Lucas traded

The Wild Things have traded former Trinity High School standout Michael Lucas to Laredo of the independent United League in exchange for pitcher Ryne Nelson.

Lucas pitched in 35 games (all in relief) last season and had a 2-2 record, one save and 3.24 ERA. Opponents batted only .231 against Lucas. From the beginning of the season through July, Lucas was probably the best pitcher the Wild Things had last season. On July 29, Lucas' ERA was a mere 1.93 ERA. At one stretch, the right-hander allowed only three runs over 13 appearances, many of which were multiple-inning stints.

According to the Wild Things, Lucas' girlfriend lives in Texas and he requested a trade to a team in the Lone Star state.

Nelson is a right-hander from Hitchcok, Texas. He has two years of independent league experience with three teams. Last year, Nelson split the season between Texarkana of the Continental League and Grand Prairie of the American Association. He had a combined 2-0 record with four saves and and an impressive 1.27 ERA.

Nelson was drafted in 2004 in the 48th round by the Minnesota Twins but did not sign. he played collegiately at Western Carolina and Lamar.

"I think this trade benefits both teams,” Washington manager Darin Everson. “With Lucas moving down to Texas with his fiance, he will have the opportunity to pitch near family and will do well for Laredo. We are very excited to have Ryne join the Wild Things. He is a hard-throwing reliever who will strengthen our bullpen."

Coaching staff announced

The Wild Things announced Wednesday its three-member coaching staff for first-year manager Darin Everson. The coaches include one holder from previous seasons, one former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher and one former coach in the affiliated ranks.

Bob Bozzuto will be back for his fifth season with the Wild Things as the team's bench coach. Last year, Bozzuto was the third-base coach for the Wild Things.

“Bob brings a great factor to our coaching staff with his experience with the Frontier League," Everson said. "He really knows the ins and outs of the league.”

Mark Dewey, pictured, who spent six seasons (1990 and 1992-96) in the major leagues including two as a relief pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates, will be Washington's pitching coach. Dewey had a 12-7 career record with the Pirates, San Francisco Giants and New York Mets. Dewey spent the 1993 and '94 seasons with the Pirates, appearing in 66 games with a 3-3 record and eight saves.

Dewey was the pitching coach at Emory & Henry College last spring. His previous coaching experience includes working as the pitching coach with the Kingsport Mets in 2000 and 2002 and with the Aiken Foxhounds of the independent South Coast League in 2007.

“I am excited to join the Wild Things organization and am looking forward to working with Darin,” Dewey said. “I'm also excited to return to the Pittsburgh area, as I enjoyed the two summers I spent with the Pirates.”

The third coach will be hitting coach Dana Williams. A Weirton, W.Va., native, Williams spent 12 years coaching in the Seattle Mariners' system, serving as manager of the Mariners' team in the rookie-level Arizona League for two years and as a hitting coach with various affiliates for 10 years. He played minor league ball for seven seasons (1983-89) in the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox systems. Williams made it to the majors in 1989 and appeared in eight games for Boston.

One interesting note about Williams is he had one major-league hit (1-for-5). It was a double off Minensota's Allan Anderson in a June game.

“Dana has significant minor-league coaching experience. He not only has expertise in hitting, but also in base running and outfielding, so we look for him to help our players in those areas as well," Everson said.

Todd Marlin, the Wild Things' managing director, said, “We are very excited to have a coaching staff with this amount of experience for the 2010 season. We feel these four coaches will do an excellent job putting a quality team on the field and give Washington a great opportunity to capture our first Frontier League championship.”

Young cruises into the FL

Dmitri Young, pictured, who spent more than a decade in the major leagues as an outfielder and first baseman, has joined the Oakland County Cruisers as vice-president and senior adviser-baseball operations for Diamond Heroes of Southeast Michigan, Inc., the ownership group of the Cruisers.

Below is a link to the story about the hiring from the Oakland Press.

Read the story here.

