Tribe addresses weakness in finishing CC deal

“He’s a guy with elite plate discipline, speed and athleticism,” said Tribe general manager Mark Shapiro. “He steals bases and steals them very efficiently. He’s a good defensive center fielder and left fielder. But his ability to contribute as a run producer with his plate discipline and speed complements our organization well. He gives us a set of attributes we don’t have a lot of.”

Welcome to Cleveland, Michael Brantley.

Breaking Down the Draft: Some Requests

Profiles on Xavier Avery (Orioles), Kyle Russell (Dodgers), and Tim Melville (Royals).  Below is an excerpt on Avery:

Avery wasn’t drafted for his baseball skills or because he would move quickly through the minors. He was drafted because he is an excellent athlete with plenty of tools that his organization will try to mold into results.

The biggest problem I have with Avery—and picks like him—is that it isn’t just his tools that will need to be molded into results. He has to learn how to recognize pitch types, develop adequate plate discipline, and notice pitcher tendencies, among other things. He also has to overhaul his swing to produce desired results.

Avery’s swing mechanics are inconsistent. He opens his hips too soon and can let his swing get long and armsy, meaning he is relying mostly on his arms to generate bat speed. He displays these qualities in the clip below:

Fort Wayne TinCaps!

Fort Wayne, IN - When Parkview Field opens next season, Fort Wayne and the surrounding communities in Northeast Indiana, Northwest Ohio and Southern Michigan will be cheering on the Fort Wayne TinCaps. Hardball Capital CEO Jason Freier, and team general manager Mike Nutter, unveiled the team’s new identity and logo at a press conference at the Grand Wayne Center this morning.

The “TinCaps” moniker is a reference to the beloved pioneer Johnny Appleseed, who was known for wearing his tin cooking pot upon his head. The primary logo will be an apple wearing Johnny’s trademark “Tin Cap.” Two alternate logos will incorporate the City’s initials, “FW” with each a “Tin Cap” and an apple stem and leaf. The team’s primary color scheme will consist of organic colors—green, red and brown. This color scheme is consistent with both the Johnny Appleseed theme and the project goal of creating Parkview Field as a true park and gathering place within the center of downtown Fort Wayne.

It’s always good to have another ridiculous/unique name in the minors that isn’t of the form “(Randomword)Cats”, “(Randomword)Dogs”, or “(Randomword)Dawgz”.  And the logo is almost as intimidating as the Visalia Oaks, the Lansing Lugnuts and the Montgomery Biscuits.

Scouting Oakland Pitching Prospect Brett Hunter

Hunter was drafted in the 7th round of last June’s draft

Hunter possesses some of the more unique mechanics of any pitcher drafted in last June’s draft. I see his mechanics as a much more exaggerated version of Carlos Marmol.

You’ll notice Hunter’s upper body bends forward a great deal. This allows Hunter to achieve some significant torque through the separation between his torso and hips. Its that segment that reminds me of Marmol.

Below is the best shot I could get of Marmol from a side view. He has more of a traditional leg kick he, but you can see how far the upper body bends forward before springing back to a more upright position. It’s almost as if he is loading the torso and creating tension before its uncoiled forward.

Ducksnorts: Chatting with Dirk Hayhurst

Primer fave Dirk Hayhurst bares his soul again.

I’m just saying, if baseball is the only thing that makes me valuable, that’s sad. There is so much more to all of us than our titles. I figured the best way I could say that is to tell you right up front, yeah, I’m a pro baseball player and it doesn’t make me special because if it does, what does it say to those who aren’t pro baseball players?

MLB: Cardinals: Jeff Luhnow chat transcript

“Cardinals executive answers fans’ questions about prospects”...and I thought only the Pirates did this.

Q: Jeff: Richard Castillo dominated the MWL at age 18—a very rare feat, obviously (Castillo was in fact the youngest starter in the entire league). Yet Baseball America omitted him from the league’s top 20 prospect list. Any guess why?

