Making the Team
A Behind the Scenes Look at Putting Together a Winning Baseball Club
By Chelsea Merritt
As we move closer to spring – and inch closer to baseball season – the Bluefish have already begun to announce members of the 2016 Opening Day roster. As of today, the ‘Fish have re-signed four pitchers who helped the team last season, including former Major Leaguers D.J. Mitchell and Steven Ames, as well as David Anderson and Norwalk native Matt Iannazzo. In addition, the Bluefish have promised to reveal the latest player signings every Tuesday leading up to Spring Training. While the team is definitely starting to take shape, there is still much more work to be done to put together a winning team.
Paul Herrmann, the Bluefish Senior Director of Baseball Operations & Public Relations, is the main man responsible for finding and signing players. Recently, Paul took some time to sit down and speak with us to give us a behind-the-scenes look into the daily responsibilities of the Baseball Operations department.
How do you find players to sign? Are there any specific criteria that you look for?
First, we start with the players from the previous season. All players in the Atlantic League are on one-year contracts, so we have to renegotiate with them to bring them back. We see which guys are looking to continue their playing career, and out of that group we’ll decide which players we would like to bring back. Typically, about 7-10 players will return to the ballclub from the prior year. Aside from a couple trades we might make, the rest of the roster is filled with free agents. Following the Major League Baseball season, we are given a list of free agents which we filter through. Since we don’t have a scouting department to go out and watch these players, we sign players based on their statistics, professional experience or what level of pro ball they have reached, and recommendations from coaches and other players. Agents will also contact us about players they represent and that are looking to play in this league. The free agent signings really ramp up when the MLB teams make their spring training cuts.
How do trades work?
Trades are usually rare; we might make a couple per year. For instance, unlike the Atlantic League, some of the other Independent Leagues have age restrictions with players. So when an individual gets to a certain age, that team might not be able to keep him and would be looking to send that person to an Atlantic League club. This trade is typically for a player to be named later. Atlantic League clubs also trade with each other, but will more likely swap players based on the needs of the team.
Besides finding players, what are some of your other responsibilities?
I also coordinate all the player travel, run our host family program, negotiate all player contracts, manage the team salary cap, run the tryout camps, coordinate player appearances in the community, and am the point person for any visiting teams.
What can we expect from the Bluefish in 2016?
You can expect us to be competitive and put the best possible team on the field. We are focused on doing our job as an Atlantic League franchise to get as many of our players back into the affiliated ranks and hopefully the big leagues, while fighting for an Atlantic League Championship.
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