are classified as Experienced by Frontier League roster standards has to make one wonder what the status of Chris Sidick is for this season. I was told Friday that Sidick's situation should be determined sometime next week.