Florence Freedom
Manager: Toby Rumfield
First Season at Florence
Fourth Season Overall (83-109 at River City)
Pitching Coach: Bill Browett
Hitting Coach: Greg Stone
Player Personnel Coach: Jeff Kunion
Let go after two seasons in River City, Toby Rumfield latched on in Florence and immediately started to bring players in from River City that helped him improve 11 games last year in addition to familiar faces in the coaching staff...Most of his offseason trading was with River City...Rumfield is signed to a one-year deal...Florence lost a lot from the 2008 season with key players aging out and others deciding to hang it up (With one player on more than one occasion)...There are a lot of true rookies on the roster mixed in with other experienced players...The Freedom boasted the third best hitting team in the league in 2008...
Returning
RHP – Chris Eberhart
24 G, 0-2, 6.28 ERA, 28.2 IP, 19 K
LHP – Demetrius Banks
9 G, 4 GS, 0-0, 4.74 ERA, 19 IP, 20 K
LHP – Stephen Shao
24 G, 1 GS, 1-4, 5.54 ERA, 39 IP, 27 K
RHP – Brent Lotito
5 G, 4 GS, 2-0, 4.38 ERA, 1 CG, 24.2 IP, 11 K
RHP – Andy Clark
10th in the Frontier League in ERA...T-5th in wins...
19 G, 12 GS, 10-2, 3.36 ERA, 1 SV, 83 IP, 79 K
RHP – Everett Saul
19 G, 13 GS, 7-7, 5.44 ERA, 81 IP, 73 K, 1 CG, 1 SHO
IF – Tim Grogan
46 G, .309, 11 HR, 33 RBI
2B – Billy Mottram
90 G, .300, 10 HR, 53 RBI
IF/OF – John Welch
86 G, .280, 10 HR, 40 RBI
OF – Ryan Basham
2007 Frontier League Rookie of the Year was solid in his sophomore campaign...
95G, .278, 11 HR, 53 RBI, 24 2B, 5 SB
Newcomers (All Stats from 2008 unless Otherwise Noted)
RHP – Nolan Shaffer (True Rookie from Bridgewater College)
Acquired in a trade with Sioux City of the American Association...Played at Division III Bridgewater...
12 G, 11 GS, 7 CG, 6-4, 3.24 ERA, 75 IP, 70 K
RHP – David Clark (True Rookie from the University of Southern Mississippi)
Made nine starts last season in Conference USA...
9 G, 9 GS, 3-4, 5.61 ERA, 43.1 IP, 33 K, 1 CG, 1 SHO
RHP – Charles Williams (True Rookie from Jackson State University)
Ace of the staff at Jackson State...
16 G, 16 GS, 10-4, 4.33 ERA, 87.1 IP, 77 K
RHP – Jonathan Miller (River City Rascals -- LS-1)
Spent two years under the tutelage of Rumfield in River City...
31 G, 10 GS, 3-5, 3.76 ERA, 9 SV, 91 IP, 87 K
RHP – Julio Soriano (North Shore – Rookie-2)
Did not pitch in 2008…Threw for four teams in 2007...Began his pro career with the Orioles organization in 2004...Struggled at times with his control...Stats are from the North Shore Spirit of the Can-Am League in 2007...
8 G, 0-1, 7.20 ERA, 10 IP, 1 SV, 10 K
LHP – Carlos De La Rosa (Rookie-2 from the Giants System)
Spent six seasons as a reliever in the Giants system but is still a Rookie-2...Threw an inning at Triple-A Fresno in 2007, retiring all three batters and posting a strikeout...Most of his career has been at the Rookie level where he was last season with the Arizona League Giants...
7 G, 1-2, 5.06 ERA, 2 SV, 10.2 IP, 9 K
RHP – Jake Edwards (True Rookie from Tennessee Tech)
Used as both a starter and reliever in his time with Tennessee Tech, a Division I school...
17 G, 10 GS, 3-4, 5.35 ERA, 74 IP, 69 K
RHP – David Arnold (River City Rascals – LS-1)
Spent two years in the Rockies system before signing with River City last year...Peaked at High-A Modesto in the California League where he posted a double-digit ERA in 12 games...