Luhnow: Maybe because he’s a six foot right hander… those guys don’t tend to get a lot of love from the scouting community. Richard is a prospect and probably should have been on the list, but he hasn’t received much publicity and isn’t as high profile as many other players. I’m OK with that. The other player that should have been on the prospect list, this time for the NYPL, was Frederick Parejo. At 18, playing a premium position, an All-Star on the championship team? Come on…

Q: With the Cardinal system having so many prospects, will you consider taking higher risk, big tool players in the later rounds such as the Red Sox and Angels have done?

Luhnow: Last question… we do take some risks, and we will continue to search for guys with major league upside. Some of the big bonus late round players are not guys we feel are worth it, but we have and will continue to look for them.

Scouting Yankees Pitching Prospect Brett Marshall

Breaking down the mechanics, stuff, and future health of the young Yankee pitcher…

Marshall is slide-stepping in the clip on the right. That should be eliminated because he’s learning from two separate sets of mechanics (the leg kick and the slide-step). That leads to consistency issues in how he performs from the stretch and the wind-up. In addition, the slide-step is meant to be quicker to the plate. You eliminate some of the lower body action to speeden up the delivery and as a result, you can lessen the quality of your stuff and become more “armsy” of a throw, something that should be avoided.

Introducing the Reno Aces

“After receiving all the nominations, Reno Aces stood out because of its obvious association to the area and the connection it will create with the fans from the beginning,” said Stuart Katzoff, managing partner of the Aces.  “It has a nice ring to it.”

There were more than 50 submissions for the Reno Aces.

The team is the Triple A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks and will start playing in Reno for the 2009 season. 

Meanwhile, the new downtown Reno stadium, still

Now, somebody will have to write about the “Ace of the Aces” or the “Aces’ Ace”. Thanks a bunch.

Ty Cobb traded to Lexington

APPLEBEE’S PARK (Lexington, KY) ---- The Lexington Legends announced today they have received the rights of the famed Ty Cobb from the Omaha Royals. In exchange for the young Cobb and in the spirit of the late Hall of Famer with the same moniker, the Royals will receive a bottle of Maker’s Mark Kentucky Bourbon, a box of cigars and a copy of the 2003 film “Anger Management”.

Cobb, who spent the 2008 season as the Royals Marketing Intern, will join Lexington’s staff in October in the team’s Marketing and Creative Services Departments.

Not sure who gets the better of this deal. Any opinions?

timesunion.com: Shooting the ‘Bull’ on sequel

This doesn’t sound good:

“For 20 years I have said no to a sequel,” said writer/director Ron Shelton, the former Baltimore Orioles farmhand who wrote and directed what could be argued is the best baseball movie ever filmed, in large part because of its authenticity and thematic scope beyond the game. “For the last year we’ve been talking about it.”

“I used to say ‘You can’t do a sequel 20 years later.’ Then the fact that it’s 20 years later started to intrigue me.”

If anybody was wondering whether Dale Petroskey had anything to worry about…

For the record, the only time politics came up Friday was when Shelton noted Nuke was named after Ebbie Calvin “Newk” LaRooch a waiter who once served him. Shelton loved the handle and used it, but changed the last name because of Lyndon LaRouche, a quadrennial third-party presidential candidate.

Honolulu Advertiser: Truby to coach CaneFires

Whatever a CaneFire is, it’s surely an innocent natural phemonenon.

Damien graduate Chris Truby returns to Hawai’i as hitting coach for the West Oahu CaneFires of Hawaii Winter Baseball.

Truby, who graduated from Damien in 1992, was hitting coach for the High-A Lynchburg Hillcats, an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He finished his playing career in 2007 while playing for Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis. [...]

The league has players from 23 Major League clubs, six Nippon Professional Baseball teams and one from the Korea Baseball Organization.

