Fire ablaze with roster moves

With about two weeks to go until the season begins, the AIA Fire have made some moves to set up their roster. We're getting pretty close to the season, the spring semester is over and for most of the college baseball world, so is the spring season. We must be getting pretty close to having all the rosters down pat. So let's see what changes the Fire have made since they first announced their roster a while back.

Who's In:

The Fire have picked up three pitchers -- Matt Addis, Harrison Helms and Chris Turner -- plus an infielder (Kellen Bozeman) and an outfielder (Ryan Matthews).

Out of all the pitchers, the one I like the most is Harrison Helms, a 6'2" 200lb senior southpaw. He's been very successful at the NAIA level with MNU, where he was the team's top starter this year. In 2010 he led his team in games (14), wins (6), ERA (3.18) and IP (76.1). He isn't super consistent with his outings (who at this level is?) but when he's on his game he's been awesome this year. One plus that he brings to the Fire this season is that he's a lefty, Justin Denbow being the only other left handed pitcher on the roster at the moment.


On the batting side, Kellen Bozeman is another big name. He's redshirting this season for Delta State, but last year he was epic for the Statesmen. 1.035 OBP, was sat down on strikes only 20 times in 206 at-bats, and even swiped a perfect 7-for-7 steals. The one knock against him is his .846 fielding percentage, which makes me think his "versatility" in playing either side of the infield is more like a "where can we stick him to get his bat in the lineup today?" kinda thing. But taken as a whole, I think he's going to be an exciting member of the Fire this year.

Who's Out:

As for the kids who aren't coming up, Wimmer and Mosbacher are two that are a big bummer because they were already selected for our Players to Watch list (which will be updated). Wimmer played for the Fire last year and was really good, one of their most productive batters.


Eugene Escat is another guy who is kind of bumming me out that he's not making the trip up. I've warmed up to him a little bit since the last time we looked at the Fire roster. He's really proven to be a solid closer for Fresno State, and I was looking forward to seeing what he could do in person.

The Bottom Line:

Overall, there's nothing drastic going on here. Three pitchers, an OF and an IF going both ways. When it's all said and done, though, I think this is a net gain for the Fire. Nothing against any of the players who aren't coming up; but as far as guys who I think will make an impact, it seems like they came out slightly ahead. Wimmer for Bozeman sounds like a pretty straight-up trade, one good bat for another. I like Escat and am bummed to see him go, but I also like Helms and am excited to get a look at him.

The tiebreaker is in the fact that Helms is a starter and Escat a closer, and I would put more value in a solid starter than a solid closer. Plus, the fact that the Fire come out of it with another lefty is a positive as well. My first inclination is to think that last-minute replacement recruits tend to be scraping the bottom of the barrel, but the history of this league proves that assumption wrong (consider, for example, a last-minute guy named Mark McGwire). Overall, I think that the Fire actually came out of this turnover ahead.