RiverHawks, Simon disagree on reasons for slugger's release

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wasteland
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RiverHawks, Simon disagree on reasons for slugger's release

Post by wasteland » Tue Jun 29, 2010 10:25 pm

LOVES PARK — Though Randall Simon and his agent believe the move came as a result of an injury and a misunderstanding revolving around it, RiverHawks co-owner Dave Ciarrachi insists the former Cub was released because of his performance, and came because of the need for a more athletic team.

“It was primarily because of performance. He was our highest-paid player with lot of major league experience, and he’s struggled with us,” Ciarrachi said. “We’ve just expected him to be more of an impact than he was. That was the key.”

Simon hit .250 with seven home runs and 19 RBIs in 27 games, but had a hot stretch just before his injury, hitting .361 with five home runs in his past 10 games. He left the first game of a doubleheader Tuesday, and was put on the disabled list two days later with a strained quadriceps muscle.

He has been replaced by 2006 Baseball America magazine Independent League Player of the Year and 2006 Frontier League Player of the Year Ian Church, who was officially signed Monday. While at Kalamazoo in 2006, he hit .317 with 31 homers and 78 RBIs.

As for Simon — who was leading the team in home runs (seven) and was third in RBIs (19) — he still is shaken up with the disagreement about his release.

“It’s very, very wrong what’s going on here. I’m hitting better than anyone right now. I just don’t see it,” Simon said. “I’m frustrated and very disappointed. I play as hard as anybody, and I thought this was all about the injury, not about my performance on the field.”

According to Simon’s agent, Jacob Noble, they originally were told Simon was released because he failed to make the recent road trip, and that the injury was initially reported to Ciarrachi as a minor pull that could be dealt with on a day-to-day basis. Simon said he saw a doctor who told him shortly before the bus was to leave that he could not play on the pulled quad.

Ciarrachi said that had little to do with the former big-leaguer’s departure from the team.

“That was not why he told us Randall was released. Performance was not the issue, according to him. Ciarrachi told me he was cut because he didn’t want to go on this road trip. He said he can’t have that,” said Noble, a lawyer in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. “He is just misrepresenting himself now. He never said anything about performance. This is about an owner trying to teach a star player, and those who will follow him, a lesson.”

Both parties admitted there might be a way Simon could come back to the RiverHawks. However, Ciarrachi explained that a Northern League ruling that a player cannot be picked up by the team that cut him until a 21-day grace period prohibits that from happening for a while.

http://www.rrstar.com/sports/x160934010 ... or-release

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