6 G, 3 GS, 1-1, 4.32 ERA, 16.2 IP, 9 K
RHP – Luis Pardo (LS-1 from the Astros system)
Played for Beach Bums Manager Gregg Langbehn in Lexington in 2008...Ninth round pick of the Astros in 2007 owns a career professional record of 1-17...
16 G, 12 GS, 1-9, 5.57 ERA, 63 IP, 45 K
C – Joseph Kala (True Rookie from Saddleback Junior College)
Junior college player spent this past winter in the Arizona Winter League with the Blythe Heat...Stats are from that season...
16 G, .333, 1 HR, 9 RBI
C – Justin Pickett (LS-1 from the Rangers System)
Drafted in the 22nd Round of the 2006 Draft by the Padres...Picked up by the Rangers in 2008...Spent parts of two seasons in the Midwest League...Stats are from Spokane of the Northwest League…
35 G, .252, 4 HR, 28 RBI
C – Jeremiah Parker (True Rookie from Georgia Southern College)
Starting catcher for a team that won 33 games last season…
57 G, .326, 14 HR, 70 RBI
IF – Dan Williams (True Rookie from the University of Pittsburgh)
Finished fourth on Pitt in slugging percentage...
53 G, .275, 6 HR, 30 RBI, 7 SB
IF – Armando Gil (North Shore Spirit – Rookie-2)
Did not play in 2008...Was fairly successful as a utility player in the Can-Am League in 2007...
55 G, .284, 1 HR, 11 RBI
IF – Henry Sanchez (True Rookie from Lambuth University)
53 G, .267, 1 HR, 20 RBI
IF – Jeff Miller (River City Rascals – LS-1)
Has played for Rumfield the past two seasons in River City, appearing in every game in 2008...Middle of the order presence...
96 G, .298, 15 HR, 66 RBI, 19 2B
OF – Brad Hough (River City Rascals – LS-2)
In his fourth year as a pro in independent baseball…Has spent the last two years in River City as a starting outfielder...Hit .285 for the Rascals in 2007, playing in all 96 games...
92 G, .270, 9 HR, 60 RBI, 25 2B, 24 SB
OF – Erold Andrus (Veteran from the Rays System)
Spent parts of the last two seasons in Double-A Montgomery with the Rays...Has been a professional since 2001, appearing in eight different seasons...Native of Venezuela was originally signed by the Yankees but has played in three different organizations...Led the Midwest League in at bats and was second in hits (161) back in 2004...Will turn 25 this summer...
128 G, .255, 7 HR, 59 RBI
OF – Cory Underhill (True Rookie from St. Gregory University)
Leading hitter for the NAIA school, also leading the team in homers and RBI...
49 G, .397, 10 HR, 41 RBI
OF – Jay Johnson (Veteran from the Red Sox System)
13th Round Choice by the Red Sox in 2005...Played at Double-A Portland three times in his career...Has four years of pro experience out of Xavier...Belted 11 homers in the South Atlantic League in 2006...Hit 27 doubles for Portland in 2007...Local product...
12 G, .256, 0 HR, 10 RBI
OF – Tewayne Willis (Rookie-2 from the Cubs System)
Selected by the Cubs in the 28th Round of the 2008 Draft...Spent the entire season in the Arizona League...
41 G, .196, 0 HR, 12 RBI, 10 SB
OF – Bryan Burke (Texarkana Gunslingers – Rookie-2)
Signed out of the Florence open tryout...Played in the Continental League last season...
43 G, .284, 0 HR, 21 RBI
OF – Angel Sierra (LS-1 from the Athletics System)
Spent three years in the A’s system after being chosen in the 8th Round of the 2006 Draft...Briefly played in the Short Season Northwest League in 2007, all of his other professional experience is from the Arizona League...
21 G, .234, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 12 SB
Departed
C – Eddie Gonzalez
Signed with Evansville as a free agent...Released on Monday…Frontier League All-Star in 2008...
