THREE MOVES THE GIANTS NEED TO MAKE

The 2021 San Francisco Giants exceeded all expectations in leading all of Major League Baseball with 107 wins – setting a franchise record in the process – and came within one big swing of taking on the eventual World Series champion Atlanta Braves in the NLCS.

In 2022, the Giants will have a target on their backs as the reigning division champs, and eyeballs inside and outside the game will be watching closely to see whether they can repeat their success.

One of the most important pieces of their puzzle last season, and the constant driving force for the last decade, Buster Posey, shocked the baseball world in early-November by announcing his retirement after a resurgent season in which he hit .304 with 18 home runs in just 454 plate appearances. His absence adds to the litany of decisions that the team brain trust, led by president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and general manager Scott Harris, need to make to build off their 2021 surprise and bridge the gap to their up-and-coming top prospects.

We’ll hear more specifics about what players the team pursues in the coming weeks and months, but here’s an early look at three moves the Giants need to make to solidify their roster ahead of Spring Training 2022:

RE-SIGN CURT CASALI

On the face of it, making sure that a 33-year-old journeyman backup catcher coming off a .663 OPS remains on the roster doesn’t seem to be a top priority. But you’re not going to flip a switch and replace the exemplary leadership and 4.9 fWAR of Posey. The Giants have a solid corps of catching prospects nearing the big leagues, but none of them are quite ready to take the reins of a championship-caliber team. Joey Bart, the second-overall pick of the 2018 draft and longtime heir-apparent to Posey, will play 2022 at the age of 25. His 2020 audition in the majors didn’t go so well (.233/.288/.320 with no homers in 111 plate appearances), but he had a good season with AAA Sacramento in 2021 and should be able to at least hold his own against top-level pitching in short order. It is widely accepted, however, that his defense isn’t ready to handle a big-league staff by itself.

Enter Casali. Backing up Posey, Casali was integral to San Francisco’s run to the NL West title as he stepped in as the backstop for 55 starts – allowing Posey to get needed rest – and was lauded for his work with pitchers that included catching shutouts in five consecutive starts early in the season, and then adding to that total as the season went along.

Put Bart on the roster and give him the starting role as he (hopefully) hits at a league-average clip, and let Casali teach him the finer points of game-calling as he settles in.

RE-SIGN BRANDON BELT

For much of his first nine seasons in the majors, Brandon Belt showed promise with an excellent batting eye, good power and outstanding defense, though it has always felt like he could raise his game to another level if he didn’t miss so much time with injuries (or have so many extra-base hits get caught in 421-foot Triples Alley in his home games). His career marks from his 2011 debut through 2019 added up to a decent .261/.354/.448 with an average of 19 home runs per 162 games. In reality, a team would be looking for more power from a first baseman.

And then the Giants changed the configuration of the fences before 2020. Not coincidentally, Belt turned in his best season yet: a slash line of .309/.425/.591 with 9 round trippers in his 51 games played, earning MVP votes for the first time. He followed that up with a great (though, again, injury-shortened) 2021: .274/.378/.597 with 29 home runs – the most by a Giant in a single season since Barry Bonds hit 45 in 2004. The fact that he hit so many blasts in 97 games/just 381 plate appearances makes it seem as though there’s quite a bit more in the tank. Based on his rate of homers per plate appearance, if he had equaled his previous career high in playing time (655 PA in 2016) and kept the same home run rate, he would have hit 49 or 50.

Belt’s absence was felt in the last week of the regular season and the playoff series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, as the Giants struggled offensively and saw their season end in heartbreaking fashion.

Now that Posey is hanging up the cleats, keeping Belt is important for continuity. Replace too many players and you don’t know how it will sit in the clubhouse, and you’re never sure what you’ll get on the field. Plus, despite his performance the past two seasons (38 HR, 89 RBI, 165 OPS+ in a combined 148 games), the injury history could mean he’ll come a bit cheaper than if he was on the field more often.

ACQUIRE TWO ESTABLISHED STARTING PITCHERS

Entering the 2021 campaign, the only sure things in the starting rotation for the boys at 3^rd and King were Kevin Gausman and Johnny Cueto. After that, the Giants weren’t sure what they’d get out of retreads Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Wood, Scott Kazmir and Aaron Sanchez along with promising-but-unproven Logan Webb and a few other minor league possibilities. That didn’t inspire much confidence, but in the end it worked out and the starting staff was one of the best in the league.

