MAUI'S GOLDEN LEAGUE PLANS UNFOLDING WHILE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION EYES EXPANSION TO FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS

Happy New Year to my loyal readers. May 2010 be a very good one, both on the baseball diamond and in every other way.

We are in one of those infrequent long stretches between Independent Baseball Insider columns (the next one for subscribers is January 7), but the news certainly has not stopped.

The most compelling Independent stories we are aware of deal with the American Association and the Golden League. The AA seems to be bearing down on Fort Smith, AR as a future site while the GBL still seems to have some unsettled franchise issues for the 2010 season.

American Association Commissioner Miles Wolff visited Fort Smith earlier this month, then sent a letter to the city and Chamber of Commerce plus the family that owns a potential developmental site that the league "is very interested in the city as a potential site for expansion".

While Fort Smith has less than 100,000 people, there are said to be between 250,000-350,000 within a 60-mile radius who could potentially be attracted to an 85-acre riverfront development. The Fort Smith Board of Directors, the regional Chamber and the Robbie Westphal family have signed off on spending $62,000 apiece toward a study on the feasibility of the project which could include a $20 million ballpark as part of a plan along with a hotel, retirement community and office space.

The Golden League has walked away from St. George, UT after three seasons, and there have been recent stories indicating the Long Beach (CA) Armada could be jeopardized if Long Beach State wins a new contract for Blair Field, but the intriguing news is the continued development of the team set to open this season in Maui, Hawaii, since it cannot help but be an expensive venture with the Pacific Ocean between that franchise and the rest of the league, even though Michael Cummings, the CEO of the parent XnE Corporation, says a break-even budget only requires drawing about 1,200 fans a game. The league, prior to admitting Maui, already was spread from Western Canada to the Arizona communities of Tucson and Yuma.

Maui, where operators admit they are behind the schedule they would like to be on, have taken some definitive steps by selecting a nickname that primarily translates into "the strong warriors of Maui", hiring former major league star and St. George Manager Cory Snyder as field boss and signing the team's first player. The official nickname is Na Ikaika Koa Maui, and team President Rick Berry is said to favor a logo that incorporates a Hawaiian warrior.

Snyder indicates he has his sights set on several of Hawaii's best baseball players, including the initial signee, 30-year-old Mark Okano, who played in the league last year.

We expect to be writing much more in the months ahead about the inclusion of Maui, and the possible addition of other Hawaiian teams in the years to come.

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NICE CHRISTMAS GIFTS

We can mark Cody Clark, John Lindsey and Mark DiFelice down as already receiving nice holiday gifts, even a few days ahead of December 25.

DiFelice's reward came in the form of a 2010 contract that is said to be for slightly less than $100,000. While that is less than one-quarter his '09 salary when he pitched in 59 games (4-1, 3.66) for the parent Milwaukee Brewers, the 33-year-old is going to miss most or all of next season as he recovers from December 3 shoulder surgery.

"They did me a favor bringing me back," the onetime Atlantic League (Somerset and Camden, NJ) right-hander told MLB.com. It seems to be a totally mutual admiration society between the Brewers and DiFelice. "If they're going to sign me knowing I won't be able to participate, I want to come back (with them after free agency at the end of 2010) the following year."

He will spend much of his rehab time at the team's year-round training facility in Phoenix.

Clark and Lindsey have been invited to major league spring training camps. They have been there before, but still are looking for the opportunity to get into their first regular season game in the "bigs".

Clark, a catcher who once played for San Diego in the Golden League and hit .304 as a backup and designated hitter for Class AA Northwest Arkansas last season, is with Kansas City and Lindsey, as we reported in last week's Independent Baseball Insider column, has returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers after a year of Triple-A (.251-19-83) for the Florida Marlins. Lindsey, a power-hitting first baseman now in the Mexican Pacific League, played his Indy baseball for the New Jersey Jackals of the Can-Am League.

Non-roster invitations will continue to trickle in over the next several weeks. Pitcher John Halama (Southern Maryland and Long Island, NY, Atlantic League) got his Milwaukee invitation earlier as did lefty reliever R. J. Swindle (Schaumburg, IL, Northern League and Newark, NJ, Atlantic) when he signed with Tampa Bay.

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DODGERS' NEW SCOUTING BOSS NOT LIKELY TO FORGET HIS ONLY HOME RUN

It should be a well-above-average trivia question.

Name the three Tampa pitchers who came from the same high school (Hillsborough), played together on two youth teams in national championships (Little League World Series and Senior League World Series) and made it to the major leagues?

