Stop it.

We're blushing.

A few weeks back, I posted that Erin Nicks of "The Universal Cynic", or TUC, had gone MIA. The blog reappeared a short while ago, and I had a nice exchange of email with her after asking to be an "invited reader".

You'll recall that this blog fell for Ms. Nicks, hook, line and sinker as a result of her article which appeared in the Sun in September of last year.

This quote from her blog - "No matter what anyone says, I will continue to support the Lynx for as long as they are here. Ray Pecor is a quality owner with the patience of a saint" - made me waive the customary two year waiting period; induction into the "Friends of the Lynx" section of the blog was immediately conferred.

Since her induction, I've followed TUC and developed a real appreciation for the content and her sense of humor and writing style - conveying sarcasm is extremely difficult to pull off, yet she manages time and time again. I've also stolen several links from her (the Jonathan Toews verbal indiscretion, cough, comes to mind). So you get the picture where we're coming from here. We're thoroughly impressed.

To say I'm "pleasantly surprised" to see this post about ottawalynx.blogspot on her blog, is a complete understatement. I'm floored.

From the post:

Anyone who's been reading the columns for some time knows that the Ottawa Lynx are my pet cause. Their ticket prices are more than reasonable, they provide quality entertainment in a decent ballpark, they market like mad and their PR and front office are some of the best that I've dealt with in the city. In spite of that, the majority of Ottawa (and local media) treats them like something a politician scrapes off the bottom of their shoes.

Sigh.

Ahem... welcome TUC readers! It's going to be a great season around here.

The countdown continues

Only 47 more days until OD, and 21 more profiles (give or take a few).

Landon Jacobsen

Courtesy of beerleaguer:

The 27-year-old right-hander spent most of 2006 with Double-A Altoona (Pirates) and became a six-year minor league free agent after the season. The signing was reported in Baseball America’s transaction update.

Jacobsen, a 6-3, 220-pound former 50th round pick, went 14-9 with a 3.21 ERA, 80/55 K/BB in 26 games, earning the club’s Co-pitcher of the Year honor. His 14 wins were good enough for second in the in Eastern League, and his 30 career wins are the most in Curve franchise history. He also made two starts for Triple-A Indianapolis last season, going 0-1 with a 10.80 ERA.

Jacobsen figures to anchor the Phillies Double-A staff, and is pitching this winter with Caracas of the Venezuelan Winter League. In seven minor league seasons, he's 60-48 with a 3.25 ERA.

Phuture Phillies has a little bit more information here.

My apologies. This "profile" is so thin it's near non-existent.

Independents Day

Just a quick note about some recent acquisitions via the Independent leagues.

From scout.com:

The inaugural tryout camp for independent league players has brought two new pitchers to the Phillies. Plus, there could be more help from the independent ranks on the way.

Jake Ociesa and Mike McTamney are the newest Phillies. They're not household names, but the Phillies hope that they'll be names fans will get to know.
Ociesa is a left-hander who mixed 93 mile per hour fastballs with 84 mile per hour breaking pitches in his tryout. The 23 year old played at both Mississippi State and Murray State and was slated to pitch for the South Georgia Peanuts members of the independent South Coast League.

McTamney pitched for Fullerton and Reno in the Golden League the last two seasons, posting a combined 4-4, 3.13 record. McTamney is a hard thrower and was born and raised in Toms River, New Jersey. Like Ociesa, he throws hard, but doesn't have the good secondary pitches like Ociesa.

Both pitchers will report to minor league camp beginning on Thursday and will be assigned out of camp. The Phillies didn't speculate on where they would be assigned.


There's an interesting history of independent league baseball over at the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball's website.

"In the fall of 2005 the possibility of a revival of the American Association was discussed. Teams from two independent leagues, the Northern League and the Central League proposed coming together to form a “super” independent league. Two of the cities in the discussions, St. Paul and Ft. Worth, had been members of the old American Association, and the geography was similar to that of original league. With the history and precedent set by its namesake, the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball Leagues was formed on October 11, 2005. The expectations were strong for the new league, and the name “American Association” was again part of the great history of professional baseball."

In their "News Releases" section, they headline recent players who've had their contracts purchased by an MLB organization and a list of the 47 players currently in MLB camps who have played in one of the Independent leagues. It's not hard to pick up on their (justifiable) pride - it's also noteworthy that for the most part, they capitalize the "I" in "Independent", while most of the MLB literature uses the lower case when referring to Independent baseball.

Chris Key

Chris, I've failed you as a blogger. All I can find, beyond your stats, is that you were the winner of the "Charlie Wagner Unsung Hero award" in 2006 - the last man who will ever receive it personally from Mr. Wagner, and this short Q+A with Mike Drago of the Reading Phillies.

"The Phillies have been busy loading up on minor league veterans, and I see several of those guys spilling back to Reading this season.

"I don't see enough room in that Ottawa outfield for everyone, which means guys such as Greg Jacobs, Matt Padgett, Victor Hall or even Ryan Fleming could end up back in Reading -- or with another organization. Same goes with the pitching staff. Reading will see Allen Davis return, this time strictly as a reliever, as well as Tim McClaskey, who could end up as that stop-gap guy in the rotation again. I see Chris Key and Talley Haines having a hard time making the Triple-A roster, so, if they're playing for the Phillies it likely would be in Reading. Joey Hammond's a versatile guy, and could help at the Triple-A level, but might have trouble finding a spot on that roster, at least permanently.

"For the first time in a while, the Phillies have some depth in the upper minors. It's older guys, not prospects who have come up through the system, but at least they won't have to be trolling the indy leagues on a regular basis like in the last few seasons.""

Brian Mazone

Carrying on now, we continue our look at prospective Lynx pitchers. Today's profile is of Brian Mazone. My preference is to post information that is positive and more than just stats - you can find stats just about anywhere and I don't think it gives you a true sense, or any sense of the person. Unfortunately, much of what's "out there" is rotisserie league type analysis, which gives little insight but lots of dismissive, arrogant critique (e.g. "the guy's a nothing", "minor league fodder"). I promise you: You'll never see that kind of stuff here. Ever. I see these Lynx players as professionals, with clear, laudable goals: bettering themselves and trying to fulfill their dreams. And these goals aren't achieved without their share of sacrifice and self-doubt; clearly, for some guys, their dreams of playing in the big leagues are never realized. But for as long as they play, they've still got a chance. Which is why we cheer them on.

This is all we need to know about Brian Mazone:

Mazone spent most of his first seven years in the minors – he was injured and didn’t pitch in 2001 – in independent ball.

“If I told you how many times I thought about quitting you wouldn’t believe me,” he said, “but I always knew in my heart that I was good enough to get there (to the big leagues). I knew I had the stuff, I knew I worked hard, but the frustrating part of playing independent ball is that you can put up all the numbers you want, but somebody out there’s got to give you the opportunity.”


I commend the rest of the article to you. The author of the piece, Tony Zonca of the Reading Phillies, does great work. I know if I find something he's written, my task is 99% complete - he pretty much "says it all". I just wish the Lynx had a journalist covering the team with the same passion and skill; Mr. Zonca tells the stories that need to be told, from a very personal perspective which is all too often ignored.

Where did the weekend go?

Tomorrow's pitching profile will be on Brian Mazone - providing I can find information in the meantime. In case anyone is wondering - I usually start my player/information searches on Google. If I haven't found anything there after three or four pages, I move on to scout.com. After that, if I'm still empty handed, desperation sets in and I go back to Google and try to refine the searches.

For the last month and a half, I've always had high hopes for the weekends: they're supposed to be my "high output" days where I have the opportunity to post stuff I haven't got to during the week. Like these images from Spring Training, and articles from over at the Baron's Corner:

**When Jamie Moyer threw BP yesterday, every pitch was from the stretch. “I always work from the stretch early in spring training. The most important pitches I have to make in a game are from the stretch.” Moyer is dynamite as an unofficial instructor. Young pitchers can learn a lot.

And then there's this blog that I'd missed, which offered up this bit of speculation (a little more informed, but speculation nonetheless):

Later, the outfielders ran in a tandem formation that seemed to indicate a pecking order. The first two pairs were Pat Burrell/Aaron Rowand and Shane Victorino/Jayson Werth. Karim Garcia, vying for a spot with Dobbs, ran solo. Dobbs was paired with Michael Bourn, who probably will open the season with triple-A Ottawa. Behind them were minor leaguers Chris Roberson, Ron Calloway, Greg Golson and Lou Collier.