What I found interesting about the story is the Cruisers' ballpark is still not under construction. Apparently, owner Rob Hilliard has been attempting to get a group of investors from Long Beach, Calif., to provide additional funding. Hilliard said he wants construction to begin no later than April. The Cruisers will play some of their home games at Eastern Michigan University (again). The site for a July 6-8 series against Normal is listed on the Cruisers' homepage as "TBD" and the July 16-18 series against the Wild Things is still listed as the first game in Waterford Township at the new ballpark.

Three months to build a ballpark? Here's saying it won't be close to being ready by July 16.

What I found extremely entertaining about the article are the reader comments. If you thought this blog had wild comments, then this story is must-read material.

Vecchio's 6 things about the Things

Though it didn't make the story in Thursday's edition of the Observer-Reporter about Ross Vecchio, pictured, resigning as general manager of the Wild Things, I asked Vecchio to give me five things he will remember most about his days with Washington and the Frontier League. He gave me six:

Opening night in 2002 – "Just getting there was a major undertaking. Then, after a few weeks, it was automatic that the ballpark was going to be packed every night. The community had embraced this team, which made all the hard work worthwhile."

The 2005 All-Star Game – "Those two nights – the skills competition and the game – stand as one of the best all-star games in Frontier League history. We sold out both nights, the skills competition and the game, which was unheard of for the league."

The players – "We had more than 30 players move on to affiliated ball, from Ben Ally, who was the first, to Tom Cochran and Patrick Stanley, both of whom made it to Triple-A last summer."

The 2007 season – "We had our backs against the wall just to make the playoffs that year and nobody really gave us a shot to win. But we win two games we weren't expected to at Gateway, then get to the finals. It was disappointing that we didn't win the championship. I remember sitting in the stands at Windy City late during Game 5 and thinking how much a championship would have meant to our fans. I know it meant a lot to Windy City, but I think it would have meant more to this community, our fans, our staff and to to this organization.

"In 2002, when we made it to the finals, I don't think we realized the magnitude of what we had accomplished and how difficult it would be to get back to the finals. We were caught up in the moment."

Community reaction to the team – "One of the most amazing things I've seen is going to Pirates games or even Steelers games and seeing people wearing Wild Things shirts or hats. I was at a Steelers game once and had a guy walk up to me and say 'That was a great trade you made for ...' That's something you don't expect to happen at a a Steelers game."

The Barry Bonds contract offer – "That, of course, was a publicity stunt in the middle of winter, but we didn't expect it to take off like it did. ... For the 48 hours after we issued the press release, the phones here and my phone were ringing off the hook. People were asking me to appear on radio talk shows all over the country, especially in San Francisco. Even Jim Rome was talking about it on his shows.

"The most amazing thing about that was, some people in the Frontier League didn't like it. Several teams called (FL commissioner) Bill Lee and complained that Bonds doesn't meet the league's age limit. They complained so much that Bill had to take the press release down off the league's Web site. Barry Bonds wasn't going to sign with us, but Bill still had to explain some things to the teams that were complaining. We opened that year at Chillicothe, and Bill said that if Washington rolled into Chillicothe with Barry Bonds on the team, 'Do you think I'm going to tell (then-Paints owner) Chris Hanners and the thousands who would show up at the ballpark that Barry Bonds can't play? No.'"

Super Vet?

When talking to Ross Vecchio earlier this week about his resignation from the Wild Things, he passed on this interesting nugget of information about a Frontier League rules change this season that involves rosters.

The FL has carved its niche in the independent baseball landscape by having a strick age limit. It's the only independent league that has an age limit. No FL player can be 27 years old prior to Jan. 1 of any season.

Teams lose players to the age limit rule every season. The Wild Things are no exception. Players like Shaun Argento, Josh Loggins, Aaron Ledbetter and Grant Psomas have aged out of the league while with Washington.

This season, however, teams can add what will be termed a Vet-2 to their roster. This is any player ages 28-30 who has played at least 100 games with a franchise in previous seasons. Teams can have only one Vet-2 on the roster and he will count against the limit of three Veterans.

