Transactions — Kelly, Regnault, Almonte, Gelphman, Bukowski, Kaczor and Perez
By: Frontier League Journal
Tags: Dalton Pompey, Transactions, Michael Kelly, Baseball, Frontier League

New Jersey Jackals

April 24: Signed RHP Jack Weinberger and RHP Jason Zgardowski.

Jason Zgardowski (RHP) : A big arm that was with the River City Rascals in 2019: (2.39 ERA), 9.7 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9. He has been in the Phillies and Cardinals systems. He throws a fastball in the mid-90s, a slider and splitter.

: A big arm that was with the River City Rascals in 2019: (2.39 ERA), 9.7 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9. He has been in the Phillies and Cardinals systems. He throws a fastball in the mid-90s, a slider and splitter. Jack Weinberger (RHP): a 6'5 righty that has limited pro ball experience and has not started a game since 2017. Manager Brooks Carey might need him out of the bullpen in 2021.

Tri-City ValleyCats

April 24: Signed LHP Samuel Perez, a 21-year-old arm signed out of Venezuela in 2018 by the Los Angeles Angels. Difficult to perform better than he has in 60 IP (all as a reliever) with their Dominican Summer League team: 1.35 ERA, 1.1 BB/9 and 10.5 K/9. Is there an injury we don’t know about? I could not find anything on him, but at this age and this kind of control, bat-missing ability, the ValleyCats MAY have something to hold on to out of the bullpen.

April 23: Released 3B Zane Gelphman. Well, their 2nd round selection did not last long with the team. Let’s see what happens with their first round pick, Brandt Broussard.

April 21: Traded catcher B.J. Lopez to the Kane County Cougars of the American Association for a player to be named later.

Joliet Slammers

April 23: signed RHP Mike Kelly, a former 1st round pick of the San Diego Padres that never panned out. Now 28 years old, the 6'4, 185 lbs veteran will give it another shot and throw out of the Slammers rotation. He can throw his fastball in the 90–92 mph range and top out at 94–95 mph. His secondary pitches are a curveball and changeup. Both have played a part in his downfall, being average and never getting another look to the batters who were just sitting on his fastball. Control problems have also been part of the narrative on his career with an average of around 5 walks every nine innings. It is not possible to maintain success with this kind of performance, unfortunately. Let’s hope this trip in independent baseball brings the best out of him.

Evansville Otters

April 22: Signed LHP Abraham Almonte, a former Arizona Diamondbacks farmhand that can be plugged in at the end of a game as a reliever and get hitters out. This will be his second straight season with the Otters (4.38 ERA in 2019) but he’ll have to reduce the bases on balls to get by, something he was doing consistently in the past, so his last season might be just a blip on the radar. He usually throws over 60% of his pitches for strikes and less than 4 pitches per batters faced.

April 22: Released RHP Trace Norkus.

April 21: Signed RHP Reid Bukowski, a pitcher I could not find anything about, until I saw that little nugget on the Sidearm Nation website. A submariner for the Otters to trick the opposing batters during the last innings of a game? Yes! Good god I love baseball!

I just wanted to say thank you for all that you have done! From originally meeting you over the Internet and giving me advice and answering questions of mine that helped me become a better submarine pitcher. Also showing me an amazing time at the sidearm/submarine pitcher camp that I had attended in Arizona! This was an amazing experience that gave me many new views on pitching from not only the physical side but also the mental and strategical side. Geoff was a huge part of my development and still is to this day, he helped put me on a path that has been something of a dream and given me more opportunities than I could have imagined.

Ottawa Titans

April 22: Sent RHP Micah Kaczor to the New Jersey Jackals to complete a previous trade.

A good arm with a good upside in 2021, being only 24 years old and being able to limit walks and the long ball. After being released by the Colorado Rockies in 2019, he started four games with the River City Rascals and averaged 6 innings per start with this great production: 1.46 ERA, 0.4 HR/9, 1.1 BB/9 and 5.5 K/9.

In just a few days, the Jackals have picked up a reliable starter and two good bullpen arms. I have an interview coming up with manager Brooks Carey and I can’t wait to talk about these additions with him.

