Mark Maloney on sports

The Lexington Legends aren’t alone among South Atlantic League teams in changing managers (Tom Lawless in, Gregg Langbehn out).

Other new bosses in 2009 include Matt LeCroy (Hagerstown), Dusty Wathan (Lakewood), Ernie Young (Kannapolis) and Aaron Holbert (Lake County). West Virginia, switching affiliations from Milwaukee to Pittsburgh, also will have a new manager.

Young, part of the 2000 Olympic gold-medal team, will work on occasion with a man familiar to Reds fans. Ron Oester is the roving infield instructor in the White Sox organization.

Ex files

Off-season moves by the Astros include the release of right-handers Raymar Diaz, Jake Leonhardt and Luis Pardo, catcher Kevin Carceek, second baseman Greg Buchanan, shortstops Bryan Brown and Tim Torres and outfielder Cesar Quintero. All are ex-Legends.

Pitchers Doug Arguello, Chance Douglass, Paul Estrada, Mark McLemore became free agents, as did shorstops Osvaldo Fernando and Roberto Mena, and outfielder-turned-hitting-coach Todd Self. Arguello has since re-signed with the Astros.

* More on ex-Legends: catcher Danny Fatheree signed with the Cubs, and left-hander Phil Barzilla with the Padres. Catcher Hector Gimenez was granted free-agency by Tampa Bay, right-hander Cory Doyne by Baltimore.

* Two former Kentucky Wildcats have come or gone with New York teams. Second baseman Andy Green, out of Lexington Christian Academy, signed with the Mets. Shortstop Ryan Wilkes was released by the Yankees.

Young Wildcats rank high

We recently went over Kentucky’s fall signing class, which projects for the 2010 season. Of course, there’s always the danger (likelihood?) of losing committments to the Major League draft.

So what of the 2007 fall class — the first-year players who actually made it on to campus and are eligible to play for the Wildcats this season?

The class of 11 players, which includes five high school all-Americans, is ranked No. 4 in the nation by Baseball America. That’s the best ranking ever for a UK class – and not a bad way for former pitching coach Gary Henderson to start out his first season as head coach. Four of the top five teams and six of the top 11 are from the Southeastern Conference. Louisville is No. 20.

“We are very excited about our new group,” Henderson said in a UK press release. “These young men are very gifted physically, but even more impressive as people and competitors. Despite losing some signees to the 2008 MLB Draft in June, we are ecstatic about this group and we expect several of them to contribute in SEC play immediately.”

The high school all-Americans in the class are right-handers Alex Meyer and Braden Kapteyn, catcher Michael Williams, middle infielder Andy Burns and outfielder Cory Farris. According to Baseball America’s Aaron Fitt, the 6-foot-7 Meyer is “the (Southeastern) conference’s best recruit.”

Five recruits are from Kentucky – Farris (Boone County), outfielder Chad Wright (Heath) and three right-handers: Chase Greene (West Jessamine), Sean Bouthilette (Elizabethtown) submarining junior-college transfer Nick Kennedy (Paducah). Wright is the brother of Cats outfielder Brock Wright.

Two more Cats are JUCO transfers: Gunner Glad and Will Campbell.

Only three recruits from the fall 2007 signing period didn’t make it to Lexington — pitchers Robbie Ross and Seth Lintz signed as second-round draft picks and Daniel Webb landed in junior college.

The rankings and the players are listed below. 

Baseball America’s Top-25 Recruiting Classes (SEC team in bold)

1. Arizona State; 2. Vanderbilt; 3. Georgia ; 4. KENTUCKY; 5. Florida; 6. Texas A&M ; 7. UCLA; 8. Arkansas; 9. Texas Christian; 10. Oregon; 11. Mississippi; 12. Texas; 13. Clemson; 14. Virginia; 15. Cal State Fullerton; 16. Wichita State; 17. Fresno State; 18. Stanford; 19. Oklahoma State; 20. LOUISVILLE; 21. Pepperdine; 22. Southern California; 23. North Carolina State; 24. Florida State; 25. Duke. 

