Corey Smith, Brian McFall amongst Milb free agents
Smith, the 26-year old Piscataway, NJ resident, served as a centerpiece of the Naturals' 2009 offense, batting .249 with 21 homers and 90 RBI in 140 games. The veteran's 90 runs driven in serves as the Naturals' club record for a single season. Smith was signed by the Royals last November as a minor league free agent after spending the 2008 season with the Naturals' intra-divisional rival Arkansas Travelers. He was originally drafted in the first round of the 2000 draft by the Cleveland Indians.
McFall, the 25-year old resident of Surprise, AZ, spent all of 2008 and the first half of 2009 with the Naturals before missing the remainder of the season with a hamstring injury. He batted .250 with seven homers and 37 RBI in 59 games, seeing most of action defensively at first base after serving as the club's primary right fielder in 2008. McFall was a third round selection by the Royals in the 2003 draft.
Two other players who spent time in Northwest Arkansas this season were also granted free agency: Right-handed reliever Chad Orvella, who appeared in eight games for the Naturals and posted a 1.64 ERA after signing with the Royals in July, and catcher John Suomi, who hit .311 in 37 games before departing for Triple-A Omaha in early June.
Players such as Smith, Suomi, and several members of the 2008 Naturals fit the category of minor league veterans who may elect free agency yearly as they have over six years of service time, while McFall and Orvella, both products of the 2003 draft, completed their sixth full season of professional baseball this past season. Cody Clark, John Bannister, and Irving Falu also could have become free agents, but have already been re-signed by Kansas City.
•Naturals' 2009 Free Agents
C Cody Clark* (.304, 8 HR, 32 RBI with the Naturals, 4-for-8 with Triple-A Omaha)
C John Suomi (.311, 7 HR, 19 RBI with the Naturals, .145, 1 HR, 6 RBI for Omaha)
INF Corey Smith (.249, 21 HR, 90 RBI with the Naturals)
OF/1B Brian McFall (.250, 7 HR, 37 RBI with the Naturals)
RHP John Bannister* (1-0, 5.02 ERA with the Naturals, 3-3, 6.30 ERA with Frisco, 0-0, 5.40 ERA with Triple-A Oklahoma City)
RHP Chad Orvella (1-1, 1.64 ERA with the Naturals and 0-1, 6.12 ERA with Triple-A Durham)
*already re-signed by KC
•Free Agents who played for the 2008 Naturals
C Adam Donachie, AA Bowie (Baltimore) *re-signed by Baltimore
INF Irving Falu, AAA Omaha (Kansas City) *already re-signed by KC
SS Angel Sanchez, AAA Las Vegas (Toronto)
INF/OF Geraldo Valentin, Adv-A Jupiter (Florida)
OF/DH Cory Aldridge, AAA Omaha (Kansas City)
RHP Greg Atencio, AAA Louisville (Cincinnati)
RHP Julio De La Cruz, AA Binghamton (New York Mets)
LHP Tim Hamulack, AA Omaha (Kansas City)
LHP Paul Mildren, Adv-A Lynchburg (Pittsburgh)
RHP Matt Peterson, AA Jacksonville (Florida)
RHP Jarod Plummer, AA Portland (Boston)
There are several current and former Texas Leaguers who are now free agents. Naturals' fans and Arvest Ballpark faithful will no doubt remember many of these players as they came through the league this past season. Amongst the highlights of the group:
OF Archie Gilbert, Midland (.283, 3 HR, 39 RBI, 29 SB)
Speedy outfielder lacks power but can play both center and left and works the count better than most players in this league. Like many of his teammates he hit the Naturals well, batting .355 against Northwest Arkansas in seven games. Just 26, he still has a shot at reaching the major leagues but might be best suited with a National League club as a fourth outfielder and potential pinch runner/defensive replacement.
OF/DH Ryan Harvey, Tulsa (.246, 23 HR, 82 RBI)
A former first round selection of the Chicago Cubs in 2003 (sixth overall pick), Harvey hits free agency for the second straight season after the Cubs gave up on him and granted him his release last off-season. A power hitter in the Corey Smith mold, Harvey feasts on fastballs and mistake pitches yielded by younger Texas League pitchers. Like Gilbert, Harvey seemed to enjoy facing the Naturals, batting .301 with a whopping 27 RBI. Working the count is not Harvey's fortitude, however, as he fanned 100 times against only 30 walks. Without a doubt Harvey will be looking to advance to Triple-A, but it wouldn't be surprising to see him surface again in the Texas League, be it with Tulsa or elsewhere.
INF/OF Adam Fox, Frisco (.286, 18 HR, 47 RBI, 6 SB)
Fox is a Texas League veteran who has spent a portion of the past five seasons with Frisco. The 27-year old is reaching agency for the first time in his career after putting up a career season in 2009. The biggest jump was in his power numbers, as he hit only 10 homers between Frisco and Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2008, but saw an increase to 19 between the levels in 2009 despite 20 fewer at-bats. Playing all around the diamond (second base, third base, right field, and left field) and batting all around the order, you can make a strong comparison between Fox and the Naturals' own super utility-man, Ed Lucas.
INF Drew Meyer, Corpus Christi (.291, 5 HR, 51 RBI)
The former University of South Carolina Gamecock, Meyer made his second tour of the Texas League this past season, his first year with Houston after signing as a six-year free agent last off-season. Meyer is another former first round selection, the tenth overall selection in 2002, who never quite panned out to his advanced billing. He was a little better in his 2005 Texas League All-Star season, when he batted .321 with three homers, 45 RBI, and 12 steals for Frisco before receiving a mid-season promotion to Triple-A. His numbers this season prove, however, that he is still well capable of filling a role in a Double-A lineup while providing some good off-field leadership as a mentor to younger players.
LHP Adam Bright, Tulsa (1-2, 4.30 ERA, 1 SV)
Minor league pitching staffs usually don't have space for specialized relievers, but, for the past two seasons, the Tulsa Drillers' roster has had just that. Bright, the 25-year old Australian southpaw, generally comes out to face the other teams' left-handed sluggers late in a ballgame, and Tulsa's skipper hasn't been shy to use him on consecutive days. In 2008, Stu Cole, Tulsa's former skipper, deployed him nearly every time he faced the Naturals to pitch to Kila Ka'aihue and Cory Aldridge, the Naturals' big left-handed sluggers. In 2009, Bright held lefty hitters to a .156 average and just four RBI. On the flip side, right-handers teed off on Bright to a .329 clip.
C Raul Padron, Midland (.275, 2 HR, 17 RBI)
Padron saw action in 85 games between three levels of the Oakland farm system this past season, and hit .266 with seven homers and 45 RBI between them. However, it was a home run not counted in that total that mattered the most. Naturals fans who were in attendance for game four of the Texas League Championship Series at Arvest Ballpark on September 19th no doubt remember Padron's 12th inning blast off Naturals' reliever Ben Swaggerty. That home run ended the Naturals' dream season, sending the RockHounds to a 4-2 victory and a series win.
LHP Kristhiam Linares, Springfield (0-0, 3.27 ERA)
Linares, the only free agent who played in Springfield this past season, deserves mention as one of the youngest free agents with Texas League experience. Only 23, this 6'1" lefty still has potential to pay dividends for a team looking to add a potential prospect. Linares has a good arm but struggles with control, as he issued 26 walks in 37 1/3 IP across three levels of the Cards' farm last year, but has only eight walks and 14 strikeouts in 12 innings in winter ball in his native Venezuela. A former Florida Marlins' farmhand, Linares is still relatively inexperienced, with just two seasons of affiliated ball in the United States, but might be a nice signing for a team looking to take a chance on somebody.
INF Chris Gutierrez, Arkansas (.279, 1 HR, 11 RBI)
Nothing too flashy here, but Gutierrez, who only appeared in 33 games with the Travs, didn't hurt them when he was in there, playing solid defense at second, short, and third base and drawing 21 walks to 23 strikeouts. Gutierrez, who the Angels picked up after he was released by the Toronto Blue Jays, walked only seven times against 20 strikeouts early in the 2009 season with New Hampshire, the Jays' Double-A Eastern League affiliate, but made a seamless transition to the more hitter-friendly ballparks of the Texas League. At 25, the former Oklahoma State Cowboy is also younger than a lot of other minor league free agents.
LHP Andy Van Hekken, Corpus Christi (7-5, 4.05 ERA)
This soft-tossing 30-year old lefty was a member of a troupe of veterans brought in beginning last season to help the Houston Astros fill in some gaps in the barren upper levels of their farm system. Not all of them did well, but, save for a rough month of May, Van Hekken filled in aptly both in the bullpen and later in the season, in the rotation after spending a portion of the 2008 season in the Hooks' rotation. He was knocked around pretty hard, however, in two of his three outings against the Naturals in 2009.
OF/DH Val Majewski, Arkansas (.235, 4 HR, 18 RBI)
Another left-handed veteran slugger, Majewski was signed by the Angels to fortify a thin Travs lineup in the middle of the season but couldn't seem to stay on the field because of injuries. When healthy, Majewski can provide some sock for a team that needs some thump in the lineup, as evidenced by his eight homers in just 52 games between the Hooks and Triple-A Round Rock in 2008. The 28-year old won't provide much on the defensive end and at this point is probably best suited as a designated hitter, but Travs' coaches commended him for being one of the first to show up at the ballpark everyday, even while he was injured and on the disabled list. That leadership is certainly valued by organizations when they look to sign former prospects such as Majewski.
Other notable players that are minor league free agents are OF Drew Macias (Padres), who, while with San Antonio in 2008 had the first base hit in Arvest Ballpark history, and left-hander Dan Davidson (Angels), who pitched masterfully for the 2008 Travs as they won that year's Texas League crown.
With 34 players headed for minor league free agency, Los Angeles Dodgers' farmhands are the best represented on the list, followed by the Florida Marlins and the Seattle Mariners, who each have 32 minor league free agents. A complete list of minor league free agents can be seen here.
Minor leaguers who remain on their initial minor league contracts may become free agents after completing six full seasons in an organization unless their major league parent club elects to place them on their 40-man roster. The rules differ for a player whose contract has been released or was not renewed by their first organization before the expiration of the six-year period. When a player in that instance signs with a new club, the new club can choose to sign the player for one year or however many years remain before the expiration of their sixth renewable contract (thus minor league players are often referred to as "six year free agents.")
Stay informed of all the offseason news and transaction information as it relates to the Naturals by visiting nwanaturals.com.