At this point, the 2022 rotation is in, possibly, a worse situation. Sure, Webb developed into a frontline starter and the pitching coaches proved they could rehabilitate careers (see Wood and DeSclafani). But there are always misses, such as Sanchez and Kazmir. While there may be a couple handfuls who come to the City (or at least Scottsdale) to try, you can’t rely on pitchers looking to reclaim their former success as a consistent means of filling the rotation. Even this past season only Gausman made a full-season worth of starts (33). DeSclafani came up just short of that at 31, Webb and Wood started 26 and nine more hurlers – including a few relief pitchers – ended up firing the first pitch of a game. The reclamation projects almost always are coming off an injury or ineffectiveness to the point where they had few innings in the season(s) before, so a staff can’t count on them to stay healthy and effective the whole season.

Right now, Webb is the likely Opening Day starter. Behind him, nothing is certain. Gausman, DeSclafani and Wood are all free agents. Cueto has a team option, and after a middling season mixed with injuries, the Giants very well might let him go. So, where do you turn? Signing a pair of established starters would be ideal. Max Scherzer is, obviously, at the top of anyone’s list. He was traded to the Dodgers at the trade deadline and, at the age of 37 (turning 38 next July), doesn’t appear to be slowing down (15-4, 2.46 ERA in 2021). He’ll be expensive, but with a lot of money coming off the books (especially if Cueto’s option is declined), the Giants can take whatever contract he demands. Who else might they look at? Certainly they’ll try for someone younger. Carlos Rodon had the best year of his career and will pitch next season at 29, but has long had injury issues. The Giants’ brass would be wise to do what they can to re-sign Gausman, who has been their top starter for two seasons and will turn 31 at the beginning of 2022, and pick up Scherzer as well as possibly another veteran such as Marcus Stroman or Robbie Ray. Hanging on to DeSclafani and/or Wood could work too, but the West won’t be won with three solid starters and a couple of bullpen days every week.

Please Don't Do This Again

Dear Atlanta Braves,

Congrats on a good season! Sure, you didn’t get to 90 wins – your 88 was the fewest of any of the 10 playoff teams – but you made it to the NLCS! And boy, what a start! Two walk-offs and then a late collapse, followed by a convincing victory to move one win away from the World Series? No one remembers that win total now.

But here’s the deal: EVERYONE remembers the Dodgers’ win total. And the fact that, at 18 wins BETTER than you, they had to survive the Wild Card game. And a best-of-5 series against the team with the most wins in the game. Everyone also remembers last year the same lead in your hands, against the same team, in the same round of the postseason. And you flopped. Allowed the Hated Dodgers to comeback, take three straight, and then waltz by a Blake Snell-less Tampa Bay Rays late in Game 6 of the 2020 World Series (looking at you, Rays analytics department) and throw us into this nearly year-long national nightmare.

As you might have guessed by now, I’m a Giants fan. The Braves have made life rough for my type for quite some time, starting with the 1914 “Miracle” Boston Braves coming back from the dead in July. My first year as a dedicated fan of the Orange and Black was 1993, a set of numbers still cursed by fans by the Bay (though the blame goes more to the San Diego Padres for giving Fred McGriff to you for three nobodies, and the Colorado Rockies for falling on their faces in your presence – who goes 0-13 against a division opponent in a season? – and we’ll add whomever made the decision to put Atlanta, the large city in Georgia, which is on the East Coast, in the National League…West). And then last year, when you blew the advantage of needing just one more win to eliminate Los Angeles.

It had been nice to end any argument with a Dodgers fan with a simple “three-in-five!” for the past half-decade, and then really tick ‘em off by mentioning “1988”. But that’s all out the window now after they took the “piece of metal” – er, Commissioner’s Trophy – following your NLCS debacle last year. Yeah, we could have done it ourselves, but you know how baseball goes. So, how about throwing your (temporary) west-coast fan base a bone and taking one of the next two games? The sooner, the better, in fact. Let’s not leave it to the final game – we Giants fans know how that turned out. And, hey, a bonus for you: if you win, especially soon, it improves your odds of a World Series title! Doesn’t that sound appealing?

Let’s try some of that. Just one win. K thx!