2009 UK Baseball Newcomers

Name, POS.        B/T          Ht./Wt.          Cl.           Hometown/School

Michael Williams , C             R/R          6-2 /210          FR           Knoxville, Tenn./Farragut HS

Andy Burns, IF             R/R          6-2/185          FR           Ft. Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain HS

Nick Kennedy, RHP        R/R          6-1/170          R-SO       Los Angeles/East Los Angeles

Alex Meyer, RHP        R/R          6-8/205          FR           Greensburg, Ind./Greensburg HS

Sean Bouthilette, RHP        R/R          6-2/195          FR           Elizabethtown, Ky./E-town HS

Gunner Glad , IF/RHP    R/R          6-0/190          R-JR        Tulsa, Okla./Tulsa Union/E. Okla.

Chad Wright , OF           L/R          5-10/180          FR           Paducah, Ky./Heath HS

Chase Greene, RHP/IF    R/R          6-1/180          FR           Nicholasville, Ky./W.Jessamine HS

Braden Kapteyn, IF/RHP    R/R          6-4 /205          FR           Lansing, Ill./Illiana Christian

Will Campbell, 1B/OF      R/R          6-5/265          JR            Seattle/Bellevue CC

Cory Farris, C/OF       L/R          6-1/195          FR           Florence, Ky./Boone County HS

A trio of former Lexington Legends had their contracts purchased and were added to the Houston Astros’ 40-man roster Wednesday. The promotions were announced by General Manager Ed Wade in a press release.

And the Legends will name their new play-by-play announcer on Thursday.

Lexington fans will easily recall infielders Tommy Manzella and Drew Sutton, but may have to pause when considering outfielder Brian Bogusevic.

Bogusevic, a 2005 first-round draft pick, was a left-handed pitcher during his Lexington days. He began last season as a pitcher but by July he wound up in the outfield. He hit .371 (46-for-124), with three homers and 20 RBI over 42 games for Double-A Corpus Christi. Playing for Scottsdale in the Arizona Fall League, Bogusevic is hitting .329 (23-for-70) with 12 RBI through 12 games.

Manzella, a 2005 third-round draft pick, is a slick-fielding shortstop. He split the 2008 season between Corpus Christi and Triple-A Round Rock, hitting a combined .259 (117-for-452). He earned Texas League All-Star honors with the Hooks, and was named Defensive Player of the Month in April for Corpus and in August for the Express.

Sutton, a 2004 15th-round draft pick, hit .317 (165-for-520), with 20 homers and 69 RBI for Corpus Christi, where he was the team’s MVP and a Texas League mid-season and post-season all-star. He led all Astros minor-leaguers in batting average, hits, runs (102), walks (76), doubles (39) and extra-base hits (63). Also with Scottsdale in the Arizona Fall League, he is hitting .327 (34-for-104), with seven home runs and 24 RBI over 29 games.

Thursday’s announcement by the Legends (Applebee’s Park, 10 a.m.) will reveal the new director of broadcasting and media relations, as well as other staff additions. General Manager Andy Shea said in a press release that the staff has been increased by about 15 percent.

The Legends have the largest radio network in the minors with flagship WLXG-AM and 34 affiliates.

“We are excited to have a longtime Lexington resident, who is already connected with our fans, represent out team on the air,” Alan Stein, team president and CEO, said in the press release.

Larry Glover handled play-by-play for the Legends’ first seven seasons. Rob Gidel took over in 2008, but recently left to take a broadcasting post with the University of Akron. His duties there include several “coach shows” and Zips women’s basketball play-by-play.

The Legends will open their ninth season in the South Atlantic League on April 9, visiting the West Virginia Power at Charleston. Lexington’s home opener, against the Kannapolis Intimidators, is set for Monday, April 13.