Of course, none of that may mean anything. But, for now, Dobbs may want to buy some warm clothes. Ottawa is still cold in April.

So, there's a ton of stuff out there, just begging to be parsed and posted but the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Weekends it seems, are every bit as busy as Monday through Friday. Not that I have it terribly rough - by contrast I'm betting that for the people at the Lynx front office, now through September is an absolutely crazy time, all day, every day. Travel arrangements, promotional arrangements/scheduling, new players coming in (which must be a logistical nightmare all on its own - uniforms, accomodations, orientation), players heading out, media requests, handling finances, ensuring no player or fan dies of exposure (okay, that's unresolved biterness) and (shudder) dealing with the public. And that's probably just the tip of the iceberg.

I'll shut-up and get back to the blog.

Heath Totten

I've not been able to find a great deal on Heath, beyond his statistics. Beerleeaguer's got a report from early February:

The former fifth-round pick pitched with Double-A Jacksonville last season, going 8-5 with a 3.29 ERA. He became a free agent after spending seven years in the Dodgers' organization.

The 6-3, 210-pound Texan spent the winter in Venezuela, going 6-2 with a 2.74 ERA over 62 1-3 innings, then struggled in the round robin. In seven minor league seasons, he’s 55-55 with a 4.26 ERA and 572/160 K/BB ratio, almost entirely as a starter.

Yoel Hernandez

With a mere 51 days until Opening Day, we begin our look at the prospective 2007 Lynx pitching staff. Unfortunately, we begin on a sour note - Yoel Hernandez was optioned to Ottawa a few days ago - likely due to tendinitis in his shoulder. From Scout.com:

Yoel Hernandez was waiting for a shot with the Phillies, but always seemed to be overlooked. Now, after a lost season at Triple-A, Hernandez is just trying to get healthy and back on track.

Yoel Hernandez had a shot at helping the Phillies bullpen late in the 2006 season, but he wasn't healthy enough to get the call. Instead of being insurance for the Phillies, Hernandez went through a lost season after a couple of injuries sidelined him and limited him to just nine games with the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Red Barons. The really tragic part of the story is that Hernandez had gotten his season off to a great start with the only real blemish coming in the penultimate game before his injury when he faced three hitters and couldn't get any of them out. If not for that outing, Hernandez' 1.74 ERA would have been a scant 0.87 ERA.
Now, with a new season looming, Hernandez is battling another injury (shoulder tendonitis) and hasn't been able to do any throwing. Suddenly, Hernandez is a question mark because of his health and now it looks like he won't be able to work his way into a bullpen battle that might have been his to lose.

Acquired: Signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent on November 5, 1998.

Repertoire: Hernandez has the usual compliment of pitches and had worked his velocity toward the mid-90 mile per hour mark.

Pitching: One of the big question marks about Hernandez will be whether his velocity will return after his back injury that caused him to miss all but the first month of the 2006 season. Velocity was never a major calling card for Hernandez, who relied instead on good movement on his pitches. He combined that movement with the ability to locate his pitches well and kept hitters headed back to the dugout. Pitches up in the zone from Hernandez are a rarity which has helped Hernandez keep the ball in the park which is important because he doesn't blow the ball by hitters. Instead, he strikes out hitters when he can and relies on his defense to make plays behind him.

Projection: Hernandez seemed to have a bright future and would have been a lead candidate for a bullpen spot out of camp this spring had he not gotten hurt. Instead, he's going to have to get himself healthy and then prove that he can stay that way and return to his successful form. Hernandez turns 27 in April, so he's at a point where the clock is ticking pretty loudly on his career. He'll start the season at Triple-A Ottawa and look for an opportunity late in the season or possibly before if there is an injury in the Phillies bullpen and he's healthy and pitching well.


Looking back to 2005, Hernandez was the SWB pitcher of the year, after starting the year rehabbing a sore elbow in Clearwater. While he struggled in Clearwater, the elbow appeared to have healed so he was moved on to Reading for nine starts, and then to SWB for the remainder of the year. Hopefully he'll have another successful rehab (this time in Ottawa) and then get his shot at the Phillies bullpen.

Jason Jaramillo

A couple people have emailed to suggest that I missed Jason. He's actually been mentioned on the blog here, and here. But in fairness, it would probably be giving him short shrift to confine his profile to those posts.

Phuturephillies offers his assessment here, and from scout.com (May 06):

Jason Jaramillo was settling in to his surroundings at AA Reading until he suffered a right hand contusion and wound up on the DL. The injury has turned out to be much worse than originally thought, but the R-Phils are hoping that Jaramillo could return to action before too long. He suffered the injury on May 6th and hasn't started a game behind the plate since then. The original MRI showed no structural damage, but the Phillies are continuing to monitor Jaramillo and brought him to Philly for another MRI this week, but haven't released the results. The fear is that there is a fracture in either his hand or wrist that will certainly slow his season, which would be very unfortunate for both Jaramillo and the Phillies.

Before the injury, Jaramillo was doing the kind of stuff that the Phillies wanted to see. While his .228 average isn't what they're looking for, they're sure that the offense will be there before too long. What they were really looking for was to see how he could work with the top pitching prospects in the organization and the answer to that has been that he's been all that was expected and more. Jaramillo has shown an ability to work well defensively behind the plate and has the leadership to know how to handle pitchers, especially when they work themselves into jams.

Offensively, you have to remember that Jaramillo is skipping a level and making a very tough jump to AA Reading. Even for players coming from High-A, the move to AA is considered the toughest to make and generally separates the men from the boys. Since Jaramillo didn't have the advantage of a season at Clearwater, his average isn't much of a concern. This is a kid who hit .304 at Lakewood a season ago and has all of the skills to continue to hit as he moves up the ladder. Actually, Jaramillo started the season swinging a pretty good bat and was hitting .364 through the first week of the season. At that point, he went into a 6-for-41 (.146) slide that lowered his average to .222 on the season. His stroke was slowly returning and then he suffered the hand injury and wound up on the DL.

Early Grade - B: Like we said, Jaramillo wasn't at Reading for his offense. The Phillies believe that he is their future behind the plate and they wanted him to work with the cream of the crop of the young pitching prospects and the majority of them were ticketed for Reading. Otherwise, the Phillies might have started Jaramillo at Clearwater for at least a short stint before shipping him to Reading to see what he could do at that level. He's handled the pitching staff well and his offense will come around. The fact that the Phillies wanted him to catch the likes of Giovany Gonzalez, Daniel Haigwood and Scott Mathieson says a lot and there is no reason to believe that by the end of the season Jaramillo won't have accomplished much and if not, all, of what the Phillies had in mind for his 2006 season.

The key is for Jaramillo to get healthy and return to action as soon as possible. Since he skipped a level, the Phillies don't want him to miss too much time and he's missed almost a month of regular at bats already.

Finally!

Out of all the players that I've profiled so far, the first with a personal web page! Today's profile is of Tim Gradoville, and will end our look at prospective Lynx catchers.

Tim's web page gives you just about everything you'll need to know (though a few of the links to articles about his time in Reading are dead). Tim's currently in Clearwater with the Phillies as one of the non-roster invites. Consensus is that Jason Jaramillo is a lock for one of the catching positions in Ottawa, which leaves Tim, Jason Hill and Dusty Wathan competing for the second (and final?) spot. From what I can see, he's a battler - coming all the way back from a broken jaw early last season in Reading, to the big league club in September when the Phillies expanded their roster.

Mike Compton, the organization’s minor league field coordinator and a former big league catcher, has no doubt Gradoville can find work in the big leagues. Heck, he fairly gushes when he talks about the guy.

“If you had like in football – offensive and defensive units – he would be on the defensive unit on a big league team, no doubt about it,” Compton said. “I would say Gradoville is one of the better catch-and-throw guys in the game today. He is outstanding. He has the ability to catch, throw, block . . . he is a defensive specialist. If he had hit even a lick over the last few years he would be in Triple-A and perhaps even the big leagues.”

The entire Tony Zonca piece is here.

Check out his web page for his stats, blog entries, and other news - you can also fire off an email or leave a note on his general message board.

Way to go Brooks!

