Tag: atlantic league

Red Sox to sign former Central Arkansas, Staten Island FerryHawks OF Kolby Johnson to minor-league deal

The Red Sox are working to sign outfielder Kolby Johnson to a minor-league contract, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. Johnson posted on Instagram earlier Tuesday evening that he had signed with the club.

Johnson, 25, spent the 2024 season with the Staten Island FerryHawks of the independent Atlantic League. In 112 games, the right-handed hitter batted .308/.380/.459 with 24 doubles, four triples, 11 home runs, 62 RBIs, 93 runs scored, 32 stolen bases, 32 walks, and 83 strikeouts over 489 plate appearances.

On the other side of the ball, Johnson was named to the Atlantic League’s 2024 All-Defensive Team after a productive year patrolling the outfield for Staten Island. The 5-foot-6, 165-pounder (listed height and weight) saw the majority of his playing time come in right field and he committed just two errors in 214 chances altogether. His 11 outfield assists were also the second-most in the league.

A native of Pearland, Texas, Johnson played collegiately at Central Arkansas (where he earned his MBA) for five years but was passed over in the 2023 draft. He spent the following months playing for the MLB Draft League’s Trenton Thunder and leveraged his standout performance (.361/.450/.578 slash line in 40 games) there into a deal with Staten Island that September. The FerryHawks then brought him back for the 2024 campaign last January.

Johnson, who does not turn 26 until September, figures to provide the Red Sox with toolsy outfield depth in the lower minors to open the 2025 season. What affiliate he starts out at will likely be determined at some point during spring training.

(Picture of Kolby Johnson courtesy of the Staten Island FerryHawks)

Red Sox sign veteran righty Sal Romano to minor-league deal

The Red Sox have signed free agent right-hander Sal Romano to a minor-league contract, per the club’s MLB.com transactions log. He has been assigned to Triple-A Worcester.

Romano, 30, is a veteran of five big-league seasons who last pitched in the majors for the Yankees in 2021. The righty was originally selected by the Reds in the 23rd round of the 2011 amateur draft out of Southington High School in Connecticut.

Signed for $450,000, Romano established himself as one of the top pitching prospects in Cincinnati’s farm system before making his major-league debut at the age of 23 in 2017. He posted a 4.45 ERA in 16 starts (87 innings) as a rookie and then struggled to a 5.31 ERA over 39 appearances (25 starts) spanning a career-high 145 2/3 innings in 2018.

After allowing 14 earned runs over just 16 1/3 innings pitched in 2019, Romano was designated for assignment by the Reds the following February. He cleared waivers and stuck in the organization without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster until he was summoned from the alternate training site in September. He made two scoreless — albeit brief — relief appearances towards the end of the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign and then made Cincinnati’s Opening Day roster the following spring.

To begin what would become a raucous 2021 season, Romano pitched to a 5.23 ERA in 20 2/3 innings out of the Reds bullpen before again being designated for assignment that May. He elected free agency shortly thereafter and quickly latched on with the Yankees on a minor-league deal. He made it up to New York in late July but appeared in just two games (including one against the Red Sox) before hitting waivers once more.

Romano was claimed by the Brewers in early August but spent less than two weeks (and got into one game at the big-league level) before being designated for assignment and outrighted off Milwaukee’s 40-man roster. He again opted for free agency and was scooped up by the Yankees. He appeared in two more games for New York before getting released in September.

Romano inked a minors pact with the Mariners before the start of the 2022 season but briefly retired from baseball. He returned to action in the 2022/2023 Venezuelan Winter League and then signed with the Gastonia Honey Hunters of the independent Atlantic League last April. In 28 outings (15 starts) for Gastonia, he went 4-5 with a 4.91 ERA and 75 strikeouts to 37 walks over 84 1/3 innings pitched.

Altogether, Romano owns a lifetime 5.23 ERA in 88 career appearances (41 starts, 275 1/3 innings) at the big-league level and a 4.91 ERA in Indy Ball. In 78 career outings (15 starts) at the Triple-A level, he has gone 6-13 with a 3.87 ERA and 133 strikeouts to 48 walks across 149 total innings of work.

Romano, who does not turn 31 until October, is listed at 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds. When he last pitched in the majors in 2021, he averaged 93.6 mph with his sinker, and 87.3 mph with his slider, per Baseball Savant. Throughout his career, those two offerings have more or less served as his bread and butter.

As of now, it is unclear if the Red Sox plan on deploying Romano as a starter or reliever in Worcester. Regardless of his role, he should provide the WooSox with experienced pitching depth moving forward.

(Picture of Sal Romano: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Former Red Sox catching prospect Kole Cottam looking to get back into affiliated ball after strong season in Atlantic League

After a strong debut season in the independent Atlantic League, former Red Sox catching prospect Kole Cottam is looking to return to affiliated ball in 2024.

Cottam, a former fourth-round draft selection of the Red Sox coming out of Kentucky in 2018, asked for and was granted his release from the organization back in March. It was a difficult decision to make, but as the 26-year-old explained to Andrew Parker and Ed Hand on a recent episode of Beyond the Monster’s To The Show We Go Podcast, it allowed him to spend more time with his wife and newborn daughter as he explored the open market.

In search of a better opportunity elsewhere, Cottam ultimately signed with the Spire City Ghost Hounds, a newly-created ALPB club based in Frederick, Md., on March 20. The right-handed hitter got the chance to play everyday this season and made the most of it, batting a stout .290/.375/.578 with 24 doubles, 30 home runs, 75 RBIs, 65 runs scored, three stolen bases, 49 walks, and 90 strikeouts across 113 games spanning 455 plate appearances.

Playing alongside former big-leaguers such as Starlin Castro, Jimmy Paredes, Raudy Read, Jose Marmolejos, Moises Sierra, and Chris Shaw, Cottam was named a 2023 Atlantic League Postseason All-Star. He finished in a two-way tie for the third-most homers in the league and also posted the second-highest slugging percentage.

Defensively, Cottam made a team-leading 75 starts at catcher for Spire City this season. The 6-foot-3, 230-pounder logged 635 2/3 innings behind the plate and threw out 30 of 119 potential base stealers while allowing six passed ball. He also started 18 games at first base, where he committed only two errors in 139 total chances.

Shortly after the 2023 ALPB regular season drew to a close, the Ghost Hounds announced in late September that they would be taking a one-year hiatus in 2024. The decision allows the Atlantic League, which is welcoming a new club based out of Hagerstown, Md. to its lineup in the spring, to maintain an even number of teams (10) for scheduling purposes next season.

Even though the owners of the Ghost Hounds said in that same announcement that they expected to return to action in 2025, the ALPB still held a dispersal draft in November for players whose rights were previously held by Spire City. Cottam surely would have been part of that process based on the success he enjoyed this year, but his rights were actually traded to the Long Island Ducks in October.

In a recent exchange with BloggingtheRedSox.com, Cottam explained that he, like any other player who finished the season in the ALPB, is free to sign with an MLB (or any professional) team of his choosing right now. As such, the native Tennessean took to social media last month and posted a 47-second highlight reel featuring his best plays on both sides of the ball this year.

As of now, it remains to be seen how much interest Cottam is garnering from big-league clubs in minor-league free agency. The 2021 Arizona Fall League All-Star made it as far as Triple-A Worcester in his final season with the Red Sox and would provide his new organization with experienced catching depth.

That is an obvious area of need for all 30 teams, so one would have to assume that Cottam has a shot at landing a minor-league deal this winter. If things go in a different direction, however, and Cottam wants to play in the Atlantic League again next year, he would be in line do so for the Ducks since they currently own his rights.

(Picture of Kole Cottam: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Former Red Sox catching prospect Kole Cottam signs with Atlantic League team

Former Red Sox catching prospect Kole Cottam has signed with the Frederick Baseball Club of the independent Atlantic League, per the league’s transactions log.

Cottam, 25, had spent the last five years in the Red Sox organization before being granted his release earlier this month. The Tennessee native was originally selected by Boston in the fourth round of the 2018 amateur draft out of the University of Kentucky.

After signing with the club for $375,000, Cottam made his professional debut with short-season Lowell. He then split the 2019 season between Low-A Greenville and High-A Salem and was named a Red Sox organizational All-Star by MiLB.com.

Though the 2020 minor-league season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cottam still played for the Lexington Leyendas in the Battle of the Bourbon trail that summer. He also took part in the Red Sox’ fall instructional league later that year and received his first invite to major-league spring training the following February.

Cottam began the 2021 campaign with now-High-A Greenville before earning a promotion to Double-A Portland in late July. Between the two affiliates, the right-handed hitter batted .278/.371/.500 with 10 home runs and 33 RBIs in 71 games. Once the Sea Dogs’ season ended, Cottam made the trek out west to play in the Arizona Fall League. While out there, he earned AFL All-Star honors alongside fellow Red Sox prospect Triston Casas.

Last year, Cottam again spent time at big-league camp before returning to Portland in April. He remained with the Sea Dogs through early August, slashing .271/.350/.380 with 15 doubles, two triples, two homers, and 26 RBIs in 64 games before making the jump to Triple-A Worcester. With the WooSox, Cottam appeared in just 14 games down the stretch, going 8-for-45 (.178) at the plate with five doubles, two RBIs, four runs scored, five walks, and 17 strikeouts.

Over the winter, the Red Sox bolstered their catching depth by claiming Caleb Hamilton off waivers from the Twins and signing Jorge Alfaro to a minor-league contract. With Reese McGuire and Connor Wong already on the 40-man roster and Hamilton, Alfaro, Ronaldo Hernandez, and Stephen Scott in camp as non-roster invitees this spring, Cottam fell on Boston’s depth chart.

As such, Cottam was released by the Red Sox on March 5. Shortly thereafter, Ed Hand of SoxProspects.com reported that the 6-foot-3, 235-pound backstop “requested his release and was granted it” so that he could “catch on with a better opportunity on another team.”

While he did not sign with an affiliated team, Cottam will now look to continue on with his career in indy ball. The team he signed with (which is based in Frederick, Md.) does not yet have an official name since it was only added to the 2023 Atlantic League lineup in November.

Looking back at his time in the Red Sox organization, Cottam peaked as the No. 34 prospect in Boston’s farm system, per SoxProspects.com’s rankings. He was a lifetime .258/.347/.421 hitter with 71 doubles, six triples, 23 home runs, 129 RBIs, 120 runs scored, two stolen bases, 106 walks, and 196 strikeouts in 268 career minor-league games (1,074 plate appearances) with Lowell, Salem, Greenville, Portland, and Worcester. From behind the plate, he threw out 39 of 210 possible base stealers.

Cottam, who turns 26 in May, and his wife, Elise, welcomed their first child together — a daughter named Callie — last month.

(Picture of Kole Cottam: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)