BY JAMES COOK
TRAVERSE CITY -- Manager Gregg Langbehn will be back, but that may be about all that's familiar with next year's edition of the Traverse City Beach Bums.
After a disappointing season that saw only three Frontier League teams finish with a worse record than the Beach Bums, a shake-up is on the way.
"I would say there's going to be a lot of changes in the team, looking ahead to 2010," team co-owner Leslye Wuerfel said.
Those sentiments were echoed by director of baseball operations Jason Wuerfel.
"It's good for the players and the team to change things up," Jason Wuerfel said. "After a year where we fell below our own expectations, you can't have big change without making changes. It's kind of the same thing we did after our other tough season. We're going to take the players that have value and shop them around and see if we can make some moves to bring in some fresh blood, fresh faces and build some excitement. We're working to bring some big-name veteran talent in and we've got a couple of deals in the making that could bring some very, very good ballplayers to Traverse City."
The team has granted releases to Jared Locke, Andrew Barbaro, Anthony D'Alfonso and Jorge Araiza. The team has also received indications that pitchers Brett Bostelman -- one of Traverse City's two All-Star picks last year -- and Nick Pepper are retiring.
Pitcher Steve Roberts is the only player currently signed, although Jason Wuerfel said he wants to bring back several other key players from last year's team -- outfielder Michael Campbell, pitcher Ryan Kruszka and catcher Andrew Franco.
"He came in the last month of the season and was probably our best player offensively and defensively," Jason Wuerfel said of Campbell. "We played well down the stretch and won a good amount of games, and Michael Campbell was a big reason for that."
The left-handed Campbell hit .330 with three homers, 18 RBI and 22 runs in 27 games. The Bums played .500 ball over the last 34 games of a season in which they finished 42-53.
"He's as close to a five-tool player as you'll find in the Frontier League," Jason Wuerfel said. "He's the kind of guy you can build a championship team around."
Another left-handed bat, Franco hit .347 with four homers, 22 RBI and 19 runs in 32 games.
"We didn't quite know what to expect from him when we brought him in," Jason Wuerfel said. "He came in and did a tremendous job for us and really surprised a lot of people. Everyone kind of waited for him to tail off, but the more you look at his swing, we realized this kid can really play. He kept hitting right to the end for us."
Kruszka had a 2.97 ERA in 19 relief appearances, although Jason Wuerfel said the righty could also start.
"He's shown he has a plus fastball with a great breaking pitch," Jason Wuerfel said.
Roberts missed all but three starts last year with injuries, but will make a bid for the rotation next season.
Pitchers B.J. Hagen and David Nathanson, plus first baseman John Alonso, outfielder Brian Lapin and catcher Robby Alcombrack could be shopped in deals.
So Langbehn will have a very different team to manage next season.
"Regardless of the won-loss record last year, he did a good job," Leslye Wuerfel said. "The biggest challenge was the difference between affiliated ball, where you have to play certain players and develop them, and (the Frontier League), where tomorrow is here today. That's the thing with independent baseball. You have to perform right now."
"We were happy with the way he ran the team last year," Jason Wuerfel said. "There were a lot of circumstances beyond his -- or anyone's -- control. He's a good leader, and good in the clubhouse. The players liked him and liked playing for him."
The team hasn't made any official decisions on pitching coach Roger Mason and hitting coach J.T. Tamargo.
"We haven't decided on our assistant coaches," Jason Wuerfel said. "We'll probably just leave that to Gregg, since he's the guy that works closest with them. We were happy with the way the coaching staff worked with the guys last year."
The Beach Bums were 19-18 on May 30, the team was hitting at a decent clip and closer Jeff Williams made sure any ninth-inning leads didn't slip away. And then the team went through an 11-game losing skid. From there, Traverse City couldn't get any closer to .500 than six games.
"There's absolutely no one, including (Langbehn), that thought we would finish below .500, let alone well under .500. It wasn't even in the realm of possibility," Leslye Wuerfel said. "We had Mike Epping, Brad Miller, Patrick Perry and Kyle Maunus back. And with those four back, we thought they were going to build on what they did the year before -- and none of them were really able to."
Perry and Maunus were released during the season after hitting a combined .230 with one home run. Epping hit .241 and Miller .214. Bostelman tailed off in the second half and the team lost Williams to the Yankees organization.
"We're looking for players who believe in themselves and can handle intensity and take that intensity out on the field," Leslye Wuerfel said. "You get players that have a lot of ability and they get to Traverse City and, goodness, is this a fun place to play. I don't mean on the field; they're out on the beach. You can't spend all day out in the sun playing on the beach and then come in and put in a professional baseball performance that night. Sun and sand and water takes it right out of you. I had one manager ... say our players are spoiled. He said, 'It costs you six games a season.'"
Injuries played a part in derailing the season. Starting second baseman and table-setter James Guerrero went down with a hamstring injury early in the season and never fully recovered. Alonso and Lapin also spent time on the disabled list with hamstring injuries, Alcombrack missed significant time and Roberts missed all but three starts.
"Guerrero was the one that hurt us the most," Jason Wuerfel said. "It was the same sort of thing in our other year where we finished under .500, when Steve Young broke his collarbone. Guerrero was the same type of player as Steve Young. He's a top-of-the-order catalyst. He got on base, made things happen and was solid defensively. Those type of guys are few and far between. We felt really good that we got James Guerrero and then he hurt his hamstring and tried to come back too soon and hurt it again. That was a big blow to our team."
The league is undergoing a slight makeover. The Rockford RiverHawks left for the Northern League and were replaced by the Normal (Ill.) Cornbelters. The Midwest Sliders are now officially known as the Oakland County Cruisers and broke ground on a new stadium last week.
The league's classifications system for players also underwent a little overhaul. Team can now keep three LS-2 players and three veterans, instead of five between the two categories like last season. Another change is that each team can have one player exceed the age limit of 27 years old (up to 30) if that player has been under contract with the team for at least 100 games in the previous two seasons.
