The Orioles are going Indy: Frontier and Pecos

This article is the second of two.  In the first article, I discussed expectations to have of players picked up in the independent leagues.  The short of that is simply not to expect much, but there are certainly some surprises like Daniel Nava or George Sherrill.

This article will focus on players the Orioles signed from the the Frontier League and the Pecos League.

Frontier League
P Logan Mahon, Gateway
P Mike Recchia, Windy City
SS Chris Wade, Windy City
C Jim Vahalik, Washington Wild Things

Pecos League
P Luis Pardo, Trinidad Triggers

Frontier League
The Frontier League is the oldest running independent league with its origin going back to 1993.  The players in this league tend to be younger than in the American Association.  Half of every team is required to make up half of their squads with rookies who cannot be older than 27.  As such, this league is considered slightly less competitive than the American Association.  Two Orioles who have appeared in games in this league are the aforementioned George Sherrill and Chris Jakubauskas.  Sherrill and Brendan Donnelly are the two most successful alumni from the league.

More detail of the Oriole signees from the Frontier League:

Logan Mahon, LHRP
24 years old

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9
2011	22	Casper	PION	Rk	COL	0	0	4.50	5	0	6.0	9.0	0.0	6.0	9.0
2012	23	Gateway	FRON	Ind		2	1	2.52	33	0	35.2	7.6	0.0	5.3	6.3

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

What can I say about Logan Mahon?  Absolutely nothing.  None of my contacts are much aware of him.  He was a late round selection by the Rockies in 2011, was released, and then performed decently for Gateway last year putting up some unimpressive strikeout and walk numbers.

Mike Recchia, RHRP
24 years old

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2010	21	Staten Island	NYPL	A-	NYY	0	1	4.93	22	0	34.2	7.8	0.3	3.1	7.8	2.50
2011	22	2 Teams	2 Lgs	A-A-	NYY	6	3	2.49	31	0	61.1	8.1	0.4	1.9	7.0	3.69
2011	22	Staten Island	NYPL	A-	NYY	3	2	3.00	9	0	15.0	10.8	0.0	1.8	11.4	6.33
2011	22	Charleston	SALL	A	NYY	3	1	2.33	22	0	46.1	7.2	0.6	1.9	5.6	2.90
2012	23	Windy City	FRON	Ind		11	3	2.51	24	20	150.1	6.4	0.6	3.4	10.6	3.16
A- (2 seasons)				A-		3	3	4.35	31	0	49.2	8.7	0.2	2.7	8.9	3.27
A (1 season)				A		3	1	2.33	22	0	46.1	7.2	0.6	1.9	5.6	2.90
Ind (1 season)				Ind		11	3	2.51	24	20	150.1	6.4	0.6	3.4	10.6	3.16

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Recchia has done a lot with little.  He was an undrafted free agent signing by the Yankees in 2010 and managed to perform well in low level minor league ball.  However, he did not sufficiently impress the Yankees and was released.  I was told that he is a fastball, curveball reliever who tops out around 90 mph.  He gets by on hitters chasing his breaking ball and commands his fastball well.  He should be a great member of a low minors bullpen, but I think he will have difficulty if he faces more advanced hitters who will force him to throw his fastball by letting his curve go by.

Chris Wade, SS
25 years old

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	PA	AB	2B	3B	HR	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG
2009	21	Marlins	GULF	Rk	FLA	6	5	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.200	.333	.400
2009	21	Jamestown	NYPL	A-	FLA	196	166	6	3	0	5	4	14	29	.277	.356	.349
2010	22	Greensboro	SALL	A	FLA	244	223	19	0	1	10	4	11	32	.233	.268	.332
2010	22	Jupiter	FLOR	A+	FLA	71	61	1	1	1	3	0	8	11	.164	.257	.262
2011	23	Windy City	FRON	Ind		355	300	18	2	2	8	2	27	30	.253	.323	.347
2012	24	Windy City	FRON	Ind		405	345	11	1	5	20	6	34	37	.301	.375	.383
Ind (2 seasons)				Ind		760	645	29	3	7	28	8	61	67	.279	.351	.366
A (1 season)				A		244	223	19	0	1	10	4	11	32	.233	.268	.332
Rk (1 season)				Rk		6	5	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.200	.333	.400
A- (1 season)				A-		196	166	6	3	0	5	4	14	29	.277	.356	.349
A+ (1 season)				A+		71	61	1	1	1	3	0	8	11	.164	.257	.262

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Again, no specific information here.  I can only discuss broadly what a player like Wade would be worth.  The Independent leagues are a difficult place to find any useful position players at all.  Scouting as an entity does a pretty good job finding all driven, suitable hints of talent when it comes to position players.  For a SS who will be entering his age 25 season and has never shown any usable power, it is difficult to be too excited about his chances.  Wade did turn a number of his doubles into home runs his second time through Windy City, but actually had a lower ISO.  My guess is that Wade has shown solid defensive skills and good contact skills.  He will be someone who will be a backup middle infielder in the lower minors.