Madison Bumgarner: 2012 NL Cy Young candidate

While looking through a list of top young major leaguers and prospects, some names stand out. Pitchers such as Matt Moore, Jacob Turner, Michael Pineda and Julio Teheran will soon be mentioned among the top aces in the game of baseball and be expected to compete year-in, year-out for pitching awards. For now, though, they have little big-league experience and will likely experience growing pains the next few years before reaching their peak.

There is, however, a young hurler I can foresee making a big impact in the 2012 NL Cy Young Award balloting, as long as his equally-talented teammates don’t overshadow him. Yes, call me biased, but I am referring to big lefty Madison Bumgarner of the San Francisco Giants.

“MadBum”, as he is affectionately called by the fans, was a top prospect coming out of high school in North Carolina. At 20 years of age he got a taste of the majors and succeeded, and the black and orange faithful were looking forward to many years of strong pitching with him joining Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain at the top of the rotation. But, unbeknownst to many, his sizzling fastball had lost some steam.

Bumgarner started 2010 the same way and got lit up in a few starts at AAA Fresno, but he fixed a problem in his mechanics and was an integral part to the Giants’ run to the World Series title, including eight shutout innings in game four against the Texas Rangers.

Things were looking up for Bumgarner at the beginning of 2011, but his first few starts foretold a possible sophomore slump. He finally figured things out, though, and had a great season despite a few hiccups throughout the season. While he wasn’t considered a serious contender for Cy Young, he did earn a vote. Bumgarner had a great ERA (3.21) despite a fluke outing where he gave up eight earned runs and got one out (and if you remove that game from his stats, his ERA plummets to 2.86). He averaged nearly a strikeout per inning and walked just two batters per nine innings.

The big lefty’s final 10 starts of 2011 are what have me very excited for the upcoming season. At a time when most pitchers are faltering because of fatigue, MadBum was at his best. He had double-digit strikeouts three times in that stretch, including a career-high 13 in one outing. He K’d nearly five batters for every one walk and allowed and suppressed hits much better than his overall season, with more than a hit less per nine innings.

Entering 2012, Bumgarner has many things going his way. Quite honestly, I think he will continue improving and put up full-season statistics along the lines of those final 10 starts. If he can figure out his annual beginning-of-the-season problems, he could have an outstanding season and not only be in the discussion but win the NL Cy Young Award.

Flying Squirrels make pair of deals

Just before the pre-draft trade deadline, the Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels made a pair of trades to improve the future of the franchise.

First, the club finalized the long-rumored trade of Carlos Pena to Pottsylvania. Originally the Squirrels were planning on getting an established relief pitcher back, but in the 11th hour the Creepers offered two top young arms, RHP Kyle Gibson and LHP James Paxton, for the first baseman.

And, literally one minute before the deadline, GM Jack Zduriencik swapped one young player coming off a down season, C Chris Iannetta, to the Madtown Murlocs for another, LHP Francisco Liriano.

"Coming into the draft we looked at our farm system and determined we were a little short on future impact talent," Zduriencik said. "So we identified our strengths, catcher and first base, and traded our backups from those positions for very talented young players. Pena and Iannetta weren't going to see much playing time behind Albert Pujols and Victor Martinez, respectively, so we determined they were tradeable.

"We are very excited about bringing these three dynamic arms into our system. We already have one of the top young rotations in the league (with an average age of 25), and this ensures our rotation will continue to be top-notch, young and cheap many years into the future."

In other news, the Flying Squirrels were forced to cut ties with longtime closer Joe Nathan. Amid news of Nathan's impending Tommy John surgery, the Squirrel front office decided they couldn't hold onto him and his salary while he was on the sidelines.

"We wish Joe the best," owner Andrew Haynes said. "We hope his recovery goes well and that he returns to his old self next year. If that is the case, we might look at bringing him back."

Nathan is a career Squirrel. He was drafted by the team in the 6th round in 2004 and pitched for the team until 2009. He became the full-time closer in 2005 and saved 145 games in his six years with the club, the best mark in the league. Joakim Soria is expected to take over as the closer.

Richmond selects Flying Squirrels!

Today, it was announced the new Richmond, VA, AA Eastern League baseball team would be named the Flying Squirrels.

http://www.richmondprobaseball.com/cgi-bin/dist/news.cgi?id=1255635998

They are in the process of designing a logo and getting ready for next season. I think this is the first time a professional team has taken the name of a BARB team. This is sweet!

