Frontier League Transactions
Author: Dave Rouleau
With now eight college baseball teams gathered in Omaha, Nebraska for the College World Series, it is an exciting time for the Frontier League; there are less minor league teams to welcome the talented college baseball players and even less rounds in the Amateur Draft to select them with.
Whether you like it or not, this is the new landscape of minor league and partnered league baseball. Count me in the ones that welcome and embrace this reality when it comes to the Frontier League, since its roster rules (a minimum of 10 rookies for each team) are by far the most welcoming for all the college players in need of a new home when their teams get eliminated from the Regionals and Super Regionals.
If you’re new here, welcome, this is a new era of organized baseball and its Gods, only, know what’s in store. Join us to the great 2021 Frontier League season, because there’s no way around it: it will be fun.
With that in mind, the “Transactions” page has been a wildly entertaining place and we’ll take a few minutes to look around what happened this weekend. As mush as I love using Twitter and the “story” section of Instagram to feature new players, writing about them in a blog post is also very cool.
Talking about cool, things are about to change in a big way for the Frontier League and the Frontier League Journal when it comes to league coverage, so stay tuned for a major announcement.
NEW JERSEY JACKALS
June 19: Activated OF Todd Isaacs from the inactive list.
June 20: Released RHP Brock Knoten.
NEW YORK BOULDERS
June 19: Signed catcher Brandon Douglas, 5'8", 185 lbs, a right-handed batter from Middle Georgia State University in the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics). With already 3 catchers on the roster, it’s obvious something’s gonna give somewhere, we’re just waiting to see what happens.
June 20: Activated RHP Mike Pascoe from the injured list.
EVANSVILLE OTTERS
June 19: Sold the contract of LHP Dalton Stambaugh to the Chicago Cubs.
JOLIET SLAMMERS
June 19: Released RHP Wes Albert and OF Clayton Harp.
SCHAUMBURG BOOMERS
June 19: Signed LHP Bryan Ketchie, a starting pitcher from the Catawba Indians in the South Atlantic Conference. Quite incredible how he fits the profile of what pitching coach Connor Reed is looking for: not overpowering and won’t strike out every hitter, but an amazing control of the strike zone (1.0 BB/9 in 84 IP in 2021, 1.5 BB/9 since 2017).
SUSSEX COUNTY MINERS
June 18: Signed Jackie Urbaez, a versatile player who was drafted by the Brewers in the 29th round of the 2019 draft. He presents an amazing eye at the plate as a right-handed batter and the Frontier League is, I think, exactly what he needs to gather himself and showcase what he can do. He can hit, run the bases, hit for power a little, so let’s get it on, son!
TRI-CITY VALLEYCATS
The Tri-City ValleyCats have the worst record in the Frontier League, by far, but I really like what they’re doing right now, trying to salvage the season in a big way. They haven’t yet announced or acknowledged the Willy Garcia trade publicly, which is a major “get” when he gets his season going. There is still time to turn things around and I tip my hat to the guys over there trying to make it work in a great baseball market.
June 19: Released OF Avery Tuck.
June 20: Signed 1B Brad Zunica, a power-hitting left-handed batter that fits the Pete Incaviglia mold and just released from the Padres organization after a rough start. Expect a .265/.350/.475 player for the ValleyCats. Very cool addition.
June 20: Released catcher Mike Gulino.
June 20: Released RHP Nick White, INF Brandt Broussard.
June 20: Activated Francisco Jimenez.
June 20: Signed LHP Trevor Damron, which I profiled for you on Twitter and Instagram. This relief pither can really strike out a lot of guys, but he also comes with control issues that will have to be handled for
