by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Oakland Athletics have announced they are extending their player development contract with the Vermont Lake Monsters of the New York-Penn League through 2018. The New York-Penn League is a short-season Class-A league that plays 79 regular season games from mid-June to Labor Day. A playoff schedule runs through September 15th.

The league is made up of 13 teams that are divided up into three divisions. Teams play in small towns like Burlington, Vermont to large cities like Brooklyn, New York.

“We are pleased to extend our partnership with the Vermont Lake Monsters. A number of our organization’s most talented players have thrived during their time with the Lake Monsters before advancing through our system,” said A’s General Manager David Forst. “Over the past six seasons, we’ve enjoyed a great working relationship with Ray Pecor, Kyle Bostwick, and the entire Lake Monsters organization, as well as with the City of Burlington. We look forward to future success.”

“The Oakland Athletics have been great partners, both on and off the field,” said Vermont Lake Monsters Vice President Kyle Bostwick. “We are excited to continue to work together to help develop ballplayers into future Major Leaguers.”

The Athletics have five players on their current 40-man roster that played for the Lake Monsters during their minor league career. Ryan Dull, Ryon Healy, Bruce Maxwell, Dillon Overton and Jake Smolinski (as a member of the Nationals organization) all played in Vermont.

The Lake Monsters are currently in fourth place in the Stedler Division with record of 17-22 which puts them six games out of first place. They are 3-7 in their last 10 games and are currently battling a five game losing streak.

The manager of the Lake Monsters is Aaron Nieckula who has been with the A’s minor league organization as a manager at Class-A and Double-A levels. He is also Minor League Field Coordinator for the A’s.