Family favorite, Brooks Badeaux has been signed to a minor league deal by Tampa Bay. (Hat tip: abaseballgeek blog). You can see (and hear!) a little bit more of Brooks on this video.

Now if we could just find Keith Reed and Brandon Marsters, my outstanding list will just about be done.

Jason Hill

Carrying on with the catcher's, today's profile is of Jason Hill. For a guy who's been around for a while, there's surprisingly very little information about him floating around on the web. What I do know is that he's one of the non-roster invitees to Spring Training. Unfortunately, I don't think this is a signal that he's got a shot at cracking the 40 man roster as a catcher; it's likely that they need an experienced backstop for all the pitchers they've got in camp. Over at the Barons' Corner, Larry Shenk reports "(e)very day catchers warm up different pitchers (29 are in camp). The following day, each catcher talks about the pitchers they had: what pitches worked, what didn’t, release points, delivery issues, etc.".

Jason split his time between AA Carolina and AAA Portland (Pacific Coast League) last season. Click here for his lifetime stats.

Dusty Wathan

Today we start looking at the Lynx catchers and you may be noticing a trend here. The Lynx seem to have a stockpile of experienced (read “older”) players, who have not yet had much of a taste of the big leagues – Juan Sosa (profiled Monday), Gary Burnham (Tuesday) and the subject of today’s profile, Dusty Wathan.

From scout.com:

They call them journeymen and mercenaries. They're referred to as Quad-A players; guys not good enough to play in the majors, but almost too good to be at AAA for their entire careers. Some never get a chance, but maybe, they should.

When I finally save up enough money to buy a baseball team, I'm going to look for guys like Chris Coste. My theory is that anybody who loves the game of baseball as much as a guy like Coste obviously does, is going to bust his butt in the majors.
Playing in six different seasons in the minors and for four different organizations during that time, Chris Coste never lost track of his dream of reaching the majors. Even before he had made it to affiliated ball, he had spent four seasons in independent baseball, in situations that make the tough times of the low minors look absolutely luxurious. He came into the majors as a 33 year old "kid" just looking for his chance. A hot spring almost had him on the roster to start the season, but before long, he was with the big league club and he has made the most of his opportunity. He's done it with basic talent, but mainly by simply playing all out with every chance that he was given. His 0-for-13 start at the plate didn't phase him, it just made him more determined. Now, he's seeing semi-regular playing time and coming through in tight spots for the Phillies.

So, are there other Chris Costes in the organization?

(T)here's Dusty Wathan, who turns 33 next week. Sure, Wathan had his cup of coffee with Kansas City in 2002, going 3-for-5 (.600) in three games with the Royals. In 12 minor league seasons, coming into 2006, Wathan has hit .275 for various organizations and has spent considerable time at AAA. Still, he has had just his one opportunity with Kansas City, while other players, who have put up less impressive numbers, have gone ahead of him. Where was I when the Royals were so good that they couldn't use a guy like Wathan as a back-up catcher?
It's unlikely that Burnham, Wathan or Rushford will see the majors this season. When I own my team, I'm going to look for guys like these and at least give them the courtesy of a shot. Let them play in some meaningless September games and see what happens. Heck, maybe I won't even wait until September. After all, it worked for Chris Coste.

Now that you've got some context, here are his stats. Sorry for the rushed post today, but other duties call....

Gary Burnham

And this will finish the infield (for now, at least). Gary Burnham appears as Scout.com's #50 prospect in the Phillies system - high praise for a guy who's 32 years old.

Mike Drago of the Reading Eagle devoted an entire post in his blog last June -

He’s 31 years old, his black hair now speckled with grey. Admittedly, he’s on the final leg on his baseball journey.

And if the best he’ll ever get from it is a sniff of that elusive cup of coffee, he’s fine with that. Really. But as long as he’s still breathing, still swinging, he’s not ready to put a punctuation mark at the end of his career. Not just yet.

“I’ve still got at-bats left in me,” he says sitting in the box seats at FirstEnergy Stadium, once again happily wearing a Reading Phillies uniform.

He stares out onto the field and sees more past than future. He played here from 1999 thru 2001, slammed 40 home runs – and one midget – took part in a pair of Eastern League championship series and still proudly wears a ring from the second of them.

He’s closer to moving to another stage in his career, as a coach or manager, than he is of achieving that ultimate dream of making the big leagues. He knows this.

And still he can’t let go of the dream.

“I’ve got a thousand hits already,” he says, scanning an 8 ½ by 11 sheet of paper that summarizes his life’s work. “I feel like I’ve put a healthy career together, very respectable to me.

“I know I haven’t had any major league time, but in my heart I know it really hasn’t been lack of faith, lack of play, lack of hard work, it’s been mostly, I feel, lack of opportunity.

“I was a low-round pick. You’ve always got to scratch and claw to get onto the radar screen. I was on the radar screen. Things work out, don’t work out . . . .”


Scout.com's article is recent (January 2007) but subscription only - here are the highlights:

"On our Top 50 Phillies Prospects, we always give the final spot on the list to a player who isn't necessarily thought of as a prospect, but deserves some recognition. Call it the Chris Coste Award. This season's recipient is Gary Burnham.

Last season, Chris Coste was the toast of the town when he became a 33 year old rookie and succeeded at the major league level. Well, Gary Burnham is only 32, but his life in baseball has been much like that of Chris Coste, although he does have one distinction that Coste doesn't; Burnham was actually traded for no compensation. Ouch!

Just a look at Gary Burnham's transaction sheet gives you a hint into what kind of player he is. There's the line that says: March 29, 2002 Traded by the Phillies to the Toronto Blue Jays for no compensation. And, there's the line that has him leaving affiliated baseball to sign with the independant Bridgeport Blue Fish of the Atlantic League. That was in 2005 when it looked like Burnham's days in affiliated ball were over.

Originally, Gary Burnham was drafted in the 22nd round of the '97 Draft out of Clemson University. He signed immediately and was a fixture in the organization until being dealt to Toronto at the end of spring training, 2002. Burnham thought that a change of scenery might do the trick, since he had put up solid stats in the Phillies' organization and gotten no higher than Double-A .318 the season before the trade. The Blue Jays kept him at the Triple-A level for two seasons before he became a minor league free agent after the 2003 season and signed with the Reds. The Reds wound up trading him to the St. Louis Cardinals and when he became a minor league free agent after the 2004 season, there were no takers and he wound up in Bridgeport, Connecticut, close to where he grew up. In the middle of last season, the Phillies needed some help in the minors and Burnham got the call.

Playing all or part of four seasons at Triple-A, Burnham has put up 35 homeruns, 190 RBI and a .279 average, but has never gotten a sniff of being in the majors.

Who knows, maybe this will be the year.

Acquired: Was originally drafted and signed by the Phillies, but was later dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Phillies purchased his contract from the Bridgeport Blue Fish of the independent Atlantic League.

Batting and Power: Burnham’s power numbers have fluctuated, but in each of the last two seasons, he’s hit a career-high 18 homeruns, although much of that time was spent in the independent Atlantic League. There is still some power there, but it’s not a huge part of his game. Burnham has a good stroke at the plate and has consistently shown good plate discipline and the ability to simply put the bat on the ball to make things happen. His career on-base percentage of .373 is impressive.

Baserunning and Speed: Forget it; there’s not any speed to talk about. To help make up for that, Burnham does have decent instincts and will take an extra base here and there.

Defense: With the ability to play both at first base and in the outfield, Burnham provides some versatility and he’s able to play both positions well defensively. Since he doesn’t have any speed, he’s limited to corner outfield positions and doesn’t have overly impressive range at first base. He also doesn’t have a great arm and can’t be counted on to throw runners out from the outfield.

Projection: At this point, the best that Burnham can hope for is to find a utility role with a club at some point. It’s too much to ask that there can be another Chris Coste-like success story in back-to-back seasons, but Burnham deserves a major league audition at some point, even if it’s just with a September call-up. He’s not going to be any more ready to play in the majors than he is now, so there is no reason to wait for him to move up to Philadelphia (or any other major league city).

Comparison: The Chris Coste comparison is too easy, but the truth is that the two players have similar strengths. Burnham and Coste both have some strength, no speed and a huge commitment to the game of baseball. There is no reason to believe that Burnham couldn’t do for a team basically what Coste did for the Phillies last season."

