*P Antonio Alfonseca is expected to sign with the Barnstormers before they resume play against Southern Maryland Thursday night. The 6-5, 250-pound righthander played parts of 11 seasons in the big leagues, most recently with the Phillies in 2007. He started this season in Mexico, but was released after posting a 12.46 ERA in six games.
OTHER ADDITIONS:
*P Neal Musser. The lefty started the season with the Astros at Triple-A Round Rock where he had a 5.14 ERA in four games. He projects as a starter for the Barnstormers but could begin his tenure here in the bullpen. Musser was in the big leagues for one game last season.
*P Nick Abel. He’s a right-handed reliever who was released by the Mets from Double-A Binghamton earlier this month. He was 1-1 with a 10.44 ERA there and is already listed on Lancaster’s official roster.
SUBTRACTIONS:
*P Joe D’Alessandro has been traded to the Washington Wild Things of the Frontier League in exchange for future considerations.
*P Spike Lundberg has retired.
*P Ryan Cullen is off to Taiwan, as most here know. I didn’t post it because he planned to pitch in the All-Star Game Tuesday night.
Hate to see Joe leave and Ryan Cullen is going to be difficult to replace at the closer spot.
Such is life in the AL and minor league baseball.
I’m impressed……no sarcasm intended
It must be hard to find good players half way into the season. I wouldn’t want the task of looking a finding them.
Antonio Alfonseca’s 4.11 lifetime ERA is good, but that 12.47 is extremely scary! He did that over a 2009 six game stretch, so he had an opportunity to correct a serious problem and could not. He was released.
Whatever happened to Jay Enoch from Hempfield High? Wasn’t he being considered once again? He was given a very limited opportunity during spring training and I was never able to see him pitch at any pre-season home games.
Maybe we’ll find a diamond among this current round of pitchers. There’s always that possibility… new start, new location, different league players, etc. Let’s hope for the best.
Goodbye to Ryan, Joe, and Spike. Here’s hoping they succeed in all future endeavors whether they be in baseball or in other careers.
dadTB
On another note – great work today by Ryan Mulhern and Ben Fritz who showed up to the B2B Barnstormers Baseball Camp that my son attends. Both men were supportive and encouraging toward the kids. Mr. Mulhern took the time to praise my son on his fielding of a ground ball and it just made his day. If indeed players read this, I say thank you and keep up the good work. You made at least one young fan very happy today.
We really got Alfonseca aka “El Pulpo” (the octopus)? For those of you who aren’t aware of it, he has six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. Hopefully he still has something left in the tank. It’s good to see the team being aggresive instead of sitting around waiting for guys to get better. Good luck!
Barney,
I was waiting for you to chime in. They didn’t sign Jose Mesa, but this is the next best thing.
This was at the AL website:
“Lancaster Barnstormers: RHP Joe D’Alessandro returned to the Washington Wild Things of the Frontier League to complete trade.”
As usual, I’m confused…
I guess technically the Barnstormers received D’Alessandro from Washington in a trade for a PTBNL or future considerations. Sending him back completes the trade.
It’s all semantics. The understanding was if the Barnstormers didn’t keep D’Alessandro, he would return to the Frontier League team. That’s what happened.
I see. I looked around a bit to see info on how Joe D was originally acquired, but I didn’t see a mention of Washington.
And you’re right, it’s all semantics. This reminds me of the Harry Chiti “trade”.
Does he really have 6 fingers? Doesn’t that make him a superhero? he looks like a bad guy from a 70’s movie.
6 fingers on each hand and also 6 toes on each foot..not full but enough to be considered.
Jay Enoch was released.
Is Ryan Cullen still playing in Taiwan??