After all of the shakedown because of the major leagues reducing their number of minor league affiliates, Independent Baseball has seen a significant increase for the new season. www.independentbaseball.net, which tracks all of the current leagues as well as projected startups, lists 71 teams expected to play this season at this point.
The
most prominent leagues are the holdover American Association, Atlantic League
and Frontier League. They are to be
joined by the Pecos League, United Shore League, Empire League and two circuits
that have emerged because of MLB's restructuring, the Pioneer and Mavericks
leagues.
Non-Roster
Invitations Up to 16 So Far
Veteran pitchers Brandon Kintzler
and D. J. Johnson spice up the list of onetime Independent Baseball players
added recently as non-roster invitees to major league spring training camps.
Kintzler, 36, has joined
Philadelphia's re-worked bullpen after turning down a $2 million guarantee from
Miami. He is officially on a minor
league contract but has the chance to make
up to twice that much (including $1 million in incentives) if he earns
a roster spot. That seems a given based on his long career in the major
leagues. He closed for the Marlins last
season, saving 12 games in 14 opportunities with a 2.22 earned run average.
Johnson will train with Cleveland as
he returns to this country after spending last season in Japan.
While two non-roster players were
revealed by IndyBaseballChatter.com earlier, 14 more have received invitations recently and many of the
30 teams still have not
revealed who they are bringing to camp in Florida or Arizona in addition to
their regular 40-man roster players. Twenty-two more with Independent experience have automatic invitations to major
league camps by virtue of being on 40-man rosters, and veteran southpaws Rich Hill and James Paxton still are free
agents.
The recent non-roster invitees with
their major league team and their previous ties to Indy leagues and teams (#indicates
not officially announced):
Pitchers--#Fernando
Abad, Baltimore (Long Island, Atlantic League); Ben
Bracewell, Oakland (River City, Frontier League); #Hunter
Cervenka, Baltimore (Sugar Land, Atlantic); Chase DeJong, Pittsburgh (Sugar Land and Team
Skeeters, Constellation Energy League); Nick Duron, Seattle (Southern Illinois,
Frontier); #Junior Guerra, Los Angeles-AL (Wichita, American Association); D. J. Johnson, Cleveland (Traverse City,
Frontier); Brandon Kintzler, Philadelphia (St. Paul, American Association, and
Winnipeg, when it was in the Northern League); Ian McKinney, Seattle (Sioux
City, American Association); Matt
Tomshaw, Chicago-AL (Fargo-Moorhead, American
Association); Austin Warner, St. Louis
(River City).
Infielders--Kody
Clemens, Detroit (Texas, CEL); Brandon Snyder, Washington (Southern
Maryland, Atlantic).
Outfielder--Dillon Thomas, Seattle (Texas,
American Association).
This
'n That
With
spring training fast approaching, several players on Independent rosters have
had their contracts purchased by major league organizations. The interruption of last season because of
COVID-19 had virtually stopped these opportunities for several months.
In
recent free agent signings, Konner Wade, a right-handed pitcher in the Boston
farm system, has joined the Baltimore system.
His Indy time was with Sugar Land in the Atlantic League. Another righty, Connor Overton, re-signed
with the Toronto farm system. He
previously played for Sioux City in the American Association and Lancaster in
the Atlantic League.
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