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.