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.

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."