Vote for the Richmond Flying Squirrels!

The San Francisco Giants' AA team recently moved from Connecticut to Richmond, VA. They are having a Name the Team contest, and one of the 6 finalists is Flying Squirrels! Go and vote here:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/baseball/name-the-team/

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.

Squirrels greatly improve rotation

The Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels have agreed to a trade to bring young pitcher Matt Garza back into the fold. Garza was a Squirrel once before, when he was acquired before the 2008 season. Garza never threw a pitch in a Squirrels uniform, though, as he was traded along with Delmon Young just before the draft for draft pick considerations.

The Squirrels had to give up talent to get talent, however, and the talent they gave up to Texas was another young RHP, Rick Porcello. They will send a player to the Tornadoes after the season to complete the deal. Porcello, just called up to the big club in Minnesota, was visibly upset at not having had a chance to take the mound for the Squirrels before being traded. "I've been with that general manager before, and he didn't want me. He basically threw me in to a trade that sent me here. I guess I can say I wore the uniform of the best team in BARB history for a day, though."

The Squirrels front office was ecstatic.

"We felt Armando Galarraga was getting lit up too much, so we wanted to make a change," said Frostbite GM Jack Zduriencik. "We called up Porcello to take his place, but then Trader Ron approached us with a possibility and we couldn't pass it up. We feel this makes our rotation the best in the league. With Timmy, Hamels, King Felix, Garza and Paul Maholm, I don't know why we keep losing, but with our talent there's no way it should be happening."

"We are certainly disappointed to lose a guy as talented as Porcello," said Assistant GM Andrew Friedman. "But we didn't think he'd do well this season. He doesn't strike out enough batters right now to survive in this league. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors, and maybe once he gets some experience we'll bring him back."

The Squirrels might still be in the market for a hitter, but there aren't even rumors about who they might be trying to acquire.

Lincecum wins Cy Young Award!

Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels ace Tim Lincecum, 24, was named the National League Cy Young award winner today for the 2008 season. Lincecum received 23 of the 32 first-place votes, seven second-place votes and one third-place nod for a total of 137 points to easily best second-place Brandon Webb (73 points) and Johan Santana (55).

Lincecum finished first in the NL in winning percentage with an 18-5 record and led the majors in strikeouts. He had a 2.62 ERA that could have been better if not for some fishy scoring in his second-to-last game of the season.

"We are very excited for Tim," said Frostbite Falls owner Andrew Haynes. "He proved that he was the NL's best pitcher this season. No one was anywhere close to his dominance. We are very pleased to have him as a cornerstone of our franchise for many years."

"My reaction was, 'Woohoo!'," exclaimed Lincecum.

Squirrels acquire Iwamura

On Sunday, just hours before the B.A.R.B. trade deadline, the Frostbite Falls picked up 2B Akinori Iwamura from the Brooklyn MOABS for 2B Jeff Kent and RHP Pat Neshek.

"Akinori will step right in and help out in the middle infield," said Squirrels GM Jack Zduriencik. "We have Edgar (Renteria) and Mike (Young), but with Kent hurting and expected to be put on the DL we needed another second baseman. Giving up Kent also gives us a lot of salary cap room, so we can call up someone from AAA if needed."

Neshek, who is highly valued by the Frostbite Falls organization, was considered expendable because he is out for the season. He might also have been traded because of rumors that owner Andrew Haynes is thinking of retiring after this season and wants to win his fourth ring before going out.

Frostbite Falls makes another deal with "Farm club"

What is the relationship of the Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels and Lexington Rebels? It might be something like that of the New York Yankees and Kansas City Athletics in the 1950s and 1960s: another farm club for the champions.

"We don't really see it that way," said Squirrels GM Jack Zduriencik. "They just make offers that are too good to pass up, and we accept them.

The latest Nomad desire was the bat and glove of #1 prospect OF Jay Bruce. The Squirrels picked Bruce late in the 2007 draft after he was overlooked by the rest of the league, and he was brought to the majors for his first B.A.R.B. at bats just less than a week ago. But with a small surplus of talented outfielders and needs both in starting and relief pitching, the Frostbite Falls front office decided Bruce was expendable when they received an offer of four very talented players.

Zduriencik, with the help of Assistant GM Andrew Friedman, negotiated the acquisition of RHPs Joakim Soria and Dustin McGowan AND two top prospects to be named, rumored to be an OF and another RHP, for Bruce, and Bruce alone.