Chiefs, Nationals say “I Do’’

When the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs take the field next April, they’ll have a new major league affiliate for the first time in more than 30 years.

The Chiefs’ board of directors voted today to sign with the Washington Nationals instead of the Florida Marlins. The Chiefs ended their 31-year affiliation with the Toronto Blue Jays because of the Blue Jays’ history of losing in Triple-A.

Chiefs officials met Saturday morning with Brian Chattin, the director of player development for the Marlins. Immediately after that meeting, the Chiefs’ board held a meeting during which 18 of the 23 directors voted either in person or through a conference call.

Chiefs general manager John Simone said the vote was 18-0 for the Nationals.

Indians’ Triple-A affiliate now Columbus

While not mentioned in the official announcement, it is expected that SportsTime Ohio, the Indians’ television home, will broadcast Triple-A games from Columbus next season.

As for the Bisons, they are reportedly nearing an agreement to become the Triple-A home of the New York Mets.

Brandon Puffer arrested for burglary, intent to commit sexual assault

(September 16, 2008) On Saturday, September 13, 2008, at 3:30 a.m., the Frisco Police Department responded to an assault that had just occurred in the 7500 block of Stonebrook Parkway. The female victim stated that she had just been assaulted by a male subject that was inside of her residence. Officers responded to the location and located a male subject, later identified as Brandon Duane Puffer, age 32, on foot in the immediate area.

The officer’s initial investigation revealed that Puffer was the suspect. Puffer was arrested for Burglary of a Habitation with the intent to commit a felony (Sexual Assault). The arrest occurred without incident. The offense is a first degree felony and is punishable by up to 99 years incarceration and up to a $10,000 fine. The victim was not injured. The offense is still under investigation.

Can I get a ZiPS on how his 3.90 ERA with Frisco in 2008 will play in the Texas Penal League?

Ballpark Digest: BIRCO Approval Down to the Wire

What’s BIRCO, you may ask? Not what you might think at first glance. Read on, MacDuff:

The battle over BIRCO—the Baseball Internet Rights Company that would force MiLB teams to cast their digital lot with MLB AM—is coming to a head, with a deadline for approving coming tomorrow, Sept. 15.

MLB Advanced Media has been trying to push this for a couple of years, and they have been blocked by a fairly large group of minor-league owners who want to retain some measure of independent marketing control:

Basically, the proposal would force MiLB to steer their digital content to BAM—requiring them to shut down their own websites in the process—and be treated as an extension of MLB.

Does MLB AM have critical mass to push this through? Perhaps not:

By our count, there are still over 45 unsigned teams, including a significant number of AAA teams (at least eight). The main objection: the lack of an exit strategy for teams should the new arrangement not work out, and the perceived lack of control over a BAM-run web presence. And there’s plenty of animosity toward BAM in the minor-league world, mostly from owners who complain about BAM’s inability to successfully market a wide range of hot and timely merchandise.

I would not be especially happy to see some minor league team Web sites bite the dust in favor of the generic look/feel of MiLB.com. The team Web sites for a number of PCL and Cal League teams, in particular, tend to be very well run and to provide information about player movement that MiLB.com can be slow to report.

Scouting Cardinals Prospect Nico Vasquez

Drafted in the third round but on par in talent with Tim and Gordon Beckham.

Vasquez turns his hips on a firm front leg, which helps him generate power from his swing. One slight concern--and it may be from these particular swings the video provided--was how he would make contact a little too far out in front. This isn’t a case of a player looking to achieve extension because he’s not slapping/throwing his hands at the ball. It’s more a case of Vasquez starting his swing a little earlier than he needs to. He needs to wait on the pitch a little longer and give himself more time to recognize the pitch type and location.

Lastly, Vasquez has the swing plane to generate a sufficient number of fly balls. The more fly balls one hits, the more likely that hitter will hit for power. In the clips provided, Vasquez was able to get the ball on the sweet part of the bat, which gave the appearance of the ball “jumping” off his bat.

