More off-season Frontier League movement

Evansville and Rockford continued their busy off-season early this week, making a couple of interesting player moves, while the Washington Wild Things wrapped up their manager search (which didn't take very long).

The Rockford Riverhawks acquired RHP Jim Paduch from the Gary Railcats of the Northern League for two players to be named.  Paduch split time between Gary and Evansville last year and it appears that Evansville gave Paduch back to Gary at the end of the season.  Paduch will be a Veteran in the Frontier League in 2008, which is going to cause Rockford to make some interesting decisions in their lineup.  I'm assuming Paduch's acquisition is an attempt to replace ace Tanner Watson, who was signed by the Chicago Cubs today.  Paduch got beat up a bit in Evansville, going 0-3 with a 4.37 ERA, 9 walks, and 20 strikeouts in 22.2 innings.  Opponents hit .359 off Paduch last season.

Even with Watson signing with the Cubs and 3B Matt Hagen aging out of the league, the Riverhawks still have to juggle five spots between nine players.  Generally speaking, Frontier League teams go in favor of position players as opposed to pitchers for their two-year players and Veterans, but Rockford tends to keep a couple older players in their starting rotation.  With that said, they will have three lefty LS2s in Shaun Parker, Garrett Bauer, and Dave Dowling, so you can expect to see one or more of them moved before opening day.  Offensively, they'll have to pick from outfielders Matt Sauls and Robert Valiente, both Veterans in 2008, and infielders Will Henderson, Joe Anthonsen, and Brad Dutton, all LS2s next season.

The Evansville Otters gained an excellent player when they acquired SS Alex Fonseca and a three way trade with the Schaumburg Flyers of the Northern League and the Nashua Pride of the CanAm League.  Evansville first sent closer Mike Bille to Nashua in exchanged for pitcher Ryan Burnau, who they turned around and traded to Schaumburg for Fonseca.  Fonseca will be considered a one-year player (LS1) in the Frontier League.

The Washington Wild Things have selected Greg Jelks as their field manager for the 2008 season, replacing John Masserelli, who is taking the year off to spend more time with his family.  Jelks managed the Slippery Rock Sliders last season and the previous five years with the Evansville Otters.  Jelks ranks seventh in the Frontier League for career victories for a manager with 265.