"Wow," said Friedman. "I was not expecting to have our pitching staff bolstered by something like this so quickly. We've had a few pitchers performing poorly in the 'pen, and then Pat Neshek went down for the season. There have been some injuries and poor performances from our starters. But all of a sudden we have the youngsters Soria and McGowan, and we are much more comfortable. We also know we can probably pick up other talented players and trade them for Jay next season. That's just the way things happen with Trader Ron."

Both Soria and McGowan expressed their surprise and excitement about joining B.A.R.B.'s most successful franchise.

"That's the team everyone wants to play for. They had the Murderer's Row offense in 2003 and then a dynamite starting rotation in 2005 and 2006. I hope I can help bring the title back to northern Minnesota," said McGowan.

Though he didn't say much, Soria mentioned he was eager to work with all of the young talent in the bullpen.

The players to be named will transfer to the Frostbite minor league system at the end of the 2008 season, but it was not made known to the media who they were.

Jay Bruce left the Squirrels clubhouse in a huff after hearing about being traded and was not available for comment.

Squirrels get rotation boost

The Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels further solidified an already talented rotation by adding LHP Cole Hamels to the team in a deal Tuesday night. With arms such as Brad Penny, Ben Sheets, Felix Hernandez and Tim Lincecum already going every fifth day, the Squirrels front office believes they have one of the best rotations in B.A.R.B. In return, the Lexington Rebels will receive OF Justin Upton and RHP Shawn Hill.

"Hamels was targeted for quite a while," said Frostbite GM Jack Zduriencik. "We actually talked about acquiring him in the Johan Santana trade before the season. Ironically, we picked up Upton in that deal. It was hard to give up a five-tool outfielder such as Justin, but we are already stacked in the OF and we got a great bargain for Hamels."

With the acquisition of Hamels, LHP Rich Hill will either move to the bullpen or be sent down to AAA.

Management very pleased with draft haul

Jack Zduriencik's first draft as GM of the Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels went very well according to ownership. The Squirrels started the draft with two selections in each of the first two rounds and ended up selecting 17 players. The selections, in order from first to last, were:

OF Corey Hart

RHP Carlos Marmol

1B Carlos Pena

RHP Chris Carpenter

LHP B.J. Ryan

C J.R. Towles

RHP Tony Pena

RHP Chris Perez

LHP Brett Anderson

C Mike Napoli

3B Hank Blalock

LHP Eric O'Flaherty

2B Jeff Kent

RHP Tanner Scheppers

RHP Shawn Hill

RHP Russ Springer

1B Lars Anderson

Hart is expected to step in right away as the left fielder, replacing Barry Bonds. Pena will be a backup at 1B and play a lot of DH. The relief corps was strengthened by the addition of six arms, and four top prospects will bolster the already strong farm system.

Get ready for an exciting season of Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels baseball!

Duhn Ewsguy

Another deal with Arizona

The Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels and Arizona D-Backs have completed another deal, but this one is quite a bit smaller than the blockbuster including Johan Santana and Magglio Ordonez. In the third deal of the month for both teams, the Squirrels sent RHP Matt Garza and their 3rd round pick in the upcoming draft to the desert for OF Delmon Young.

"We're quite happy with this trade," said Frostbite GM Jack Zduriencik. "We picked up yet another top young (pun intended) outfielder. I challenge anyone to have a minor league team with an outfield as talented as ours. Jay Bruce in center, Justin Upton and Delmon Young at the corners. Watch out for our major league team the next few years."

The Flying Squirrels were clearly disappointed to lose a starting pitcher as promising as Garza, but they had a full rotation and they still have a few top unestablished pitchers in Tim Lincecum, Andrew Miller and Rich Hill.

Said Zduriencik, "And we might have a surprise up our sleeve to get another guy."

The Squirrels are also wondering how the water from Arizona got to northern Minnesota and made them max out on trades for the month.

Bay to Brooklyn

In their second deal of the new season, the Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels have sent OF Jason Bay to longtime rival Brooklyn for SS Edgar Renteria.

The MOABS had been looking to move the high-priced veteran because of his salary and the plethora of talent they already had at the position.

Some were questioning the motives of the Squirrels, though. They traded a player with above-average speed and power who is a very good defender, and now they are left with a gaping hole in left field (Frostbite management has confirmed they will not be bringing Barry Bonds back for 2008).