Biography:

Burnham was originally drafted by the Phillies in the 22nd round of the '97 Draft and was in the organization until 2002 when he signed with the Blue Jays as a minor league free agent. He re-signed with the Phillies as a minor league free agent on May 24, 2006.

2006 Highlights:

Named Eastern League Player of the MOnth for the month of August.
Named Eastern League Player of the Week for the week ended August 19th.
Became Reading's all-time homerun king with his 54th homerun as a Reading Phillie on August 19th.
2006 Transactions:

August 22: Promoted to AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre.

Juan Sosa

This will just about finish up the (possible) infield, and is pretty much a "cut and paste" affair.

From Scout.com:

Sosa signed with the Dodgers as an undrafted free agent in 1992. He didn’t head right to the Dodgers lower levels though, going instead to the Dodgers Dominican Summer League team for two seasons where he averaged .284 and drove in 99 runs. Finally, the Dodgers brought him state-side and assigned him to Vero Beach, but that stay didn’t last long. By June, Sosa was moved to Yakima in the Northwest League where he stayed for the rest of the season. From there, the Dodgers bounced him back and forth between the Florida State League and the South Atlantic League. Those seasons in the lower levels of the Dodgers system weren’t among Sosa’s best. He hit just .238 and averaged just 4 homeruns and 22 RBI from 1995-1997.

After the ’97 season, the Rockies acquired Sosa and put him at Salem in the Carolina league where he truly started to develop. Sosa led the entire Rockies organization in triples and steals and finished third in the league in runs, third in the league in hits and fifth in the league in total bases Defensively, Sosa was spectacular, leading the league in putouts with 196. Sosa’s growth continued in 1999 when he started the season at AA Carolina. He wound up third in the league with 38 steals and led all shortstops with a .958 fielding percentage. Those numbers got Sosa moved to AAA on September first and to the majors nine days later. Literally hours after arriving in the big leagues, Sosa was pinch-hitting against Milwaukee. Ironically, a week after his first at bat, he picked up his first major league hit off Robinson Checo of the Dodgers, the organization that had given up on him less than two years before.

While things seemed to be going well for Sosa, 2000 was a step back. There were no calls from the Rockies and Sosa spent the entire season at AAA where he also started the 2001 season. From there, things got worse when the Rockies put Sosa on waivers in April. As he waited to learn of his fate, Sosa got a call saying he had been claimed by the Arizona Diamondbacks and he was to report to AAA Tucson. In May, the D’backs needed a warm body and recalled Sosa, who played in three games, two of them as a defensive replacement at third base. Less than a week into his stay, the D’backs sent him back to the minors, but didn’t have room for him at AAA, so they sent him to AA El Paso for six weeks before moving him back to Tucson. That summer, Sosa played a total of 50 games at shortstop, 36 games at second base, 17 games at third base and 5 games in the outfield.

Even with the increased versatility, the Diamondbacks didn’t want Sosa back and cut him loose. Sosa spent the entire winter without a team and wasn’t picked up until May of 2002 when the Phillies signed him as a minor league free agent and assigned him to Clearwater. The Florida State League was definitely an eye-opener for Sosa, but he did what he needed to do and battled through the season and played winter ball in the Dominican Republic as part of a plan to revitalize his career.

The Phillies showed faith in Sosa and gave him a spot on the Scranton Wilkes-Barre roster to start the 2003 season. Sosa didn’t exactly leap out of the gates, but started to come around and put together an 11 game hitting streak, raising his average from .246 to .337. Sosa was the starting shortstop when the Scranton season started, but when Nick Punto came to Scranton after a stint with the Phillies, Sosa moved to the outfield to fill the hole created by the departure of Wendell Magee


A word of caution: it's an old article - it came out January of 2004. It appears that he split part of his season last year between Reading and SWB, hitting for a .195 average over a 58 game span. His lifetime stats (which go all the way back to 1993) can be found here. I'll try to get to Gary Burnham's profile later today and that will take care of the infielders.

OT - Competitive, combative, or just a bad sport?

We're at the Algonquin College sports dome yesterday for Zechariah's baseball camp. Doris and I know that he's extremely serious when it comes to baseball, so we're walking a fine line where we try not to wipe out his competitive nature in favor of "just having fun". Case in point last night. During a fielding drill, he makes a nice grab off the coach's "hit" but hurries the throw to first. Generously, the runner is called "safe" (whoa, does that smack of bias?), and Zak, still on his knees in his fielding position doesn't like the call; his body language says everything. He looks over at me, and I resist the urge to offer any advice. Instead, I give him the gesture that we've all seen from the catcher when a pitcher is struggling with control - hands out, as if pushing an object to the ground, settle down, with a concurrent nod of the head, you've got good stuff. His next attempt is predictable: he's so eager to record the out that he bobbles the fielding and isn't even close to getting the runner. I meet his gaze with a shrug of the shoulders and a tilt of the head - no big deal, we'll get him next time. It doesn't work - I can see he still wants to nail the runner (if not the coach).

Now, I'm not nearly as competitive as my son, I blame my wife for those genes. During school, late at night, I would often find her in the arcade, playing pinball (she's actually pretty good), determined to even the score with the machine. "Just one more game...." she would say/plead. To suggest otherwise was to invite the kind of look I was getting from "the boy" now. The "look" was a combination of genuine surprise, mixed with pity - You really don't get it, do you? I have to win. All this, of course, before she would practically strip search me for twenty-five cents. Ahhh yes. Young love.

Zakky heads over to me on his water break, and I can resist the urge no longer. "Just take your time, you're rushing your throws." He hands me back the water bottle, never taking his eyes off of mine.

"I'm not rushing." he challenged, with a tone that suggested the subject wasn't open for debate. I hear other parents behind me, stifling their amusement at my position. Discretion being the better part of parenting, I decide that perhaps this isn't the time - and besides, his expression reminds me so much of my wife's right then that I half-expected him to start roughing me up for a quarter. As he made his way to the next station, he turned back to face me.

"And he was "out"."

Carlos Leon

We're working our way through the infield, profiling players that have made it to the Lynx roster. With 57 days left until OD, I should just about get it done. Today's profile, as you may have guessed, is Carlos Leon, a prospect at 2B.

Carlos was signed by the Phillies after spending the first six seasons of his career in the Boston organization - from Scout.com:

The 25 year old Leon is a decent hitter with above average speed, but has yet to show his ability to put up numbers that would make the Phillies believe that he has much of a major league future. Leon is talented and hit a career high .308 at Sarasota in 2000. Again though, his other numbers haven't been impressive enough to give him a solid prospect status.

In his six seasons in the Red Sox organization, Leon was a .264 hitter and stole 82 bases in 129 attempts.

Offense and Power: The Phillies haven't expected too much power out of Leon, which is good, because they haven't gotten it. He had a down season in 2004 at the plate, but even so, his overall minor league numbers aren't outstanding.

Baserunning and Speed: Leon has good speed - slightly above average - but isn't a top notch base stealer. He'll steal a base here and there and can also take an extra base on the basepaths if defensive players aren't careful.

Defense: Leon can play second, third and short and is capable defensively at all three spots. He has good hands and uses his speed to put himself in position to field the ball. His arm is a plus and he is accurate with his throws. He is also athletic enough to make the tough plays.

Carlos, who hails from Venezuela, has a history checkered with injuries, so I'll keep my fingers crossed for him. Tony Zonca, formerly of the Reading Eagle newspaper, wrote a nice article about Carlos last July when he was playing AA in Reading.

Carlos Leon lay on the ground near home plate, hardly moving. He had fouled a ball off his left knee in his second at-bat in the first game of the series with visiting Erie.

The Phillies’ all-purpose handyman didn’t move for a long time. He was scared. He thought his season might be over. Again.

“When I was lying there I thought my knee was broken, because it hurt so much,” said the 26-year-old Venezuelan. “I’ve been hit by pitches and everything else, but this one hurt a lot more than anything, so I was concerned.”

He wasn’t the only one. There are a lot of people pulling for the 10-year veteran. They admire the way he goes about his business. They were happy he was putting together a breakout season at his age. And they rejoiced with him that he had been chosen for the first time to play in a midseason all-star game.

And now this.

Before the game, his manager, P.J. Forbes, couldn’t stop talking about one of the few real positives of this so-far disappointing season.

