Alleghenies Quick Hits

[John]

This bolsters the odds that the new GM will come from within the organization. In addition to interim GM Jane Pomfret, other speculated candidates include scouting director Takeichi Kondo, AAA manager Tokimune Narita, and former Director of Player Development and current American Baseball Perspective writer Earl Valentine.

Ooooh, Earl Valentine! I'm a fan of his work with American Baseball Perspective. If Pomret isn't the eventual choice, I wouldn't mind seeing what Valentine could do with the gig. He's an old-school kind of guy; he'd bring a decidedly scouting-oriented approach to the team.

[Tyler]

Ooooh, Earl Valentine! I'm a fan of his work with American Baseball Perspective. If Pomret isn't the eventual choice, I wouldn't mind seeing what Valentine could do with the gig. He's an old-school kind of guy; he'd bring a decidedly scouting-oriented approach to the team.

Wow. Thanks for linking that article. I don't even remember writing it. Fascinating what I wrote about Harmon back then - if only I knew.

But yeah, Valentine would be an intriguing pick. He had a quick rise through the Coal Sox system, serving first as assistant Director of Player Development before taking over the primary role. Not sure why he left to write for ABP, but he does good work there. The question is - has he been out of the organization for too long?

[klewis]

Ha, that article was a blast from the past! Yeah, don't diss Harmon like that

Interesting to see that out of those mentioned drafted players, only Smallbridge remains.

[Tyler]

WSWW 1490 AM just aired the following:

The West Virginia Coal Sox have scheduled a press conference for 3 PM this afternoon. The team is expected to announce the new General Manager for the 2013 season to replace departing GM Tyler Babcock. Assistant GM Jane Pomfret and former Director of Player Development Earl Valentine are the most likely candidates.

[John]

WSWW 1490 AM just aired the following:

The West Virginia Coal Sox have scheduled a press conference for 3 PM this afternoon. The team is expected to announce the new General Manager for the 2013 season to replace departing GM Tyler Babcock. Assistant GM Jane Pomfret and former Director of Player Development Earl Valentine are the most likely candidates.

Yay, my two favorite candidates! I wonder who will get the job?

[Tyler]

BREAKING

Riley paraphernalia abruptly leaves West Virginia front offices

by Patrick Bailey, Charleston Gazette

January 13, 2013 CHARLESTON, WV - Nearly one month after the most shocking trade in the history of the franchise, few details have emerged about the reasoning behind the first deal of new GM Jane Pomfret's career. After a well-received introductory press conference, Pomfret made no further media appearances, citing an extensive schedule spent preparing for the Winter Meetings in her rejections of offers for media appearances. After the meetings, where the Riley trade occurred, the front office has entirely stopped responding to media requests.

Speculation immediately began that team owner Babcock had fired Pomfret. Babcock's deep, almost dangerous fondness for Riley is well-known around the league. All involved in covering the organization are baffled as to how Babcock ever approved the deal - or if he even knew about it.

A clue arrived today in a most unexpected fashion.

Pomfret and Babcock were spotted entering the front offices of Allegheny Field around 10 AM. At 10:30, reporters heard a tremendous crashing sound and looked up to see a cascading rain of shattered glass and sports memorabilia rain from the third-story window of Babcock's office. No-one was hurt by the debris. Once those on the scene determined that the stream of sporting goods had ended, they began to inspect the detritus.

Littering the sidewalk were two of George Riley's home jerseys, one from the 2010 All-Star game, several gloves from his Rawlings line, an autographed bat, and dozens of empty ballpark hot-dog wrappers. Shouting from the now-broken window reached the ground but was unintelligible.

This story is on-going. Updates will be provided as they become available.

[John]

Hell hath no fury like a jilted lover...

[klewis]

Woohoo to off-season storylines. The SL has a few off-season storylines. Now, the IL has a couple as well. Maybe it's contagious.

[Tyler]

UPDATE

Pomfret and Babcock locked in apparent power struggle, press blackout still in place

by Patrick Bailey, Charleston Gazette

January 21, 2013 CHARLESTON, WV - One week after a disturbance at Allegheny Field, the story behind the George Riley trade appears to be a small piece of a larger fight within the Coal Sox organization.