But the chance to get such an accomplished shortstop couldn't be passed up, said Flying Squirrels Assistant GM Andrew Friedman.

"We felt Edgar was the best available option out there among all of the second basemen and shortstops. This will allow us to move Michael Young to second and makes the infield more talented overall than what we had at the beginning of the week (before projected starting second baseman Luis Castillo was traded to Arizona). And as for Bay, well, as the Commissioner said when describing another deal, there's no shortage of left fielders who can hit 30 homers a season. We will probably lose a bit of speed and defense with whomever the new guy is, but as a team we will be more well-rounded."

Although this deal didn't go along the lines of GM Jack Zduriencik's pledge to make the team younger (as the Johan Santana trade did), more trades to bring in young talent could come soon.

Monumental deal with Arizona

All good things must come to an end. Johan Santana was a very good thing for the Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels. In his five years with the franchise, the hard-throwing lefty won 74 games, including a league-record 20 and a Cy Young in 2005, and helped the Squirrels to three B.A.R.B. championships.

But new Squirrels GM Jack Zduriencik decided the team would be better with Santana out of the Frozen Tundra.

"It's not that he's a bad teammate; in fact, he's great around the clubhouse. He's just so expensive and has already reached his peak. Because he's still one of the best, we were able to get a ton of talent for him."

The Squirrels have agreed to send Santana along with 2B Luis Castillo to the Arizona D-Backs for five players and a draft pick. The players coming to northern Minnesota are OF Magglio Ordonez (who played for Santa Barbara in 2003 and Frostbite Falls in 2004), RHP Felix Hernandez, 1B Conor Jackson, OF Justin Upton and LHP Andrew Miller. The Flying Squirrels also got Arizona's first round pick, number seven overall.

"We feel very good about this season and beyond," said Zduriencik. "Yes, we gave up the best pitcher in the league, but we filled a vacancy in the outfield, filled Santana's rotation spot with an outstanding youngster, got a very talented backup first baseman, and picked up two amazing prospects who could both help the big league team this year. Not to mention, we got that 7th pick. I think we got better with this deal."

Santana wasn't shocked to hear that he was dealt.

"I know I will be making lots of money the next few years, and they did the best thing for their team. I'll tell you this, I'm going to go into the Hall of Fame wearing a Frostbite Falls hat. In fact, I don't plan to be in Arizona very long. I'm going to have a month-to-month apartment. That Melkonian guy might trade me at any time."

During his 5-year stint in Santa Barbara and Frostbite Falls, Santana was 74-40 with a 3.29 ERA. He completed 24 of his 143 starts, six of which were shutouts. The ace struck out 1012 batters in 1038 1/3 innings and had a 1.15 WHIP.

The Squirrels are rumored to have another few deals done or nearing completion that include the pick from Arizona and Jason Bay, and earlier today an official who chose anonymity said there could be a bit of division re-alignment in the cards.

Squirrels make front office changes; keep manager

Ever since the end of the first non-playoff season in Santa Barbara/Frostbite Falls franchise history, it had been rumored that some changes would be made within the organization. Owner/GM Andrew Haynes was expected to relieve Manager Mike Noakes of his duties and go with a fresh face.

But the Squirrels, who are expected to field a much younger team in 2008, decided to stick with Noakes.

"He is a great teacher of fundamentals, and we expect to have a few young guys who will need that kind of instruction," said Haynes. "We think the collapses at the end of almost every season had more to do with the players getting complacent and the older guys getting tired of Noakes' strict style. So, because we're getting rid of some of the "old guys" (Barry Bonds, for instance), we felt Noakes should stay and continue his run of success."

With the attempt to get younger, the Squirrels did make a few changes in the front office. Haynes is stepping down from his GM post and has chosen former Milwaukee Brewers Director of Scouting Jack Zduriencik (dur-EN-cik) to take over the day-to-day operations.

"Jack has a great eye for young talent," said Haynes. " He built the Brewers from nothing to a great young team. I am very pleased to have him running this team. Hopefully he'll put the focus on acquiring young, cheap talent that will give us a chance to win for a long time coming."

With that, however, Brian Sabean stepped down from the Assistant GM position he had held for the entire history of the franchise.