“Wherever I’ve put him he’s performed,” Forbes said. “He’s done everything we’ve asked of him. I’m very happy for him. Making the all-star team is a deserved honor for him. He’s earned it through his play and what he’s brought to the team in terms of his energy and his ability to play so many positions.”

Triple header Saturday

It's tough squeezing in blogging on the weekends - today's events included skiing, Chinese New Year celebrations at the kids' Mandarin school, followed by Zak's baseball camp tonight.

I've got enough time for a quick dispatch on Andrew Beattie, a prospective 3B for the Lynx. There's an interesting bit of trivia about Andrew posted over at the Baron's Corner:

"Andrew Beattie is 28-year-old infielder the Phillies in camp. He was signed as a minor league free agent this winder and has an interesting background. He was born in Philly, grew up in Clearwater and was the bat boy for the Clearwater Phillies in 1987." (Punctuation/grammar is rough, but you get the picture).

Andrew was most recently part of the Oakland organization (although he appears to have briefly been a Milwaukee prospect last season), spending the better part of 2005 and 2006 in the Pacific Coast League. From 1998 to 2004, he'd been a Cincinatti prospect and had spent a couple of seasons in the International League as a member of the Louisville Bats. The Baseball Cube's got his stats here.

More news out of Spring Training

Which will hereafter be abbreviated "ST". Todd Zolecki of the Philadelphia Inquirer (hereafter abbreviated "The Inky") is just pouring it on:

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Pitchers and catchers officially reported to camp yesterday at Bright House Networks Field, and many of the position players were already in attendance.

Chris Coste had been here for more than a week.

Although he is listed as a catcher, he isn't expected to catch this season - if he makes the team. Coste, who hit .328 in 65 games last season, will fight for one of the final two bench jobs.

The other top candidates include outfielder Karim Garcia and infielder Greg Dobbs, both of whom hit lefthanded, with infielder Randall Simon and outfielders Chris Roberson and Michael Bourn also in the mix.

"What Coste did last year definitely has to be considered," manager Charlie Manuelsaid. "He caught in big games down the stretch. He showed he definitely can do the job in the major leagues, and he definitely can come off the bench and hit.

"He can play first base, a little bit at third. He'll catch some. I put him in left field when I had him in Cleveland.

"I know Coste can hit. He hit righthanded pitchers last year better than lefties."

Manuel thinks Coste would be fine in a pinch-hitting role. "I think that's one of his biggest assets," Manuel said


As I mentioned previously, Chris Coste is a great guy who I hope we'll never see. Michael Bourn, on the other hand, is someone I would like to get a look at - in the "non-fancy" meaning of the expression. How many players that you know of, have tagged and scored from second base on a sacrifice fly?

Hope springs eternal

Having suffered through an interminably long off season, it's "game on" once again. Suddenly, I no longer have to go scavenging for information as favorite sources are now overflowing with articles, photos and links - the "tap" which had been reduced to a trickle has now been completely opened. Someone woke up Kevin in the ticet office in Clearwater yesterday and he fired off three posts. The Philadelphia Inquirer's scribes have really turned it on. Todd Zolecki from the Inky is absolutely bringing it. Over at the Baron's Corner, Larry Shenk, VP of Public Relations for the Phillies, gives us his breakdown of Day 1. ESPN, Yahoo!, Sports Illustrated..., everybody's getting into the act.

For my part, I already see signs of spring. The sun now joins me for more of my (indoor) rides. The Chinese calendar creeps towards its New Year. Zak's school gears up for March break. Can maple syrup season be far off?

I look forward to Opening Day, a scant 59 days away now. According to my boy, 59 days are an eternity; a lot of homework flows under the bridge in five days, let alone fifty. I try to explain to him how fast it will actually pass us by, but I catch myself; for me, it was only yesterday that I was changing his diaper in April at Jetform park, in a concrete room so cold you could hang meat. He turned 10 last Friday. Ten. Where did the time go, I wonder. When did he stop holding my hand in public? When did I stop reading him bedtime stories, for surely there was a date when I read what was "the last". Why did I stop? I hug my little girl more fiercely as a result, determined not to let her childhood slip away from me too. Not that I've let Zechariah go just yet, far from it; there's a road bike already waiting for him so he can join me on long training runs, and our new baseball gloves wait patiently in the closet.

As a family, we will spend a great deal of our time at the park this year - Zak's birthday party has been deferred to coincide with a home date, and we've otherwise cleared the calendar: Lynx home dates are circled and take priority. Other stuff can wait, can't it? The lawn will still be around next year. Disney can wait until the fall. Homework, bah - they can't put me in detention. I look forward to the cold spring evenings. The days so hot that I have to scurry for shade in the upper deck, or take refuge in a breezeway. Hallowe'en in July (we're doing that again this year, right?), running the basepaths and hiding from Skratch.

It's going to be great, and I'd be a rude guest if I didn't thank the Lynx organization for inviting us. Thanks everybody, please accept this is as our RSVP for four.

Good show

Dave Trembley, Lynx skipper for the 2005-2006 seasons was appointed Baltimore Orioles bullpen coach this week. Congratulations on the big move, Dave, and good luck!


(click for larger image)

Et tu, Brute? UPDATED

From MiLB's "159 things to love about the minors":

106. Ottawa Lynx: Downtown Hull is a 15-minute cab ride from the park and there's plenty there to do and see. The food is like Paris, the shopping is incredible and the people are friendly. Surprisingly, it's one of the best road trips you'll make this year. And it will most likely be your last chance to see full-season affiliated baseball in Canada. [Bold face is mine]

Thanks. I'm sure that'll help sell tickets.

*** UPDATE ***

Update? Well, yes actually. I had this post up for a few minutes yesterday before pulling it back (I invoked the old "Tom Brady" tuck rule). I hesitate posting stuff like this for a bunch of reasons - do I want to draw even more attention to stuff that I find negative? Should I point it out at all? So I went back and forth and have decided to put it out there (for now anyway). Stuff like this bugs me because, from my perspective, it does absolutely nothing to help the team. Nothing. Don't believe me? This is what happened in Scranton last off-season:

Last Christmas Eve, when the move leaked out, Red Barons media relations director Mike Cummings and Ruby had to deal with a confused fan base. The team has been in first place in the International League but has fallen to 10th in attendance, averaging 5,424 per game.

“The lame-duck status definitely hurt us,” Cummings said. “Just trying to sell season tickets and advertising. Every time you called somebody, you had to explain that we're not leaving.”

“It has been a challenge since [the Phillies] announced they were heading elsewhere,” said Ruby. “It's been an uphill battle to get season-ticket holders to renew their seats and get new ones, but we've done OK.


I won't even add the link, because, quite frankly, the story depresses the hell out of me and I don't see the value in spreading it around. If you really want the whole thing, flip me an email.

I'm not sure how to deal with this, other than to continually challenge the premise that the "last chance" thing is a foregone conclusion. What's the status of stadium financing in Allentown? What happens if it doesn't get built in time?

I'd really value some feedback - you can post anonymously and keep it as short or as long as you'd like. It can be as brief as two words if you want: these kinds of rants "are hurting" or "are helping" the team.

Thanks for listening.

Juan Francia

This may end up as a wasted post; I'm having a tough time confirming that Juan isn't still in the Detroit Tigers organization. The Lynx website has him on their 40 man roster though, so we'll take it on faith. From scout.com:

Position: Infielder Height: 5-9 Weight: 150
Born: 1/4/1982 Bats: Both Throws: Right

Background

Signed at the age of 16 out of Venezuela, Francia came stateside in 2000, joining the Gulf Coast League Tigers. Making an immediate impact on the base paths, Francia garnered attention early on. His promotion to Oneonta in 2001 resulted in a New York-Penn League batting title (.340), along with continued fireworks on the bases. Francia has seen his stolen base success rate drop as he faces more advanced competition, but he is still mastering the finer points of the game. The organization finally convinced Francia to be a more patient hitter after a jump to full season ball in 2002, but increased patience did not correspond to an increase in overall production. After spending three seasons with West Michigan, Francia finally got a shot with High-A Lakeland in 2005. Francia demonstrated slow, but steady improvement while with the Whitecaps, but exploded on the scene with Lakeland, posting the best numbers of his career, by far. When the need arose for a middle infielder at AA-Erie, Juan was there to take the call, finishing the season as the everyday second baseman for the Seawolves.

