The Gateway Grizzlies announce that they have signed outfielder Andrew Moritz and catcher José Alvarez for the upcoming 2024 season, both of whom bring high-level minor league experience to the club.
Moritz is coming off a solid season with the Lexington Counter Clocks in the Atlantic League, where the 27-year old hit .278 with 11 doubles, three homers, 22 RBIs, 12 stolen bases in 13 attempts, and 52 total hits across 54 games while striking out only 26 times. He also recently hit .274 in 39 games for the Canberra Cavalry in the Australian Baseball League, amassing five doubles, two homers, and 12 RBIs while also striking out only 28 times and playing outstanding defense in the outfield.
The Charlotte, North Carolina native played five seasons in the Atlanta Braves organization, advancing as high as Double-A Mississippi. He was selected in the 6th round of the 2018 MLB Draft by Atlanta out of UNC Greensboro, where he was the Southern Conference Player of the Year and a 1st Team All-American as a junior after a season in which he hit .428 with six homers, 10 triples, 12 stolen bases, and 92 hits in 54 games.
Originally from Venezuela but now living in Atlanta, Georgia, Alvarez comes to Sauget from the St. Louis Cardinals organization, where he batted .256 with eight doubles and 32 RBIs over 84 games at Double-A Springfield in 2023.
Prior to his year with the Redbirds, he played five years in the Houston Astros organization, and hit .279 with three homers, 11 doubles, and 36 RBIs across four different levels of the system, including 29 games at Double-A Corpus Christi, and one game at Triple-A Sugar Land.
Jason Guerette is the Grizzlies' Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations and the "Voice of the Grizzlies." 2023 will be his second season with the organization, handling lead broadcasting duties on the Grizzlies Media Network as well as being in charge of all team press releases and game-day media materials.
2023 will also be Jason's ninth season in the Frontier League after spending 2014-21 in the same role with the Southern Illinois Miners. Overall, he has broadcasted close to 800 games in the league, including playoffs. During the baseball offseason, he serves as a play-by-play broadcaster for Manhattan College and the New Jersey Institute of Technology, with games being seen on ESPN+ among other platforms.
In addition to broadcasting, Jason works as a public address announcer for Seton Hall University women's basketball as well as Columbia University men's and women's basketball. He also spent nine years working "behind the scenes" as a freelance board operator and highlight editor at Westwood One for their coverage of the NFL, NCAA football, and NCAA basketball.
Jason graduated from Seton Hall in 2012 with B.A. in Communication Studies and a minor in Broadcasting & Visual Media.