Looking at the Wild Things' roster last season, Brett Grandstrand falls under the Vet-2 category. Psomas, though he played the entire 2009 season with Washington, could not be a Vet-2 because he did not play 100 games with the Wild Things.

Had this rule in place since 2002 -- when the Wild Things joined the Frontier League -- Washington would have had the option of keeping players like Argento, Loggins, Chris Carter, Travis Copley etc.

Wild Things swing trade

Outfielder Phil Laurent, who helped the Wild Things climb back into the playoff race last July before suffering a season-ending knee injury, has been traded by Washington to the Normal CornBelters, the Frontier League's newest team.

In exchange for Laurent, who batted .335 with eight home runs in 49 games for the Wild Things, Washington receives the rights to first baseman Paul Chmiel and infielder Pat Kenny. Neither team announced the trade Monday but it was listed on the Frontier League's homepage.

Laurent suffered the season-ending injury in a play at home plate during a game at Florence in late July.

Chmiel (6-5, 200) was drafted in the 22nd round by the Baltimore Orioles in 2005 out of Mount Pocono High School. He spent four seasons in the O's system with his best year being 2006 when, as a 19-year-old, he batted .286 with 13 doubles in 44 games for the rookie-level Appalachian League. An Internet search revealed no statistics for Chmiel in 2009.

Kenny (6-4, 215) appears to be a former player at Madonna University, an NAIA school, and Saginaw Valley State, an NCAA Division II program. Both schools are located in Michigan. He played third base for Madonna.

With the addition of Chmiel, the Wild Things have acquired three first basemen in the last month. The others are Robbie Wine and Adam Amar.

What's next for Wild Things?

Now that they've hired Todd Marlin to run the franchise's daily operations, cleaned house in the ticketing department, changed job responsibilities for several front-office employees and hired Darin Everson, pictured, as manager, the focus for the Wild Things becomes putting together a team.

Washington has announced the signing of only five players -- outfielders Matt Cotellese and Mark McGonigle, first basemen Adam Amar and Cory Wine, and infielder Rich Michalek. Pitchers Craig Snipp and Nick Petersen have retired and pitcher Brian McCullough has been released. The Wild Things picked up the option on 13 others players including seven pitchers.

What areas will gain the most attention of Everson and general manager Ross Vecchio during the weeks leading up to spring training? Here's thinking the left side of the infield and pitching will be the priorities (isn't pitching always a priority?). The catching situation must be cleared up and a decision must be made on what to do with the remaining Veteran roster spot.

Chris Raniere is the only shortstop or third baseman on the roster with pro experience, so I'd expect at least two players will be signed after minor-league spring training to fill those positions. If Michael Parker returns, that will solidify second base. Amar would have the inside track for the first base job with Wine, son of Penn State coach Robbie Wine, having a shot to play first or the outfield.

Alan Robbins and Kyle Obal are the only catchers on the roster. Obal had just 11 at-bats last year and Robbins is an L2, which is usually a roster spot reserved for an impact hitter. That's something Robbins has never been in his career. His reputation is that of a solid defensive catcher, which means Washington is likely to be in the market for two catchers.

The holdover pitchers are lefty Jason Neitz and right-handers Andy Schindling, Keith Meyer, Zach Groh, Rob Hedrick, Michael Lucas and Justin Edwards.

The Frontier League voted last year to increase the number of L2 (players with the equivalent of two full seasons in professional ball) roster spots to three beginning in the 2010 season. That leaves with the Wild Things with one open Vet spot and one L2 (two if Robbins is not back). If you build your team the right way, then the Vets and L2s are the guys who should carry your team.

The Wild Things have plenty of roster flexibility, but finding a shortstop and third baseman and putting together a pitching staff should be at the top of Everson's to-do list.

Billy Petrick: From the majors to the Frontier

Here's a link to a New York Times story about former Chicago Cubs pitcher Billy Petrick, who made it to the big leagues in 2007 before his right shoulder gave out on him. He ended up in the Frontier League last season, pitching in 11 games for Windy City before blowing out his right elbow. If it weren't for bad luck, Petrick would have no luck at all.

Read the story here.