Scouting Report

Francia’s most significant tool is his top notch speed, which he is still learning to use to his benefit. His speed rates at around a 65 on the 20-80 scouting scale, and it not only allows him the ability to swipe bases, but it also provides superb range on the infield. Juan’s offense appears to have finally caught up with his speed, and his defense does not appear too far behind. Francia is a classic slap hitter, who rarely drives the ball to the gaps, but possesses the ability to turn many singles into doubles via the stolen base. After his promotion to AA, Francia saw his walk rate cut in half, a trend that will have to reverse if he is to maintain his offensive success. Defensively, Francia was moved from shortstop in part because of other prospects, and also in part because of his defensive woes. He has begun to learn the nuances of second base, but still struggles with his footwork on throws and around the bag on the pivot. Francia’s range is exceptional, and it allows him to get to balls many second baseman could only dream of touching. His glove-work is progressing slowly, and will need further refinement to get a legit shot at the Major League Level.


Meanwhile, back at the lab:

Two players that have both showed promise as speedy, slap-hitting second basemen, find themselves side-by-side on the free agent list. Juan Francia and Gil Mejia were both released by the (Detroit) organization, and look unlikely to return. Francia’s speed and breakout seasons at West Michigan and Lakeland in 2004 and 2005 respectively, had bought him additional chances, but after a horrible showing on a bad Erie ball club, he looks to have fallen out of favor.

Google, I salute you.

Brennan King

Third baseman Brennan King holds the honor of recording Scranton Wilkes Barre's final out last year - which also means he was the last out on their artificial surface (part of the deal with the Yankees is that the field is now natural turf) and the last out in SWB/Phillies affiliated history. A Youtube user caught this moment:



For a player who's been around for eight or so seasons, there's very little information about Brennan beyond his stats. Last year with SWB he hit a respectable .261 with 48 RBI and 12 HR. Here are his lifetime stats. Brennan will be in Clearwater this spring as one of the non-roster invites.

Tibetan Buddhist sins, Rosary beads & Baseball stitches

I was googling around the other day. I stumbled across this, a web page for 108 Magazine. It looks new, and it is pretty nifty. The columns on the left in "The Clubhouse" are right up my alley. They seem to be concerned with the historic side of baseball, which I can appreciate. Some of it is old-timey and romantic which, again, is totally my bag. There is also a short story contest, the W.P. Kinsella Award for Excellence in Baseball Short Fiction, which is groovy. He is every ones favourite Canadian author, right? If anyone comes across a print copy, please let me know what you think. In the meantime I will try and harass my local newsagent into locating a copy for me.

Another local blogger

Has entered the fray - abaseballgeek.com. His blog is in its relative infancy - he appears to have started in late January of this year, and yet, he's managed to surpass me in content and level of analysis (i.e. he has some!). I look forward to blogging the Lynx with him this season.

I don't have enough time to blog a profile today, but for our younger or more adventurous readers, beerleaguer's got a hobo's guide to Phillies spring training. For you young whippersnappers who don't know what a "hobo" is (Zak had no idea), I recommend google and/or wikipedia.

Finally (for this morning anyway), I don't know what's happened to Erin Nicks. Her blog is now "by invitation only". What a shame. I'll keep her in the Friends of the Lynx section, just in case.

Oh. No. - UPDATED

Yesterday. About 8 p.m. I’m lining up my next player profile – Randall Carlito Simon. I do the usual search of scout.com and find little bits of information which I bookmark. Move on to Google. Up pops the usual “Baseball Cube” page, wikipedia, baseballstatistics.net and iwannaspankjenniferlovehewitt.com.

What.
The.
Hell?

I’ve put Simon’s full name in quotes, so I should be getting pretty specific results. So I dig a little further. I find “sausage beater” references, which I’m about to dismiss as porn – until I see this:

“One of the most memorable events of the 2003 season occurred at Miller Park on July 9th. During the Brewers' "Sausage Race," in which four contestants wearing sausage costumes have a footrace on the field, Simon leaned over the dugout railing and tapped college student Mandy Block (in the Italian sausage costume) with a bat, cause her to fall. Block suffered only a scraped knee. This was probably a joking gesture by Simon; however, Simon was arrested, charged, and fined for disorderly conduct. He was also suspended by Major League Baseball, and issued an apology to Block.”

I remember seeing video of this incident, and with all due respect to Ms. Block, I laughed so hard I cried (I know, big surprise). I’m still scouring Youtube for it.

If Mr. Simon makes it to Ottawa, I’m thinking this presents a huge promotional opportunity.

Or not.

Come on. Lighten up. Here’s Charlie Manuel’s reaction to the signing:

“We don't have no hot dog mascots here," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said, laughing.”

Here's the link to the ESPN story. Oh, and the headline for their report?

Phillies acquire former sausage beater from the Rangers.



*** UPDATE ***

A flurry of email on this one. Clearly, Charlie Manuel and I appear to be alone in finding the incident humorous. No, I suppose if it was my daughter who had SKINNED HER KNEE, I wouldn't be laughing. And no, I'm not advocating having professional baseball players club innocent people dressed as mascots.

Sigh.

From scout.com, September 2006:

The Phillies purchased Simon, who hasn't played in the majors since 2004, from the Texas Rangers. Since he was added after August 31st, he will be ineligible for the post-season roster, should the Phillies win the wild card.

Simon, who played in Japan last season, has 49 career homeruns in 514 at bats. He has played for Atlanta, Detroit, the Cubs, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay in his career. He's got a career average of .283 and the Phillies hope that he'll give them some left-handed power off the bench for the final month of the season.

The Phillies have looked to upgrade their bench recently with the acquisition of utility players Jose Hernandez, Jeff Conine and now, Simon. Both Hernandez and Conine are right-handed hitters.

Simon played at three different levels this season, most recently playing for the AAA Oklahoma RedHawks of the Pacific Coast League where he hit .317 in 19 games. He also played in five games for the Arizona League Rangers, where he hit .278 and started the season in the Mexican League where he hit .348 with 18 homeruns in 233 at bats.

Yeah, baby!

Yeah!

From Larry Shenk at "The Baron's Corner":

Spring training is here

CLEARWATER--Around 8:00 a.m. this morning, a large North American moving van pulled into Bright House Networks Field packed with over 25,000 pounds of Phillies equipment and supplies, thus officially triggering the start of spring training.

Can’t play baseball without bats, balls, uniforms, shoes, gloves and bubble gum.

It was a bright, sunny, 63-degree morning, something the Clearwater Chamber of Commerce likes to brag about.

Jack O’Rourke, the veteran KYW Radio reporter—and I mean veteran—has a tradition of meeting the truck and filing his first of some 300 daily reports from Clearwater. Jack has the truck driver blast the horn three times as his official start of spring training. Very creative person, that Jack fellow.

Clubhouse personnel were busy throughout the day getting things unpacked. The team of athletic trainers were stocking their shelves with medical supplies.

Charlie Manuel huddled with Frank Coppenbarger, Director of Travel and Equipment. Aaron Rowand was the first player in the clubhouse this morning, getting his locker in order.

On Wednesday, pitchers and catchers report for physicals. The next day, they work out for the first time. On Monday, Feb. 19, position players have their physicals and then practice officially for the first time on the 20th. But, you can except other position players like Rowand to be in camp early.

The Baron’s Corner will spring into much more frequent action starting on Wednesday. The goal is to keep you informed of inside the Phillies spring training camp.



As I see it, there are just a few more events before Opening Day (in this order):

The Daytona 500
March Madness
Tim Horton's "Roll up the rim" campaign
The opening of the local DQ

Juan Tejada

Juan finds himself in the seemingly unenviable position (if playing professional baseball could ever be considered so) of being at least third on the Phillies depth chart for 1B - when the NL MVP, Ryan Howard is already patrolling that position, and played no fewer than 159 of 162 games - well, you can do the math.

Tejada, 25, has spent most of his MiLB time in the Tigers organization, but moved on to the Mets last year via free agency. Between Norfolk and Lynchburg in the Carolina League (High A), he hit a combined .246 average over 95 games.

Here's some background from Scout.com from December of 2005:

As Juan progressed through the Tiger’s system, he remained under the radar, but also remained one of the organizations most consistent minor league producers. With a career minor league line of .292/.354/.463 line in his 7 professional seasons, one would think Tejeda was widely regarded as a top prospect. However, that is not the case, as Tejeda is considered a marginal prospect at best. The 2005 season saw more of the same from Juan. After overcoming several nagging injuries through the seasons first two months, Tejeda put together another very good season while repeating the Eastern League. After posting a .231/.315/.357 line through his first 38 games, Tejeda went nuts, finishing the season with a .318/.371/.486 line in his final 84 games.