43 G, .213, 3 HR, 16 RBI
C – Matt Hackney
Released on April 3...
38 G, .236, 1 HR, 11 RBI
3B – Kelly Hunt
Aged Out...Frontier League All-Star who threatened the single season homerun record...
75 G, .310, 26 HR, 73 RBI
C – Josh Lex
Aged Out
51 G, .271, 6 HR, 28 RBI
OF – Garth McKinney
Retired, unretired, retired, unretired...Now on the suspended list, my guess is he decided again to hang it up...
90 G, .303, 18 HR, 65 RBI, 17 2B, 28 SB
OF – Angel Molina
Aged Out…Frontier League All-Star Game MVP
90 G, .327, 22 HR, 71 RBI, 22 2B, 14 SB
OF – Justin Randall
Traded back from whence he came...AKA he got traded back to Evansville…Florence received Nick Salotti to complete the deal which was the same trade as mid-season, but Salotti was sent to Worcester of the Can-Am League...Stats are combined…He struggled with Florence...
84 G, .280, 0 HR, 35 RBI, 7 SB
RHP – Cody Castle
Traded to New Hampshire of the Can-Am League...
31 G, 1-3, 3.71 ERA, 14 SV, 34 IP, 31 K
RHP – David Cross
On the suspended list
2 G, 0-0, 5.40 ERA, 3.1 IP, 1K
RHP – Brandon Hamlett
Traded to River City in the deal that brought Jeff Miller, Brad Hough, and Jon Miller to Florence...Garth McKinney was traded to River City initially in this deal...
9 G, 0-0, 1.08 ERA, 16.2 IP, 13 K
LHP – Chris Ingoglia
Sent to River City for Danny Powers...Was third in the Frontier League in strikeouts in 2008...
29 G, 13 GS, 6-8, 4.38 ERA, 2 SV, 2 CG, 1 SHO, 125.1 IP, 132 K
RHP – Gary Lee
Traded to Southern Illinois for Mike Victor who was later released and has since signed with Windy City...Stats are combined between River City and Florence...
32 G, 8 GS, 5-3, 4.88 ERA, 2 CG, 97.2 IP, 59 K
RHP – Bryan Villalona
Sold to El Paso of the American Association...
5 G, 4 GS, 1-0, 4.39 ERA, 26.2 IP, 20 K
Questions
Since most teams have announced their spring training rosters or pretty close to it, I am assuming these players either retired or were released though I couldn’t find them on the league or team transaction wire...
SS – Jeff Landry
58 G, .206, 1 HR, 15 RBI
RHP – Andy Schon
5 G, 5 GS, 0-1, 5.95 ERA, 19.2 IP, 20 K
SS – Eric Padilla
24 G, .284, 0 HR, 7 RBI
RHP – Liam Shanahan
17 G, 16 GS, 6-7, 4.52 ERA, 99.2 IP, 53 K
Keep Your Eye On
Outfield
How do you replace two of the top outfielders in the league (Molina/McKinney)? Simple, use your veteran and LS-2 slots on outfielders...Florence has two vets, an LS-2, and a pair of LS-1’s in their outfield during spring training...Can we say competition? Not to mention that John Welch, an LS-1, played outfield last season as a way of getting into the lineup...My lone question is with a crowded outfield, can all those players be fully utilized? That is one of the tasks in front of Toby Rumfield.
Trending
Down
Again I say, these trends are simply based off what they have back from last year and what they have to replace...Rumfield started to turn the corner last season with River City, owning first place in the West for a good portion of the first half...The issue facing Florence is finding players to drive in runs...The Freedom probably had one of the most feared lineups in the league last year, but gone are over 200 RBI from just three players (Molina, Hunt, and McKinney) which was nearly half the team’s total and was over half of the team’s homeruns...Billy Mottram and Ryan Basham will have to significantly improve their offense...Outside of Andy Clark there are a lot of questions on the pitching staff including who can close with All-Star Cody Castle gone...There is still some talent back, and the Freedom will be competitive in the East, but staying in the playoff race might be an uphill battle...
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