Last year the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons finished in third place in the International League North. This year, the Red Barons won’t settle for anything less than first place.

The Barons, who finished 73-70 last year, opened their season on the road in Ottawa on Thursday with a loss.

The Red Barons return 11 players from last season’s roster. Among those is infielder Chase Utley, who spent part of 2003 with the Phillies when third baseman David Bell went down with a back injury.  While with the Phillies, Utley appeared in 43 games and hit .239 with 2 HRs, 21 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. But for 2004, the Phillies decided to keep outfielder Doug Glanville on the big league roster, leaving Utley as the odd man out.

“He just did a great job last year offensively; it would be tough to top what he did last year.” Said Scranton/Wilkes-Barre manager Marc Bombard. “To me, he was the MVP of the league last year. Maybe I’m biased because he was with our club but what he did defensively and offensively, and I mean it, was a great year so his time is coming, definitely.”

The Barons bring back eight pitchers to a team loaded for bear.  Among those returning are David Coggin, Jim Crowell, Geoff Geary, Dan Giese, Josh Hancock, Greg Kubes, Seung Hak Lee and Brian Powell. Last season Geary and Josh Hancock made brief appearances with the Phillies. 

Joining the returnees are pitchers Shane Bowers, who played in Korea with team Hyundai.  He was 13-4 with a 3.01 ERA.  Clay Condrey joins the Barons after playing last season at AAA Portland and briefly with the San Diego Padres. Jason Jimenez, who played with AAA Toledo, and Bud Smith, who was acquired in 2002 in the Scott Rolen trade, fills out the pitching staff. Smith spent time in both Clearwater and Reading while rehabbing from injuries.  Smith had off-season surgery on his shoulder to try and correct his problems.

The Red Barons say goodbye to Jeremy Salazar and bring in catchers Michel Hernandez and A.J. Hinch.  Hernandez was in the Yankees organization and played with Columbus last year along with a brief appearance with the Yankees.  Hinch, originally a 31st round draft pick in the June 1998 draft by the Phillies, is a seven-year pro who was Oakland’s starting catcher for close to two seasons before being   optioned back to triple A.  He also spent time in the Kansas City and Detroit organizations before returning to the Phillies.

Besides Utley, Brian Hitchcox and J.P Roberge return in 2004. Lou Collier, Buzz Hannahan and Pablo Ozuna join them.  Collier comes from the Boston organization where he batted .293 with 14 HRs and 69 RBIs and 8 stolen bases for AAA Pautucket. He made a brief appearance with the Red Sox last season. Hannahan makes the move to Scranton from AA Reading, while Ozuna comes from the Colorado Rockies organization.  Ozuna was promoted to the Rockies on Aug. 18 and hit .200 (8-40) in 17 games.  On Aug. 24, he went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a triple and a HR with five RBIs and eight runs. He proved to be a versatile player for Colorado having played four positions throughout 2003 (second base, third base, shortstop and outfield).

The outfield for the Red Barons has been totally made over.  Mark Budzinski comes to the Barons after spending last year with Indianapolis, Louisville and a brief time with the Cincinatti Reds. Highly touted prospect Jorge Padilla has been promoted from Reading. Padilla batted .295 last season with 2 HR, 23 RBIs and 11 stolen bases.  Jim Rushford joins the Red Barons coming from Indianapolis. He was signed as a minor-league free agent. He batted .311 for Indianapolis in 99 games with 9 HRs and 50 RBIs with 3 stolen bases.

Rounding out the outfield is Mark Smith, who opted for free agency after being outrighted to Indianapolis by the Milwaukee Brewers at the end of last season. In 33 games for Milwaukee, he batted .238 with 3 HRs and 10 RBIs.

The Red Barons also made a change on the coaching staff.  Jerry Martin, last year’s hitting coach, has been replaced by Sal Rende, who comes from the New York Yankees organization. Rende spent last year as hitting coach for the Columbus Clippers. He spent 10 seasons in the Florida Marlins system from 1992 to 2001.  Rich Dubee replaces Mike Mason as pitching coach. Dubee is entering his third season in the Phillies organization. He spent time in the Kansas City Royals, Montreal Expos, and Florida Marlins organizations before joining the Phillies. 

Marc Bombard returns for his eighth year as manager of the Red Barons. Before joining the Barons he spent 22 years in the Cincinnati Reds organization as a player, manager and coach.  In 1996 he served as bench coach for the Reds. 

“We’ve got a whole new cast this year practically.,” said Bombard. “J.P. Roberge and Ut’s (Chase Utley) back this year. We’ve got new faces. We’ve got Jorge Padilla out there in right field in his first AAA. Buzz in his first AAA, our shortstop, which is right now probably Ozuna, but our other shortstop (Anderson Machado?) is back in Florida getting back in shape after an appendicitis operation. Hinch handled himself very well behind the plate.” Bombard said he’s familiar with the other free agents (Budzinski, Hernandez, Smith and Rushford) having seen them in the past. “It’s nice to have them on our side.” Bombard said.

The Red Barons opened their season on the road in Otttawa with a four-game series that started Thursday. They return home to take on the Buffalo Bisons in a three-game series starting Monday, April 13 at 7 p.m. Tickets for opening day can be purchased by contacting the Red Barons at (570) 969-BALL.  The home opener can also be seen on WNEP Channel 16 in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton viewing area.