Atlantic League news, transactions July 2 – 8
Another busy week is in the books for the Atlantic League. We had another club claim a first-half division title, the 2012 All-Star game rosters announced and the Pitcher of the Month selected for the month of June. As far as transactions, a total of 16 players were involved across all but one team in the league. A total of nine players signed on with Atlantic League clubs last week, including four with big league experience. In addition, a total of six trades were made.
First, some newsworthy items…
2012 Atlantic League All-Star game: The league announced rosters for the upcoming All-Star game, which will be played on Wednesday at Camden’s Campbell’s Field. The Long Island Ducks lead the Liberty Division with most players selected (seven), while Lancaster has a eight players selected for the Freedom Division squad.
Barnstormers claim Freedom Division: The Lancaster Barnstormers clinched the first-half Atlantic League Freedom Division title with a 12-5 win over Camden on Monday night. The Barnstormers clinched thanks to the win and a York Revolution loss, 6-2, to Somerset on the same night. As a result, Lancaster clinched a spot in the 2012 Atlantic League playoffs. With the win on Monday night, the Barnstormers improved to 40-24 at the time, which is a franchise-best 16 games over .500. Lancaster officially finished the first half nine games in front of York. According to a team press release, Lancaster’s 45-25 first-half mark is the most first-half wins for any club in Atlantic League history.
Pitcher (/Player?) of the Month: The league named Lancaster starter Dwayne Pollok the Pitcher of the Month for the month of June. Pollok becomes the second straight Barnstormer to be honored – John Halama won the award in May. Pollok was 3-0 with a 0.72 ERA in June, the month he transitioned from the bullpen to the starting rotation. Pollok made four starts in the month and gave up only two earned runs on 13 hits in 23 innings while walking two and striking out 15.
It’s unclear who the Player of the Month for the month of June was, being that the league nor any team has mentioned anything about it yet (although we are now nine days into the month of July). I could speculate, but we’ll just have to wait until an announcement is actually made (hopefully).
Now on the transactions….
INF Shea Hillenbrand
BRIDGEPORT BLUEFISH: Signed INF Shea Hillenbrand; acquired INF Luis Figueroa from Sugar Land in exchange for future considerations; Acquired INF Gabriel Martinez from Winnipeg Goldeyes (American Association) in exchange for future considerations; released OF Norm Hutchins
The Bridgeport Bluefish on Thursday announced the signing of infielder Shea Hillenbrand. He joins the Bluefish for his second season in the Atlantic League and 14th of professional baseball. The former Major League last played professionally in 2008 as a member of the York Revolution. In 36 games for York, he batted .340 with 11 extra-base hits, 25 RBI, and 22 runs scored. It’ll be interesting see if Hillenbrand has changed his ways since his infamous departure from York four years ago.
Figueroa is a former big leaguer who signed on with Sugar Land in mid-June but batted just .103 (3-for-29) in 10 games for the Skeeters. The veteran utility infielder had cups of coffee in the big leagues with three different clubs in 2001 (Pirates, four games), 2006 (Blue Jays, eight games) and 2007 (Giants, six games). In all, he has a career .125 batting average in 18 big league games.
Martinez, 29, is a former 27th round pick of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2001 who has played as high as Class AA in affiliated ball and has spent the majority of the last two seasons playing in the Mexican League. Last year he split time between Mexican League clubs Saltillo and Laguna, batting a combined .323 with 20 homers and 68 RBIs in 96 games. He started the 2012 season playing for the Mexican League’s Mexico City Diablos, where he hit just .200 in 11 games before being released and traveling to Winnipeg, where he hit .176 in 10 games.
Hutchins came to Bridgeport the same week Figueroa originally signed with Sugar Land in mid-June. He joined the Bluefish after playing in 15 games for the Rockland Boulders (independent Can-Am League), where he hit just .164 with four RBIs and four runs scored. That was a dropoff from his 2011 numbers with Rockland, when he hit .295 with seven homers and 37 RBIs in 62 games. The outfielder had just one hit in 17 at-bats (.059) in five games for Bridgeport.
CAMDEN RIVERSHARKS: Traded RHP Jeff Farnsworth to Sugar Land in exchange for future considerations
In 21 appearances out of the bullpen for Camden this year, Farnsworth posted an 0-2 record and 6.47 ERA, although he gave up no earned runs in his his last 4.1 innings pitched.
OF Timo Perez
LONG ISLAND DUCKS: Signed OF Timo Perez; traded LHP Gustavo Chacin to Rockland (Can-Am League) for future considerations
Perez has spent eight seasons at the Major League level with the New York Mets (2000-03), Chicago White Sox (2004-05), St. Louis Cardinals (2006) and Detroit Tigers (2008). He has reached the World Series twice, winning the 2005 Fall Classic as a member of the White Sox. The 37-year-old has a career .269 average in 603 big league games with 26 home runs, 185 RBI, 187 runs and 91 doubles. A native of the Dominican Republic, Perez was a .304 hitter and All-Star with Toledo (AAA, Tigers) in 2011.
Just looking at the numbers, it’s somewhat of a surprise the Ducks shipped Chacin away. After all, the 31-year-old former big leaguer had a 3.93 ERA and 2-2 record in nine starts for Long Island. In his last three starts, he gave up just one run over 20.1 innings of work, including an eight-inning, one-run, five-hit performance on June 22 against Southern Maryland.