A scouting report states:

Most scouts walk away less than impressed with Tejeda’s natural abilities, but his consistent performance continually leaves them scratching their collective heads. It is often felt that Tejeda has a bit of a slow bat, and will struggle to keep up with top-notch fastballs. To this point, fastballs have not proven to be a problem, as Juan continues to knock the ball around the park, driving it to all fields with power. Juan has a rather upright stance and appears un-athletic on the field. Despite his appearance, Tejeda turns on fastballs and adjusts well to breaking balls. His pitch recognition skills have improved in each of his professional seasons, allowing him to be more selective at the plate. While manning first base, Tejeda has worked diligently to improve his defensive skills. Despite his improvement, Juan remains plagued by a poor defensive reputation, and many feel his defensive struggles will keep him from seeing the Major Leagues. Tejeda has limited range, but makes routine plays with ease, and displays adequate footwork and soft hands.

Everyone seems to agree that he can hit (with some in the Detroit system identifying him as their "RBI machine".

It will be strange seeing someone other than Andy Tracy at first this season...

Cinderella, Cinderella....

All I hear is "Cinderella"! Blogging's going to be delayed until a little bit later today (look for a profile of possible 1B Juan Tejada). I absolutely wrecked myself XC skiing this morning. I'm a fair cyclist, but I suck diddly uck at cross country skiing; I have no technique. Zero. Essentially, I rely on my aerobic engine and just grind out the kilometres while the other guys glide away from me. It's demoralizing and exhausting all at the same time, but you gotta do what you gotta do - stopping with sweat soaked clothes in -15C weather is not an option.

It's nice to see another local baseball story in the Citizen - this one's about Orleans native and O's pitcher, Erik Bedard (HT: Patrick).

All winter, though, twice a week since early December, the Orioles' top winner drags his 24-year-old brother, Mark, to the barn where every night is like Opening Day in the northeast in early April -- temperature-wise, that is.

Inside the barn, it's always 5C, and it nevers wavers despite weather conditions outside.

Mark was a tough-as-nails running back/safety with the Orleans Bengals in his teens. Now he passes for a pretty fair left-handed catcher by evening, and just like his father, Normand, is an elevator mechanic by day. It remains open to debate which vocation is safer, but Mark earns more in his real job.

Catching a 90 to 92 m.p.h. fastball is never easy -- even if his brother does have great control. And an above average major league curveball can sometimes get away from a pitcher, and it's the catcher who always chases the ball.

Reminds me of Rocky, speedbagging the side of USDA grade A beef in the cooler.

It's also nice to see a little more commentary being posted on the blog. Keep the comments coming!

Peeter Ramos

A little late, but as promised yesterday, here's a quick profile of Peeter Ramos. Ramos spent last season in AA Reading after being acquired via the Rule V draft in 2005.

"Ramos showed up in the Reading lineup on June 20, when the club was floundering with a 28-40 mark.

Since he arrived the Phillies have gone 20-13, the best record in the Eastern League over that span.

It hasn't all been because of Ramos; he arrival coincided with the resurgent offense, which has been bolstered by Gary Burnham, Carlos Leon, Peter Bergeron and that latest addition, Pedro Swann.

But Ramos has been a big part of the change."

The rest of the article from Mike Drago of the Reading Eagle is here.

His stats, courtesy of thebaseballcube.com.

A little more "breakdown" from scout.com:

In the first round of the AAA Phase, the Phillies chose Padres infielder Peeter Ramos. The 23 year old Ramos, who is primarily a second baseman, reached as high as AA Mobile in 2005, hitting just .173 in 104 at bats. He started the season with Class-A Lake Elsinore and hit .278 in 100 games. In five seasons in the minors, Ramos has hit .267 and stolen 101 bases.

The grass is always greener...

In Ottawa? This just in:

"Groundskeepers in New York, Cincinnati, Seattle and Tampa Bay would be the first to tell Josh Teuscher he's getting out of Chicago and Wrigley Field just in the nick of time.

Lou Piniella fans might counter that the new head groundskeeper for the Ottawa Lynx is going to miss the show."

In today's, wait for it, Ottawa Citizen! (You can read the whole story here.) I guess I shamed them into it.

Yeah.
That's what I did....

Under the microscope

Blog plans between now and Opening Day (67 days!) include more work on players listed on the Lynx roster - profiling the 30 or so guys I haven't discussed previously will keep me pretty busy. The players I'll try to keep close tabs on during spring training are the non-roster invites. If I get the chance, I'll lead off later today with IF Peeter Ramos.

Local girl makes good

Hmmmm.... "Dog the Bounty Hunter" or blogging? I noticed this report about Ottawa native Jory Steinberg. Who's Jory Steinberg?

" surely it was only a matter of time before Canada would find its way to the stage of American Idol. Ottawa native Jory Steinberg, now living in Santa Monica, auditioned for American Idol judges in New York and left with a much-coveted gold ticket to Hollywood...

When she was fourteen she sang the national anthem at an Ottawa Lynx baseball game, which proved to be her “big break” into show business. A promoter attending the game later introduced her to Canadian-born music producer David Foster.

And you thought there were only baseball scouts in the stands. Who knew?

What post would be complete without a Youtube video? Here's a vid of her audition - all kidding aside, I think she sounded good.

"Ottawa... the people there were excellent..."

I've posted this as a video - primarily because I can't figure out how to add an audio player to the blog. The video component is a little rough, but the point of this post is the audio interview with David Stockhill, director of minor league operations with the Baltimore Orioles. I've really cut up the interview in order to get his (brief) comments on the Ottawa organization. The entire interview can be found on this page by clicking on the "Around the minors" tab and then following the "Around the minors feed" link. The interview is archived under January 16, 2007.

I'll post the relevant parts of the Phillies podcast when they produce that show.

Blogs: 1 MSM: 0

Last week I noted my preference for blogs over MSM (mainstream media). Yesterday I took a not so veiled shot at the local media for their indifference to the only other professional sports franchise in town, the Ottawa Lynx. In a nice bit of serendipity, along came this interview yesterday:

"It's just great to get your name out there for these jobs," Russell said last week when reached in Texas. "When it comes to who a club decides to hire, you don't have the crystal ball. Of course, when you get the phone call that you didn't get the job, it's tough, but once you get back out on the field, you don't worry about it.

"I look at it that I'm one of 30 Triple-A managers. There's a lot of a guys who would love to be in that position ... Baseball's still baseball. I'm looking forward to it."

Who nailed this interview? A blogger. And a local blogger to boot. Nice work Neate (and thanks again for the heads up).

CBC, The Citizen, The Ottawa Sun - I would tell you that you should be ashamed, but you probably haven't noticed the blogosphere - yet.

At your peril.

The view from Reading

Occasionally I like to check in on Clearwater, Lakewood and Reading to see what they're reporting about 2007. There was a lot of news coming out of Lakewood and Reading following the Phillies recent winter tour. Over at the Reading Phillies website they've got a few interviews with former R-Phils players, including Cole Hamels on their media player. Reading Eagle's reporter (and blogger), Mike Drago, has an interview with Steven Noworyta, the Phillies director of minor league operations. He finishes up the article with this observation:

The core of last year’s club figures to be playing in the Phillies’ new Triple-A home in Ottawa: catcher Jason Jaramillo, infielders Carlos Leon and Joey Hammond, outfielders Michael Bourn, Gary Burnham, Pedro Swann and Matt Padgett, and pitchers Zach Segovia, J.A. Happ and Joe Bisenius.

“We’re finally getting some players back in our system,” said Noworyta, noting depth had been hurt by a string of trades and lost draft picks earlier in this decade.

“Right now it looks good on paper,” he said of the Phillies’ system, “it’s just a matter of putting it all together.”


It's noteworthy (to me anyway) that they're talking baseball in February - granted, it's a small town (population around 80,000). Having said that, from an Ottawa sports perspective, besides the Senators there's only one other "game" in town. A little (i.e. SOME) love from the local media would be nice. I think the last mention of the Lynx in the Ottawa Sun was when John Russell was confirmed as the manager (back in November).