Syracuse strikes out on new baseball scoreboard for ABS

The county has not been able to come up with a plan to replace the aging scoreboard at the park.  Lawmakers met Tuesday to try and come up with some way to show clubs they’re committed, but ultimately they struck out.

What was top-of-the-line in 1997 is now woefully outdated—and even worse, falling apart. Look up at the scoreboard or the video board, and you’ll notice lights out, but that’s barely the half of it.

“You can’t get parts, and the software is proprietary, which means you can’t buy replacement things; you have nobody to turn to to fix it; the poor guys that are running the scoreboard [say] literally the machines crashes two or three times during a game,” says Onondaga County parks commissioner Bob Geraci.

The scoreboard is run with outdated computers that use software that predates Windows, and a DVD and VHS machine run the video board.

Is it any wonder this happened in Syracuse?

Helium Watch: Rangers Prospect Neil Ramirez

Scouting the first year pitching prospect…

“You know it when you see it”. That’s sort of the feeling I had watching video of Ramirez. He was very impressive.

His fastball sat anywhere from 91 - 94 and it has been said he is able to get up to 96. However, the key to the pitch was how quickly it got on hitters. The pitch looked as if it picked up an extra two or three gears before reaching home plate. There is potential for more velocity as he matures.

Ramirez has a curveball that is close to a plus pitch when on, but there are consistency problems to be fixed as he can have trouble commanding it. His curveball plays up due to how hard it appears to come out of his hand and how similar the plane can be to his fastball.

Kubatko: Komminsk’s opinion on Travis Hafner’s Eastern League appearance

Komminsk Oblast!

With the Cleveland Indians in town, it seemed like an appropriate time to ask Double-A Bowie manager Brad Komminsk about Travis Hafner’s inclusion on Akron’s roster for the last two games of the Easten League Southern Division playoffs - and the grand slam and two-run shot that Hafner contributed while the Aeros were eliminating the Baysox.

No surprisingly, Komminsk wasn’t a huge fan of the Indians’ decision to assign Hafner to Akron as part of an injury rehab assignment. And this is coming from someone who managed the Aeros for three seasons and worked in the Indians’ player development system for eight years.

“They had him in (Triple-A) Buffalo for three weeks,” Komminsk said. “In my opinion, why bring him to Akron when he could have been on the big league roster? I talked to the farm director and they thought about sending him to A ball, but they wanted him to play at the highest level. I told him the big leagues are the highest level.

..."It didn’t sit well with me. I talked to people in different organizations and they all said the same thing. For that time of the year, it’s not the right thing to do. But this isn’t sour grapes. They’re a good team. They played us well all year. Our numbers were almost identical if you look them up - runs, doubles, triples home runs, RBIs, all that stuff. It’s uncanny how close it was. But you get (Hafner), and it just changes the whole complexion of the game. A big leaguer hits a grand slam and you have to make up four runs. It’s a tie game if you take him out of there. And the next day, when he hit that two-run jack, you could see it take the wind out of their sails.”

O’s Wieters earns 2008 Minor League Player of Year honor

“I think for our organization, he’s a big league guy in our minor leagues,” Trembley says. “And we’re looking for big league players”

At least the organization has identified its needs…

Breaking Down the Draft: Bryan Price vs. Brad Holt

Comparing Mets draft pick Brad Holt and Red Sox pick Bryan Price:

As I watched the video of Bryan Price, who was drafted 48th overall this season by the Boston Red Sox, his similarity to Mets draft pick Brad Holt struck me. Both were drafted in similar spots, both offer plus fastballs, and both have projectable, athletic builds.

In addition, each pitcher possesses some very similar mechanical attributes, which also makes it easier to identify some subtle, but critical differences.

Marlins recall professional baseball’s home run leader McPherson

Whew!...For a while there I thought the Church of Scientology had gotten hold of another McPherson.

