This Team Bites: Blog of the Crystal Lake Sandgnats
Sandgnats Transaction News (27/2)
By: Stephanie Dole
January 1, 2027 at 12:53 PM CST
Happy New Year from suburban Chicago where the off-season and recent winter meetings have seen a flurry of transactions as the Gnats continue to position themselves to compete in the Great Lakes Division, which aimes to be one of the most competitive this season with returning champion Duluth and the ever improving Fargo.
December began with a shakeup in the front office with the firing of long time scout Jose Luna and the hiring of former Florida Featherheads scout Pablo Durango. "It was time to move on." stated GM RJ Ermola. "We have a lot of respect for how Luna led our Scouting department over the years. Particularly he did a great job developing out international complex. But we've decided to move in a different direction and bring on Pablo who is a proven legend from his days in the IL with Florida."
With the hiring of Durango, the Gnats moved in to the rest of December with a retooling of the present roster to more balance power vs. on-base percentage. Most notably was the release of
Rob Raines into free agency. Reportedly, the Gnats did tender a qualifying offer to Raines who rejected it. The Gnats did engage in further discussions, only to be outbid during free agency and have since stopped discussions with Raines. The Gnats seems satisfied to gain a 1st round compensation pick for the loss of Raines and seek other most cost-efficient options in free agency that are still out there.
The Gnats then cleared some budget space with the trade of SP
Tatsui Kouno to San Juan in exchange for SP
To-wai Zhou and a minor league pitching prospect who was flipped to Shin Seiki for two more prospects. The Gnats did give up a 1st, 4th, 5th and 6th rounds picks to entice San Juan to take on the 19M per year salary of former 2024 championship team member Kouno who was brought over at the trade 2024 deadline from West Virginia.
A week later on December 7th, the Gnats came to terms for a $48.5 million - 4 year extension with
Dave Yarbrough who will start at Right Field and lead-off this season. The 4-year deal extends Yarbrough, who was about to enter free agency next season, with the Gnats through 2031, if the team exercises the 4th year option. The Yarbrough extension put the end to
Orlando Barrón's time in Crystal Lake. Barrón was traded to Shin Seiki for 3 prospects and bench utility player 2B
Kinji Kondo Kondo will likely compete with 1B
Juan Toro for the infield backup role.
Toro was signed on December 22nd to a one-year, $2.8 million dollar deal. The former Aurora back-up role player will likely take the same role in Crystal Lake, yet has the inside track to start at first base verses left-handed pitching where he hits a career .280/.333/.397. The Toro/Memde combination looks likely at first base this season. Memde still can't hit little league left-handed pitching so Toro will help fill this void as well as be a pinch hitter when teams make a left handed pitching switch late in games.
The month of December ended with the release of catcher
Noriyuki Suzuki and the signing of catcher
Jason Aaron as the new back up catcher. Aaron is a former 3rd round pick by Omaha (now Hartford) out of high school in 2019 at 17 years of age. Aaron was traded to the Duluth organization 2024 in a deal for the now free agent 1B
Mike Harris. Aaron was selected the 2025 Great Northern All-Star Game and then entered free agency where Neo-Toko signed him to a minor league deal with a $250k bonus. He then was selected to the 2026 Global Baseball Brotherhood All-Star Game where he hit a .262/.321/.394 and 11 home runs. The Gnats offered him a token $100 bonus and quickly promoted him to the active roster.
The Rule 5 Draft then saw the loss of the following players:
Lost 2B
Sergio Prieto to the San Juan Coqui.
Lost 1B
Will Smith to the Duluth Warriors.
Lost 3B
Chris Higgins to the Amsterdam Lions.
Lost 2B
Takane Chikafuji to the Amsterdam Lions.
Finally, the year began with today's big announcement of international free-agent SP
Hyung-jin 'Cactus' Kang signing a 5-year contract worth a total of $138,850,000. Reportedly Cactus us known for his excellent Fastball, Slider, and Changeup. The left-hander has above average stuff on his pitches with very good movement and average control. Reportedly Cactus enjoys boating during the off-season.
Here's to a great 2027! Go Gnats.