Jim Vahalik, C
24 years old

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	PA	AB	2B	3B	HR	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG
2012	23	2 Teams	1 Lg	Ind	294	266	8	1	3	2	2	13	54	.241	.288	.312
2012	23	Washington,London/Road Warriors	FRON	Ind	294	266	8	1	3	2	2	13	54	.241	.288	.312
2012	23	London/Road Warriors	FRON	Ind	195	174	6	1	2	2	2	10	28	.282	.326	.362
2012	23	Washington	FRON	Ind	99	92	2	0	1	0	0	3	26	.163	.212	.217

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

The lines are a little confusing in the BR provided table above.  Just focus on the last two rows for how well Vahalik did last season.  The University of Toledo catcher did not show much at the plate.  He also managed to cut down runners a third of the time, which is not exactly a great number.  It may well be that Vahalik has greatly improved his mechanics in the past year, but typically defensive minded catchers stick out during scouting.  That said, I have very little information here to use to make an assessment.

Pecos League
The Pecos League is a step below the Frontier league and appears to be, based on rosters, targeting players fresh out of college.  The league was founded in 2010 with two seasons played.  The Orioles signed one player from this league:

Luis Pardo, RHP
27 years old

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9
2007	21	Tri-City	NYPL	A-	HOU	0	8	5.35	13	9	35.1	10.4	0.5	5.6	3.8
2008	22	Lexington	SALL	A	HOU	1	9	5.57	16	12	63.0	12.3	1.1	4.3	6.4
2011	25	2 Teams	1 Lg	Ind		0	11	5.85	17	16	84.2	12.2	0.9	3.7	6.2
2011	25	Worcester, Federals	CAMA	Ind		0	11	5.85	17	16	84.2	12.2	0.9	3.7	6.2
2011	25	Federals	CAMA	Ind		0	10	5.83	15	14	75.2	11.7	1.0	3.8	5.7
2011	25	Worcester	CAMA	Ind		0	1	6.00	2	2	9.0	17.0	0.0	3.0	10.0
2012	26	Trinidad	PECO	Ind		4	3	7.81	13	13	70.1	11.8	1.7	3.2	6.8
Ind (2 seasons)				Ind		4	14	6.74	30	29	155.0	12.0	1.2	3.5	6.4
A (1 season)				A		1	9	5.57	16	12	63.0	12.3	1.1	4.3	6.4
A- (1 season)				A-		0	8	5.35	13	9	35.1	10.4	0.5	5.6	3.8

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Pardo was a ninth round selection of the Astros in 2007 and was not incredibly inspiring as a prospect.  The Astros were pretty lean on their draft investments during that time.  After suffering troubles for a couple years, he disappeared.  I cannot find any trace of him until he came back on the radar in the CanAm league.  Last year, he threw for Trinidad and put up a 7.81 ERA over 13 starts.  However, if you remove a 14 run, 2 1/3 outing from those numbers then he tossed a 6.22 ERA over 68 innings.  OK, that probably did not make you feel any better.  However, here is the ERA for pitchers who threw over 68 innings in the Pecos League and their ERA.

	IP	ERA	ERA+
Brett Kennedy	73	2.47	286
Derek Johnson	73.2	5.13	138
Nathan Johnson	82.1	5.46	129
Curtis Camilli	74.1	5.81	122
Luis Pardo*	68	6.22	114
Anthony Smith	70.2	7.00	101
Trent Evins	73.1	7.48	94
Scott Sobcazk	70.2	8.02	88
Gregory McDaniel	72	9.50	74

Yes, those ERA+ values are correct.  The Pecos league averages an 7.06 ERA.  It is murder on pitchers.  The top five pitchers could be considered as aces for their teams.  One thing is pretty amazing to me, Brett Kennedy and his 286 ERA+ did not get picked up by affiliated ball.  In late December, he signed a contract to move up to the Frontier League to pitch again for the Gateway Grizzlies.

Based on this video, he did not profile as a pitcher with exceptional pitches, but a solid performance in an offensive heavy league should turn some heads to give him a chance as a filler.  Maybe he continues to outwit the quality of his stuff.  Needless to say, it is very difficult to assess these players where I have few contacts and two year old film from an unfamiliar source.