Wingnuts winning while sending players to affiliated baseball

On the second day of a nine-game winning streak that ended in extra innings on Sunday in Gary, Ind., the Wingnuts accomplished something that seems to occur just as frequently as those streaks.

Starting pitcher Ryan Kussmaul was sold to the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, marking the 38^th time the Wingnuts sent a player to affiliated baseball since the franchise was founded in 2008.

The Wingnuts have reached the postseason in all but two seasons and won the American Association championship in 2014. They often lose players to affiliated baseball, but they’re a draw for players looking to reach or return to that level.

Two former Wingnuts, pitcher Junior Guerra (Brewers) and outfielder David Peralta (Diamondbacks) currently play in the major leagues. Neither had played above Class A before reaching the Wingnuts, and Peralta was a pitcher in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

“That starts building a resume for what type of organization you run,” Wingnuts general manager Josh Robertson said. “How you dress, how the postgame meals are, how you travel when you’re traveling on the bus, how the front office takes care of you.”

The Wingnuts have sold a player to a major-league organization in each year except 2009. Four players, including current players Brent Clevlen and Jon Link, had major-league experience when they came to the Wingnuts and later re-entered affiliated baseball.

Last season, the Wingnuts sent 10 players to affiliated ball, a franchise best, shattering the six they sent in 2011 and ’12. So far this season, pitchers Kussmaul and left-hander Alex Sogard have had their contracts purchased.

Robertson said he wasn’t sure, when he began building the first roster in 2008, whether to expect Wingnuts players to be signed by major-league organizations.

“It took me three or four years to finally get what it was all about and what it could be,” Robertson said. “Bringing in the type of players that we were bringing in … I think that’s the recipe we created here. You’re going to learn how to have fun playing the game again in a team environment. We’re here to win.

“But we’re also here to do our best to get you back. There’s that perception of independent baseball that it’s a bunch of has-beens or never-will-bes, but that’s not the case at all. Ninety-five percent of the guys who play independent baseball already played affiliated baseball.”

This story was originally published July 11, 2016 at 7:59 PM with the headline "Wingnuts winning while sending players to affiliated baseball."