With the Can-Am League season over, the Newark Bears have been gearing up for their Halloween “Stadium of Screams” event next month. However, today they announced a baseball move.
In mid-August, Newark traded their ace pitcher Mike Ness to the New Jersey Jackals to strengthen them for their playoff run. Newark received reliever Marc Rutledge and two players to be named later. In addition, Ness’ contractual rights reverted to Newark at the conclusion of the 2012 playoffs.
Ness pitched in 17 games for the Bears in 2012, earning a 3.25 ERA over 122 innings. His July 11th no-hitter was the highlight of a season where Newark finished well out of the playoff race. In three regular season starts for the Jackals, Ness went 2-1. He lost his only playoff start.
Today, Newark announced that they had acquired outfielder Carlos Guzman and pitcher Jimmer Kennedy to complete the trade.
According to the Bears’ press release, Guzman batted .288 in 97 games for the Jackals last season, slugging 11 home runs and 51 RBI. The left-handed hitter was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Mets in 2007, advancing to as high as Double-A Binghamton while with New York. He’s a Brooklyn, N.Y. who attended Brookdale Community College.
Kennedy pitched in 42 games out of the Jackals’ bullpen in 2012, posting a 4.32 ERA over 43.2 innings. He struck out 47 batters, allowed 48 hits and 11 walks. The righty entered independent ball in 2010 and made stops at Brockton, Sussex and Fort Worth in his first two professional seasons. He pitched for Rider University.
While Newark has the Can-Am League rights to all four players, there is no guarantee that they will sign or play for the Bears in 2013.
PaulHadsall.com 
There’s no guarantee the Bears will play in 2013.
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