I was reminded of this unusual feat while interviewing new Los Angeles Dodgers Pro Scouting Director Vance Lovelace for this week's subscriber-driven Independent Baseball Insider column. Lovelace, the No. 1 draft choice of the Chicago Cubs in 1981, was one of them, of course. The other two, Hillsborough grads a year later and ultimately more successful as major league players, were Dwight Gooden and Floyd Youmans, with the latter ironically giving Lovelace a chance to extend his career at the end. Youmans was pitching coach for the Catskill (NY) Cougars of the Northeast League. That move got Lovelace back into the game in the U.S., he moved on to pitch and be pitching coach for the New Jersey Jackals, now in the Can-Am League, then started scouting in the Dodgers system in 2001.

"Inconsistency" was Lovelace's pro pitching legacy, he admits, which limited him to nine games between California and Seattle in his brief major league playing career. Still, he was an important part of a trade in which third baseman Ron Cey moved from the Dodgers to the Cubs.

Lovelace laughed when I reminded him of the only home run he hit in 18 pro seasons. It came in his final season of 1998. "It was in Adirondack (Glens Falls, NY, Northeast League)," he said instantly. "I got all of it", with the ball going out in dead center. "I always swung hard," he joked.

PITTSFIELD HEADED TO CAN-AM LEAGUE

Pittsfield, MA, with ancient but updated (by more than $1 million) Wahconah Park, appears to be the sixth team for the Can-Am League in 2010.

A preliminary okay has been given by league directors, and it would not seem formal approval from the Berkshires community should be more than a formality in January since onetime Boston Red Sox General Manager Dan Duquette, who would be part of the ownership group, and his partners already had a lease to use the stadium for their New England Collegiate Baseball League team. In effect, Chairman Buddy Lewis and Duquette will be moving their previous Can-Am team from Nashua, NH to Pittsfield. Wahconah last hosted professional baseball in '03.

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SALUTING THE NORTHERN AND GOLDEN ALL-STAR GAME AND THE REJUVENATED BROCKTON ROX

The spotlight has been especially focused on the major leagues during this week of the winter meetings, but at least two cheery developments have emerged for the Independent leagues which should add to holiday joy in several segments of the country as well as Western Canada.

While we don't always find total compatibility within Independent circles--or in the rest of the business world, for that matter--it was nice to see the Northern and Golden Leagues get together for All-Star Games the next two seasons. What an added accomplishment it would be if they could fill up 11,000-seat Hi Corbett Stadium in Tucson for the first game July 14.

Meanwhile, the Can-Am League should be feeling good that its Brockton, MA franchise has come up with a new management team and a new set of investors to stabilize the Rox. That actor-comedian Bill Murray is among the investors helps, and with Chris Carminucci now overseeing the business operations as well as returning to manage the club will be comforting to all concerned. His energy pumped new life and revenue into the Atlantic City franchise two years ago even though other forces took the Surf off the diamond.

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COSTE HEADED BACK TO MAJORS WITH METS ALTHOUGH A REGULAR SEASON JOB IS NOT A CERTAINTY

Indy favorite Chris Coste is headed back to a major league uniform although his work still seems to be cut out before he makes an opening-day, 25-man roster.

There seems to be some confusion whether the New York Mets have officially announced the signing of the catcher-infielder who spent his first five professional seasons in Independent leagues, but all signs indicate he will have a coveted 40-man roster job heading into spring training.

The story apparently broke in his hometown newspaper, the Fargo (ND) Forum, earlier this week, and it has since been widely distributed.

"They (Mets) have money to spend and they could go out and get a couple more catchers," Coste told the Fargo paper. Bingo! They have already added one other receiver.

The National League team announced a deal Thursday night with 38-year-old free agent Henry Blanco. News reports give him the inside track to land the backup catching job away from Coste and Omir Santos, who caught many games last season. The Mets still seem to be looking for a No. 1 receiver, possibly from among free agents Bengie Molina or Rod Barajas, who Coste had to outlast for playing time in Philadelphia in 2007.

Coste, whose grit is well documented through his Independent days, including four seasons in Fargo (Northern League), obviously still has plenty of determination. "Money was not the deciding factor," he told the Forum. "It was a combination of the opportunity to be on a team that has a chance to win and to be in an area that is just as intense as Philadelphia was."

It was in Philadelphia where Coste finally got his first major league opportunity at age 33 in 2006. He was with the Phillies through their World Series championship in '08, but was claimed on waivers by Houston last July 10. The Astros outrighted him to Triple-A after the season, a year in which he hit .224 in 205 at-bats for Philadelphia and Houston with two homers and 18 runs batted in. The '09 average was nearly 50 points below his career mark of .272 for 299 games.

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