One manager doesn’t like Frontier League roster rule
Pete Incaviglia doesn’t like the Frontier League’s roster rules.
Incaviglia, a 12-year veteran of the major leagues and college baseball’s all-time home run king, is the manager of the Tri-City ValleyCats.
After getting off to a dreadful start, losing 16 of their first 20 games, the ValleyCats have turned their season around and have been the hottest team in the league, winning 12 of 15 entering Thursday night.
Tri-City has done it with the oldest and most experienced lineup the Frontier League has ever seen. The ValleyCats have two former major leaguers – 35-year-old infielder Denis Phipps and 28-year-old outfielder Willy Garcia – and 30-year-old infielder Juan Silverio, who is a 12-year professional. All three are classified as veterans by Frontier League roster standards.
This season, because it absorbed five franchises from the defunct Can-Am League, the Frontier League allows each team to have three veterans – any player who will be at least 29 years old on Sept. 30 – on its roster. For the majority of its 29-year existence, the Frontier League had limited eligibility to players 27 years old or younger. There was a brief period when teams were allowed to keep one player over the age limit, if that player had appeared on a FL team’s roster for 100 games in the previous two seasons. This was the so-called Chris Sidick Rule, which enabled the former Wild Things outfielder to play seven seasons in Washington.
Changes to three veterans and no age limit were put in place so that the former Can-Am teams could keep some of their older and most popular players. The Can-Am League did not have an age limit and was a league for older players than what the Frontier League fielded. The Frontier League’s three-vet limit will drop to two next year, one in 2023 and be phased out by 2024.
Incaviglia’s disdain for the three-vet limit comes in part because Tri-City had an agreement to sign 36-year-old pitcher Bud Norris, who played 10 years in the majors, the most recent being 2018 with St. Louis. Norris started his pro career in 2006 in the Houston Astros’ system, playing in Tri-City, when it was a member of the New York-Penn League. Incaviglia said bringing in Norris could be a valuable marketing tool for Tri-City.
“The rules shouldn’t prevent a team from getting a guy who actually played here that people would love to see who played in the big leagues,” Incaviglia told the Albany Times-Union. “He can’t come here because of the rules. … We’re only allowed three vets, which doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Frontier League rules do allow for teams to bring in a “name” player for one game. If it’s for more than one night, then the team must clear a roster spot for the player.
If Tri-City were to sign Norris, it would to drop Phipps, Garcia or Silverio from the active roster.
“It’s not a dead issue yet,” Incaviglia said. “We’re still trying, but it’s just kind of sad.”
The Frontier League has been able to survive in the unstable landscape of independent baseball because it had carved a niche for itself, one that focused on young players with limited pro experience. No other independent league filled that void.
Roster move
Washington made one roster move prior to its game Thursday night against New Jersey. Outfielder Cam Phelts (5-9, 165) was signed to bring the Wild Things’ active roster to the limit of 24 players. The 24-year-old Phelts, a switch-hitter from Layton, Utah, is a rookie out of Grambling. He batted .290 this spring with six home runs and 22 stolen bases.