Huh? - UPDATED

From November 23, 2006:


I was just looking at the Lynx roster on their website to see if there'd been any changes since I was last there. All the former (Baltimore) Lynx players are gone, except for Andy Tracy. I took a quick look at a few websites and Googled to see if I'd missed an FA signing, but came up empty. Did I miss something or is this an error on the website?

Mr. Tracy's a bit of an enigma for Lynx fans. Some days he'd toss every ball into the stands on his way back to the dugout (after recording the last out) - other days he wouldn't throw any. Just when you were starting to think he was a jer...., er.... aloof, he'd stand around after the game ended, signing autographs until the Sharpie ran dry.

Will he be returning to Ottawa in April? I'll keep checking and let you know. *** UPDATE ***

And the answer is now "no". Andy's been signed by the New Orleans Zephyrs of the PCL (the AAA affiliate of the New York Mets).

(Another signing that caught my eye yesterday was Tim Raines Jr. - he's now playing in the Houston organization.)

Phuture predictions

Man, I hope he's right about this....

"What does a guy have to do...."

to get a break?

I'm certain that's what Chris Coste (incidentally, it's pronounced "coast") is wondering these days. Consider this Q+A with Todd Zolecki of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Q Todd, why has Chris Coste been deligated (sic) to "having" to make the team. The guy went way above expectations last year and was a big part of why they had a great run at the end. What else does the poor guy have to do? Is it becasue (sic) of his age?
Bruce, Floida 1/25/07

A I'm stumped just like you. Coste performed. Isn't this game about performance? Maybe the Phillies just don't think Coste can repeat his success. I'm not sure, but it's clear he's going to have to perform in spring training to make the team. A bad spring could send him to Ottawa. That's because Karim Garcia is in the mix. So is Greg Dobbs, who can play in the infield and outfield.
Todd Zolecki 1/31/07

Granted, it may be good to have a guy come into camp (or start the season at AAA) with a chip on his shoulder, but at some point you would think that past performance (and this falls into the "what have you done for me lately variety") would be rewarded. Consider the man's history:

Coste's stops before making it to the majors:

• Brainerd, Minn.
• Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
• Fargo, N.D.
• Buffalo, N.Y.
• Akron, Ohio
• Pawtucket, R.I.
• Fort Myers, Fla.
• Indianapolis, Ind.
• Scranton, Pa.
• Puerta la Cruz, Venezuela
• Panama City, Panama
• Caracas, Venezuela
• Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico

And this, from an article written in November of last year by Mike Chiappetta of NBCSports.com:

He had come so close before. In 2002, he had been leading the International League in hitting for most of the year. At least he would deserve a September call-up to the Indians, right? Of course he would, until he broke his hand in the second to last game of the season. In 2003 with the Red Sox, he was the last man sent back from spring training. And in spring training last year, he hit .467 with three home runs and 11 RBIs. He was the Phillies' best hitter not named Ryan Howard. The roster deadline freeze was fast approaching, and as far as he knew, he would start the season a Phillie.

There was only one thing that could stop his dream. The Phillies would have to make a trade before midnight on Saturday April 3. As the hours ticked down and no move was announced, he thought he had made it. He went to bed believing he was a major leaguer. But when he woke up the next morning and turned on ESPN, there it was, a short and cruel newsbrief scrolling across the bottom of the screen, changing his life. It only announced that the Phillies had acquired David Dellucci, but he knew that there was more to it than that, that there were ripple effects.

"I knew exactly what that meant, and it wasn't good for me."

Chris Coste, career minor leaguer, was going back to the minors.

Even though he had come so close, now he felt like the dream was not only distant, but over...

It all came to its Hollywood ending on Sunday, May 21, 2006.

The Phillies were scheduled to host the Boston Red Sox in the last of a three-game set at 1:30 pm. In a strange stroke of fortune, Phillies' backup infielder Alex S. Gonzalez walked into general manager Pat Gillick's office early that morning and announced he was retiring.

With regular catcher Mike Lieberthal on the disabled list with a knee injury and regular backup Sal Fasano hobbled after getting hit with a foul tip, Coste's versatility was about to pay off.

He got the call.

The Phillies wanted 33-year-old rookie Chris Coste to replace 33-year-old retired Alex Gonzalez on the roster.

Coste excitedly called home to relay the news. In a happy coincidence, most of his family was gathered together at a hotel in Fargo, N.D., preparing to send off his wife and daughter for another summer of watching Chris play ball.

They were expecting to meet him in Scranton. They were expecting to meet him in the minor leagues.

Coste told his wife Marcia that to meet him, she'd have to bypass the little park in Moosic, Pa., and head towards the big city. He was in the majors now.

Not surprisingly, she broke down. Tears streamed down her face. Now, that type of reaction is to be expected when the high-school sweetheart that you marry informs you that he's about to live his dream -- that you're about to live your dreams. But the rest of the family wasn't yet clued in.

"Everyone there saw her crying and got very worried. They thought somebody had died," Coste said. "So she quickly told everyone what had happened, and of course everyone was thrilled, jumping and laughing."

When the voices died down, Coste's daughter Casey spoke up. "Mom," she said, "that's what I wished for when I blew out the candles on my birthday cake. That daddy would make it to the big leagues."

Chris Coste is a tough guy. He's spent a lot of time on the road, he wears catching equipment in the hot, summer sun, he's taken more foul tips to the body than he can remember, and he's survived in the minor leagues for over a dozen years without letting it wear on him. But when he heard what his daughter had said, he couldn't help but shed a few tears.

It's a great article, please read the rest of it - I could have "cut and pasted" the whole thing. I would love to see a player of this calibre here in Ottawa, a guy with this much heart. But then again, for his sake, I hope I don't.

"Salute to 15" survey deadline/loveline

Dear Lovers... of Ottawa Lynx baseball,

Please do not forget to fill out the Lynx Salute to 15 survey. The 2007 season marks the 15th year for Triple-A baseball in the Capital. Tell the Lynx your favourite moments, best times and coolest experiences at the yard. The best entries will find their way into the Lynx 2007 Grand Slam Magazine. It is an easy way to get famous in your community and to show your support for a decade and a half of professional baseball in Ottawa. The survey closes on February 14th. Click here for the details and here for the survey.

Did I just mention February 14th? Why, that is St. Valentines Day. Hot dog! Why not buy your sweetheart an Ottawa Lynx flex-pack? Just imagine... It is Valentines Day. You have just skated up and back down the canal. Holding mittens all the way. You are sipping cups of hot cocoa at a pub in the Golden Triangle and Voila! A flex-pack Valentine, just for you, baby. She will be in your lap in a heartbeat. It's Make-Out City, Jack! Now she can meet you after work in your section all summer long with no hassles. It's an iron clad lock, daddio! All the ladies are simply crazy for Lynx baseball. Aren't they?

Pick up your Valentines, um... I mean Flex-Packs at Lynx Stadium during regular office hours. Ooh la la. Va-va-va-VOOM!

Important date - UPDATED

Circle April 24, 2007 on your calendar.

*** UPDATE ***

Dumb, dumb, dumb. Please circle April 21 on your calendars.

Someone, help a brother out!

Back in November, I posted a list of Lynx players who'd declared free agency. Ever since then, I've been scouring Baseball America, Scout.com, ESPN.com, MiLB.com, MLB.com - trying to track their signings. Here's where the list stands to date:


C Brandon Marsters

1B Andy Tracy

2B Brooks Badeaux

2B Ed Rogers - signed with the Boston Red Sox

3B Napoleon Calzado

SS Eddy Garabito - signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates

OF Todd Donovan - signed with the Texas Rangers

OF Keith Reed

OF Luis Terrero - signed with the Chicago White Sox

RHP Brian Bowles - signed with the San Francisco Giants

RHP Tim Kester - signed with the Baltimore Orioles

RHP Julio Manon

RHP Chris Piersoll

RHP Eddy Rodriguez - signed with the Florida Marlins

LHP Franklyn Gracesqui

LHP Scott Rice - signed with the Texas Rangers

3B Howie Clark - signed with the San Diego Padres

I believe these are all minor league deals, with some of the guys getting invites to the parent club's spring training camp. I've shortened the list down to the guys that I actually saw playing here in Ottawa. If anybody knows of a signing I've missed, please flip me an email or post it in the comment section below.