The first public sign of the franchise-altering shake-up came in GM Jane Pomfret's introductory press conference. After promising to be "bold" repeatedly, fans were wildly speculating on what she could mean. None of them anticipated what would follow - or why.

The press release West Virginia released to announce the trade, like most press releases announcing the departure of a star and fan favorite, focused almost exclusively on the players received in the trade. The one sentence mentioning the team's former shortstop described Riley as "overly talented," an odd phrase which drew no attention at the time.

A high-ranking source within the organization, speaking on the condition of anonymity, stated that the press moratorium in the organization since the trade was announced was placed by owner Tyler Babcock himself. With little information available, reporters were excited to see the two entering the stadium last week for a closed-door meeting. No-one yet knows who threw the Riley items out of Babcock's window - but a clue has been provided by the same anonymous source.

"Pomfret ordered that meeting," the source says. "Babcock wouldn't speak to her, or let anyone in the organization speak to anyone else, really. Things got out of hand and she needed him to level with her and explain what was going on."

Babcock, who initially claimed he would stay out of team affairs after resigning as GM, almost immediately went back on his promise with his decree ordering officials to avoid the press. At this time, several questions remain:

• Whose decision was it to trade Riley? If Babcock, why? If Pomfret, how did she convince Babcock to agree to the deal?
• Who threw the Riley memorabilia out the window?
• Will Babcock be forced to return full control of the franchise to Pomfret with Congress now in session?
• Who, exactly, is running this team?

Stay tuned to the Gazette for further coverage.

[John]

Looks like we have a meddling owner on our hands.

[Tyler]

Patrick Bailey, Charleston Gazette

April 6, 2013

ARLINGTON, VA - The Coal Sox have called up infielder Steve Henry to take Rafael Suarez's place on the roster after Suarez sprained his elbow. He is expected to spend the minimum 14 days on the DL. Johnny Sloan will become the everyday 2B in Suarez's absence and Henry will take Sloan's spot as the utility infielder. Henry lost that role to Sloan during spring training. The promotion will mark Henry's major-league debut. Henry was acquired by WV in the Mathys Crete trade with Charleston in 2009.

[Tyler]

Patrick Bailey, Charleston Gazette

June 21, 2013 CHARLESTON, WV - The firings have begun. Mired in fourth place in the Dixie division and off to the worst start in franchise history, the first Coal Sox official was let go on Friday.

Pitching coach Philippe Santerre, signed in the off-season, found himself unemployed largely because of his staff's under-performance. The Coal Sox pitchers have the second-worst ERA in the Imperial League and lead the league in walks allowed. With attendance plummeting and fans calling for the firing of general manager Jane Pomfret, Santerre became the first of an unknown number of sacrificial lambs.

No members of the pitching staff were willing to talk with reporters about the firing. Previous interviews had revealed that Santerre was respected by his players but never really "clicked" with the team.

[John]

Hopefully this move will get West Virginia's pitching going. A 5.01 team ERA is not going to get the job done. You probably can't blame it all on Santerre given that he was just recently hired, but it's not like you can fire the players, and clearly whatever he was doing wasn't working.

[Tyler]

Castellanos Schedules Closed-Door Meeting after Sunday's Game

Patrick Bailey, Charleston Gazette

August 4, 2013 CHARLESTON, WV - Coal Sox manager Pedro Castellanos has scheduled a closed-door meeting with his team to be held after today's afternoon match with New Orleans. A player who declined to speak publicly revealed that the topic of the meeting was utility infielder Glen Harris' public demand to be traded, which he made this morning during an interview with WSWW.

Harris has spent his return to the Coal Sox this year in a super-utility role, in contrast to his previous five years as the starting third basemen. His discontent with his role has been an open secret during the season, with several writers attributing his career-low .233 AVG to his unhappiness with his role on the team. In June, Harris stated in a post-game interview that he was "unhappy" when playing a position other than third base.

Rookie Larry Martin has been the third basemen for the entire season. He is hitting .227 and the Coal Sox are highly dissatisfied with his performance, but apparently not enough to return the position back over to Harris.

Harris is signed through the 2014 season.

[John]

Sounds like an injury-peppered season has taken his toll on Harris. I wonder if the team will try to execute a waiver trade involving him?