RHP Mike MacDonald
SOMERSET PATRIOTS: RHP Mike MacDonald picked up by Red Sox; Patriots signed RHP Tobi Stoner and RHP Sean Green; acquired OF Rian Kiniry from York
MacDonald, 30, posted a 3-4 record and 3.60 ERA and less than one hit (67) per inning pitched (70) in his first season for the Patriots. Opponents hit .158 against him with runners in scoring position. For more information on MacDonald’s success for Somerset this season, check out the recent story by Patriots’ beat writer Ryan Dunleavy. MacDonald has previously reached Class AAA as a Los Angeles Angels and Toronto Blue Jays prospect. He has yet to reach the majors in his now eight-year pro career. The Red Sox assigned MacDonald to Class AA Portland. MacDonald is the first Patriots’ player to be picked up by an affiliated club this season. As noted on Dunleavy’s blog, Southern Maryland is the only team left in the league that has yet to have a player picked up this year.
Green, 33, has 264 games of major league experience with the Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, and Milwaukee Brewers. He played in 14 games for the Brewers during the 2011 season. He comes to Somerset after being released by the Texas Rangers. With the Rangers’ Class AAA Round Rock affiliate, Green posted a 5.60 ERA in 19 relief appearances.
Stoner, 27, is a former big leaguer who split last season between the Mets’ High Class A St. Lucie team and Class AA Binghamton, combining for a 5-7 record and 6.05 ERA in 19 starts (21 appearances). Stoner played in a combined five games at the major league level with the Mets in 2008 and 2009, collecting a 3.97 ERA in five relief appearances. He comes to Somerset after being released by Bridgeport in mid-June after posting a 1-8 record and 7.43 ERA in 11 starts.
The Kiniry deal completes an earlier off-season trade when the Revs acquired outfielder Michael Hernandez from the Patriots for a player to be named later. Kiniry batted 2-for-11 (.182) with an RBI in three games for York.
SOUTHERN MARYLAND BLUE CRABS: Traded RHP James Baker to Wichita Wingnuts (American Association) in exchange for future considerations
The Somerset Patriots had originally acquired the rights to Baker earlier this year through a trade for cash considerations with the Gary SouthShore Railcats (independent American Association). However, the Pats’ cut Baker on April 24 before he even saw any action for Somerset. Baker then signed with Southern Maryland in early June. He had a 4.77 ERA in 11 relief appearances for the Crabs.
LHP Scott Kazmir
SUGAR LAND SKEETERS: Signed LHP Scott Kazmir, P Joe Frias and RHP Roberto Giron; acquired RHP Jeff Farnsworth from Camden in exchange for future considerations, traded INF Luis Figueroa to Bridgeport in exchange for future considerations
Kazmir, 28, brings more than eight years of professional Major League Baseball experience toSugarLand(2004-2011) with all 180 appearances between the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Angels. The left-handed starting pitcher made his Major League debut with the Rays on August 23, 2004 starting seven games while acquiring a win-loss record of (2-3) and a 5.67 ERA. Kazmir played at nearbyCypressFalls(Tex) High School, where he was a two-sport athlete through his sophomore year, pitching on the baseball team and starting at quarterback on the junior varsity football team, according to the team press release.
Giron, 36, returns for his third season in the Atlantic League after recently splitting time between Mexican League clubs Oaxaca and Laguna, with whom he posted a combined 6.03 ERA in one start and 37 relief appearances. Giron has spent most of the last four seasons between the Mexican League and Atlantic League. He last played in the Atlantic League a year ago with the Road Warriors, compiling a 3.60 ERA in 18 relief appearances (25 innings).
It makes sense that Sugar Land likes Farnsworth. Playing for Camden during a series agianst Sugar Land in the final week of June, Farnsworth tossed 3.2 scoreless innings against the Skeeters. Overall this season against Sugar Land, Farnsworth held the Skeeters no earned runs in four of five appearances – he gave up two earned runs in one inning of work on July 16. In 21 appearances out of the bullpen for Camden this year, Farnsworth posted an 0-2 record and 6.47 ERA, although his last 4.1 innings pitched were scoreless.
Figueroa is a former big leaguer who signed on with Sugar Land in mid-June but batted just .103 (3-for-29) in 10 games for the Skeeters. The veteran utility infielder had cups of coffee in the big leagues with three different clubs in 2001 (Pirates, four games), 2006 (Blue Jays, eight games) and 2007 (Giants, six games). In all, he has a career .125 batting average in 18 big league games.
1B Chris Nowak
YORK REVOLUTION: Traded OF Rian Kiniry to Somerset, signed 1B Chris Nowak
Nowak comes back to York after playing in five games in four days for the Mexican League’s Mexico City squad. The Diablos picked up Nowak from York back on June 22 before releasing him on June 29. He returns to a place where he is hitting .274 with 10 homers and 33 RBIs forYork (prior to playing last Monday, July 2), including a .341 average in 23 games since May 30 with six homers, eight doubles and 23 RBIs. To make room for Nowak, York shipped Kiniry to Somerset. The deal completes an earlier off-season trade when the Revs acquired outfielder Michael Hernandez from the Patriots for a player to be named later. Kiniry batted 2-for-11 (.182) with an RBI in three games for York.
