EL1 Akron RubberDucks

Aeros Announce 2009 Roster

Published on April 6, 2009 under Eastern League (EL1)
Akron RubberDucks News Release


AKRON, OH - The Aeros announced their inaugural 2009 roster today, and the club will once again be home to many of Cleveland's top prospects. Featured in the Opening Day roster are five of the top 13 prospects in the system according to Baseball America, including no. 1 prospect Carlos Santana. Nick Weglarz (no. 3), Beau Mills (no. 5), Carlos Rivero (no. 11) and Hector Rondon (no. 13) will also open the year in the Rubber City, and will be joined by a veteran bullpen and a dynamic group of position players.

Rondon will get the Opening Day start, as the youngster averaged a strikeout an inning for Kinston last season as a 20-year-old. Frank Herrmann, who led the Aeros staff with 11 wins in 2008, will slide into the no. 2 spot in the rotation with newcomer Josh Tomlin (the no. 29 prospect) slotting in behind him. Steven Wright, who split last season evenly between Kinston and Akron, will be the fourth starter and left-hander Chuck Lofgren will look to bounce back from a tough year in 2008 as the fifth starter.

Highlighting the bullpen is the return of closer Randy Newsom, who with 29 saves last year and 47 in his Akron career is the leader in both the single-season and career categories. Newsom will have a new role as a set-up man in 2009 however, as Vinnie Pestano will take over as the closer after notching 24 saves between Lake County and Kinston last year. Ryan Edell will be the lone southpaw in the bullpen after leading all Akron starters with a 3.80 ERA last season, and will be joined by Wisconsin native Scott Roehl, Erik Stiller, Michael Finocchi, and Neil Wagner.

Santana will handle the catching duties following his California League MVP season of 2008, an award which he amazingly claimed despite departing the league at the end of July when he was included in the Case Blake trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Santana led all of minor league baseball with 125 runs scored last season, and ranked second among all minor leaguers with 117 RBI. Veteran Damaso Espino, who appeared in 31 games after coming over from Kansas City last year, will be the backup.

Mills is coming off an MVP season of his own in 2008, taking Carolina League honors while tying for the league lead with 21 home runs and ranking second with 90 RBI. He also won the Lou Boudreau award as Cleveland's minor league player of the year. Rivero, who won't turn 21 until late May, should be the starting shortstop while Jared Goedert joins him on the left side at third base. Josh Rodriguez, who played 137 games last season (just two appearances shy of tying the single-season team record), will see the majority of the time at second base, while Jerad Head and Niuman Romero both offer versatility and good defense on the infield.

Weglarz, who played for Canada in both the Beijing Olympics and this year's World Baseball Classic, leads a quartet of left-handed hitting outfielders. Joining the big slugger are speedster Jose Constanza (who led Akron in steals last year), former first-round pick John Drennen, and newcomer Mickey Hall, who was acquired from Boston in the off-season as the player to be named in the Paul Byrd trade.

The Aeros begin defense of their Southern Division pennant Wednesday, April 8th against the Bowie Baysox in a rematch of last season's first-round playoff series. For more information on the roster or all the festivities planned at Canal Park in 2009, please visit the Aeros online at www.akronaeros.com or call the front office at (330) 253-5151.

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Eastern League Stories from April 6, 2009


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