The Rockland Boulders of the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball have traded outfielder Keith Brachold to the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks of the American Association in exchange for outfielder Jon Gaston, and right-handed pitchers Eric Massingham and Kevin Fuqua.
While Boulders President Ken Lehner said he quickly became a fixture and fan favorite in his lone season in Rockland, the Boulders honored Brachold’s request that he be traded.
"Keith really enjoyed Rockland and his tremendous fan support, but wanted a chance to play in a new league and other ballparks,” said Lehner. “Fargo- Moorhead offered a deal that was too good to for us to pass up. We are excited about our new players and feel that will make our team more successful. We received an exciting outfielder and two excellent pitchers.”
Brachold, 30, leaves the Boulders after batting .259 with 18 doubles, two triples, 29 home runs, 84 RBIs and 80 runs scored in 99 games last season. He led the Can-Am League in home runs, RBIs, runs scored, total bases (210) and extra-base hits (49).
Gaston, selected by the Houston Astros in the seventh round of the 2008 MLB Draft, batted .277 with 17 doubles, 12 home runs, 41 RBIs and 45 runs scored in 64 games for Fargo-Moorhead last season. He also spent time with the Birmingham Barons, the Chicago White Sox affiliate in the Southern League (AA).
Fuqua was 2-1 with a 3.34 ERA and one save in 47 relief appearances for the RedHawks last season. Massingham was 0-0 with a 2.25 ERA in four games for Fargo-Moorhead in late August after being acquired from the Evansville (IN) Otters of the Frontier League. He had 43 saves over his last two seasons.
Over the past week, the Boulders made two trades adding six new players to their training camp roster.
"We needed to make changes in order to get to where we want to go - which is winning the championship", said Boulders Manager Jamie Keefe. "I like our recent additions and I can guarantee we are not done reshaping the roster."
The Boulders play at Provident Bank Park in Pomona, with 2013 being the team's third season.
