Squirrels pick up Lind, Reyes, Frasor

The Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels, dormant in the trade market for much of the season, have made a deal to improve their offense as well as picking up a curiously unsigned free agent pitcher to help their bullpen.

In the deal made in the wee hours of Friday morning, the Squirrels sent RHPs Carlos Marmol and Ben Sheets, as well as a PTBN, to the Pottsylvania Creepers for OF Adam Lind and injured SS Jose Reyes. In the aftermath, they signed free agent RHP Jason Frasor.

Insiders say this deal was made when a proposed three-way trade including one other team fell through because of a player's no-trade clause. A more high-profile trade between the Squirrels and Creepers was also briefly discussed before they settled upon the current agreement.

"It was tough to give up Marmol," said Squirrels GM Jack Zduriencik. "But when we had the opportunity to acquire a young, talented player such as Lind we had to do it. We feel our relief pitching is still very good, especially with us signing Jason Frasor for the rest of the season."

Lind, who was still in AAA with the Creepers organization, will get a chance to contribute immediately with the defending-B.A.R.B. champion Flying Squirrels, with Carlos Beltran expected to be out for a while and Corey Hart experiencing mysterious stomach pains. Lind is a left-handed power hitting outfielder, something the Frostbite Falls lineup is missing.

Rumor had it the deal might not have been completed until much later had there not been a free agent pitcher the Frostbite Falls front office liked enough to replace Marmol.

The acquisition of Reyes and trade of Sheets was seen as exchanging two players in very similar situations. The Squirrels had picked up Sheets early in the season in hopes he would make it back during the second half and improve the rotation. It soon became apparent he would be out until 2010, however, so the team lost interest and looked to shed his salary. The Creepers had grown tired of waiting for Reyes to come back and made the decision that their current players could cover the middle infield well.

Frostbite Falls Assistant GM Andrew Friedman explained the club was expecting Reyes to miss the remainder of 2009 but be healthy and ready to contribute with his original club by spring 2010.

Reyes was originally drafted by Frostbite Falls' pre-cursor, the Santa Barbara Storm, in 2003, and he played 10 games that season for the inaugural B.A.R.B. champions before being selected in the expansion draft in 2004.

If Reyes returns healthy in 2010, it will give the Squirrels possibly the best infield in B.A.R.B, with Albert Pujols, Michael Young, Reyes and Evan Longoria.