Bentz inches closer to big-league dream

Juneau's Chad Bentz received an early Halloween treat on Thursday - a treat that moved him a step closer to fulfilling his major league dream.

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The Montreal Expos added Bentz and two other minor league players to their 40-man roster on Thursday. Most teams added players to their 40-man rosters late in the regular season, when rosters expand from 25 to 40 players in September. But the Expos were the only team not to bring up any minor league players, citing cost.

"They wanted to bring me up, but they couldn't afford it," Bentz said during a September phone interview. Bentz, who said then he expected to be added to the 40-man roster in November, has been in California training for the 2004 season and could not be reached for comment.

Making the 40-man roster doesn't guarantee a player a spot in the major leagues, but it means the player is invited to team's major league spring training camp instead of the minor league camp. It also means the team is protecting the player from the Rule V (minor league free agent) draft. Only a team's top prospects get added to the 40-man roster.

If Bentz can make the Expos' major league roster this spring, he will become just the second Alaska high school baseball player to make the majors. The first Alaska-raised player to make the majors was right-handed pitcher Marshall Boze of Kenai, who pitched in 25 games as a reliever in 1996 for the Milwaukee Brewers, posting an 0-2 record with one save and a 7.79 ERA.

Several current major leaguers were born in Alaska - a list that includes pitchers Curt Schilling of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Shawn Chacon of the Colorado Rockies and David Williams of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who were all born in Anchorage - but they didn't grow up in the state.

Bentz, 23, is a 1999 graduate of Juneau-Douglas High School. He was drafted out of high school by the New York Yankees in the 34th round, but Bentz chose to attend Long Beach State University and didn't sign with the Yankees. Bentz became eligible for the draft again in 2001 and the Expos made him a seventh-round pick.

Bentz, a 6-foot-2, 210-pounder who was born with a deformed right hand and uses his left hand to both pitch and field, signed a pro baseball contract this time and he spent the 2001 season as a starting pitcher for the Vermont Expos in the low-Class A minor leagues. In 2002, Bentz moved up to high-Class A ball and played for the Brevard County (Fla.) Manatees, earning a spot in the Florida State League's All-Star Game as a reliever before being sidelined for the second straight year by foot problems.

This past season, Bentz pitched for the Harrisburg (Pa.) Senators in the Class AA Eastern League and had his healthiest season. Bentz didn't become the Senators' closer until midway through the season, but he finished third in the Eastern League with 16 saves to go with a 1-4 record and a 2.55 ERA in 84 2/3 innings over 52 games. Bentz was named the Senators' outstanding pitcher of the year by the team's fan club and he also won the team's Mort Rosen Community Service Award.

"Chad Bentz had a very solid season in Harrisburg, and we certainly are very pleased with his progress," Expos director of player development Adam Wogan wrote in a September e-mail message. Expos officials could not be reached on Friday.

In September, Wogan wrote that the Expos expect Bentz will be "preparing to start the season next year in Edmonton," the home of the Edmonton Trappers, the Expos' Class AAA team in the Pacific Coast League. Earlier this week, the Trappers were sold to a group headed by Nolan Ryan and they will become the Texas-based Round Rock Express.

Bentz, though, thinks he can make the Expos' roster during spring training.

"I'm definitely ready," Bentz said in September. "I'm confident I can go out there and get guys out."

• Charles Bingham can be reached at cbingham@juneauempire.com.