H'ville Deadline Moves

H'ville, Tn (AP) - The Niagara Falls Frenzy and Hendersonville Hitmen have put the finishing touches on a deal that was weeks in the making. Niagara Falls will part with 32-year-old left fielder Damien Balmforth and $700,000 in cash, while the Hitmen have dealt 29-year-old reliever Tim Whitehead.

"This one took a while to figure out," said the Hitman general manager Travis Hays. "We have been in talks about a possible deal for weeks now.  I'm glad we finally got the deal done.  I think it is a good one for both clubs."

Balmforth on the season is hitting .301 with 2 home runs. His stats include 28 RBIs, 28 doubles and 27 runs scored and will be a FA at the end of the season.  With a very high desire to win it was no secret that he was very unhappy in Niagara this season, but despite that he's having a good season.  Coming over to H'ville immediately flips his morale, but will most likely be a spot starter vs LHP.  His poor defense will most likely keep him from starting vs RHP.

Going to the Frenzy is a fan favorite and one of the original Hitmen drafted in Tim Whitehead.  Whitehead has only pitched in 19 games this year and he has thrown 17.2 innings, dished out 20 strikeouts and walked 6 while putting up a 0-0 mark and a 3.06 ERA.

"Whitehead is one of the originals here, it saddens me to see him traded" Hays told local media in the clubhouse.  "It basically came down to the fact that he wasn't getting any innings in.  We have a very deep, very talented bullpen and he just wasn't getting any opportunities to pitch.  Being in a contract year we were not going to be able to re-sign him so it only made sense to try and strength our OF depth."

Gets:

MR Tim Whitehead

Gets:

RF  Damien Balmforth





In a 2nd move that was a pure "making room on the roster" move the Hitmen have dealt 23-year-old third baseman Vicente Salgado to the Vista Panthers for 18-year-old minor league second baseman Ramón Pérez.  Lat year Salgado got a shot at being the everyday 3B for the Hitmen after hitting 38 HR, 42 2Bs and 135 RBI in AAA in 2011.  He struggled out of the gate and quickly lost favor with management.  At 23 he still has a huge upside, especially with his power potential, but with the addition of All-Star 3B Hasewaga playing time for Salgado is few and far in between.

Hays not a fan of the deluted pool of IFA decided to take a chance with 2B Perez who projects to be a good contact hitter, elite gap, no power, good eye and elite avoid k hitter.  Defense is raw, but his speed/baserunning has the chance to seperate him from others at his position.

Gets:

3B Vincente Salgado

Gets:

2b Ramón Pérez



July PR2