"We'll miss Brian. I hoped he would stay and help Jack, but he decided he couldn't work under a younger guy who had a different philosophy. He told me he had given 5 years to this franchise and thought he should have been rewarded with the top title, but since he was passed over he decided to seek new opportunities," said Haynes.

The search is still on for a new Assistant GM, with rumors of Tampa Bay Rays Executive VP of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman being the top candidate.

News from northern Minnesota

After missing the playoffs for the first time in league history, Frostbite Falls management is thinking of making some substantial changes, according to rumor.

One of the possible changes is in the managerial department. The Squirrels are discussing firing Mike Noakes, who had been the skipper throughout the franchise's history (including their inaugural season in Santa Barbara), because they feel the team has stumbled down the stretch each of the last three years. This year the Squirrels were leading the division with 10 games to go, but they lost six of their last 10, including three out of the final four to cellar dwelling Pottsylvania, to finish one game out of a playoff spot. No word yet on who they might look at to replace Noakes if they do indeed relieve him of his duties.

Insiders were also saying that the club has been trying to re-acquire a former star infielder, and that it might have been SS Jimmy Rollins or 3B Scott Rolen. This was their first full season without Rollins, who they traded to Las Vegas for Brad Penny at the trading deadline in 2006, and Frostbite management might believe it wasn't a coincidence that the only season without Rollins is the only season without a playoff appearance.

As for the Johan Santana trade rumors? That front is pretty quiet right now, what with the playoffs winding down and the Christmas season upon us. Earlier, word was the Squirrels were intrigued by a few offers and were starting to talk to a few other teams.

by Duhn Ewsguy
The Frostbite Falls Picayune Intelligence

Bruce named Minor League Player of the Year

The Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels organization is proud to announce that respected baseball prospect company Baseball America has named Squirrels OF Jay Bruce as its Minor League Player of the Year.

Bruce, a 2005 1st-round draft pick of the Reds (12th overall) and 2007 late-round B.A.R.B. pick by the Squirrels, hit .319 with 26 HR and 89 RBI in 133 games over 3 levels, including .305-11-25 in 50 games in AAA as a 20-year-old. Bruce also hit 46 2B and 8 3B and scored 87 times.

He did, however, strike out 135 times and was successful in only 8 of his 15 stolen base attempts (although he stole 19 in 2006).

"We are going to love having this kid patrol center or right for us in just a few years," said Frostbite Falls Owner/GM Andrew Haynes. "I think he definitely has a chance to be a consistent 30-homer, 20 steal guy. He'll hit for a good average and strike out less as he matures. And his defense is already good. Jay is going to be one heck of a player."

At one point early in the season, the Squirrels had three players who now have BA Player of the Year awards in their trophy cases. Alex Gordon (2006 winner) was traded in the Carlos Beltran deal, and Rocco Baldelli (2002) was dealt to S-Mart as part of a package to acquire Luis Castillo.

Update from the Springs

Hey people, Mr. Hatfield wanted me to post a blog to update everyone on how it is going in Colorado Springs. So here is the one I have written (which is already posted on myspace, so some of you might have seen it already).

Wow. It's been a while since I blogged. Not exactly sure how long, but I'm sure it's been nearly a year.

Anyway, I arrived in Colorado Springs last Tuesday. Had orientation Wednesday and Thursday. Was about 9,000 feet above sea level Friday-Sunday at a retreat for all of the students here at the Focus on the Family Institute. The 88 students are split up into eight teams. Each team did exercises to build confidence and get to know the other people in your group. The first four teams are from one apartment complex (where I live) and the last four are from the other complex.

So that was a fun weekend. I even got to go disc golfing on a "course" they had at the retreat center. I also got to play a couple hours of volleyball (I had a good serve and even blocked a spike attempt once).

We have different classes such as Marriage Studies; Christian Worldview; Family, Church, and Society Studies; and Family Life Studies. I also have a practicum (basically an internship). Today was the first day of class (I had Christian Worldview).

But if there is one thing I have learned, it's that I'll probably come home bearing somewhat of a Southern accent. Out of the 88 people, probably 30 or so are from the South. Most of them have at least a bit of a twang (and this one girl from South Carolina has a very authentic accent). Two of my roommates are from the South (Georgia and Tennessee), though the other is from SoCal.

Oh, and 64 of the 88 students are girls. But that's not the important thing here, right?

So that's a small summary of the first week.