Gateway Grizzlies

April 21: signed catcher/DH Andres Regnault, formerly in the Mets organisation and I can’t for the life of me understand why he was released when you look at his stats in 595 at-bats in the Dominican and Appy League: 20 HRs, .272/.353/.437. Defensively, 15 errors in 108 games and he catches 30% of runners trying to steal. His 6 foot frame might not be projectable behind the plate in the long term (just speculating, here) and could be one of the reasons he is not in affiliated ball anymore.

Great idea by manager Cameron Roth to give him a look in the Frontier League and let him dictate what his career will look like from now on.

April 21: Traded RHP Andrew Bash and INF Sam Troyer to the Missoula PaddleHeads of the Pioneer League for SS Jose Reyes.

Reyes played in the Diamondbacks organization until January 8, 2021, and had a down year in 2019. An athletic middle infielder with a very good eye at the plate, expect a rebound from him this year. He has the right coaching staff supervising him to make the best out of this opportunity.

Quebec City Capitales

April 21: Signed OF Dalton Pompey. Already covered this big news out of Quebec, but here’s what I wrote a few days ago:

Signed OF Dalton Pompey, a switch-hitter and a former Blue Jays / top prospect that brings power and speed to the very first spot in the lineup. What’s even more impressive is that he doesn’t even take a precious “Veteran” spot on the roster, leaving another one for the team to plug in. He has been hampered by injuries in the past few years, cutting short is chances of making it to the bigs for the time being, but if he returns to form, what a great catch by the team.

“This is a huge get for us! We are excited to be able to count on a major league player. This is an unexpected acquisition for us. We will count on him as a real first hitter in our offensive role with his combination of speed and power! He also says he is motivated and healthy after having had some injuries in his last seasons in the affiliated leagues and with the Jays,” detailed manager Patrick Scalabrini.

Southern Illinois Miners

April 21: Signed RHP Jose Fuentes. I announced this exclusive news this week. Here’s what I wrote about him:

Signed RHP Josh Fuentes, 26, from Venezuela. He should compete for a rotation spot, but has never thrown more than 68 innings in one season, so long relief is also a good spot for him. He can limit the long ball and walks. This is an exclusive news, directly from the team, so enjoy the small scouting report from the manager:

Former Tigers farmhand with 5 years experience who will fall into Rookie status with the FL not counting DSL or VSL this year. 90’s FB with life.

Sussex County Miners

April 21: Traded RHP Kida De La Cruz to the Missoula PaddleHeads of the Pioneer League for future considerations.

Washington Wild Things

April 21: Released LHP Austin Kitchen.

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C’est avec le café en main, le jazz et la partie des A’s / Orioles en arrière-plan en ce dimanche matin que je complète ces transactions avec du contenu, essayant de donner un sens aux décisions et ce que cela signifie pour les joueurs et la ligue. J’envisage également le potentiel de cette ligue, en particulier lorsque les 16 équipes seront en mesure de participer pour une saison complète et offriront vraiment une grande entité de baseball indépendante que nous pourrons tous soutenir et encourager.

Ce sera une très belle chose d’ici peu et je ne peux qu’espérer que la couverture et la passion à travers ces articles du Journal de la Frontier League lui rendront justice.

Jusque-là, les derniers jours ont été remplis de contenu et la semaine à venir s’annonce encore plus chargée si l’on considère les interviews qui seront publiées: Trevor Achenbach (1er choix général du Repêchage de Dispersion), Brian Dansereau (1ère sélection de la 2e ronde) et Clinton Hollon (ancien choix de 2e ronde des Blue Jays, une belle histoire de retour dans le camp des Grizzlies de Gateway). Vous en voulez plus? Que diriez-vous de parler aux Mariners de Kent, en Angleterre, à propos de leur partenariat avec les Crushers de Lake Erie. Vous en voulez encore plus? Ok, nous prendrons le temps de vous présenter Brian Begley, un designer sportif qui s’est donné un défi avec les 16 équipes sur la Frontier League, en redessinant tous les uniformes ET en inventant un tout nouveau pour les Queues de Castors de Québec, un design fictif pour l’ équipe de la Province de Québec qui représentera le Canada au cours de la saison 2021.

D’ici là, beaucoup de choses vous sont offertes pour vous tenir au courant de l’action de la Frontier League: