The signing of Gartley prompted me to make a few phones calls since there is no record of Gartley being released by the South Coast League or there being any type of trade between the Chillicothe and Bradenton, the team he played on in 2007. The typical independent contract is a one year deal with a one year option, giving teams leverage to negotiate new terms from year to year or just extend a player's option for the same pay he received the year before. However, after a little research, it appears that the South Coast League contracts from their inaugural season, which was 2007, were one-year contracts with no option, so all players are free agents. This would explain why between 8-10 South Coast League players from 2007 have appeared on the rosters of independent teams across the country in the last couple of weeks. Most notably in Joliet, who is now managed by ex-South Coast League manager Wally Backman, and in Wichita, who is managed by ex-South Coast League Director of Baseball Operations Kash Beauchamp.
However, my research was a little confusing on the South Coast League as pretty much every contact I made in the league had a different opinion of how the players were being handled. Some said they could "protect" a certain amount of players, some said that the players indeed had an option year in their contract, while others said that everyone was a free agent like I suspected. The later is the most plausible explanation, otherwise teams like Chillicothe, Joliet, and Wichita would have to trade for players instead of just signing them. Gartley, for instance, would have had trade value for that league since he was one of their top pitchers in 2007.
Needless to say, what hasn't already been cherry-picked out of the South Coast League will be soon after people like myself catch wind it is a free for all down there.
Back to the Chillicothe Paints - they have also signed three outfielders in the past week, which is a slightly confusing move since it looks like they have their starting outfield from 2007 back for 2008. The three outfielders are Brad Bohannon, Kyle Patrick, and Montana Dye. Dye has numbers worth mentioning - he hit .316 with 8 home runs last year at Sacramento State. Dye will be competing with an outfield that will most likely looking like Paul Rutgers, Gavin Ng, and Travis Storrer from left to right. The Paints signed former Kent State All-American 2nd basemen Drew Saylor earlier this off-season, which makes me think Rutgers will end up in left field. It appears these three guys will have an uphill battle to make the squad since Gavin Ng is a good defensive center fielder and respectable leadoff man, while Travis Storrer has one of the best outfield arms in the Frontier League that I saw last year.
In other news, Rockford Riverhawks All-Star outfielder Matt Sauls and Gateway Grizzlies All-Star outfield Dustin Roberts have both announced their retirements. Sauls hit .318 for Rockford last year and Roberts finished off his career with one of the more memorable offensive seasons in Frontier League history, hitting .301 with 19 doubles, 29 home runs, and 73 RBI. Roberts is the only player that I've ever seen hit an opposite field home run at Wuerfel Park.
The Traverse City Beach Bums are still waiting for several contracts to return on newly signed players, which includes a couple very nice pitching prospects and the signing of one of the best catchers in the CanAm League in 2007. Announcements on these players will be made as soon as we have their contracts in our hands.
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