The first Silver Sox roster has been posted and you can check it out here:

http://www.silversoxbaseball.com/roster.aspx?SecID=853

There is only one player with affiliated baseball experience, pitcher Nick Moran who went 5-3 with with a 4.95 ERA in 14 starts for the Silver Sox last year. He made it to A-level and played there for four years with his last stop being with the Visalia Oaks when they were part of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization.

Speaking of former Sox, this roster includes 9 players from last years team in addition to the two players acquired from St. George (Flowers and Wright). So there is at least some experience with the Golden League which could be of help.

Of course, this roster if far from final. There are open tryouts on the 8th and 9th of April where a player or two might pop up followed by the releases from the affiliated rosters as the final spring training cuts are made. So there will be some roster shuffling to get down to the 22 roster limit by the first game (Reno opens at Home against the OC on Masy 23rd).

So stay tuned as we fine tune this roster to make a run at the GBL title once again.

First Look at 2008 Reno Silver Sox

One of the constants of independent baseball is the turnover you get from year to year. Some players may be brought back but for the most part, the majority of the roster will be brand new. Here is your first look at the potential 2008 Reno Silver Sox:

Departures:

Manager Les Lancaster (free agent--Sioux City Explorers)

P/Pitching Coach Dusty Bergman (Contract Sold to Sioux City Explorers)

2B/Batting Coach Mike Done (traded to St. George Roadrunners)

1B Ryan Brown (traded to St. George Roadrunners)

SS Sam Walker (traded to Sioux City Explorers)

P Eric Thomas (traded to Sussex Skyhawks)

OF Kane Simmons (Contract Sold to Colorado Rockies)

1B Adam Amar (Contract sold to Toronto Blue Jays)

OF Juan Senreiso (traded to Laredo Broncos, sold to Washington Nationals)

ARRIVALS

Jeff Leonard signed as Manager

1B/DH Larry Bethea -- trade with Sussex Skyhawks (.272, 7HRs, 46RBIs, 0 SBs in 81 Games last year)

OF Brett Flowers--trade with St. George Roadrunners (.341, 3 HRs, 42RBIs, 1 SB in 62 games last year)

OF Steven Wright—trade with St. George Roadrunners (.294, 2 HRs, 28 RBIs, 13 SBs in 57 games)


DRAFTED PLAYERS (with AWL Stats)

RHP Shawn Ravenscraft (Played in NYSL; 3-0, 1.50, 30Ks)

LHP Jason Cline (Played in Frontier League; 4-0, 4.00, 30Ks)

INF Josh Richardson (Indiana University; .350, 0HR, 9RBI, 5SB)

RHP Billy Shea (Northwest Oklahoma State; 1-2, 8.25, 13 Ks)

INF Grant Berkovitz (University of Wisconsin, Milwuakee; .196, 0 HR, 9 RBI, 1 SB)

INF Shaughn Neal (Wingate University; .340, 0HR, 8RBI, 3SB)

RHP Ryan Weber (Played in NYSL; 1-1, 4.57, 20Ks)

RHP Mike Reeves (Played in GBL and American Association; 3-1, 3.41, 35 Ks)

RHP Mario Guilin (College of the Desert;0-0, 5.40, 1 SV, 16Ks)

LHP Josh Likens (Concordia College, 1-0, 9.64, 1 SV, 16 Ks)

LHP Kenny Salyer (Played in South Coast League; 0-0, 12.38, 7Ks)

1B Steven Alexander (Drafted by Phillies; .390, 9HRs, 33RBIs, 1 SB)

C D.J. Dixon (Played in South Coast League and NYSL; .327, 0 HRs, 4 RBIs, 2 SBs)

LHP James Kuzniak (Played in Mexican League; 2-1, 4.50, 22Ks)

Reno Silver Sox moving to Tucson?

As you all know, the Tucson Sidewinders, AAA Affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, are moving to Reno to begin play in 2009. I'd be lying if I didn't say I am excited about it. The D-Backs are my favorite team and getting to see their Triple A players as well as MLB players on rehab assignments is going to be great. And with the restaurants and shops that will be going in around the stadium, it will make a day at the park a very fun, all day experience.

Unfortunately, it looks like (according to a Chico Newspaper report found at http://www.chicoer.com/ci_8403246?source=rss) that the Sox are looking to move to Tucson. Here is an excerpt from the article:

The Silver Sox ranked fourth in the GBL's 2007 attendance figures with 1,291average, directly behind the Outlaws in third at 1,541. The club is expecting to relocate from Reno to Tucson after the 2008 season, when the Tucson Sidewinders, the Arizona Diamondbacks' Triple-A affiliate, are planning to complete a long anticipated move to Reno

Obviously, anything can change in the world of independent baseball but for now, it looks like the Sox are moving on. It is unfortunate because the GBL is doing well (well for a young indy league, anyway). I was hoping we would see the day where the league looks more like the American Association or Northern League where teams play in a non-college stadium and draw 3-4K on many nights and up to 6-7K on really good nights.

I will post sometime soon about why I like Indy ball better than afflilated minors but for now, just know that it is unfortunate that we are losing our Indy ballclub.

This blog will continue through the (potential) final season of the Silver Sox. I will be out of town for a couple of weeks in June so I will miss some games but expect game and/or series reports for the rest of the year. So I hope you'll help the team go out with a bang and come to as many games as you can!