Southern Illinois Hot Stove 2/20/08

The Souther Illinois Miners had an impressive inaugural season in 2007, drawing over 5,000 fans per game and smashing the league attendance record.  On the field, they finished a couple games over .500 at 49-47, and return quite a few key players from last year's squad.  They have also been extremely busy expanding their spring training roster with 32 players (of a maximum of 35) already inking contracts, so I am only going to give a little background on who I consider to be the biggest moves of the off-season for the Miners, because there are so many to talk about.

Key Additions:

3B Brandon Jones -  Jones is a Veteran 3rd basemen that the Miners got from Sioux City of the American Association.  Jones will attempt to fill the shoes of All-Star 3B Chris Hall, who aged out of the league this off-season

1B/DH Tim Dorn - Dorn returns to the Miners after being released by the St. Louis Cardinals this off-season.  Dorn was signed by the Cardinals last year after hitting 12 home runs in just over 30 games with the Miners.

The Miners have also added a whole bunch of rookies to their spring training roster, none of which have previous professional experience other than catcher Jake Smith, who comes over from Sioux Falls of the American Association.

Key Losses:

2B Ralph Santana - Santana was one of the best lead-off men in the Frontier League this past season, hitting .342 with a .430 on-base percentage to go along with a .965 fielding percentage.  Santana aged out of the league and will join the Miners coaching staff.

3B Chris Hall - Hall was the best defensive 3rd basemen in the league last year, making just 6 errors all season at the hot corner.  At the plate he added .318 average with 20 doubles and 13 home runs.  His production offensively and defensively will be tough to replace.

RHP Rick Hummel - Hummel was one of Southern Illinois' best bullpen arms last season, pitching 32.2 innings with a 3-1 record and 1.98 ERA.  Hummel also aged out of the league.

Key Returners:

SS Mike Scanzano - Scanzano was an All-Star last season for the Miners while hitting .309 with a .381 on-base percentage.  He was also steady in the field, committing just 15 errors during the season.

1B Joey Metropoulos - Metropoulos was a late signing by the Miners last summer after he was released by the Blue Jays organization, but he made the most of his time in Southern Illinois, hitting .326 with 11 doubles and 9 home runs in just 39 games.  The combination of Metropoulos and Dorn should be a pretty tough middle of the order for the Miners.

RHP Nick Tisone - Tisone will be the ace of the Southern Illinois staff next year after going 8-3 with a 3.82 ERA in 127 innings.

RHP Chris Little - Little split last season between the Gateway Grizzlies and the Miners, going 8-8 with a 3.80 ERA in 109 innings.  Little has been around the Frontier League for a while now, and has always been very successful.

RHP Travis Hope - Hope was one of the best closers in the Frontier League last season, locking down 14 saves in 44.2 innings to go with a 5-3 record and 1.61 ERA.

The Miners also return quite a few pitchers from last years staff including Brian Blomquist, Griffin Bailey, Ryan Quigley, and Marcus McKenzie to name a few.  Outfielders Kevin Koski, Drew Moffit, Willie Keene, and Eric Suttle also return.

Southern Illinois has some holes to fill in their starting rotation and on the infield, but I expect them to find some quality players out of spring training.  Some of the rookies they signed had good numbers in college, and I'm sure some of them will fit in nicely as well.

It is sure to be a dogfight in the West Division as Gateway, Rockford, and Windy City all return a good deal of their playoff squads from last season.