Baseball’s home run leader joined the Florida Marlins on Tuesday.

Dallas McPherson, who hit 42 home runs for Albuquerque, was recalled from the triple-A team. Playing primarily at third base but also seeing some time at first, McPherson hit .275 with 98 RBIs.

“To be able to make it the whole season with no back problems and no major injuries, it’s been a real blessing,” McPherson said. “I just wanted to show I wasn’t a guy who’s always injured.”

Batter’s Box: Syracuse Looking To End Affiliation With Jays

After posting a Q & A feature about major and minor league affilations on their official website last week, the Syracuse Chiefs are about to end their 31-year marriage with the Toronto Blue Jays.  Chiefs president Ron Gersbacher told the Syracuse Post-Standard that the club will be looking for a new major affiliate for 2009.

The writing was on the wall before the season started when New York State Senator Charles Schumer said the Mets were interested in joining forces with the Chiefs.  In 2006, a Mets-Chiefs marriage could very well have happened had Syracuse waited before the end of that season to size up their affilation options.  The Chiefs had signed a two-year player development contract that summer and did not anticipate that the Mets were going to end their long-standing affiliation with Norfolk.  After the dust settled, the Mets signed a two-year deal with New Orleans of the Pacific Coast League.

MLB: Todd Rundgren and son learn baseball and music

The Ever Popular Tortured AAA Ballplayer Effect…

Rex Rundgren hasn’t given up on making the Major Leagues, and he’s one step away in Triple-A, but he says he finally considers himself ready to learn how to play music.

“I never really tried anything before,” he says. “I tried drums for a little while when I was younger but just didn’t have the patience for it. Now that I’m older, I’d like to start, but my dad just tells me that if I want to do it I can do it. He learned guitar totally on his own. He just went into his room and learned it himself.”

...He’s often greeted by a walk-up-tailored sample of “Hello, It’s Me,” or his father’s most recognizable novelty tune, “Bang on the Drum All Day.” And that song in particular, Rex says, is pretty much the only one his teammates recognize.

“Some guys I’ll let listen to a couple songs on my iPod and they enjoy it, but nobody really knows what it is,” Rex says with a laugh.

“Their parents do, though.”

Ballpark Digest: It’s official: Lake County and Bowling Green to Midwest League in 2010

The first shoe drops in what is likely to be a lively off-season for the minor leagues:

there should be no surprise that the Lake County Captains and the as-yet-unnamed Bowling Green team will be moving from the South Atlantic League to the Midwest League in 2010. At the end of the day, objections from some team owners over long commutes and awkward schedules—objections heard from both leagues—were overcome under some pressure from the Cleveland Indians front office, who was strongly lobbying for the move.

Bowling Green is moving from Columbus (GA) and will retain its affiliation with the Rays.

Some other news, which I sort of expected:

It’s a certainty that Triple-A baseball won’t return to Richmond—despite being a market seemingly tailor-made for a Washington Nationals farm team—and what happens in the future is still a matter of debate; we know the Eastern League basically won the rights to the market, but Peter Kirk is pitching a new ballpark that may or may not feature an Atlantic League team.

Rumors are that the Connecticut franchise will be moving to Richmond, although I would think Harrisburg is another possibility.

PPG:  Cook:  2008 Pirates Minor League Year in Review

I apologize for 2 Post-Gazette posts in one day like this, but honestly:  the paper’s making amazing strides in usefulness.  Personally, I like what the Coonelly/Huntington leadership is doing.  Even if you don’t, at least the paper isn’t stuck writing non-stop “Bonifay/Littlefield could be worse” articles.

The methodology was up to Huntington’s choice for director of player development, 30-year-old Kyle Stark, who initiated a total overhaul of instructional techniques, a break-a-few-eggs disciplinary approach to make them count, and a wholly new computer-based framework for communicating and storing scouting and statistical information.

