Rockford Riverhawks Hot Stove 2/8/08

The Rockford Riverhawks have made quite a few moves this off-season - so many that I'm not sure I caught them all.  Their roster was full of LS-2 and Veteran players going into the 2008 season, so it is natural to see them shuffling a lot of players.

Recently, they've made a couple trades with the Golden League for outfielders - swapping 1B Will Henderson for Reno Silver Sox OF Ryan Kowalski as well as C/OF Joey Huskins for St. George Roadrunners OF Greg Burrows.

Key Additions

OF Ryan Kowalski - Hit .285 with 12 doubles and 19 stolen bases for Reno last summer.  It appears that Kowalski will try to replace Veteran center fielder Matt Sauls, who retired earlier this month.

OF Greg Burrows - Burrows had a very brief pro stint with St. George last summer, hitting .305 in 59 at-bats.  He showed he had some pop in his bat, hitting 6 doubles and a home run, as well as some speed on the bases with 5 steals without being caught.

RHP Robert Wooley - Wooley has been moved around a lot in the last couple of years, and I'm not sure he will be done since it is very difficult for a pitcher with a Veteran status to stick with a Frontier League team unless they are putting up Pitcher of the Year numbers.  Wooley had a 3.51 ERA in Southern Illinois before being traded to the American Association in 2007.

RHP Jim Paduch - Rockford acquired Paduch from Gary of the Northern League this off-season.  Paduch is another Veteran in a Rockford roster already clogged by LS-2s and Veterans.  It will be interesting to see if the big righty sticks with the Riverhawks after going 0-3 with a 4.37 ERA in a short stint with Evansville last year after starting the season in the Northern League.

RHP Johnathan Burke - Burke had a brief stint in the CanAm League last season, but was very successful, sporting a 3.86 ERA in 14 IP.

RHP Chris Langlois - The 26-year old Langlois is just an LS-1 by Frontier League standards and had a 2.91 ERA in 21 IP in the Golden League in 2007.  I'm guessing last season was shortened by injury for Langlois, who pitched over 100 innings the year before.

Key Losses

OF Matt Sauls - Sauls anchored the Riverhawks for three years in the outfield, hitting a career high .318 in center field last season with 10 doubles and 7 home runs.  Sauls retired earlier this month.

RHP Tanner Watson - Watson could have easily won the Pitcher of Year Award in the Frontier League in 2008 after going 11-3 with a 2.17 ERA in 103 IP.  He was signed by the Chicago Cubs this off-season.

3B Matt Hagen - Hagen hit .335 with 23 doubles and 13 home runs - numbers the Riverhawks will have to look hard to replace.  Hagen aged out of the Frontier League this off-season.

1B Will Henderson - Henderson hit .265 with 16 doubles and 9 home runs in 2007 while playing 1B for the Riverhawks.  He was traded to the Golden League.

UTL Andrew Sweet - Sweet returns to River City after a late season trade that put him in Rockford for the playoff run.  Sweet hit .282 in 88 games between the two clubs in 2007.

RHP Jason Baca - Baca was one of Rockford's toughest arms out of the pen last year, tossing 31 innings with 8 saves and a 2.03 ERA.  Baca was traded to River City in part of the Andrew Sweet deal.

Also recently missing from Rockford's online roster are outfielder Roberto Valiente (Veteran) and pitchers Brady Salter (7-5, 4.86), Shaun Parker (6-2, 2.76), and Dave Dowling (6-7, 4.22), however, there have been no official announcements on retirements or trades concerning these players.

Key Returners

RHP Mike Marksbury - Marksbury was one of the top closers in the Frontier League last year before being signed by the Milwaukee Brewers.  Marksbury got released this off-season by the Brewers, and will return to be Rockford's closer again in 2008.

1B/OF Brandon Cohen - Cohen had a very good rookie season, hitting 10 doubles and 9 home runs in just over 130 at-bats.  Since Rockford traded for a couple outfielders this off-season, I expect Cohen to occupy either 1B or the DH spot on a regular basis.

LHP Garrett Bauer - Bauer enters his 3rd season in Rockford and his 5th overall.  Last year he went 7-5 with a 4.15 ERA.  Bauer will be an LS-2 in 2008.

RHP James Cramphin - Cramphin had a very good rookie season for the Riverhawks in 2007, going 4-4 with a 3.69 ERA in 68 innings.

RHP Roy Bringelson - Another Rockford rookie returns in 2008, last year Bringelson went 0-5 with a 3.38 ERA in 35 relief appearances.

Rockford has not made an official announcement concerning infielders Brad Dutton and Joe Anthonsen, but I'm guessing at least one of them is going to have to be moved since they are both LS-2s now and Rockford is pretty tight classification-wise.  OF Jason James, who hit .345 last season, is also yet to resign, but I'm assuming he will since he is still listed on their roster online.

Rockford lost most of their offensive production from last season and has put all of their chips into pitching for 2008, however, they have made good moves and along with Gateway, should give Windy City a run for their money in the West Division this coming summer.