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.

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.

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.

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 Fill 2B Hole

FROSTBITE FALLS- Since trading 2B Tadahito Iguchi less than a month ago, Flying Squirrels management has been vigorously exploring replacement options.

After trying Julio Lugo and debating calling up Esteban German from AAA, GM Andrew Haynes decided to look outside the organization for the solution. Almost immediately he noticed that S-Mart had two talented second sackers, Dan Uggla and Luis Castillo.

Out of that realization came the trade with the Boom Sticks that will be giving Castillo a starting job after playing behind Uggla for most of the season. Coming to the Frozen Tundra with Castillo are 3B Edwin Encarnacion, C J.D. Closser, and RHP Jason Schmidt.

The now-former Squirrels are Lugo, RHP Tim Wakefield, and OFs Rocco Baldelli and Dave Roberts.

"I am very pleased to add Castillo to this organization," said Squirrels GM Andrew Haynes. "We have actually been inquiring about him for a few years now but were never able to get a deal done. We have high hopes for Encarnacion, and Closser is the emergency catcher just in case something happens to Victor or Kenji. And while it's good to have Schmidt back in the fold, we don't expect him to throw another pitch in a Squirrel uni, let alone in B.A.R.B. He was a throw in because he's out for the season and the release of his salary gets S-Mart much closer to having a team salary under the cap."

"We're certainly okay with saying goodbye to most of the players we dealt. Lugo wasn't playing much (or well, when he did play). I love the knuckleball, but Wakefield is old and we have a more talented "Timmy" in the minors. Baldelli was definitely the hardest to trade. While he has a history of injury problems, his talent is so enticing that we had major second-thoughts about including him. As for Roberts, well, we appreciate that he kind of helped us with the World Series last year."

Penny-Iguchi press release

As the rest of BARB already knows, we have recently completed a deal with the Las Vegas Luchadores to send 2B Tadahito Iguchi to the desert and recieved RHP Brad Penny.

"This really helps our rotation," said Flying Squirrels GM Andrew Haynes. " We have had some injuries (most significantly Chris Carpenter's Tommy John surgery) that have hurt us. I mean, we've had thoughts of putting three rookies in the rotation. So Brad should solidify the staff and help us in our division chase. We definitely think we have one of the best pitching staffs in the league."

Penny was the #3 starter on the 2006 Squirrels squad that won the World Series, but he wasn't protected in the draft after having a record near .500 with an ERA in the high-5.00s.

Iguchi, who was projected as the #2 hitter and an important cog in the defense, started the season hitting just .177 through 59 games but has played better as of late, hitting .394 with three home runs in his last 127 games.

"We will certainly miss him," said Assistant GM Brian Sabean. "He's been playing very well lately and we don't have another true second baseman in the system.

"At the same time, we acquired an outstanding pitcher by meeting a need for the Luchadores, and there are enough second basemen out there that we could probably get one."

Beltran deal press release

The Frostbite Falls front office is very excited to bring a player of Mr. Beltran's talent into the fold. As many know, we have had problems with inadequate center field play each season. The story had been the same in 2007, with Dave Roberts and Rocco Baldelli splitting time in center. Both of those players bring their own unique talents to the table, but they aren't complete players and they have both spent time on the disabled list this season.

Carlos Beltran is a true five-tool player. He makes good contact, hits for a lot of power, runs well, possesses a great glove, and has a very good arm. He will make this a very exciting season in Frostbite Falls. Flying Squirrels management is very excited to add his bat to an already power-packed lineup including the likes of Albert Pujols, Barry Bonds, Victor Martinez, and Jason Bay.

We also love the young talent we picked up. Evan Longoria will be an outstanding third baseman as soon as next season. Rich Hill is going to move into our rotation immediately, and we expect him to have much success. Also, we believe that Matt Garza will become a top of the rotation major league starter. Just imagining our possible future rotation of Johan Santana, Chris Carpenter, Ben Sheets, Hill, Garza, and Tim Lincecum makes us ecstatic.

Unfortunately, to get talent you have to give up talent. In this case, we had to give up the top two prospects in baseball, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Alex Gordon, and a possible five-tool guy in Chris Young. Trading Matsuzaka was the main sticking point in getting this deal done because he is already proving his mettle at the big league level and he should continue in success for many years to come. Even though he is struggling, Gordon is very well rounded and should be an All-Star third sacker for a long time. Young is showing glimpses of his 30-30 possibilities, but it remains to be seen whether he will hit for a respectable average.

We are very pleased with this trade, and we plan on making a serious run for the Eastern Division championship.

Gagne deal press release

The Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrel franchise is very pleased to bring Mr. Gagne back into the fold. For those that remember, Gagne was the closer for our team in 2003 and 2004 and when he wasn't injured in 2005. In his career as a Storm/Squirrel, Gagne was 13-12 with 62 and a 2.70 ERA while 277 K in 190 IP. He won the league's Fireman of the Year award in both 2003 and 2004, and was our closer in 2005 before succumbing to injury, whereupon Joe Nathan replaced him. After 2005, Gagne was sent to Seattle.

We are giving up a very talented catcher in Josh Bard. We just didn't have room for him, though. He couldn't be sent to the minors, and with him in the majors we had three catchers. He was just going to rot on the bench.

We also expect Humberto Sanchez to become a very good starter, although if he doesn't start he can be a great closer. He, like Scott Elbert, was a guy in the minors who was injured and was about the 5th best starting pitching prospect we had.

We are very pleased with this deal and our improved bullpen. We are confident that, with just one or two more smart trades, we can compete very well in this division.