Because the old system of “writing everything on legal pads and chatting about it over pay phones while smoking stogeys” just wasn’t working properly.  Not using computers for info storing gives me the same reaction as when people pay at the grocery store with checks.

Lincoln, 23, made a surprisingly effective return from elbow reconstruction with Hickory, earning a promotion to high Class A Lynchburg and finishing 6-10 with a 4.69 ERA. Most important, given the surgery, he walked only 17 in 103 innings.

Moskos, 22, was converted to a starter in his first full professional season but sent back to the bullpen in August because he physically wore down. Bottom line: 5.95 ERA and 43 walks in 110 innings. Still, he will resume starting next year.

Again want to re-iterate that I much prefer Tim Lincecum and Matt Wieters.

PPG:  Kovacevic:  Pirates to Recall 10 Players

The team, for its September roster expansion, will recall pitchers Ross Ohlendorf, T.J. Beam, Craig Hansen, Romulo Sanchez and Marino Salas; infielders Brian Bixler and Luis Cruz; outfielder Steve Pearce; and catchers Ronny Paulino and Robinzon Diaz

Brian Bixler is absolutely terrible.  Yeah, short-term callup before; yeah, it was only because Jack Wilson was hurt.  But the 18 OPS+ is difficult to hide.

ShysterBall: Calcaterra: Rick Reilly: Legal Genius

I actually read this in ESPN da Magazine (my furtivus garbageman, Scuzzy Hector, was running late) the other day.

There are writers who sit in front of their computers for hours on end researching their columns or blog posts. Who think hard about the points they are making. Who try their best to bring sober reasoning to life with lively prose without having one do too much damage to the other. Writers who, if they don’t have a clue what they’re talking about, do a little research to get up to speed so they can at least hope to contribute something worthwhile.

Then there’s Rick Reilly who, in his latest column, attempts to rouse the recently slumbering anti-steroid rabble by suggesting that a couple of career minor leaguers ought to sue Major League baseball over their failure to make it to the bigs:

I think minor league players like Jones should file a class action, restraint of trade lawsuit against Major League Baseball because they sat stewing in the minors while big leaguers were allowed to cheat . . . You think the steroids issue is dead, but it isn’t. These guys live with the fallout every day. Their dreams died in big league clubhouse johns. I’m telling you: lawsuit.

Royals call up Ka’aihue after stellar season in minors

Kila joins fellow Islanders Scott Feldman, Dane Sardinha, Kurt Suzuki, Shane Victorino and Tyler Yates in the big leagues.

The left-handed hitting first baseman is having an incredible season. He hit .314 with 26 home runs and 79 RBI at Double-A Northwest Arkansas before being called up to Triple-A Omaha, where he is hitting .309 with 11 home runs and 20 RBI in 32 games. He hit what turned out to be the game-winning home run in the top of the 10th inning yesterday to help Omaha beat Iowa, 6-5.

“He called this morning and said he hit a walk-off home run,” Kala said. “I thought, ‘Wow.’ Then he said he got the call (up to the Royals).”

Aloha Kila!

Salem’s Koby Clemens arrested

Koby, Koby I hear you say
I’m not afraid to think of what I might find

Koby Clemens, Mark Ori and Jimmy Goethals were arrested early Sunday morning after several members of the Salem Avalanche baseball team spent Saturday night at a popular Salem restaurant.

Clemens and Ori were charged with disorderly conduct and Goethals with assault and battery. All three were taken to the Roanoke County-Salem Jail before being released on bond, according to a news release from the Salem police.

...According to the news release, police were dispatched to a disturbance in the restaurant’s parking lot at 2 a.m. on Sunday and, upon their arrival, found approximately 50 people in the lot.

The release does not describe any of the events leading to the arrests. It states only that Clemens and Ori were arrested on the scene and that Goethals was charged “after an employee of the restaurant obtained a warrant for his arrest” from the Roanoke County/Salem magistrate’s office.