Ducks Add Local Flavor

by: Brian Bohl | Senior Writer - NY Sports Day | Tuesday, May 20, 2008

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — Not a single Duck has been signed to an affiliated team this season and already the figurative revolving door has been set up inside the clubhouse.

Three weeks into the campaign, the transaction list numbers over 20 moves. Following a 2-4 road trip, manager Dave LaPoint completed four moves before last night’s 8-2 win over the first-place Camden Riversharks.

Pitchers Mike Myers (not the former major leaguer) and Kevin Mannix were added to the roster as Tom Martin continues to be held out. Former big league catcher Mike Rose was released before the contest and ex-Orioles farmhand Pete Maestrales was signed.

Maestrales started at third base and batted eighth. He ripped a RBI double to the right-centerfield gap in the sixth for an insurance run.

Before departing for the road last Sunday, the Ducks had up to seven regulars out with injuries. The Ducks got a boost when shortstop Donaldo Mendez returned to action two days after reliever Ben Grezlovski came off the inactive list.

Brent Abernathy and Damian Rolls continue to be out with rib injuries. Martin and starter Jason Simontacchi are also sidelined. The Atlantic League’s disabled list is seven days, allowing teams to recall players within a week compared to Major League Baseball’s 15-day DL.

Rose, a veteran of 27 big league games for Oakland, Los Angeles and St. Louis, struggled in 10 games, batting .156 with zero home runs and just one RBI against 15 strikeouts in 32 at-bats. Dominick Ambrosini batted .191 in 50 at-bats before being placed on the inactive list.

To fortify the depth chart, the Ducks continued to court local talent. Ten players on the roster are from Long Island. That includes Mannix, who is making his third stint for the Ducks, playing for the organization the previous two seasons.

Mannix, a Syosset native, appeared in 41 games from 2006-07, with all but five coming out of the bullpen. He started Sunday’s contest against Bridgeport, allowing three runs in three innings in a game the Ducks would win 12-11.

LaPoint also added another Long Islander to the 25-man roster in Myers, who lives in Wantagh and starred for Adelphi. The 27-year-old righty made his professional debut Monday night, allowing just one run in three innings to help preserve the win for Steve Kent. Myers previously was undefeated for the amateur Long Island Storm.

“I was pretty confident he was going to throw strikes,” LaPoint said about Myers’ outing. “He went at them. He didn’t nibble. That’s all we can ask.”